Rights Issues Top Agenda at IUF/Coca-Cola Meeting

Posted to the IUF website 06-Apr-2005

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The IUF team of affiliates from Argentina, Ireland, Japan and North America and the IUF General Secretary met with senior representatives of the Coca-Cola Company at its Atlanta headquarters on March 15. The two sides discussed union rights issues in Russia, Pakistan, Colombia and Peru as well as the impact of business developments on the working conditions of Coca-Cola employees in various countries, in particular Japan.

The company presented its policies on HIV/AIDS in Africa and on water usage globally and in India. The IUF described IUF affiliates' experiences with the implementation of these company programs.

At the conclusion of the meeting a negotiated joint statement was agreed and signed This is the first common document signed by both Coca-Cola and the IUF. The core commitment in the joint statement is the company's acknowledgement that all Coca-Cola workers have the right to join a union without any form of intimidation or interference. In the joint statement the Coca-Cola Company and the IUF agree to continue twice-yearly meetings to review among other things the exercise of trade union rights by Coca-Cola workers world-wide.

The next formal meeting between the IUF team and the Coca-Cola Company will take place in approximately six months in Atlanta.