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COCA-COLA WORKERS STRIKE FOR ‘FAMILY VALUES’

Feb 22nd, 1998 • Posted in: News

MASSACHUSETTS
Workers at three Boston-area Coca-Cola plants won a partial victory in what has been dubbed a “family values strike.” After Coca-Cola announced the elimination of two holidays from most worker’s calendars, 525 bottlers, drivers and machinists — claiming a further erosion of already scarce time with their families — walked off the job.

Coca-Cola has agreed to amend the schedule, reinstating one holiday and granting two personal days as compensation for holiday labor. Workers returned to the job even though some of their demands were not met, and one returning worker told the Christian Science Monitor that employees will continue to push for more family time in future contract talks.

Such concerns are not limited to Coke. Observers note that recent economic trends have increased time on the job, and time-starved workers must often cope with 60-to-70-hour work-weeks, family members assigned to different eight-hour shifts, and inadequate childcare and eldercare.

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