Teamsters Local 727 Files Unfair Labor Practices Against Coca-Cola Refreshments

Teamsters Local 727 on Tuesday filed numerous unfair labor practice charges against Coca-Cola Refreshments, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), that include bargaining in bad faith, intimidation of workers with baseball bats and unilaterally changing contract terms and working conditions.

Local 727 represents more than 300 warehouse and production workers and transport drivers at Coca-Cola Refreshments facilities in Niles and Alsip. The union and the company have met for nine bargaining sessions since October to try to come to terms on a new contract. Without offering reasonable proposals, Coca-Cola Refreshments management has repeatedly delayed negotiations and ignored information requests as the current Teamster contract nears expiration on December 1.

“Coca-Cola Refreshments has committed one egregious unfair labor practice after another in an attempt to derail contract negotiations,” said John Coli Jr., President of Local 727. “The Teamsters won’t be intimidated. Our union has a proven record of standing up to corporate bullies to protect working families, and our members in Niles and Alsip won’t be taken advantage of.”

The Teamsters’ unfair labor practice charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board against Coca-Cola Refreshments include:

• Intimidating employees in the workplace with baseball bats
• Threatening employees with job loss for engaging with the union
• Engaging in bad faith bargaining during negotiations
• Surface bargaining with no intention of reaching a new agreement, including
  Coca-Cola Refreshments’ use of delay tactics and insistence on harsh and unreasonable proposals
• Soliciting contract proposals directly from Coca-Cola Refreshments workers
• Unilaterally changing the terms and conditions of the current collective bargaining agreement still in effect
• Refusing to fulfill multiple information requests from the union

Final negotiations are scheduled for November 30 between Coca-Cola Refreshments and the Local 727 Bargaining Committee of Teamster representatives and rank-and-files members.

Teamsters Local 727 is an affiliate of Teamsters Joint Council 25, America’s premier labor union for Chicago, Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Category: BEVERAGE, Union News