Pascual Boing

Pascual Boing

Type	Workers’ cooperative
Industry	Beverage
Founded	1940; 77 years ago (1940)
Founder	Rafael Victor Jiménez Zamudo
Headquarters	Mexico City, Mexico
Area served	Mexico, United States, Canada, Central and South America and China
Products	soft drinks, fruit pulp, juices, nectars and milk
Number of employees	5000
Website	Company website

Pascual Boing is a Mexican soft drink maker mostly known for its fruit flavored beverages marketed under the Pascual, Boing! and Lulú brands. The enterprise was begun in 1940 and successfully held against the entrance of foreign competitors in the Mexican market. However, continued labor disputes led to a strike in 1982, which ended in 1985 with the workers obtaining the right to take over the company, running it as a cooperative. Since then, it has remained a profitable business although it has lost market share in Mexico, due to competition from Coca-Cola and Pepsi. This has prompted the company to protest unfair practices which exclude it from retail venues as well as look abroad to new markets, especially in the United States.

The company was originally a private enterprise, started in 1940 by Rafael Victor Jiménez Zamudo. In the 1960s, Jíménez began using tetra paks and acquired its Northern plant from Canada Dry, along with a franchise to produce and market these products. From its beginnings to the early 1980s, the company had tremendous growth with Jiménez very successful in the face of competition from multinational corporations. Two plants were opened in the 1960s. In 1980, the company was fourth in the soft drink market in Mexico. However, the working conditions at the plants were exploitative, with workers obligated to work overtime without pay increases. There had been several attempts to organize workers at the plant due to abuses, but management fired organizers.

In March 1982, the Mexican federal government decreed that all workers, including those in private companies, receive thirty percent wage increases because of the devaluation of the peso. However, Jiménez refused the increase, stating that he could not afford it. Several political activists organized the workers to protest and as 150 workers were fired for participating, all the workers went on strike on May 18, 1982, shutting down operations. On May 31, Jiménez and others confronted the striking workers at the plant in Colonia Tránsito. Violence broke out and two strikers were killed, with seventeen wounded. Jiménez was formally accused of murder but was not prosecuted.

The work stoppage went on for three years. At one point, workers took over the federal arbitration offices, and a formal committee to represent the workers was formed. They gained legal recognition as well a public support for their cause. In 1983, the courts found in favor of the workers in litigation against the company and in 1984, workers met with President Miguel de la Madrid . Jiménez declared the company bankrupt and tried to sell the facilities. However, the workers and federal authorities worked out an arrangement that the workers would take over the company entirely, including facilities and brand. A cooperative called the Sociedad Cooperativa Trabajadores de Pascual S.C.L. was formed on May 27, 1985.