Having equal pay is what we are after because we are delivering the same [products].
For months, workers have been demanding an end to a multinational beverage corporation’s alleged unequal treatment of its workforce in Mindanao.
The Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Coca-Cola (SAMACOKE) and Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng Buong Lohistika at Distribusyon ng Coca-Cola Southern at Central Mindanao (NMLDCC-SCM), both affiliated with the Federation and Cooperation of Cola, Beverage, and Allied Industry Unions (FCCU), have been in negotiations with Coca-Cola Europacific Aboitiz Philippines (CCEAP) for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to have equal benefits and wage hikes as their Luzon counterparts.
Edmond*, a Davao City resident and who has been in the company for decades, told Bulatlat that a major concern is the alleged unfair implementation of parameters for workers’ performance incentives. He said that they need to accomplish three certain parameters but this was allegedly not similar to a manufacturing site based in Luzon which requires only one parameter.
“The situation has been reversed. We are the vintage [plant], and we are given parameters that are difficult to achieve,” he said in the vernacular.
Receiving an average P1,500 (US$23.79) of monthly incentive, Edmond said, goes a long way for workers given the increasing prices of basic goods.
Coca-Cola truck drivers in Mindanao, on the other hand, are pushing for an equal reload rate as their Luzon counterparts. Adrian*, who is also a Davao City resident and has been working as a delivery truck driver for the company for more than a decade, said that they get paid P135 (US$2.14) per reload which is too low compared to the supposed reload rate of P265 (US$4.20) in a Coca-Cola manufacturing site in Luzon.
“Having equal pay is what we are after because we are delivering the same [products],” Adrian said in the vernacular.
A reload refers to the second and succeeding delivery of Coca-Cola products to various stores after the first trip. Delivery truck drivers, Adrian said, considered it as their overtime pay.
Both unions also pushed for a P50 (US$0.79) daily wage hike, the same amount allegedly granted to the employees working at the same Luzon-based manufacturing site in 2023. In that year, Edmond said that they were forced to accept the offer of a P40 (US$0.63) increase in daily salary after the provision of other benefits which were also essential for them.
Their last CBA expired in October 2025 but the formal negotiations for a new bargaining agreement started in April this year after it got delayed. As of this writing, both parties have yet to conclude negotiations.
The United Coca-Cola Logistics Employees Association of North Mindanao (UCLEANMINDA-FCCU), covering workers from Misamis Oriental and the cities of Iligan, Butuan, and Zamboanga, is facing a separate issue as the company allegedly refused to bargain.
Jasper Mabuloc, UCLEANMINDA-FCCU president, said that their union was certified as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent (SEBA) of the employees in July. But he said that the company allegedly could not proceed with the negotiation since there was a petition filed by the previous labor union—which allegedly opposed having an election—before the secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
The CBA of the previous labor union was also until 2028. “The appeal made by the previous labor union was being used to delay the negotiations,” Mabuloc told Bulatlat in the vernacular. “New union, new CBA.”
Like the NMLDCC-SCM members, the union of Mabuloc also echoed the call for equal reload pay for delivery truck drivers in Mindanao.
Coca-Cola workers have been doing peaceful demonstrations outside their workplace, putting protest banners to voice out their concerns. SAMACOKE is also planning to file a complaint to DOLE after some of their banners were recently taken down by unidentified individuals.
Some protest banners put up by Coca-Cola workers outside the firm’s Davao Distribution Center 2 in Davao del Sur were taken down by unidentified individuals. Photo from Coke Bitter Taste: End Disparity at Work’s Facebook page
“There should be no disparity because according to what they have said, they nationalized and standardized the implementation of their programs. They should follow,” Edmond said in the vernacular.
Bulatlat reached out to the Coca-Cola company through email on October 18, seeking comments on the alleged disparity of pay and benefits. There was no response as of this posting.
SAMACOKE and NMLDCC-SCM already filed notices of strike. If the company does not have an appropriate response to their demands, Edmond and Mabuloc said that they do not have a choice but to launch a work stoppage. (DAA)
*Real names withheld upon request because of fear of possible reprisal.
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