maoists shut down coke production in nepal

from upi: Followers of Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong managed to shutdown the sole bottler of Coke in Nepal over an ongoing employment dispute.

The Times of India reported that since Saturday, a Maoist labor union has effectively shut down two bottling plants owned by Bottlers Nepal in an attempt to force the Coke producer to rehire 55 contract workers.

The 55 workers had been recently laid off from plants in the Nepalese cities of Kathmandu and Bharatpur, ultimately leading to the labor standoff.

The movement by the Maoist group against worker exploitation comes as Coke is beginning an international mobile campaign aimed at promoting its carbonated products.

The standoff also marks the second such occurrence in the area for a soft drink company after Pepsi recently encountered a similar incident.

The paper said earlier this month, Varun Beverages, Nepal's Pepsi bottler, lost nearly a week of production after a Maoist union held back workers seeking better facilities and permanent positions.