Workers of Coca-Cola Philippines decry attacks on labor rights

Workers of Coca-Cola Philippines decry attacks on labor rights

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Coca-Cola Philippines has marked its 100th year anniversary with the launching of its happiness truck, making the dreams of lucky Filipinos come true. But ironically, the company is being accused by its workers of spreading unhappiness among them with its attacks on labor rights.

In a press conference, March 17, presidents of workers’ unions in Coca-Cola Philippines revealed that the company has practically refused to negotiate with them through the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Through CBA negotiations, workers, through their union representatives, negotiate with their employers regarding working conditions, wage increases, benefits and other matters.

Instead of studying the proposals of 45 unions for an across-the-board wage hike, the management of the multinational giant is asserting an individual appraisal scheme for increasing wages, which centers on what it calls “3 Ps”: performance, productivity and presence. Workers will be subjected to a performance evaluation every two months, and those who will fail can be laid off from work.

“Coke Philippines is not spreading happiness among us workers with its scheme to press down wages, reduce and contractualize its workforce, and bust our unions,” said Faustino Aguillon, Jr, president of the United Coca-Cola Workers’ Union (UCCWU) based in Imus, Cavite.

Under the 3Ps, instead of the existing wage increase and Operation Performance Incentives paid in addition to wage increases negotiated through CBA, workers will be paid wage increases only in accordance with the results of Individual Performance Evaluations that has four rankings: EP (Excellent Performance); SP (Satisfactory Performance); DP (Developmental Performance); and NP (No Performance). According to the company scheme, workers who rank ‘NP’ in the first year of the collective bargaining agreement period will receive no wage increase or a minimal “lump sum” fixed by the management. But the scheme also proposes that wages will decline in the second and third year of the agreement depending on inflation.

Leaders of Coca-Cola workers’ unions vow to defend their rights against attacks by the multinational company.(Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea/ bulatlat.com)

“The 3P scheme is a comprehensive attack on our rights. With one stone, Coca-Cola Philippines plans to hit three birds: workers’ wage security, job security, and union security,” said Alfredo Marañon, president of the San Fernando Coca-Cola Rank and File Union (Sacoru) based in San Fernando, Pampanga.

Yolito Fadriquelan, president of the Ilaw at Buklod ng Manggagawa, a federation in which the UCCWU is an affiliate, said that presidents of two unions, one in Meycauayan, Bulacan and another in the Ilocos plant, have already been retrenched through the 3P scheme.

Aguillon said negotiations between the management and their union in Imus, Cavite plant are not getting anywhere. There are 160 regular workers and 150 contractuals employed in the said plant..... MORE
Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/20/workers-of-coca-cola-philippines-decry-various-attacks-on-labor-rights/