CARACAS, Wednesday November 26, 2008 | Update
Workers reject the delays in the negotiations of the collective bargaining agreement (File Photo: Pablo González / Efe)
Economy
Workers of Venezuela's unit of Coca-Cola FEMSA, a Mexican-based
subsidiary of the US soda drink company, are staging protests
in the states of Apure, Guárico, Sucre, Anzoátegui,
Nueva Esparta and Monagas arguing delays in the negotiations
of the collective bargaining agreement. FEMSA bottles, distributes
and sells Coca-Cola products in nine Latin American countries.
Union leader Luis Serrano reported that the workers held
an assembly on Tuesday from 5:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Barcelona,
Anzoátegui state (northeast Venezuela), as a pressure
mechanism to achieve progress in the discussion of the agreement.
Either way, the agreement between the workers who attended
the meeting is that the discussions of the bargaining agreement
resume at the headquarters of the Ministry of Labor's Inspector
office in Barcelona.
11:00 AM. Economy. Based on the official data, more and more families failed to get out of poverty in 2008; the exclusion status of more people moved faster and fewer people are on their way to overcome this situation. According to the data provided by the official National Statistics Institute (INE), last year the poorest homes in the country recorded an average monthly income of USD 401.82, whereas the food basket amounted to 417.77