Coca-Cola attacks independent union leader in Indonesia, denies workers health and safety protections in Philippines

Worker rights are under attack by two of Coca-Cola's major bottlers. In Indonesia, Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) management refuses to recognize the bargaining rights of two newly-formed independent unions and is seeking the chairman's dismissal. At the Coca-Cola FEMSA Pampanga distribution center in the Philippines, workers have no protection against the sun and extreme heat. Coca-Cola FEMSA, one of the world's largest Coca-Cola bottlers, claims they have no budget to provide roof and shade.

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CCA Indonesian management is refusing to provide the two newly formed independent unions with critical information concerning its members' wages and continues to recognize a 'union' that was installed under the Suharto military regime.

CCA began harassing union chairman Atra Narwanto in February 2015 and moved to have him suspended in June that year in a process which was neither fair nor transparent. The union appealed the suspension and the Labour Department recommended reinstatement in December 2015, a decision which the company is contesting. CCA's rejection of reinstatement and aggressive legal action suggest that management is determined to eliminate independent unions. CCA has employed the same law firm to eliminate the union leader that was recently used by another transnational company in Indonesia to persecute the leader of an IUF-affiliated independent union.

In the Philippines, the IUF-affiliated SENTRO Food and Beverages Workers' Council at the Pampanga distribution center have been asking Coca-Cola FEMSA management for eleven months to address serious health and safety issues. FEMSA, one of the world's largest independent Coca-Cola bottlers, claims that there is no budget to put things right. When the union raised sun and heat exposure and inadequate lighting as major safety hazards, the company's response was to distribute umbrellas and flashlights!

At another FEMSA facility in the Philippines, management renovated changing rooms accommodating 84 workers without providing ventilation and installed a single metal bar instead of a bench to discourage workers from sitting down.

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