Coalition Against Coke Contracts (CACC)

Coca-Cola Kicked out of University of Illinois!

2007-08-06T13:58:00.000-05:00

In another landmark victory for student campaigns against Coca-Cola, the company has been kicked out of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. U of I is the third university this summer -- following Smith College in the U.S. and the Banaras Hindu University in India -- to have terminated its beverage contract with Coca-Cola. Coalition Against Coke Contracts (CACC), the group that led the campaign at UIUC, dedicates this victory to the indomitable fighting spirit of communities ravaged by Coke -- from Colombia to India.

Coca-Cola has been the exclusive beverage provider at the University of Illinois since 1997. According to the terms of the contract, only Coke products were sold on campus. Such monopolistic arrangements have been emblematic of the growing corporatization of education. The contract between University of Illinois and Coca-Cola received much criticism from students, faculty, staff and the local community for, among other reasons, the company's labor & human rights abuse and environmental degradation in India, Colombia, Indonesia and Turkey.

In Colombia, for instance, Coca-Cola's union busting efforts in collaboration with the paramilitaries have resulted in the death of eight union leaders since 1989. Similarly, workers in Coke bottling plants in Turkey and Indonesia have been routinely subjected to violence and intimidation upon attempting to unionize. In India, the company is involved in massive extraction and pollution of ground water. The pollution control board of Kerala, India, has found out that Coca-Cola is responsible for dumping toxic waste into the fields and water around its plants. Further, independent investigations of Coca-Cola products in India have been found to include high levels of pesticides.

For the past two years, CACC, a student & community group in Champaign Urbana has forcefully demanded that the University end its business relationship with Coca-Cola in light of the company's egregious records. It has further demanded a public statement from the administration regarding, what has been stated by Chancellor Hermand as "Coca-Cola's recalcitrance" on the afore-mentioned issues. More than 25 local groups joined the coalition, holding numerous dialogs with the administration and organizing public actions. Even as the current contract with Coca-Cola expired on June 30, CACC organized "the last day of contract" action that involved soda-tasting of a range of locally produced beverages.

For the new beverage contract, the University of Illinois has decided to comply with the State's decision to grant pouring rights to Pepsi. CACC has always been vocal about supporting local businesses and vendors over big corporations. The numerous soda-tasting events organized by CACC over the the past year received an overwhelming response. CACC welcomes the University's decision not to do business with Coca-Cola and hopes that the retail stores outside the contract with Pepsi will take into account the choice of campus community and provide locally manufactured beverages.

Earlier this year, the Urbana Champaign campus made a historic decision to put an end to its racist mascot, thanks to a broad-based campus-wide movement. Non-renewal of the contract with Coca-Cola is another step toward creating a progressive campus. CACC hopes that the University administration will take affirmative steps toward making sure that it does not enter into business relationships with corporations that have no respect for human and labor rights. Finally, the inclusion of progressive student groups in long-term decision making would be a positive way of achieving this.

UIUC Coke Contract Expires, University Yet To Release Plan

2007-06-30T17:58:00.000-05:00

Even as the current contract expires, University of Illinois continues to evade real questions.

The 10-year-long exclusive contract between University of Illinois and Coca-Cola formally ended on June 30, 2007. Despite a strong opposition to the contract from students, faculty, staff and the community, and Coca-Cola's refusal to take responsibility for violating human, labor and environmental rights, the U. of I administration chooses to remain silent.

For the past 2 years the Coalition Against Coke Contracts (CACC) has organized a campaign against the exclusive contract with Coca-Cola. More than 25 groups in Urbana Champaign including academic departments, student and community organizations have endorsed the campaign.

CACC organized 'the last day of contract' action on June 29, 2007 that was well attended. The attendees sampled locally produced beverages and rated those as they enjoyed Paul Kotheimer's innovative performance on various ways to remove Coke machines. The coalition delivered a collective letter to the Chancellor. Urging the university to break its silence, the letter says, "Until we can successfully rid Coca-Cola and its subsidiary products from this campus, the atmosphere which condones the abuses of multinational corporations will fester."

In his response to the action, the chair of Licensing Advisory committee Bill Adams said that the administration has no clear information on what kinds of beverages will be available on the campus from July 1st.

Finally, the following are CACC demands:

1. Do not get into a contract with Coca-Cola, whether exclusive or otherwise.

2. Issue a public statement on the beverage contract for next year.

3. Issue a public statement highlighting Coca Cola's reticence to address serious concerns regarding its business practices.

4. Issue a public statement on the University's commitment to ethics in the business dealings.And here is the rest of it.

6/29: Last Day of the Contract Action

2007-06-27T18:30:00.000-05:00

Even as the Exclusive contract between University of Illinois and Coca-Cola draws to an end this week, the administration fails to disclose the plans after the contract.

Please join us on Friday, June 29th to tell the administration that Coca-Cola must go!

When: Friday, June 29th at Noon
Where: South patio, quad

We will meet on the quad and then march over to Swanlund. Please wear black as a gesture of solidarity to the worldwide campaigns for fair labor and environmental justice.

If you cannot make it to the action, please email/call the office of the Chancellor [rhh@uiuc.edu] [217-3336290] to voice your opposition to the contract with Coca-Cola.

Coke Outta UIUC!

