US-based snack and beverage giant PepsiCo has rejected an offer by the US government to help mediate the conflict with the IUF over human rights abuses at warehouse operations in West Bengal, India. Why is the company afraid to talk to the IUF? CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO PEPSICO!

Between January 5 and April 30, 2013, 162 workers of 170 employed at three West Bengal warehouses contracted exclusively by PepsiCo were dismissed or compelled to resign solely as a consequence of exercising their right to join a union. In May 2013, they were allowed to return to work, but under conditions that strip them of their human rights.

Despite threats, harassment and economic hardship, 28 of these unfairly dismissed workers refused to surrender their rights. In August 2013 they formed the PepsiCo (Frito-Lays) Workers Action Committee and escalated the campaign. In November, the IUF filed a formal complaint against the company with the US government's National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises. The IUF alleged, and documented, multiple violations of the Guidelines, particularly of the chapters on human rights and employment and industrial relations. The NCP accepted the submission and offered both parties the opportunity to seek a solution with the help of a mediator. The IUF welcomed the offer; PepsiCo turned its back.

The official reason given by the company to the NCP is available on the NCP website http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/226493.pdf. PepsiCo's ostensible reasons for rejecting mediation are contradictory, evasive and in the IUF's view, an open admission of the company's refusal to carry out the "human rights due diligence" - essentially the process of identifying and remediating real or potential human rights abuses - which the Guidelines require of transnational companies. PepsiCo's rejection of mediation means the company continues to breach the Guidelines.

CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO PEPSICO demanding unconditional reinstatement of the 28 workers with full back pay and full recognition of their trade union rights and remediation of human rights abuses by talking to the IUF.