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Coke Workers Repaid For Loyalty To Company

category international | worker & community struggles and protests | feature author Sunday May 01, 2005 14:48author by Gearoid O Loingsigh Report this post to the editors

Coke Pays Back The Support Of Siptu On Colombia Related Boycott Issue

Coca Cola have repaid Siptu's loyalty on the Boycott issue by closing down the one plant where an anti-boycott campaign was launched.

From The Newswire: Extract: "The plan of action is mere representations. During the boycott campaign, it was said that Siptu’s blaming the boycott for possible job losses was Siptu signalling in advance that it had no intention of fighting any such losses. Here we have the living proof. Now that real job losses are on the cards we have a muted reaction from Siptu. If they put half the effort into fighting these losses that they put into running an they might just go somewhere.

The worst part of it all is that Siptu through Anne Speed have stated that “So, even though the company’s investment of €80 million is welcome, there is huge disappointment at the prospect of losing so many jobs”. What sort of union says that an investment plan that reduces the work force is welcome and that they are merely disappointed at losing so many jobs. This contrasts to the insults that were directed at the “petty bourgeois” and “middle class” students and teachers and the “sectarians” on the left

Their reaction contrasts starkly with that of Sinaltrainal whose leadership have not only fought job losses but they even went on hungerstrike. There is no fear of Liberty Hall skipping breakfast for their affiliates in the Naas Rd bottling plant.

The victims in this situation are the workers in the Naas Rd bottling plant who were led up the garden path by the union bureaucracy who encouraged them to engage in a campaign to protect the company’s image and more importantly its market share. Their thanks for this loyal service is the scrap heap and the union which so encouraged them to do so has nothing to say except that its is disappointed and that it “raises serious concerns about the strength of the Government’s commitment to the manufacturing sector of our economy.”

Complete Article at Link Below . . . Full Text Of Article

Coca Cola: The Price of Loyalty

Coca Cola has announced that it is to close its bottling plant on the Naas Road in Dublin and to close down other facilities around the country with the aim of shifting production to a new mega plant to be built in Antrim..

The move is not entirely unexpected as Coke has already signalled its intention to reduce its workforce and build a new state of the art technology plant. The question was where the plant would be. A plant to be built in South County Dublin would have meant far fewer job losses on the Naas Road.

The Naas Road plant has not been singled out for attention. The restructuring of the company is part of a worldwide reduction in staff and plants. Earlier this year Neville Isdell the Coke CEO announced the plans for Ireland and also the closing of eight plants in Germany. Why Isdell the CEO of Coke who claims to have no control over bottling plants anywhere in the world would make the announcement and not local management is obvious, Coke do in fact decide everything in relation to the bottling plants including those in Colombia.

The Naas Rd plant is significant though. The shopstewards at the plant egged on by Siptu bureaucrat Anne Speed ran a very public campaign against the boycott of Coca Cola. Their position oscillated between giving Coke a clean bill of health and claiming that their differences were merely tactical. When pressed on the issue, Siptu were unwilling to say that they believed that Coke may be guilty, despite them being in possession of private correspondence from the IUF which recognised that in the case of the murder of Segundo Gil there does seem to be substance to the allegations.

Siptu intervened in the students’ referenda and also turned up at public meetings claiming that the boycott was wrong. They opted increasingly to concentrate on the threat to jobs that the boycott would result in. Their reaction to the closure announcement is therefore very interesting.

First they have stated that it is as result of a failure in Government policy not to hang on to manufacturing jobs in the south. This ignores that either way workers in Ireland both north and south would be hit by the decision one way or the other. So much for class solidarity (It should be borne in mind that Anne Speed often demanded her version of this from the boycott campaign). They seem to have no interest in blaming a company which in order to maximise profits is about to close down a number of its facilities in Ireland.

Their response and proposals for action are also interesting. “The Union has made representations both to the management of Coca Cola and the Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment with a view to maximising the employment content in Coca Cola’s development plans.”

The plan of action is mere representations. During the boycott campaign, it was said that Siptu’s blaming the boycott for possible job losses was Siptu signalling in advance that it had no intention of fighting any such losses. Here we have the living proof. Now that real job losses are on the cards we have a muted reaction from Siptu. If they put half the effort into fighting these losses that they put into running an they might just go somewhere.

The worst part of it all is that Siptu through Anne Speed have stated that “So, even though the company’s investment of €80 million is welcome, there is huge disappointment at the prospect of losing so many jobs”. What sort of union says that an investment plan that reduces the work force is welcome and that they are merely disappointed at losing so many jobs. This contrasts to the insults that were directed at the “petty bourgeois” and “middle class” students and teachers and the “sectarians” on the left

Their reaction contrasts starkly with that of Sinaltrainal whose leadership have not only fought job losses but they even went on hungerstrike. There is no fear of Liberty Hall skipping breakfast for their affiliates in the Naas Rd bottling plant.

