Turkish Cypriots urged to boycott Pepsi as strike continues

Trade unions in the north have urged Turkish Cypriots to boycott Pepsi and other well-known drinks produced by Ektam, with a strike called on by workers at the company last week still ongoing on Wednesday.

Workers downed tools on Friday claiming that the company had attempted to deprive them of their right to unionise, with the company then hitting back and threatening to fire 39 workers in response.

Trade union Ktams on Wednesday morning said it “condemns” Ektam “for its decision to dismiss workers … who were fighting for their job security and legal rights”.

“We announce to the public that we are boycotting Ektam products until an agreement is reached with the workers,” it said.

Meanwhile, El-Sen, the north’s electricity workers’ trade union, also offered its solidarity to workers at Ektam, saying that it “cannot accept” the threats to dismiss the 39 workers, and that “we strongly condemn this decision”.

“Dismissing workers during a time of economic hardship is unethical. This practice directly affects not only the workers, but also their family … We publicly declare that we are boycotting Pepsi and all related products,” the union said.

The workers had attempted to join a union affiliated with Dev-Is, and a spokesperson for that union had earlier told the Cyprus Mail that the company had been “ignoring the laws” relating to organised labour in the north.

The spokesperson said that the company’s management had then “threatened everyone and attempted to force them to sign resignation letters”.

The workers then refused, with the spokesperson saying that the company’s management had subsequently threatened to close down the factory entirely and lay every single worker off.

Since then, lawyers from PepsiCo based in Turkey have travelled to the island to attempt to resolve the dispute, with the lawyers, representatives of Ektam, representatives of the workers, representatives of the union, and the north’s ‘labour minister’ Oguzhan Hasipoglu having met to attempt to resolve the dispute.

However, no results have been achieved thus far, with the Cyprus Mail understanding that in those meetings, while Hasipoglu attempted to convince Ektam and PepsiCo to engage in direct discussions with the union, Ektam and PepsiCo’s wished to hold discussions with the workers without any trade union presence.

On Monday night, Hasipoglu had said that “there is no reason why unionisation is impossible in the private sector”, and said that the Turkish Cypriot authorities “will investigate any attempts at mass sackings”.

“We have a responsibility to protect the workers, and there is no reason for disengagement … I am acting as a mediator in this process, and I wish to conclude the process through reconciliation, and I do not want it to take too long,” he said.

As well as Pepsi, Ektam is the north’s supplier of 7Up and popular local soft drinks including Pergama flavoured water and Yedigun soda.