La Casa Cultural Latina at UIUC Removes Coke Machine

2007-06-27T09:18:00.000-05:00

La Casa Cultural Latina at the University of Illinois has removed the Coca-Cola vending machine as a response to student concerns about Coca-Cola's history of labor abuses in Colombia and environmental degradation in India. The Coalition Against Coke Contracts supports La Casa's decision and urges other University departments, cultural houses, and programs to request the removal of Coca-Cola vending machines on their premises.

UK Coca-Cola Workers Take Strike Vote

2007-06-25T21:03:00.000-05:00

Yorkshire Evening Post
By Stuart Robinson

"A ROW over pay will see hundreds of workers at a soft drinks' distribution centre in Wakefield balloted on strike action. Hundreds of staff at the Coca-Cola distribution centre on the 41 Industrial Estate are to be balloted.

Union leaders have today warned that if their members at the site opt to take industrial action, it could have a "devastating effect" on supplies of Coca-Cola and other products to shops, supermarkets, pubs and hotels across the UK."

Click on the title to read more.

Coca-Cola Continues Environmental Abuses in India

2007-06-17T17:21:00.000-05:00

New Delhi, India (June 4, 2007): In a shocking finding, another Coca-Cola bottling plant in India has been found to be operating in complete violation of environmental laws and regulations in India.

A fact-finding team led by the India Resource Center to a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Sinhachawar in the state of Uttar Pradesh issued a report today detailing the violations.

Specifically, the team found that:

* The plant is indiscriminately dumping its sludge, considered to be industrial hazardous waste, across the plant premises, in complete violation of the laws regarding handling and disposal of industrial hazardous waste in India.
* The Effluent Treatment Plant was non-operational, and the bottling plant was discharging its wastewater into surrounding agricultural fields and a canal that feeds into the river Ganges.
* The plant did not disclose the amount of hazardous waste being used and generated, as required by the Supreme Court of India for all industrial units in India that deal with hazardous waste.

The full report with images can be found at Coke Balia Facts (Hindi version)

Such careless disposal of the sludge and the wastewater results in the pollution of the agricultural lands, local water supplies as well as the food chain. At stake are the very lives and livelihoods of thousands of people who live around the bottling plant premises, who are primarily farmers.

The findings are particularly disturbing because the Coca-Cola company has had ample time to align its operations in India with environmental rules and regulations, and it has been rapped for similar wrongdoings before.

In 2003, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India assessed the sludge at eight Coca-Cola bottling plants, and found them all to contain excessive levels of lead, cadmium or chromium. As a result, the CPCB ordered the Coca-Cola company in India to treat its waste as industrial hazardous waste, and deal with it accordingly.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) also tested the sludge around the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Plachimada in Kerala in 2003, and found it to be toxic. The Coca-Cola company was distributing the toxic sludge to farmers as ‘fertilizer’, and was ordered by government authorities to stop the practice after the toxicity of the sludge was confirmed. The BBC report found that the toxins from the sludge had polluted the groundwater.

The bottling plant in Sinhachawar is a Coca-Cola franchisee owned unit operated by the Brindavan Bottlers Limited, which is owned by India’s largest bottler of Coca-Cola, the Ladhani Group of Companies.

“Our lives have been made much more difficult after the Coca-Cola bottling plant began its operations here,” said Mr. Baliram of the locally based Coca-Cola Bhagao, Krishi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (Get Rid of Coke, Save Farming Struggle Committee). “We are demanding that the Coca-Cola plant be shut down immediately and be investigated for any wrongdoing.”

The fact finding team, which included twenty residents from the village of Sinhachawar, also heard complaints of illegal land acquisition by the bottling plant as well as the drying up of water wells and hand water pumps since the bottling plant began operations.

“The Coca-Cola company is announcing to the world that it is an environmentally responsible company, and it has partnered with UN agencies and NGO’s to paint a pretty green picture of itself. But all that is corporate social responsibility gone wrong because the reality on the ground is different. It is littered with toxic waste and a complete disregard and destruction of the way of life as many people in rural India know it,” said Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center.

“Coca-Cola’s track record in India is indicative of an arrogant company that operates with impunity,” said Srivastava.

The Coca-Cola company’s operations in India have been challenged by various communities across India who are experiencing severe water shortages as well as polluted water and land as a result of the company’s practices. The Coca-Cola bottling plant in Plachimada, one of the company’s largest in India, has been shut down since March 2004.

The local campaigns to challenge Coca-Cola in India have found tremendous support internationally, and particularly among college and university students in the US, UK and Canada. Just last week, the prestigious Smith College in the US announced that it will no longer do business with the Coca-Cola company because of concerns in India, ending a five decade relationship with the Coca-Cola company. Over twenty colleges and universities have taken similar actions.

The Central Pollution Control Board has been asked to investigate the pollution at the Sinhachawar bottling plant immediately, and other agencies dealing with water and land have also been asked to intervene in the matter of the offending Coca-Cola bottling plant in Sinhachawar.

The fact finding team has recommended that the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Sinhachawar be shut down immediately to prevent any further damage to the community and the environment.

