Coca-Cola

The IUF’s sister Global Union Federation the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) has released a report outlining serious levels of abuse in the operations of one of the world’s major international logistics providers, XPO logistics.

As Indonesia moved into lock-down in late March, Coca-Cola management secretly signed a new national collective agreement with the pro-management national union structure created decades ago during the Suharto military dictatorship to suppress workers' rights. This agreement effectively imposes new terms and conditions on more than 6,000 Coca-Cola workers without any of them being able to obtain a copy of the actual agreement and read it.

Management at The Coca-Cola Company's operations in the Philippines is using "red-tagging"- the public smearing of unions as subversive organizations to invite and legitimate violence and repression - in order to undermine union organization and spread fear among workers. The threat of violence is real: at least 43 trade unionists have been murdered since Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016. The violence is not 'collateral damage' spilling over from the government's 'war on drugs'; it is highly selective and precisely targeted.

Attendees at the 11th Business and Human Rights Conference hosted by The Coca-Cola Company on September 12 at its Atlanta headquarters faced a group of fifty trade unionists at the entrance denouncing ongoing human rights abuses at Coca-Cola in countries around the world.

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the UK Labour Party, took time out from a busy schedule to express his support for the IUF's Coca-Cola Zero Rights campaign.

The April 2019 national congress of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) voted to endorse SIPTU and the IUF's #TasteZeroRights campaign to  protest Coca-Cola's denial of worker rights in the west of Ireland. USI represents 347,000 students across the island of Ireland.

Workers at Coca-Cola Indonesia fighting for independent and democratic unions have again confirmed their confidence in union leaders victimized by management. At a general membership meeting on February 5, Lutfi Arifiyanto was re-elected chairman of the independent SBMCC, the union of workers at Coca-Cola Indonesia in Bawen, Java.

An international IUF delegation highlighted the ongoing human rights attacks by Coca-Cola in Haiti, the Philippines, Indonesia, Ireland and the USA with activities in the UK and in Ireland in December.

Members of the independent union at Coca-Cola in Bandung took their fight for rights to the company's national office in Jakarta on November 19 following a week-long collective refusal by victimized workers to leave the factory.

The five leaders and members of the independent union at the Coca-Cola Bandung factory continue to refuse to leave the factory they have remained inside since November 12. The 5 reported as usual for work that day and refused to sign letters endorsing their termination as a consequence of what had earlier been described as a 'voluntary' retrenchment program

Management of the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Bandung, Indonesia is stepping up repression against the independent, democratic union at the facility. Following the October 19 disciplinary action against union president Sovi Fradina, who now risks instant dismissal in retaliation for informing members of their legal rights, management has now terminated 3 union officers and two active members for rejecting participation in what was presented by management as a 'voluntary' redundancy scheme.

Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia is taking disciplinary action against the
president of the independent, democratic union at Coca-Cola Bandung,
Sovi Fradina Mardani Masrip, for informing his members of their legal
rights.

An international union delegation including Atra Narwanto and Lutfi Arifiyanto, the victimized leaders of independent unions at Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia, is currently meeting with IUF affiliates representing Coca-Cola workers in Canada.

Following successful protests and meeting with student groups in Atlanta (see more here) IUF members from Indonesia, the Philippines and Haiti shared their experiences of The Coca-Cola Company's human rights failures in their countries with IUF members working at Coca-Cola in Boston and Philadelphia and student civil rights groups in Atlanta.