The company purchased six new machines and there are new products being produced, besides the all-time favorites Pepsi, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, and Pepsi Max.

“I’ve argued with the management, saying, if the company was really losing profits, why continue operating here in the Philippines?” Arroyo said.

On December 2007, the company announced that it is selling P1.31 billion (US$47.57 million) worth of shares, to be able to raise P7.9 billion (US$189.7 million) to augment its current capital and assets. Each share will cost around P6.04 (US$0.14).

Its letter informing the Philippine Stock Exchange of its intention to sell shares revealed that the shares would be sold by Guoco Assets Philippines and The Nassim Fund. The shares being offered represent around 36 percent of the company’s capital

The “cooperativization” of PepsiCo

At the peak of the implementation of Project Genesis, the whole workforce of PPCI will be “cooperativized,” the improved version of labor-only-contracting.

“Since labor-only contracting is illegal, pursuant to the existing Labor Laws in the Philippines, this cooperativization scheme will give the said anti-labor practice a legal face,” said Arroyo.

In the cooperativization of the PPCI workforce, the employer-employee relationship will be dissolved by means of “voluntary entry” of workers into a contract with the management, explains Arroyo.

“The management wants to deceive the public and the workers too, that there is a real cooperation happening between the management and its workforce. But, in reality, it is a complete hoax since the workers are deceptively entered into that “cooperativization” contract,” stressed Arroyo.

Since there is already a cooperative existing inside PPCI, the union, apparently, will soon be dissolved, Arroyo added.

Last April 14, the union and the management tried to settle the issue of the closure of warehouses before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board-National Capital Region (NCMB-NCR) in Manila. But it ended up with the workers losing the fight against what they described as illegal closures.

Meanwhile, the workers of PPCI will continue to stage protest actions as part of their campaign against the anti-labor practices of the company. Contributed to (Bulatlat.com)

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