The company will meet on Monday, February 27 with leaders of the national division of the Union of Workers of Embotelladora San Miguel del Sur SAC (SINKR) to discuss the arbitrary dismissal of the assistant secretary of the union, who is accused of committing a “serious infraction” in a violent incident caused by a worker loyal to management.

Embotelladora San Miguel del Sur resorted to violence to fabricate justified grounds for firing the union’s assistant secretary Roberto Carlos Medina, who was assaulted by another worker who is “unconditional” to the company and who, acting like a true “hooligan,” attacked him physically and verbally.

Following the violent incident, the unionist received a notice of dismissal and two days later was formally discharged by the company.

To express their rejection of this action and at the same time show their firm unity, on Wednesday, February 22 the members of the Union of Workers of Embotelladora San Miguel del Sur SAC, National Division (SINKR), stopped all work activities at the company’s plants in Huara (149 kilometers north of Lima) and Arequipa (1009 kilometers south of Lima) and marched to the company’s headquarters in the capital to demand the reinstatement of the union leader.

SINKR General Secretary Carlos Haytan said to Sirel: “We’ve come to demand the presentation of a security report, as the decision [to fire the worker] was made without examining the footage of the plant’s security camera. This footage provides irrefutable evidence of what really happened. Moreover, no statements were taken from the workers who witnessed the incident caused by Gabriel Montesinos, the worker who assaulted our fellow union member.”

According to a company security report (Nº 003, CIVIL SECURITY-ESMS), the union leader and Montesinos were found arguing and attacking each other in the Production area lavatories, and due to the severity of the incident the police were called in.

SINKR members say the incident was “prepared” so the company could charge the union’s assistant secretary with a serious infraction and have an excuse to fire him, thus affecting this labor organization, which represents workers in the Huara and Arequipa plants since 2011.

The union’s leaders met with a representative of the company in Lima, who scheduled a meeting for Monday, February 27, and requested that they call off the work stoppages and occupations at the factories.

For Haytan, who has worked in the company for nine years, the march to Lima and the work stoppages have taken the company by surprise, as it is the first time that the two plants (Huara and Arequipa) suspend their activities. “They’ve asked if we could work the nightshift. Our mobilization to Lima affected some lines of production and management is worried,” he explained.

Embotelladora San Miguel del Sur is owned by members of the Añaños family, independent from the Peruvian Ajegroup. The company operates under the name KR, which is the acronym of Kola Real, a soft drink first sold in the Peruvian market in 1988, in the city of Ayacucho, and is now a transnational corporation.  

The company’s flagship products are Kola Real, Oro, and Cielo, and in recent years it launched other successful products, such as Kris, Fruvi, Sline, and Generade, a rehydration drink made with natural fruit flavoring.