The Coke That Kills

The Coke That Kills

Coca-Cola produces and bottles their products in over 200 countries around the world, and are one of the leaders is abusing human rights. . The words lies, murder and torture do not seem to fit in to the image of a fuzzy polar bear drinking a Coke, but that is the real face of Coca-Cola.

In Columbia, Coca-Cola has been held responsible for the murder of 9 union leaders who worked in their plants. Unfortunately, when Sinaltrainal, a Columbian beverage union, travelled to Florida and filed allegations for the deaths against Coca-Cola in 2001, the deaths were briefly investigated and immediately dismissed. (www.killercoke.com/www.mhlearningsolutions.com)

In addition to these murders, one hundred and eighty workers (as of 2004) at Columbia Coca-Cola bottling plants have reported to have suffered major human rights violations over the last 15 years. Family members have also experienced threats, abductions, torture, murder, and in several cases, survivors continue to suffer from post-traumatic disorder. (Lesley Gill, Department of Anthropology at American University).

Like most companies, Coca-Cola works hard to keep its employees from uprising and forming unions. Between 1992 and 2002, Six thousand seven hundred plant employees lost their jobs, and now 80% of Coca Cola’s employees are non-union temporary, and make a quarter of what those who are unionized make. Coca Cola has consistently pressured their unionized employees to resign, sometimes offering one-time payments to those who went quietly. For the union workers who did protest, their severance pay came in the form of threats and possibly even torture. In 1994, Jose’ Eleazar Manco, a long-term employee of Coca-Cola, was tortured, murdered and then tossed in a cemetery because he was involved with the union and refused to retire. Then, in 1996, two paramilitaries (a group of citizens who assist the Military force) circled a Coca-Cola plant in Carepa, Columbia, and shot Isidro Gil, a union president who had been trying to negotiate with the company. Two months prior to the shooting, a paramilitary commander had been spotted by workers having a meeting with the plant manager, Ariosto Milan Mosquera. Two hours after the assassination, another union doctorate, Adolfo Cardona, escaped an attempt at his life, which was followed by a break-in of the union office where the paramilitaries looted the office.

So, after numerous murders and public reports of abuse, why are the employees of Coca-Cola still unprotected? It’s easy and sleazy: the Vice-Minister of Social Protection, Luz Estela Arango, is a former lawyer for Coca-Cola Company.

Columbia is not the only victim of Coca-Colas evil empire. In Turkey, workers and family members were subjected to violence by riot police because of an attempt at unionization. Prior to the police brutality incident, 5 employees were fired because of union efforts. Coca Cola had attempted to explain the termination because of “poor work habits”, but each employees record clearly stated a long term positive work report. In 2005, 50 more union employees were dismissed because of their vision of basic human rights.

Indonesia has also been under the fire of the world-wide beverage company. In 2004, 48 workers announced their plan to form a union as a way to insure a healthy and positive work place at Coca-Cola. Shortly after the announcement, the plant started to interrogate the workers, their spouses and their children and other family members. All members were pressured to resign from the union through bribes and threats. In June of 2005, all union employees were fired because the factory had “lost trust and cannot tolerate” the workers” (studentsagainstsweaetshops.org).

Abuse of human rights, sweatshops, slavery and free-trade are nothing new to our capitalist world. We all feel pangs of sympathy for our brothers and sisters in developing countries, but fail to actually do anything to insist upon their basic rights as employees and as HUMANS. In the words of Rage Against The Machine, “what better place than here, what better time than now?” By simply not purchasing Coca-Cola products, you are making a difference. You are setting an example. You are saying to the woman in Columbia that you will not stand for another day of her job being threatened. You are changing the world, one bottle at a time.


www.killercoke.org
www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org
www.mhlearningsolutions.com
Lesley Gill, Department of Anthroplogy, American University