Peru: food unions fight employer push for 12-hour shifts

Some of the largest food companies in Peru are using the COVID-19 crisis to impose 12-hour shifts, despite government regulations which establish an 8 PM to 5 AM curfew, limit the workweek to 48 hours and mandate negotiations on any changes to work practices. The IUF-affiliated Federation of Food Industry Workers (FNT-CGTP-ABA) is fighting back, and demands strict measures to protect wokrer health and safety.

In an interview published by the IUF Latin American regional secretariat, union leaders named breakfast cereal maker Global Alimentos and bottler CBC among the companies which have announced they will impose 12-hour shifts. Packaging manufacturers San Miguel Industrias Pet informed the union general secretary that workers had to choose between losing their jobs or working the 12-hour shifts.

The union advocates suspension of non-essential food products and strict measures to respect physical distancing where production continues.