The victims in this situation are the workers in the Naas Rd bottling plant who were led up the garden path by the union bureaucracy who encouraged them to engage in a campaign to protect the company’s image and more importantly its market share. Their thanks for this loyal service is the scrap heap and the union which so encouraged them to do so has nothing to say except that its is disappointed and that it “raises serious concerns about the strength of the Government’s commitment to the manufacturing sector of our economy.”

The workers have been repaid for the loyalty with the only coinage a company like Coke knows, “self interest”. It was in the workers interest to show their solidarity with the Colombian counterparts and fight the company. They were prevented from this by the union bureaucracy and instead an alliance was formed with Coke. The price for not standing by their fellow workers has been that when it came their turn there was no one to stand with them, least of all the bureaucrats that so loudly denounced the boycott. Nevertheless, should they mount a campaign to save their jobs they deserve our solidarity. We should not turn our backs on them, as long as our support is not conditional on calling off the boycott.


Gearoid O Loingsigh: Dublin: 29th of April 2005

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 #   Title   Author   Date 
   fired     .    Fri Apr 29, 2005 20:53 
   Comfortable comment     Cokehead    Fri Apr 29, 2005 22:50 
   Coca Cola     John    Fri Apr 29, 2005 23:06 
   Crackpot with Crocodile Tears     Coca Cola Worker    Fri Apr 29, 2005 23:52 
   replies to the confused     Gearoid O Loingsigh    Sat Apr 30, 2005 14:17 
   New cure for hospital crisis     Patient    Sat Apr 30, 2005 19:06 
   serves ye right     the fog    Sat Apr 30, 2005 21:53 
   For those with faulty memories     Expectant    Sun May 01, 2005 16:15 
   Workers solidarity.     Akrasia    Sun May 01, 2005 21:33 
 10   Boycott = Job losses     Barry    Sun May 01, 2005 21:47 
 11   Other equations     Chekov    Sun May 01, 2005 22:02 
 12   ?     Barry    Sun May 01, 2005 22:14 
 13   Checkov is right     John    Mon May 02, 2005 03:16 
 14   where the coke goes     bobcat    Mon May 02, 2005 03:27 
 15   .     .    Mon May 02, 2005 15:16 
 16   to john ( two posts above.)     michael    Mon May 02, 2005 15:25 
 17   FACTS     UCD student    Mon May 02, 2005 15:28 
 18   Some more background     anton    Mon May 02, 2005 17:19 
 19   People vs. Corporations     Don't Drink the Kool-Aid!    Mon May 02, 2005 18:59 
 20   Gerry Lynch and UL     know152    Mon May 02, 2005 20:15 
 21   h     dave    Mon May 02, 2005 23:36 
 22   .     .    Mon May 02, 2005 23:38 
 23   re Dave     Another Dave    Mon May 02, 2005 23:45 
 24   .     the first dave    Tue May 03, 2005 01:02 
 25   -     greg    Tue May 03, 2005 01:25 
 26   degeneration of a debatea and coke's "innocence"     Gearoid O Loingsigh    Tue May 03, 2005 13:18 
 27   Getting Real     know152    Tue May 03, 2005 13:34 
 28   YFG     Gearoid O Loingsigh    Tue May 03, 2005 14:39 
 29   .     greg    Tue May 03, 2005 15:56 
 30   Stop pretending lads     Howard Devoto    Tue May 03, 2005 15:57 
 31   Maturity of the debate     Chekov    Tue May 03, 2005 16:12 
 32   Get the facts right GL     know152    Tue May 03, 2005 16:18 
 33   Chekov - fascinating reading that link.     know152    Tue May 03, 2005 18:13 
 34   O Loinsigh no longer using LASC name?     Simon Bolivar    Wed May 04, 2005 00:45 
 35   exports     bobcat    Wed May 04, 2005 01:30 
 36   Limerick loser loses plot     John South    Wed May 04, 2005 02:03 
 37   The 'left' defence of coke     John North    Wed May 04, 2005 02:52 
 38   Better Water up North?     Anthony G    Wed May 04, 2005 14:27 
 39   who is the person willing to try to pretend     wow    Wed May 04, 2005 14:39 
 40   earth to wow     know152    Wed May 04, 2005 15:13 
 41   Coke argument re colombia is basically     wow    Wed May 04, 2005 15:50 
 42   No response to trade union visit to Colombia     James Moriarty    Wed May 04, 2005 18:01 
