Pakistan: Coca Cola Workers in Gujranwala facing brutal Management

The management of Coca Cola is using anti-labour measures and forces of repression to attack the rights of the workers in its Gujranwala plant. The Employees Workers Union which is representing the workers is under attack because it is fighting for the rights of workers.

This plant has a sale of one billion rupees (approx. $11.5million) in one month while the workers are getting starvation wages. A driver receives Rs. 304 per day ($3.40) per day but has no job security and other benefits and can be dismissed at any time. In total there are 266 workers on daily wages who have been working for more than 6 years but have never been awarded a contract or given permanent status. In fact 168 daily wage workers were dismissed from their jobs after working for many years without any benefit or payment. Also the permanent workers are not getting proper profit linked bonuses as the company management lie to the workers complaining that it is in deficit and so no bonuses can be awarded.

Management has divided the workers into various categories so that they can use the policy of Divide and Rule. Workers doing the same tasks are working under permanent, contract or daily wages on different pay scales. Also many workers are being employed as part of management, even though their job is like that of the other workers; this tactic is used so that they cannot participate in union activities.

A yellow “pocket” union has also been set up which is always threatening the workers that they will be sacked and meanwhile is extracting big amount from the workers on false threats. Goons are also hired by these stooges of management to harass the workers. This pocket union which has no support from the workers has made some “agreements” which are totally in favour of management. One such agreement says that the wages of daily wage and contract workers cannot increase for two years.

Also all workers are hired through a contractor so that Coca Cola is not legally responsible for attacks on them. Workers are also forced to work overtime but never given proper compensation for it. Out of the meagre wages of the workers a lot of money is taken in the name of union funding, lunch and other services that are in reality not being provided.

When the Employees Workers’ Union approached the Labour Court for justice they were surprised to see the partial approach of the Judge. This is a country where cases in courts are usually prolonged for decades, but this case was dispensed with in three days and the judge cancelled the CBA letter of the union. Later due to pressure mounted by other Trade Unions and the PTUDC in support of these workers Appellate court was forced to give decision in favour of the Employees Workers’ Union, but management is still creating hurdles in the way of genuine representatives of workers.

The workers demand that their true representatives should be allowed to work freely as the CBA union and they should also be given a union office inside the premises of Coca Cola Gujranwala. They also demanded that daily wage and contract workers should be made permanent immediately. Moreover, workers which were sacked forcibly should be reinstated on a permanent basis.

A leader of the Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign, comrade Adam Pal, visited the Coca Cola factory in Gujranwala and addressed the workers. He promised that the PTUDC would fight for the rights of these workers and against the brutality of Coca Cola management.

He also expressed appreciation for the dismissed workers who are being organized under the banner of the Coca Cola Dismissed Workers Association Gujranwala and offered them complete support. We appeal to workers of the world to condemn these brutal acts of the Coca Cola management and support workers in their struggle!