21 December, 2017Workers at Cormecanica Renault Chile have won a major pay victory after a 15-day strike and other actions.
Union Nº1 at Cormecanica Renault Chile (affiliated to Industrial Chile-Constramet, in turn affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union) has reached agreement with the company at the Los Andes plant and ended the strike and other action that it began on 4 December.
Industrial Chile-Constramet gave the local union continuous support and solidarity, attending a series of mass meetings held by the workers and demonstrations outside the company gates.
“The pressure put on by the workers resolved a very complicated and difficult situation. The company agreed to an approximately 4 per cent pay rise and a US$2,000 end of dispute bonus,”
explained Miguel Soto, Industrial Chile-Constramet’s general secretary.
The union and the company have been negotiating for six months. The plant’s 373 workers requested a pay rise, improved benefits and better working conditions.
The company’s initial offer fell far short of union demands and it only reached an agreement after the union took action.
The workers always said they were open to dialogue and would negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement and end the strike.
Marino Vani, IndustriALL Regional Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, praised the workers’ victory and said:
“We congratulate the workers at Cormecanica Renault Chile for their just and strategic struggle, and our affiliate, Industrial Chile-Constramet, for its support of this legal strike”.
IndustriALL has a Global Framework Agreement with the Renault group, which sets out the company’s commitments to ILO labour standards, including freedom of association and neutrality. It contains a number of major improvements, in particular concerning skills, training, health and safety and diversity.