Colombian Glass Workers Fight against Union-Busting

At a critical moment for ICEM’s glass worker affiliate in Colombia, Sintravidricol, write to the company management that is attempting to crush the union at the Cogua Cundimarca plant, the largest in Colombia. The US-based glass packaging manufacturer Owens Illinois has a long history of mistreatment of its Colombian employees, with violations including reducing workforce levels to dangerous levels, increased worktime with no rest, no worker replacements, outsourcing sections of the manufacturing process, acting unilaterally and ignoring union offers of cooperation, repeated breach of the collective agreement, and causing unsafe working conditions. Owens Illinois, the company that monopolises the industry in Colombia is now pushing hard to destroy the Sintravidricol union inside Owens Illinois by systematically replacing Sintravidricol members in permanent jobs with outsourced contract and agency jobs. Some of the workers being laid off have worked ten years at the company, and only now are being dismissed because of company policy to get rid of the union.