Striking Coca-Cola workers in Metro Vancouver caught the company breaking labour laws in apparent effort to keep the soda flowing during a weeks-long shutdown.
“They’ve chosen to break the labour code as part of their contingency plan, which obviously creates a lot of frustration on the lines for my members,” Loyst said. Walsh and his colleagues never stopped working when the COVID-19 pandemic began. In fact, the bottling facility began operating 24-7 to keep up with the steady demand for Coke, A&W root beer and Canada Dry ginger ale. The company’s net sales dipped when the pandemic began, according to its public financial reports, but its profits have rebounded. It reported net revenues of a staggering $43 billion in its most recent fiscal year.
“We can observe them wearing safety vests for work boots and some are wearing COVID masks or hoodies, which seem to hide their identities,” Loyst said. Loyst said the union responded by dispatching members to follow company trucks as they left the plant to see who was driving them. The Teamsters brought a complaint to the BC Labour Relations Board, who issued a bottom-line decision on July 25 stating the company had violated the province’s labour laws and ordering them to stop.Coca-Cola has not faced any fines as a result of the violations, something Loyst believes highlights a flaw in the province’s labour laws.