 43   your logos were good but the campaign was flawed     anton    Wed May 04, 2005 18:31 
 44   explanations     Gearoid O Loingsigh    Wed May 04, 2005 19:55 
 45   Colombia and South Africa     know152    Fri May 06, 2005 13:55 
 46   The difference     Chekov    Fri May 06, 2005 14:18 
 47   United we stand, divide we fall     know152    Fri May 06, 2005 16:52 
 48   know 152     Thomas    Fri May 06, 2005 16:57 
 49   Failure?     Howard Devoto    Fri May 06, 2005 17:17 
 50   Likes and dislikes     know152    Fri May 06, 2005 17:59 
 51   Whatever     Moi    Fri May 06, 2005 18:02 
 52   Larry Levan would have been for the coke boycott (Coca-cola that is)     Howard Devoto    Fri May 06, 2005 18:15 
 53   Philpot Stewpot     know152    Fri May 06, 2005 18:36 
 54   .     john    Mon May 09, 2005 23:30 
 55   Ah, is that contempt for democracy I hear?     Howard Devoto    Tue May 10, 2005 18:36 
 56   .     john    Wed May 11, 2005 01:31 
 57   Churchill     Historian    Wed May 11, 2005 14:49 
 58   Support by Colombian workers     Matthew Stiles    Thu May 12, 2005 00:53 
 59   Apologies     Matthew Stiles    Thu May 12, 2005 00:55 
 60   .     john    Thu May 12, 2005 02:32 
 61   In a mean-spirited comment from "John South"     R. Isible    Thu May 12, 2005 02:44 
 62   Look at the poster in the link     anto    Thu May 12, 2005 14:42 
 63   No support, or no boycott     know152    Thu May 12, 2005 18:23 
 64   Yawn     no153    Fri May 13, 2005 14:56 
 65   Not just Colombia     Joe    Fri May 13, 2005 15:51 
 66   boycott the boycott     anton    Fri May 13, 2005 16:20 
 67   More lies     no153    Fri May 13, 2005 17:31 
 68   any word from sinaltrainal on this?     anton    Sat May 14, 2005 17:27 
 69   just for the record     amanda allaway (nipsa member)    Sat May 14, 2005 19:57 
 70   Let's hear position of SP and SWP . What does Joe Higgins say about it?     anton    Sun May 15, 2005 15:59 
 71   Nobody as far as i can see     notna    Sun May 15, 2005 16:44 
 72   And we are still waiting to hear about the progress of the boycott     know152    Sun May 15, 2005 19:40 
 73   anton     amanda allaway    Sun May 15, 2005 21:58 
 74   amanda     anton    Mon May 16, 2005 17:37 
 75   Coke campaign in Colombia     Matthew Stiles    Mon May 16, 2005 23:31 
 76   They already did, "Anton"     Tom    Tue May 17, 2005 16:49 
 77   Who said this?     Chekov    Tue May 17, 2005 17:05 
 78   response     anton    Thu May 19, 2005 17:31 
 79   Hey Anton     Stuntman    Thu May 19, 2005 17:47 
 80   "Anton" give us a break     Speedwatch    Thu May 19, 2005 17:58 
 81   Yet more lies from Speed     Tom    Thu May 19, 2005 18:02 
 82   Anton's funny mind     Chekov    Thu May 19, 2005 18:06 
 83   Consumer ???     Gypsy Davy    Fri May 20, 2005 14:45 
 84   tactic ?     anton    Fri May 20, 2005 16:08 
 85   No, sorry     chekov    Fri May 20, 2005 16:12 
 86   tactics chekov     anton    Fri May 20, 2005 17:18 
 87   Hey anton     Speed Kills    Fri May 20, 2005 17:27 
 88   That sound you hear is anton scraping the bottom of the barrell     eeekkkk    Fri May 20, 2005 17:31 
 89   but....     amanda    Fri May 20, 2005 17:36 
 90   becoming unhinged     Chekov    Fri May 20, 2005 17:39 
 91   to speed kills     anton    Fri May 20, 2005 17:42 
 92   I dare you anton to quote any slanders in quotation marks and source them.     eeekkkk    Fri May 20, 2005 17:45 
 93   Boycotting is my choice     Speed Kills    Fri May 20, 2005 17:46 
 94   And the paid troll knocks off work at 5pm     eeekkkk    Fri May 20, 2005 18:26 
 95   Aye eeekkkk     Speed Kills    Fri May 20, 2005 18:49 
 96   response     anton    Fri May 20, 2005 19:20 
 97   Worker's Coke     Pol    Fri May 20, 2005 19:27 
 98   Anton the concerned siptu bureaucrat shoots him?self in the head     eeekkkkkk    Fri May 20, 2005 19:31 
 99   Bad little Anton working late for co-co corp     eeekkkk    Fri May 20, 2005 19:36 
 100   reponse     anton    Fri May 20, 2005 21:12 
