Caracas, June 10 - Former workers demanding back pay blocked the entrances to all plants owned by Coca-Cola's subsidiary in Venezuela and halted production of the soda, the company said on Tuesday.
About 2,500 former workers began their protest on Saturday at four plants and 24 distribution centers belonging to the Venezuelan unit of Mexican-based Coca-Cola Femsa, the company said.
Company spokesman Ignacio Mayorca said this and similar actions in the long-running labor dispute has so far cost Coca Cola Femsa about $15 million this year.
"This brings consequences not only for production. It also affects the workers," Mayorca said.
The former workers have been battling with Coca-Cola Femsa for years, demanding roughly $520 million, or 1.5 times the value of the entire Venezuelan subsidiary.
They have occasionally called on the socialist government of President Hugo Chavez to nationalize the company.
Also known as KOF, the Mexican bottler is the second-largest Coke maker in the world. It employs abut 8,000 workers in Venezuela.