Labor Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Labor Relations - Essay Example Based on this premise the company maintains good relationship with its employees and this is the basic fact behind the success that the company enjoys at the international level. Every employee of the company, irrespective of the level at which he or she operates, make noticeable contribution to the overall performance of the company. This value is reflected in the activities and policies made at the managerial level of the company, which ensures that the employees are encouraged to put their best efforts so that they might help the company maximize its performance. The organizational leaders have developed the Workplace Rights Policy of the Coca Cola Company by strictly following the international standards for human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work proposed by the International Labor Organization's and also the United Nations Global Compact. This policy is equally applicable to all the members, irrespect ive of the proportion of stake it holds in the company. In all the countries in which the Coca Cola Company operates, it makes sure that the principles strictly abided by the bottling partners of the company, although these companies might operate independently as separate organizations. The company also encourages them to adopt these policies so that these partner organizations might work in a more synchronized manner with the Coca Cola Company. The labor employment policy of the company includes the following major components; freedom of Association, campaign against forced labor, campaign against child labor, freedom of collective bargaining, discrimination among laborers on the basis of cast, race or social status, working hours, proper wage rate, healthy and safe Workplace, security at the workplace and engagement of the stakeholders of the company as well as the entire community (Coca-Cola India, 2010). Labor-related issues Racial discrimination Racial discrimination is a seri ous problem for the multinational corporations. Since they operate in different countries they are required to maintain the traditions and cultures of the regions. Since they utilize the labor force of the relevant country, the management has to be conscious about the about the rights and the demands of the local labor force and make policies that would not hurt the interests of these laborers. In 2000, Coca Cola paid $192.5 million for settling a lawsuit against racial discrimination in the US segment of the company. This was aimed at changing and managing the way minority employees are treated in the country. An allegation made against the company in 2003 said that black skinned population is underrepresented in the top management of the company and they also receive less payment than their white skinned counterparts (Business-Human rights, 2013). Issues with Coca Cola Although the Coca Cola Company has a strong employee policy and believes in maintaining good relationship with la bor unions in all the operating segments in the world, the company has faced strict criticism from the public, the media and other international watchdogs. In some of the countries in which the company operates, it has been charged of providing degraded working conditions to the workers and also accused of inhuman behavior with the labor union leaders. Particularly, in the