 101   anton's dirty money and flights of fantasy     eeeekkkkk    Fri May 20, 2005 21:35 
 102   eeeeek     anton    Fri May 20, 2005 22:08 
 103   Doktor Anton Spins Again while vomiting more lying crap     anybody    Fri May 20, 2005 23:07 
 104   Is it any wonder the status quo has nothing to fear from the left in Ireland     know152    Sat May 21, 2005 15:55 
 105   eeek etc     anton    Sat May 21, 2005 17:12 
 106   response     anton    Sat May 21, 2005 18:57 
 107   Is this our anton?     Curious    Mon May 23, 2005 16:02 
 108   SCABS!     LOL    Mon May 23, 2005 21:20 
 109   Fighting an image     John South    Tue May 24, 2005 01:58 
 110   One Solution.... errrm Something Or Other!!!!     R. Isible    Tue May 24, 2005 13:41 
 111   We must do something. This is something. Therefore we must do this.     John South    Tue May 24, 2005 16:29 
 112   Hmmm     Lord Erne    Tue May 24, 2005 16:37 
 113   No word ?!     Lady Erne    Tue May 24, 2005 16:52 
 114   Something for R.Isible to consider     John South    Tue May 24, 2005 18:30 
 115   More for R.Isible (and Uncle Tom Cobbly and all)     John South    Tue May 24, 2005 18:40 
 116   International Viagra Boycott Campaign Launched     Very Rev Brendan Devine    Wed May 25, 2005 14:00 
 117   No laughing Matter     John Snort    Wed May 25, 2005 14:22 
 118   Thanks John South     R. Isible    Wed May 25, 2005 16:44 
 119   LIfe is a trial Mr Risible     Joe 'po face' Stalin    Wed May 25, 2005 19:52 
 120   Sean South or is it John or Joe     Curious    Thu May 26, 2005 10:23 
 121   Closer to Joe than Sean     John South    Thu May 26, 2005 10:57 
 122   Ladandaladandadada, Ladandaladandadada (further Clarification)     John South    Thu May 26, 2005 11:41 
 123   Personal virtue     R. Isible    Thu May 26, 2005 14:20 
 124   Spot on R     Trade Unionist    Thu May 26, 2005 14:25 
 125   Answer to R.Isible (who is possibly not such a bad chap) - typos corrected (2)     John South    Thu May 26, 2005 17:43 
 126   cut - support or not     amanda    Thu May 26, 2005 18:32 
 127   Cut do not support boycott     John South    Thu May 26, 2005 18:58 
 128   consensus     anton    Sat May 28, 2005 14:55 
 129   John South     amanda    Sun May 29, 2005 21:52 
 130   "Only trouble is those awkward coke workers . If only they'd go away ."     Little Drummer Boy    Mon May 30, 2005 13:00 
 131   New heights of deranged dishonesty from Ann Speed and co     Tim    Mon May 30, 2005 14:26 
 132   Speed intends to do nothing, and doesn't like having this pointed out     Speedwatch    Mon May 30, 2005 14:31 
 133   Comedian     Joe (says no to acid) Stalin    Mon May 30, 2005 17:04 
 134   Here's a little number right up someone's street     anton    Mon May 30, 2005 17:59 
 135   Yeah, real funny     Tim    Mon May 30, 2005 21:59 
 136   Dim Tim     Smart Alec    Tue May 31, 2005 15:04 
 137   Half-witted Alec     Tim    Tue May 31, 2005 17:04 
 138   Oh yeah Tim, care to reconsider?     Smart Alec    Tue May 31, 2005 18:53 
 139   Thanks for that     Tim    Tue May 31, 2005 19:03 
 140   Dim Dim Dim Dim DIm     Smart Alec    Tue May 31, 2005 19:10 
 141   Trespassing     know152    Tue May 31, 2005 19:18 
 142   Dimmer, and shameless too     Tim    Tue May 31, 2005 19:25 
 143   Refund     Smart Alec    Tue May 31, 2005 19:53 
 144   Logic     Tim    Tue May 31, 2005 20:48 
 145   Sinking to new lows (or old ones)     Smart (but sad) Alec    Tue May 31, 2005 22:47 
 146   Official scab on the face of the unions     R. Isible    Tue May 31, 2005 23:16 
 147   Ludicrous     Smart Alec    Wed Jun 01, 2005 08:33 
 148   Vitriolic stupidity of non-smart alec     R. Isible    Wed Jun 01, 2005 10:11 
 149   Off the wall     Smart Alec    Wed Jun 01, 2005 10:56 
 150   For SINALTRAINAL     Oldie    Wed Jun 01, 2005 17:07 
 151   .     joe    Fri Jun 03, 2005 16:37 
 152   Go away you silly little man, nobody is interested in hearing you moan     Boycotter    Fri Jun 03, 2005 18:23 
 153   No revisiting     know152    Mon Jun 06, 2005 21:35 


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