Coca-Cola axes layoff plan and offers buyouts for workers

Under pressure, Coca-Cola backed off on Tuesday over its plans to lay off some 750 workers and announced that it will offer voluntary buyouts for employees.

Nevertheless, Coca-Cola Iberian Partners said that it will still close its four bottling plants in Fuenlabrada, Palma de Mallorca, Asturias and Alicante as it had previously announced. “For the voluntary buyouts, workers will be offered 45 days’ salary for each year worked, with a 42-month maximum, plus an additional 10,000 euros,” the bottling company said in a statement.

Still, union leaders said they will not agree to this latest offer if company officials continue with their plan to close the four bottling plants.

Workers have been staging various public protests across the country, which have become a public relations nightmare for the transnational soft-drink company. In one protest, a group of nude male workers, with their faces covered and holding anti-layoff signs, uploaded a video on YouTube.