Dear Editor,
As an active trade unionist for more than 30 years, I nonetheless accept that many companies operating out of Ireland are facing serious trading and financial difficulties due to the unprecedented global recession, which has disproportionately affected Irish business.

Leaving behind the past, trade union leaders in Ireland have responded to this recession with pragmatism and openness, leaving the days of the ostrich and Luddite behind. What a pity therefore, that some buoyant and healthily profitable companies, instead of reciprocating this honest and magnanimous acceptance by unions of trading difficulties faced by some employers, are exploiting the recession and attempting to impose negative unilateral change on workforces.

The current industrial dispute at the world's largest beverage company, Coca Cola, which sells more than 1.6 billion units per day world-wide, is a case in point. The company's claim of an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities and initiatives that protect the environment, conservation of resources and enhancement of the economic development of communities where they operate, rings hollow.

Despite its profitability, the company seeks to outsource logistics operations, leading to inferior earnings and a rolling back of hard won working conditions. Informing the workforce that such measures are in the 'best interests of the staff' is like being told you are being fired for your own good.

IBEC, the Irish Business Employers Confederation, whose members have profited considerably from the social partnership, should discourage these exploitative attacks on defenceless workers. If the country's largest trade union, SIPTU, which has endorsed industrial action against Coca Cola, fails to halt this 'race to the bottom', this country is heading for an industrial nightmare.

Yours faithfully,
Derek Kavanagh

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