PepsiCo: SNAC’s Battle for Fair Elections
Companies like PepsiCo, Pirelli, and ICATECH are experiencing intense union processes. Despite efforts by unions seeking recognition in PepsiCo, workers chose not to vote due to alleged employer interference. SNAC’s leader, Alejandro Martínez Araiza, highlighted several irregularities during the voting process for a collective bargaining contract:
- Direct employer and legal counsel interference
- Inflated voter rolls with non-workplace personnel
- Simulated contracts to dilute legitimate majorities
- Threats, vote-buying, and dismissals of dissident leaders and delegates
- Defamation campaigns through media, social networks, and workplaces
Although SNAC leads in numbers, formal complaints have been filed with the U.S. Department of Labor and international labor rights organizations, documenting systematic violations of free trade unionism and Mexico’s T-MEC commitments.
Pirelli: Unresolved Union Status
Despite union efforts for recognition at Pirelli, workers opted not to vote due to irregularities, particularly since only two of the three competing unions could participate. The Liga Sindical Mexicana was excluded, leaving only the Sindicato Miguel Trujillo or Carlos Leone and recently victorious General Motors’ representative Juan José Villela.
A worker stated, “We decided not to vote to continue denouncing fraud and allow the third union’s participation.” The Liga Sindical Mexicana claims that Judge Román Jaimes Carbajal unlawfully excluded them from the Pirelli Neumáticos vote in Silao, Guanajuato, creating an inflated voter roll based on employer-provided information.
ICATECH: Workers’ Rights Under Threat
Workers at the Instituto de Capacitación y Vinculación Tecnológica del Estado de Chiapas (ICATECH) have denounced the director’s attempts to obstruct their right to choose union representation.
Since SUTICATECH’s registration in 2021, the institute’s leadership, César Arturo Espinosa Morales, has employed various strategies to prevent SUTICATECH and its members from exercising their union rights. The institute filed an Amparo in June 2021 against SUTICATECH’s authorization to operate as a union, which was dismissed by the Chiapas court.
Despite attempts to hold worker votes, the institute impugned employee registrations, delaying the process. This action contradicts the 2019 labor reform’s spirit, as it sought to annul a legitimate union’s constancy certificate.
Key Questions and Answers
- What are the main issues in PepsiCo’s union processes? SNAC alleges employer interference, including direct involvement of management and legal counsel, inflated voter rolls, simulated contracts, threats, vote-buying, dismissals, and defamation campaigns.
- Why didn’t Pirelli workers vote for union representation? Workers chose not to vote due to irregularities, with only two of the three competing unions able to participate. The Liga Sindical Mexicana was excluded, leaving Sindicato Miguel Trujillo or Carlos Leone and Juan José Villela.
- What challenges does SUTICATECH at ICATECH face? The institute’s leadership has attempted to prevent SUTICATECH from exercising union rights through various strategies, including filing an Amparo against their authorization and impugning employee registrations to delay votes.
