Moscow Coca-Cola Union Leader Reinstated By Court Following Union Recognition Win

Posted to the IUF website 08-Aug-2003

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On 21 July Coca-Cola union leader Viktor Grachev was reinstated as a truck driver following a favorable decision by a Moscow court. Grachev was fired in August 2001 on the day that management was informed of the existence of a fledgling union at the Coca-Cola Moscow bottling plant. This follows the signing of the first union-management collective agreement at the plant on June 23, 2003.

Coca-Cola accepted the court decision and has agreed to pay Viktor 380,000 rubles (USD 12,650) in compensation for his lost salary.

The return to work of its elected leader was greeted with jubilation by trade union members at the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Moscow. The IUF has similarly expressed great satisfaction at the outcome.

A collective bargaining agreement has been signed at the plant and is already in force whilst it is going through the process of being registered by the Moscow local authorities. Grachev's return and the new CBA create more favorable conditions for the growth of union membership at the Moscow Coke plant. In the three weeks since his return Grachev reports that plant management has behaved correctly and appears to have fully accepted his reintegration into both the plant and the union.

Kirill Buketov, IUF Regional Co-ordinator for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, attributes these successes to the collective efforts of the Moscow city organization of the IUF-affiliated Commerce and Catering Workers' Union and the solidarity of Coca-Cola workers' unions throughout the world, coordinated by the IUF. Buketov also credits the legal assistance throughout Grachev's court case provided by the AFL-CIO International Labor Solidarity Center as having played a central part in securing this major step forward for Coca-Cola workers in Russia.

Viktor Grachev has expressed his deepest appreciation to everyone who has supported the Moscow Coca-Cola workers during this important 23 month struggle. The IUF will remain vigilant as the union seeks to grow and will continue to work closely with local union members over the coming months.

Click here for more background on this struggle to organize Coca-Cola workers in Russia and the initial breakthrough in June 2003.