For more information, visit India Resource Center

Smith College Drops Coca Cola

2007-06-17T17:18:00.000-05:00

Daily Hampshire Gazette, “Convinced of abuses, Smith College severs ties with Coca-Cola,” By Kristin Palpini and Andrew Horton, June 1, 2007

“After a two-year study into Coca-Cola's alleged environmental and labor rights violations, Smith joins 40 colleges and universities nationwide that have barred Coca-Cola from campus. The list of colleges banning Coke includes Hampshire College (which booted Coke in 2006), Simons Rock College in Great Barrington, New York University and Rutgers University. In the letter, Christ cites poor business practices in Colombia and India as reasons why the college has decided not to renew Coca-Cola's contract.

“The Soft Drink Advisory Committee 'looked at the prevailing concerns over the corporation, their environmental practices in India and their labor practices in Colombia, and we decided that what's being said about Coke is right and true,' said Kristen A. Cole, media relations director at Smith.”

Coke Wins Corporate Greenwashing Award

2007-06-17T17:11:00.000-05:00

The Corporate Greenwashing Award is presented to companies that have pushed profits higher while investing millions of dollars into covering up environmentally damaging practices with corporate social responsibility projects. Read More:

World Wildlife Foundation Greenwashes Coke

Coke Claims to be a good corporate citizen

Coke Futher Undermines Colombia Investigation

2007-06-17T17:08:00.000-05:00

June 6th, The Sydney Morning Herald reported: "Employers led by a Coca-Cola executive [Ed Potter] stopped the International Labour Organisation examining violations of workplace rights in Colombia..." Click on the title of this post to read more.

Need a Course for the Fall? Try the Chancellor's Course in Situational Ethics....

2007-05-07T09:31:00.000-05:00

[click on image for larger size]

CACC Action at Swanlund, 4.18.2007

2007-04-19T23:42:00.000-05:00

the message: uiuc admin, get rid of coca cola!

signs commemorating the workers from Colombia killed by Coca Cola.

andrew, dave, and wendy, educating the passerby.

susan, holding it down.

beth, stopping traffic in the coca cola dress.

trey, the man with the big sign.

the wind, not so considerate of our efforts to have a vigil.

the signs abounded.

Questions About Coke's Abuses Still Outnumber Answers at Shareholder's Meeting

2007-04-18T21:29:00.000-05:00

April 18, 2007

WILMINGTON, DE–Protests inside and outside of Coke shareholders’ annual meeting at Hotel DuPont today display growing concern about the corporation’s abuses. Inside the hotel, Coca-Cola shareholders will vote on a proposal to disclose quality test results for its beverages, like the EPA requires for tap water. Outside, people will carry enlarged copies of handwritten letters from elementary school children challenging Coke’s priorities.

Activists with Corporate Accountability International’s Think Outside the Bottle campaign, which challenges the marketing muscle of bottled water corporations, join a broad range of people expressing concern about Coke’s actions outside of the meeting. The group’s members are concerned that aggressive marketing of Dasani and other brand-names leads consumers to choose bottled over tap water.

“Coke promotes Dasani as safer and healthier than tap water,” says Polaris Institute Director Tony Clarke. “Corporate Accountability International’s resolution simply says, ‘prove it.’”

“Corporations like Coke, Nestlé and Pepsi are undermining people’s confidence in an essential public service,” says Corporate Accountability International Associate Campaigns Director Gigi Kellett. “Adding insult to injury, leading bands like Coke’s Dasani and Pepsi’s Aquafina use tap water as their source.”

“In India, Coke drains water from communities that already face shortages,” says R. Ajayan, Convenor of the Plachimada Solidarity Committee. “The communities want Coke to leave.” Next week marks the fifth anniversary of the movement pressuring Coke to close its Plachimada bottling plant. The corporation’s Plachimada and Mehdiganj plants remain the center of international controversy.

Most people won’t have access to enough water within 20 years according to the United Nations. And the EPA projects 36 states will experience water shortages even sooner. Events like the Coca-Cola sponsored EPA conference on Paying for Water Infrastructure in Atlanta last month and the World Water Forum last year promote water privatization as the solution.

“Corporations promote water privatization under the guise of efficiency. But whether it’s Coke or Pepsi bottling our tap water, Nestlé draining groundwater, or Suez taking over municipal water systems, none of these corporations pay the full costs of the public infrastructure they use, the environmental damage they cause or the health problems of the people they hurt,” says Kellett. “There is no substitute for public water. Water is a human right, not a privilege.”

For Immediate Release:
April 18, 2007

Contacts:
Bryan Hirsch by cell in Wilmington (617) 784-4753
Megan Rising (617) 695-2525

# # #

Silent Vigil for Coca-Cola Workers

2007-04-16T12:13:00.000-05:00

With only two months until UIUC's exclusive contract with Coca-Cola expires, it's time to take action. On April 18th, join fellow coalition members outside of Swanlund administration building to remind the Chancellor that UIUC should not do business with Coca-Cola due to the company's human rights violations in Colombia, India, Turkey, and Indonesia.

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Silent Vigil for Coca-Cola Workers
Wednesday, April 18th
12:45-1:15pm
Swanlund Administration Building (504 East John St. at 6th St. in Champaign)

**********************************

If you can't make the action, please call Chancellor Herman at 217-333-6290 to urge him to break the silence and make a public statement that Coca-Cola or any company with human rights violations will not be allowed on campus. It's fast, easy and effective, so please don't hesitate any longer! Here's a sample text:

-Introduce yourself as student/staff/faculty/community member.

