PepsiCo and Frito-Lay Union Network

In a largely attended meeting the workers grouped together in the National Union of Dominican Frito Lay Workers (SINTRALAYDO) voted their affiliation to IUF.

In a conversation with Sirel, Alexander Mosquea, general secretary of the Union, he expressed that “the decision was taken unanimously by the workers present in a very moving meeting“.

On June 6/7, 2011, the first trade unions’ coordination meeting of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods, Russia's leading dairy company took place in Moscow.

After 6 months of negotations which were unable to resolve numerous questions, the direct talks between the union of beverage workers, STIBYS and CabCorp, the Pepsi Bottler for Central America and the Carribean, were closed and the union invoked the ministry of labour for mediation.

Stiby is especially concerned about the policy of the company to take outsourcing forward unilaterally, and demands that all outsourced and subcontracted workplaces be made permanent jobs with CabCorp (see previous article on the topic).

After negotiations since mid-April, the Federation of Food Workers of Argentina (FTIA) reached an agreement about a 33,5% wage increase on June 10. PepsiCo workers in the snacks sectors are covered by this agreement.

Read an interview with Héctor Morcillo, deputy general secretary of FTIA, on the details of the agreement, on the Rel-UITA website (in Spanish).

Amid a worrying escalation of repression against trade unions in the country, aimed at dismantling the achievements of workers in many years of struggle, IUF affiliate STIBYS continues negotiations on a new Collective Agreement with CabCorp (PepsiCo).

The second round of negotiations between IUF Hondurian affiliate STIBYS and the bottling company La Reyna (CabCorp/PepsiCo) had initially been set for January 11. However, due to delaying tactics by management these were postponed to February 3.

Meanwhile, Stibys has started to mobilise and declared a state of alert, forming committees in branches and departments of the company.

Stibys vice president and member of the negotiating committee, Porfirio Ponce Valley, said the company was violating rules of debate and setting meeting times that had been agreed earlier.

In its recent business strategies, PepsiCo has emphasised it wants to extend its "nutrition" business. The company's recent acquistion of dairy giant Wimm-Bill-Dann in Russia has been just approved by authorities, bringing the company much closer to its goal reach sales of 30 bln dollars a year in the nutrition segment.