IUF
Uniting Food, Farm and Hotel Workers World-Wide
Coca-Cola Sri Lanka: CMU Wins Permanent Status for Casual Employees
Posted to the IUF website 12-Nov-2004Share this article.
On November 1, the IUF-affiliated CMU signed a new two-year collective agreement with Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka (effective retroactively from July 1, 2004) that brings important gains for the workers. The union represents both clerical and production workers at the Biyagama soft drinks plant. The new CBA stipulates that all casual workers at the facility will be given permanent status (in two stages) by January 2007. The agreement also brings a wage increase of 10 percent in the first year and 5 percent in the second and a doubling of the annual bonus, among other provisions.
The CMU has been actively fighting for the rights of casual workers at the plant, including their right to union membership. By securing their right to permanent employment status over the next two years, the union has now effectively halted any further casualization and set an important precedent in the food and beverage sector in Sri Lanka.