-"I am calling to express my concerns over the continued silence of the Chancellor's office concerning the University's plans for any future business relationship with Coca-Cola. The company is responsible for environmental degradation and unsafe products in India, not to mention human and labor rights violations in other parts of the world . I urge the University of Illinois administration to take an ethical stand on this issue and join the campus community that says NO to Coke and any other corporations that put profits over sustainability and safety. I further urge you to make a public statement that Coca-Cola will not be allowed on campus as soon as possible.

-After calling, please email cokeactiongroup@riseup.net to let us know how many calls were made.

Coca-Cola booted from Canadian university

2007-04-09T22:14:00.000-05:00

San Francisco, Apr.9: Students at the University of Guelph in Canada have voted to remove Coca-Cola products from campus because of the company's unethical practices in India and Colombia.

A referendum calling for replacing Coca-Cola products with "an alternate beverage supplier" received 65 percent of the votes last week.Coca-Cola's 10-year contract with the University of Guelph is set to expire in August 2007, and it seems very unlikely that it will be renewed given the student mandate. Click here for more.

Join the UIUC Campaign

2007-04-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Coalition Against Coke Contracts meets every Wednesday at at 7:30pm in Room 110, Lincoln Hall. Please attend a meeting or email us at cokeactiongroup@riseup.net to learn more about how to get involved.

Call to Action: Remind the Chancellor--UIUC Doesn't Want Coke!

2007-04-02T11:11:00.000-05:00

On April 4, please call the office of Chancellor Richard Herman (217-333-6290) to remind him that the UIUC community does not want Coke on campus until it 'cleans-up' its act in India. The following short-text might help:

-Introduce yourself as student/staff/faculty/community member.

-"I am calling to express my concerns over the continued silence of the Chancellor's office concerning the University's plans for any future business relationship with Coca-Cola. The company is responsible for environmental degradation and unsafe products in India, not to mention human and labor rights violations in other parts of the world . I urge the University of Illinois administration to take an ethical stand on this issue and join the campus community that says NO to Coke and any other corporations that put profits over sustainability and safety. I further urge you to make a public statement that Coca-Cola will not be allowed on campus as soon as possible.

-After calling, please email cokeactiongroup@riseup.net to let us know how many calls were made.

Useful resources and updates are located at: India Resource Center

Tell Coca-Cola to Stop Worker & Environmental Abuses

2007-04-02T11:03:00.000-05:00

Help blow the whistle on environmental, human rights, and labor rights abuses by Coca-Cola and its largest bottler, CCE! Coke is accused of contaminating water and farmland in India. Coke allegedly allowed death squads in Colombia to murder eight pro-union employees. In the U.S., Coke paid $192 million to settle an employee lawsuit over its widespread racial discrimination. And now Coke’s latest restructuring could destroy good jobs, retirement security, and health care coverage for many Americans. Please sign the petition click here!

Over 40 Detained for Protesting Coca-Cola on World Water Day

2007-03-22T17:53:00.000-05:00

For Immediate Release
March 22, 2007

New Delhi (March 22): Over 40 people protesting Coca-Cola’s operations in India have been detained by police authorities in the capital city of New Delhi, India, today.

More than three hundred people had marched to the government of India offices of the Planning Commission to seek action from the government on water issues on World Water Day.

As of this writing, details of the police actions are still coming in and it is not clear what charges, if any, will be filed.

Protesters were demanding that the Planning Commission (chaired by the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh) take immediate action to curb the severe water shortages being experienced by communities across India as a result of Coca-Cola and Pepsico’s mining of groundwater.

“We are here on World Water Day to bring attention to one of the world’s worst abusers of water, the Coca-Cola company,” said Nandlal Master of Lok Samiti and National Alliance of People’s Movements, one of the organizers of the march and also detained. “The Coca-Cola company has destroyed the lives of thousands of people in India as a result of its thirst for water.” Carrying signs such as “Coca-Cola Pani Chor” – “Coca-Cola Water Thief”, the protesters were indignant that the government of India has not taken actions to ameliorate the bleak water conditions facing thousands of Indians who live around Coca-Cola and Pepsico bottling plants.

Also detained was Medha Patkar, leader of the National Alliance of People’s Movements.

Coca-Cola's operations in India have come under intense scrutiny as many communities are experiencing severe water shortages as well as contaminated groundwater and soil, directly as a result of Coca-Cola's bottling operations. The company has also been found to sell products in India with dangerously high levels of pesticides.

“The world needs to know that the Coca-Cola company has an extremely unsustainable relationship with water, its primary raw material. Drinking Coca-Cola contributes directly to the loss of lives, livelihoods and communities in India. On this World Water Day, we encourage people around the world to think before they drink Coca-Cola,” said Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center, an international campaigning organization.

Contacts:
Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center +91 98103 46161 E:
info@IndiaResource.org
Rajendra Ravi, National Alliance of People's Movements (Hindi) +91 98682 00316

Coalition Against Coke Contracts Statement to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees

2007-03-16T18:13:00.000-05:00

Remarks made at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Board of Trustees Meeting on March 13, 2007.

