Coca Cola karab manosh The UK Students Against Coke Campaign 2006 Brendan Donegan A ‘Learning from Practice’ presentation at IPHU Bangladesh, Nov 2007

Trade Unionism in Colombia The most dangerous country in the world to organise a union. Since 1986, 4000 Colombian trade unionists murdered by right-wing paramilitary groups. These groups often collaborate with the US- supported Colombian military, and sometimes with managers at plants producing for MNCs. In 2000, 60% of trade unionists murdered in the world were Colombian.

Coca Cola in Colombia Since 1989, 8 union leaders from Coke plants murdered by paramilitary forces. Dozens intimidated, kidnapped, tortured. In Carepa, paramilitaries murdered union leader Isidro Gil in broad daylight inside his factory’s gates, and forced plant workers to resign from the union. August 22, 2003: shots fired from motorcycles at Juan Carlos Galvis, worker leader at Coca Cola Barrancabermeja plant. Substantial evidence of managers at bottling plants ordering assaults and making regular payments to leaders of paramilitary groups.

Coca Cola in India Coca Cola extracts more water from common groundwater resources than contract permits. Communities living around Coca Cola bottling plants experience severe water shortages. Discharge of waste water into fields and rivers; drinking water poisoned. In Plachimada (Kerala) and Mehdiganj, (UP) Coke distributed its solid waste to farmers in the area as fertiliser. Toxic with cadmium and lead. Coca Cola products sold in India contain high levels of pesticides.

Local activism: Colombia Intimidation has reduced unionisation of Coke’s workers in Colombia to 6% of workers. SINALTRAINAL, Colombian Coca Cola trade union (two-thirds of unionised workers). Coke refuses to negotiate with SINALTRAINAL. SINALTRAINAL appealed for solidarity in US Labor and Social Justice movements, leading to ‘Killer Cola’ and UKSAC campaigns, and a lawsuit against Coke filed in Florida.

Local activism: India IIn Plachimada a 24/7 vigil directly in front of the factory gates since April got Coke plant shut down in March Case filed in Rajasthan against pesticides in Coke products. Coke lost; Coke required to include pesticide contents on drink labels.

The student market in UK and US Coca Cola views young people, particularly students, as its highest priority demographic target: potential ‘customers for life’ Food and drink companies such as Coke are eager to develop contracts with universities

Strategies in UK and US universities Video screenings and dialogues on campus Taking a stand at Coca-Cola events and presentations Target contracts: get the Student Union or university administrators to cut existing contracts or not renew contracts with Coke.

Campaign at Warwick University, 2006 Jan: Meeting on campus with a union activist from SINALTRAINAL (Colombian Coke Union) Feb: Motion passed in Students’ Union Council: display information on Coke’s crimes, research alternative suppliers, raise issue at NUS conference. Not possible to do more at university level because central buying policies are determined by NUS.

Campaign at Warwick University, 2006 March: A Students Union (SU) officer took the issue to a referendum to overturn the motion in a more representative forum: good for raising more awareness among students. April: Exam revision period; issue brushed under the carpet. Since then SU still hasn’t done what it agreed to do. Meanwhile, the SINALTRAINAL activist who visited Warwick has received death threats.

Limitations of the campaign In the UK, a university students union cannot cancel a contract with Coke or commit to non- renewal of the contract without support from NUS. And the political outlook of NUS is increasingly conservative. “Students like soft drinks and the only alternative to Coke able to provide logistics (transport of products from wholesaler to campus) is Pepsi”.

Lessons from the Campaign A model for partnership between developed country students and developing country affected peoples. A model for campaigns that are simultaneously local, national, global. A model for using developed country universities (Universities Allied for Essential Medicines?).

Further Information

Thank You.