Killer Coke: Time for a Boycott?
Published by michael March 27th, 2005 in politics, environment, law
In an article entitled: Coke: The New Nike the Nation magazine reports that students in the U.S. (and other countries) are backing a Colombian workers’ union pleas to boycott Coke for human rights abuses. Apparently six colleges and universities are on-board, cancelling contracts and banning vending machines from the company.
At Smith college in February, Javier Correa, president of the Colombian union SINALTRAINAL explained the case of
Isidro Gil, who was shot dead in 1996 at the bottling plant; a week later, paramilitaries entered the plant and forced workers to sign letters of resignation from the union at gunpoint. Coca-Cola directly controls the bottling facilities through their contracts, said Correa, who says he has himself escaped three assassination attempts. “It’s clear they have the power to stop what’s happening.
The article then goes on to quote the P/R person for Coke (Lori George Billingsley), who denies the charges, yet says they won’t agree to an independent murder investigation. The thumbnail above is a picture of Isidro Gil, which on www.killercoke.org is juxtaposed with a mugshot of the former Coca-Cola CEO, Douglas Daft.
The article goes on to summarize the various universities that are debating cancelling millions of dollars worth of contracts with the company, including NYU, Rutgers, and the University of Michigan. Students speak of the way that global trade by its very structure places corporate profit ahead of people and communities. Diverse ethical issues around the globe draw other groups into the fray, “adding their voices to the campaign are accusing Coke of child labor in El Salvador, failure to provide healthcare for workers with HIV/AIDS in Africa, [causing drought and pollution in India], (SF Chronicle story here), and even childhood obesity [and dental problems] in the United States.”
From a legal point of view it may still be hard to simultaneously prosecute a company for multiple crimes when the evidence draws on several different countries, this linking in the public’s awareness is critical for people to get a big picture of how reckless many companies are when not regulated by American law.
resources: KillerCoke.org - CokeWatch.org - Colombia Action Network - Students Against Sweatshops
2 Responses to “Killer Coke: Time for a Boycott?”
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Very informative posting, Michael. Thanks—I’m going to have to read more about this. Not too crazy about Coke or its subsidiary products anyway, actually, so boycotting it won’t be too meaningful, but still, good to know.
Thanks Saheli- Yeah It’s harder for me I guess; I’ve had an off and on Coca-Cola habit over the years. This is just the last good reason for me not to buy it at all.