Good morning. My name is Costa Nikolaides. I am a senior at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and I am also the president of the student organization the Coalition Against Coke Contracts. I have asked to speak today to inform the Board of Trustees about the concerns of my organization over the egregious record of human and labor rights violations and environmental degradation of the Coca-Cola company around the world. These concerns are relevant for all of us who are associated with UIUC, due to the fact that the only beverages available on the Champaign-Urbana campus are the products of the afore-mentioned corporation, which forces students, faculty and staff to continue to subsidize the violations of this company.

On September 12, 2006 the Coalition Against Coke Contracts, a broad coalition of students, faculty, staff, and community members in Urbana-Champaign, filed a formal complaint and submitted supporting research to bring to the attention of the university administration the available evidence regarding these allegations. In the over three hundred page documentation of Coca-Cola's outrageous record of human and labor rights violations, and environmental degradation, we outlined why the University of Illinois should take a stronger stance on this issue and join its peer institutions in expressing these concerns to the corporation through non-renewal of any further business relationship with the company. To date, the Chancellor's Office has not taken a leadership role by making a public commitment to upholding its business partners to highest standards of human and labor rights, and environmental stewardship.

The administration's continued public silence concerning its future business relations with Coca-Cola is tantamount to complicity with the company's malpractices, which is a matter of grave concerns for the campus community that support this campaign. We have provided documentation of Coca-Cola's unethical practices in Colombia, Turkey, India and Guatemala. For example, our report outlines the inexcusable manner in which the Coca-Cola company's bottling plants in India have depleted the water table in Plachimada, Kerala and indiscriminately discharged polluted waste water into the fields around its plant. We have also submitted overviews and briefs on Coca-Cola's financial support and active collusion with paramilitary groups to destroy Colombian workers' attempts to organize unions. We would be happy to provide this documentation to the members of the Board upon request.

I would like to stress to the Board that this issue requires urgent attention. In the coming month, the State of Illinois will announce its decision to enter into a state-wide exclusive pouring rights contract. The Chancellor's office has already verified in writing that the University can "opt-out" of the state-wide contract , and exercise the right to choose the vendors it would like to do business with. I would like to make the case that any continuing business relationship with Coca-Cola is damaging to the university's image and mission, and hence not in its best interest . By refusing to enter into business relationships with Coca-Cola, the University of Illinois will make sure that it does not condone socially irresponsible corporations. Additionally, such action will reaffirm the University's commitment to human rights and demonstrate that it takes its membership in the Worker's Rights Consortium and Fair Labor Association seriously.

In closing, we urge the Board of Trustees, Chancellor Herman and Associate Chancellor Bill Adams to conclusively state that the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign will not do business with Coca-Cola until the company improves working conditions in factories around the world and addresses the human rights violations and environmental degradation caused by its business and manufacturing practices.

Thank you for your time.
Costa Nikolaides

Students say no to Coca-Cola at Manchester University Students’ Union

2007-03-16T17:39:00.000-05:00

Students say no to Coca-Cola at Manchester University Students’ Union
by Natalie Parkinson
March, 16, 2007

COKE will be in very short supply at University of Manchester Students’ Union (UMSU) after their AGM passed a motion banning it in their shops and bars.

Four hundred votes for the motion to twenty against means students will now be forced to drink another cola at nights out in their students’ union.

Cardiff University students attempted to pass a similar boycott of Coca-Cola last year and attempted to mandate the NUS’S bulk buying arm, to end contracts with Coca Cola. But the motion fell at the annual conference.

However, Manchester’s ban goes much further by resolving “to replace Coke products on sale in all students’ union outlets with Virgin Cola or a suitable alternative”.

The motion at Manchester was proposed as a result of accusations towards the multinational company of violating workers’ human rights and environmental welfare in Columbia, India and Turkey.

The company has also been accused of siphoning water from rivers in India for its factories, causing farmers to struggle without irrigation resources.

The ban comes as campaigners in the UK are trying to remove Coke products from university campuses using the internet to gain support; universities like Oxford, Edinburgh, Bristol, Bradford, Middlesex and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) have already passed motions boycotting or banning the drink.

Union Cites Labor, Human Rights, and Environmental Abuses

2007-03-16T09:11:00.000-05:00

March 16, 2007

(Washington, D.C.) – Teamsters rallied today at NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games in Chicago; Spokane, Washington and Columbus, Ohio to urge the NCAA to drop key sponsor Coca-Cola. The union cited concerns about Coca-Cola’s destruction of natural resources in developing countries, its worker and human rights abuses in the U.S. and abroad, and the elimination of good-paying U.S. jobs at Coke bottler and distributor Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE).

Throughout the March Madness playoffs, the Teamsters will hand out leaflets informing NCAA fans about Coke’s troubling environmental and human rights record—including Coke’s possible contamination of water and farmland in India, a current lawsuit against the company for allegedly allowing death squads to murder pro-union employees in Colombia, and a record-breaking $192 million Coke paid to settle a case involving widespread racial discrimination.

The NCAA has designated Coca-Cola as the first official NCAA Corporate Champion. Coca-Cola is a key sponsor of the tournament, and is paying the NCAA $500 million in an 11-year beverage marketing and media rights deal reached in 2002.

