Venezuela Femsa Unit Suffered $21.4M Loss On Blockade

The Venezuela unit of Coca-Cola Femsa SAB (KOF) suffered $21.4 million in losses due to a 12-day blockade of its plants by picketers, El Universal daily reported Friday. The picketers agreed on Thursday to lift their blockade and allow the government to mediate in their dispute with the Venezuelan unit of Coca-Cola Femsa, the newspaper reported. Since 2006, when the picketers started intermittent blockades of Femsa's production and distribution plants in Venezuela, the company has lost $50.5 million due to the protests, El Universal reported. This is at least the third time this year that the operations of Femsa in Venezuela have been affected by a labor dispute that stems from former distributors who are demanding compensation as retired company workers. The company insists that the distributors only had a business relationship with it and weren't official employees.