Workers protest pay rise

 By RIGGO NANGAN

THE management of soft drink giant  Coca-Cola Amatil (PNG) Ltd (CCA) has not responded to demands by workers for a pay rise.

The workers had demanded last Friday to be given better conditions to meet the rising cost of living and were told that the company would respond the next day.

CCA did not respond and as of yesterday said that an answer would be given tomorrow.

Production workers from all levels, including supervisors, staged a protest in front of the company’s headquarters at Milfordhaven Road – which halted production for almost an hour – last Friday to air their grievances.

Nightshift workers were joined by their day colleagues and called on the management to address their issue which, they claimed, had been outstanding since last year.

National human resource manager Raymond Lohia met with them briefly and asked five of their representatives to meet with him in his office for a round table discussion.   

The workers said the company had sponsored a lot of events, some of them major, around the country but it had not looked after most of its employees.

They said prices of goods and services have sky-rocketed and they were finding it hard to keep up with the cost of  living.

They said school fees and other related expenses “were coming around again” and they could not afford them.

Some said they have been with the company for more than 10 years but have not seen improvement in conditions. 

Lohia said yesterday that they would  meet with workers tomorrow to discuss the issue further “because January and February were the reviewing time for the company”.