“The NCAA should stand for what’s best and brightest in college athletics, including fair play, integrity, and sportsmanship,” said Jack Cipriani, Director of the Teamsters Brewery and Soft Drink Workers Conference. “Coke’s record sure doesn’t match those high ethical standards. A company that pollutes, discriminates, destroys good American jobs and may have played a role in the murder of workers is not a company that kids should be looking to as a role model. NCAA Tournament fans deserve to know the truth about a key sponsor of the games”

Here in the United States CCE, Coca-Cola’s largest bottler, plans to eliminate and restructure thousands of middle-class jobs in the U.S. under a new business model. Coke and CCE are engaged in a concerted campaign to destroy job security, pension benefits and health care coverage for the workers and their families. In February, CCE announced plans for job cuts during an investors’ telephone conference call despite Coke executives portraying their economic outlook as “solid.”

“For us, our members come first,” Cipriani said. “But, with Coca-Cola and CCE, workers get the short end of the stick. All this while the current CEO of Coca-Cola was given a 2006 salary, bonus, incentives and perks in excess of $20 million. And the former CEO of CCE was awarded $10 million in cash, stock and other perks in his lavish severance compensation package. The NCAA truly tarnished its image of a fair player when it teamed up with Coca-Cola.”

The Teamsters Union represents more than 14,000 Coca-Cola and CCE employees in the United States and Canada.

Indian Government Admits, Colas Do Have Pesticides

2007-03-15T17:43:00.000-05:00

March 15 from CNN-IBN

New Delhi: The Health Ministry on Wednesday submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court admitting that there are pesticide residues in cold drinks.

The N K Ganguly Committee, set up to study the issue of pesticide content in colas, suggested that a committee be set up to look into the issue of food safety.

The Health Ministry also told the apex court that the Committee had suggested that there are certain pesticides, which have to be monitored for a period for three years After the Health Ministry came out with that affidavit, Coca-Cola India has come out with an official statement.

In its press release, the company says, "Our products are safe and the analysis of the products for the pesticide residue is available on our website. We have always supported the setting up of standards on pesticide residue in soft drinks and welcome the move in that direction."

The Ganguly Committee was set up after Delhi-based NGO Centre for Science and Environment revealed that new tests have detected dangerous level of toxins in colas.

A similar CSE report in 2003 had led to a joint Parliamentary probe into the matter. Four years later, the NGO again went public with the findings of its studies, claiming that soft drinks were still not clean.

It claimed that compared to 2003, Pepsi contained 30 times higher pesticide residue on an average and Coca-Cola contained 27 times higher residue.

The NGO claimed that it found three to five different kinds of pesticide residues in all the 57 samples of 11 soft drink brands that it had collected from 25 different manufacturing plants of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, spread over 12 states.

The Cola Wars

2007-03-10T17:37:00.000-06:00

By David Canfield
Metroland, Read Newspaper
SUNY Albany
March 10, 2007

Citing human-rights abuses, student and labor groups unite in an attempt to remove Coca-Cola products from UAlbany

"In Colombia, you could get killed for organizing a union," said Manuel Ortiz. "[Colombia has] the highest rate of assassinations and murders of trade unionists anywhere in the world. Coca-Cola knows what's going on, and they're just trying to ignore the situation."

Ortiz is a member of the local chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, which joined forces last Thursday (March 1) with local student and labor groups to support Killer Coke, a campaign led by longtime labor organizer Ray Rogers. Killer Coke alledges that Coca-Cola has has turned a blind eye to the brutal crackdown by paramilitary forces on union organizing efforts at their bottling plants in Colombia. The campaign aims to remove Coca-Cola products from college campuses by making students aware of the company's neglect for human rights abroad.

Locally, they are focusing on the University at Albany, which has an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola to sell Coke, Sprite, Vault, Fanta, Nestea, Minute Maid juices, and Dasani water.

The event was sponsored by University Auxiliary Services, which has the contract with Coca-Cola and handles various other UAlbany student services. UAS executive director Julia Filippone said that they want to present a variety of viewpoints in keeping with the university's goal of being a "marketplace of ideas," and that is why Rogers was brought in. "We encourage students to be responsible about their information," she said.

When he was first approached about Coca-Cola's record, Rogers said that the accusations seemed to be "off the wall," but after investigating and uncovering numerous cases where employees of Coca-Cola bottling companies had been murdered by paramilitary forces for trying to unionize, Rogers' organization, Corporate Campaign Inc., adopted the cause.

"We made a commitment that we would get involved," he said. "We're going to put a stop to what's happening in Colombia."

Rogers said that the campaign has gotten Coke products removed from 34 schools—most in the United States, but some in England, Ireland, Canada, and Italy, including some large universities like New York University and Rutgers.

The student groups have set an arbitrary deadline of March 27 for UAlbany to sever their contract with Coke, which expires in 2008. Jackie Hayes, a UAlbany doctoral student interning with the Killer Coke campaign, said that the students plan to make phone calls to university officials, protest outside administration buildings, and finally deliver to the administration, "preferably in a wheelbarrow," all the evidence of Coke's abuses.

