Concerns: Sexual harassment at PepsiCo factory in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland

Dear Mr. Detwiler,

Thank you for your response to our letter to PepsiCo CEO Steven Reinemund concerning the allegations of sexual harassment at your Frito-Lay plant in Grodzisk, Poland.

We note the steps the company has taken to suspend the manager in question, to initiate its own investigation and to cooperate with the investigation launched by the local public prosecutor. We will be continuously monitoring these procedures, and will expect that the company take appropriate actions in accordance with the facts that are established.

However serious concerns remain:

 We understand that the supervisor in question has been put on leave, while the employees that were dismissed or compelled to resign in connection with these events have not been reinstated to their positions or granted leave with pay.

 Local management organized a media event at the workplace on 26 January at which certain workers slandered the reputations of the women in question and denounced the union for defending them.

 An inspection by the public authorities has revealed deficiencies in safety conditions, in proper training in safety for workers, and in the work schedules and payment for working hours.

 There have been no discussions with the union to implement the management's responsibility to provide a safe working environment free of sexual harassment and other threats to worker health and safety.

We hope that one positive result of this dispute will be the establishment of a mutually respectful relationship between local management and union to prevent these kinds of problems from arising in the future.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Ron Oswald
General Secretary