4 July, 2011
Restructuring at three Colombian plants of the US-based glass packaging manufacturer Owens Illinois has led to a situation for members of ICEM-affiliated Sintravidricol being dangerously over-stretched to sustain the work load.
There are almost no personnel replacements at the plants in Envigado, Cogua and Soacha, resulting in increased overtime, employees working without rest, and overexertion. Sintravidricol presented a study into the problem to management in September-November 2010, but the unsustainable situation has not been rectified.
Instead of working towards a solution together with Sintravidricol, Owens Illinois local management has moved to fill holes with outsourced contract labour, making repeated unilateral decisions to outsource sections of the manufacturing process. These processes of outsourcing have forced workers at various stages of the production line to be relocated. Moving the work away from the directly employed workers, in areas such as machine repair and moulding, is in breach of the collective bargaining agreement.
While Owens Illinois have continuously avoided the union’s pleas for dialogue, Sintravidricol has been forced into lodging a complaint at the Colombian Ministry of Labour.
In further breach of the collective agreement, the company has ended the fixed-term contractual status of workers in the cold area, again causing health and safety concerns for remaining staff who have to cover the gaps, causing severe disruption of the operational process.
Sintravidricol are calling on the international management of Owens Illinois to meet with them on a biannual basis, and are seeking avenues with the Colombian government. Social bargaining and mature systems of industrial relations must be employed by Colombian management at Owens Illinois, to work with Sintravidricol towards solving these dangerous issues for workers.