The students groups said that it would be ideal for the university to deal with multiple companies instead of one exclusive contract. Hayes said that supporting local businesses would be a good choice. "It's a lot easier, I think, to hold local companies accountable, because it's really difficult when you find out a company like Coca-Cola is committing these human-rights and environmental abuses—they're impenetrable," she said. "They put a lot of money between themselves and their customers, and so there's really no way to hold them accountable for anything that they're doing."

"I don't know if [local companies] can meet our needs," said Filippone, needs that include 200 vending machines, more than 50 fountain mixes, and sales of 1.5 million bottles per year. But she said that, while bidding on the contract has yet to begin, bids will be accepted from any party and that local companies are not out of the question.

The Killer Coke press conference and panel discussion Thursday drew a crowd of about 35. Hayes said that a lot of students aren't even aware of the fact that UAlbany has an exclusive contract with Coke, let alone that the company has a poor human-rights record. "I think a lot of it is that people haven't heard what's going on," Hayes said, "because Coca-Cola does a really good job at fighting that getting out and puts so much money into public relations."

Ray Rogers agreed. "You have to understand that Coca-Cola is a company that spends billions of dollars a year—about 3 billion dollars a year, actually—in advertising to create an image or a reality that has nothing to do with the ugly reality that is the company."

That reality, according to Rogers, is the kidnapping, torture, and murder of union organizers by paramilitary forces. Rogers detailed the accusations during the panel, describing environmental abuses as well. He said that he would like to debate Coca-Cola representatives directly, but that they will not debate him. By the end, his lecture took on a decidedly anti-corporate tone, and Rogers suggested that perhaps they could take on ExxonMobil next.

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Fresno City College students win a motion to end Killer Coke’s exclusive vending monopoly

2007-03-06T17:31:00.001-06:00

Posted March 6th, 2007 by cdfierro

About 60 students showed up for the Board hearing. The march started at the free speech area and progressed to the district offices at Blackstone & Weldon. Two Fresno City Police Officers were on hand, the board drinking Dasani water with a long list of business for the board to take up. Everyone bunkered down in the hot cramped room, signs in hand that read such things as “Stop Killer Coke,” and “Killer Coke Off Our Campus”

The board members eyes rarely looked up from their agendas. Did this foreshadow the outcome? In fact, during the march to the district offices, several students expressed their muted excitement: “We already know the outcome.” I was also told, “They [the district board] are going to make some symbolic statement, but say they can’t support the students officially.”

When the time finally came for the board to take up the issue of vendor pouring rights, there was noticeable tension in the room. Most of the students present had worked months (or longer) on the campaign. First to speak was Jerry Bill, sociology professor at Fresno City College. Bill’s remarks were brief. He commented on a question asked at the previous board meeting, in which a board member asked, “If the students are concerned about the issue, where are the students?” Motioning with his hand, Bill said, “Here they are.” Bill went on to say, “It is a matter of conscience for the students and the board as well…. The students deserve the right to choose not to drink a beverage that conflicts with their consciences.” Rosanna Spicer, one of the student organizers, followed Jerry Bill to the podium. Spicer held up a petition with 434 signatures of Fresno City College students who wanted Coke’s exclusive rights revoked. Rosanna said, “they [vendors with contracts with the districts] are supposed to serve us; we’re not supposed to serve them.” One of the fears of the district was the loss of monies that might occur if the contract ended. Roseanna responded to these fears by telling the board that the campaign had spoken to other vendors and that they were willing to contract with the district. As Rosanna said, “ other schools have done this and they are still here.”

Nicholas Clark, another student organizer, then walked to the podium. He passionately asked that the board listen to the students on campus, just as the campaign had listened to the students after their initial campaign of having Coke banned on campus failed. The students on campus were in favor of allowing the students a choice of beverages, rather then banning any one beverage from campus. Clark asked the board to do the same.

After Clark finished, an administration official stated that the administration, after looking over the information provided by the campaign and reexamining the issue at the behest of the board, decided that the exclusive pouring rights of Coke should be maintained. The administration official said that their findings supported their decision.

What followed took everyone by surprise. First to speak from the board was board member Dorothy Smith. In a very brief statement, she said, “I support the students’ right to choose.” Board member William J. Smith likewise made his statement brief. “We are here to serve the students…. If it doesn’t hurt us…I don’t see why we can’t honor them.” Board member Phillip J. Forhan continued the sentiment, “I support the students’ choice. I would like to make a motion to support that….To remove the monopoly.” And before Isabel Barrenas, the chair, could ask for a second, student government member Kate Blanco said that in poll conducted on campus over 1000 students supported lifting the exclusive rights; only 26 opposed.

When procedure was reestablished, board member Patrick E. Patterson asked for clarification on the motion, a motion that was pretty straightforward. Forhen clarified that the motion was to “Remove the monopoly….Campuses can choose whatever vender they want, but our decision shouldn’t preclude the students choices for ethical considerations.”

The scene that was surreal for most of the students there, as they never imagined that they might win, became all the more surreal when the questions and comments from Patrick E. Patterson seemed to be dialogue from the robber baron days. Patterson asked Forhan in disbelief, “What you’re saying is that you want to get rid of the monopoly?” Forhan reiterated his earlier motion. Patterson continued in his disbelief, “I want to know what everyone has to say…there hasn’t been a school wide vote…the faculty senate hasn’t voted.” And in a classic red herring, Patterson made the impassioned case for banning all soft drinks on campus because of their sugar content. “This is want we should be worried about, not this [the issue of Coke having exclusive rights].”

