Peru

On 21 November 2020, Luis Samán, general secretary of the Sindicato Nacional de Obreros de la Unión de Cervecerías Peruanas Backus y Johnston, received a dismissal letter from the company (Unión de Cervecerías Peruanas Backus and Johnston S.A.A). The Peruvian subsidiary ofAB InBev accused him of damaging the image of the company by pointing out the lack of health and safety measures provided for AB InBev Backus employees during the COVID-19 national emergency. On 23 November, the union’s press secretary, Jhon Gutarra, received a five-day suspension for no objective reason.

During the pandemic, the union worked to negotiate measures to mitigate the economic impact to avoid the lay-off of workers, but when negotiations failed, Backus and Johnson attempted to force workers to sign individual agreements. As a result of the union’s campaign, no worker signed.

On 1 June 2020, Falabella, a Chilean multinational home retailer, unfairly dismissed 22 warehouse workers in Peru who had requested health and safety protections against the coronavirus. After a brief closure, the retailer had reopened its Peruvian distribution centre in early May 2020, despite workers’ and their union SUTRASAF’s concerns about inadequate health and safety protections. For example, the company only gave workers a single mask per week. These unsafe conditions led Falabella workers to exercise their legal right to refrain from work until the company enacted proper measures. When the workers returned to their jobs, they were handed out pre-dismissal letters and suspended, to be later summarily fired. Meanwhile, workers reported at least 30 COVID-19 cases in the facility of 300 people.