Poverty Footprint Study on how the Coca Cola - Oxfam America

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Role of unions In both countries, unions have been weakening for a number of years. In El Salvador, for example, unions have a weak presence after decades of being repressed and then being systematically disbanded. In Zambia, unions are historically associated with improving workplace conditions, wages and benefits. However, labor unions have weakened since the pinnacle of their political strength in the 1990s, with the adoption of structural adjustment policies playing a major role in their demise. The ILO Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (1948) provides workers with the legal right to join and operate workers’ organizations without government or employer interference. The researchers found no evidence that the companies were preventing such organization. There are mixed levels of unionization in the formal sector workplaces across the value chain in both countries. At the El Angel mill, there is a good track record of dialogue and cooperation between the union and the mill management owners. Mill employees report that unionization has led to notable improvements in their working conditions through collective contract negotiations. The employees at the Central Izalco Mill are not unionized and reported that workplace conditions are generally satisfactory and that they do not require a union to maintain conditions. At SABMiller’s bottling plant in El Salvador, employees are not unionized, and they report mixed views on how necessary it is to have a union. Some employees reported a concern that even if a union existed, there may be lack of engagement by management. Despite some reports that 56 Exploring the links between international business and poverty reduction union members might face discrimination from management, this view is not widely held, and appears to stem from an incident in the late 1970s when the plant was under different ownership in which union members undertaking direct action lost their jobs. Some employees advocated for a more effective forum to engage with one stating that the current anonymous employee engagement mechanism does not work and that motions presented in writing are not resolved. In Zambia, the union present at Zambian Breweries holds monthly meetings between union members and management and overall appears to enjoy positive relations. However, some employees interviewed complained that the union was not particularly active. One employee blamed management for the union’s lack of effectiveness, claiming that “Management perceives the union as a nuisance... the union is left with just junior workers who cannot argue out issues very well. The union is struggling to survive.” 57 This is consistent with a national trend of reduced trade union activity and influence. Another employee felt that management unfairly restricted employees’ ability to pursue other sources of income, given the company’s restrictions on employees selling Coca-Cola products through independent businesses. The complaint about this restriction, driven by the desire to avoid conflict of interest, may imply there is opportunity to strengthen dialogue between employees and management. While some grievance mechanisms are in place, there is scope for these to be improved in order to facilitate better communication. The establishment of well-defined, transparent processes for workers to share their views with management would strengthen relations and help ensure that labor standards are properly enforced, and some recommendations to this end are detailed below. Oxfam believes that where there is a lack of robust industrial relations between workers and management, there is limited scope for dialogue or collective action to alter policies and practices and to help ensure that labor standards are properly enforced.
Recommendations for follow-up action Ensure the right of freedom of association and to collective bargaining. Take a deeper look into any cases of failed factory grievance and dispute resolution systems and, if appropriate, address breakdowns with the relevant union of employee representatives. Exploring the links between international business and poverty reduction 57
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Exploring the links between interna
Page 3 and 4:
Contents About the organizations 4
Page 5 and 6: The Coca-Cola Company sustainabilit
Page 7 and 8: Exploring the links between interna
Page 9 and 10: Muhtar Kent Chairman and Chief Exec
Page 11 and 12: Graham Mackay Chief Executive SABMi
Page 13 and 14: ase of the pyramid, achieve a devel
Page 15 and 16: Recommendations for follow-up actio
Page 17 and 18: with the community includes not onl
Page 21 and 22: The role of business in development
Page 23 and 24: It is projects such as this that co
Page 25 and 26: Zambia El Salvador Our approach Oxf
Page 29 and 30: Six percent of the population lives
Page 31 and 32: SABMiller’s role as bottler In Za
Page 33 and 34: Zambia El Salvador Figure 4: The Co
Page 35 and 36: The Coca-Cola/SABMiller value chain
Page 37 and 38: Zambia El Salvador In the absence o
Page 39 and 40: Table 8: Aggregate employment impac
Page 43 and 44: In all markets, with few exceptions
Page 45 and 46: Figure 9: Auditing in The Coca-Cola
Page 47 and 48: employment include some workers in
Page 49 and 50: El Salvador The highest wages in th
Page 51 and 52: Many people are hired during the su
Page 53 and 54: Investment in training and capacity
Page 55: The union is an excellent organizat
Page 59 and 60: Crime in El Salvador El Salvador fa
Page 61 and 62: 0 [When] we get out at night, we ar
Page 63 and 64: Mill work is also physically strenu
Page 65 and 66: 0 Table 10: Sales by packaging type
Page 67 and 68: Table 12 Water use ratios at SABMil
Page 69 and 70: The Coca-Cola Company Sustainable P
Page 71 and 72: Product portfolio The Coca-Cola pro
Page 73 and 74: Recommendations for follow-up actio
Page 75 and 76: 0 Civil society groups encourage co
Page 77 and 78: According to The Coca-Cola Company
Page 79 and 80: Engage with NGOs and financial grou
Page 83 and 84: We also wish to thank the many stak
Page 85 and 86: 43. This was developed by the Unive
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Poverty Footprint Study on how the Coca Cola - Oxfam America

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