Last to speak was the Reedley student government representative, Edward Rea. Rea stated that Reedley students want an exclusive contract. Rea went on to say, “I’m looking at it as a business decision.” Being that Reedley is a smaller campus, the amount of monies lost from the contract would be a larger percentage. Rea then went on to try to lecture the Fresno City student saying, “You say you don’t drink any Coke products? Do you know that Coke makes other products other than Coke? Do you drink any of those?” The respective answers from the students were “Yes!,” “Yes!” and “No!”

After that little exchange the board asked for a roll call and vote. Yea…yea…yea…no…no…yea…yea. With that, board chair Isabel Barrenas said “Motion passed.”
Rosanna Spincer, who happened to be standing in front of me, looked extremely confused. She asked the administration representative, who spoke earlier in favor of the exclusive contract, “what happened?” “The motion passed,” he replied. Still, Rosanna seemed unsure, that was until one of the other student hugged her saying “We did it, I can’t believe it, we won!” A quick thank you to the board, which I don’t think they could hear or see, what with the students clapping and filing out of the board room, and the board continued with their business.

The student campaigners congregated outside for a while, excited and still a little unsure as to what had just taken place. Some were talking on cell phones, telling someone on the other end, “We won…no really we won…yeah, we won.” Expecting to lose, they left with unexpected smiles and hope.

Swarthmore College Removes Coca-Cola Products From Campus

2006-11-28T15:29:00.000-06:00

Swarthmore College Removes Coca-Cola Products From Campus
College Calls on Company to Allow Investigation of Violence Allegations

For Immediate Release
November 28, 2006

SWARTHMORE, Pa., Nov. 28 -- Swarthmore College will cease purchasing Coca-Cola products by the end of the year and again calls on the company to permit an independent investigation into allegations of complicity in anti-union violence in Colombia and water use in India. The action, prompted by the urgings of student leaders, follows a series of letters to Coca-Cola by the Swarthmore administration expressing concern about its alleged human rights abuses.

"We plan to dialogue with Coca-Cola in an effort to continue to pressure them to reform their labor and environmental rights practices," says Ruth Schultz '09, a history major from Minneapolis, Minn., and a leader in the campus "Kick Coke" campaign. "In the coming months, we will establish a set of criteria which must be met in order for the College to consider future purchasing from Coca-Cola."

Last semester, Swarthmore removed Coca-Cola products served at the College's snack bar and two coffee bars, including Coke, Diet Coke, and a variety of other soft drinks, juices, and water. This new action concerns the "fountain" Coke products served through company-supplied dispensers at the College's snack bar and Sharples Dining Hall.

Through their "Kick Coke" campaign, Swarthmore student activists have used petitions, a letter-writing campaign, and a Student Council resolution to urge the College administration to remove Coca-Cola products and to pressure the company to act on the abuse allegations.

"Many students see this action as a stand against human rights abuses and as a means of encouraging Coke to make significant and much-needed changes in its practices," says fellow student "Kick Coke" activist Zoe Bridges-Curry '09. "Because the campaign centers around the institution's contract with Coke, and is not limited to the purchasing choices of individuals, the College's action sends a very strong message to the Coca-Cola Company. As a consumer of Coke, Swarthmore can use its influence as a prestigious and socially responsible institution to help effect positive change in the corporation's practices."

"The Coca Cola Corporation has played a major leadership role in the realm of international corporate responsibility and can surely also lead the way by taking even more definitive socially responsible steps," says Swarthmore College Vice President Maurice Eldridge '61. "We hope to continue dialogue with Coke to establish guidelines that would lead to our being able to welcome the products back to campus."

Swarthmore joins several other colleges and universities that have taken action related to Coca-Cola and the alleged abuses. Among those institutions are the University of Michigan and New York University.

The action related to Coca-Cola is one of several recent student initiatives that exemplify Swarthmore's mission to combine academic rigor with social responsibility. In 2004, the College's Committee on Investor Responsibility, which includes student members, successfully petitioned two Fortune 500 companies to broaden their equal opportunity policies to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. That development mirrored the committee's successful action in 2003 with Lockheed Martin, which agreed to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policies after the College filed a shareholder resolution - the first in the country solely initiated by a college or university since the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s.

Also in 2004, students formed what is now the Genocide Intervention Network in an effort to help stop the humanitarian disaster in Darfur. In what was hailed as a victory for free speech, two students that semester won a lawsuit against Diebold, Inc., to halt the company's efforts to shut down any website that hosted or linked to documents detailing problems with the company's electronic voting machines.

In addition, students last year launched an Internet-based radio program on the war in Iraq - War News Radio - which has grown into an acclaimed weekly program syndicated to a growing number of radio stations around the country.

Located near Philadelphia, Swarthmore is a highly selective liberal arts college whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility. Swarthmore, with an enrollment of 1,450, is consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the country.

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CONTACT: Alisa Giardinelli, Swarthmore Media Relations, 610-690-5717, agiardi1@swarthmore.edu http://www.swarthmore.edu
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For India related campaign inquiries, contact India Resource Center at 415-336-7584, info@IndiaResource.org www.IndiaResource.org