Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Update

Newsletter August 31, 2004

1. APWU Convention Votes to Ban Coca-Cola Products
From Aug. 23-27, the 270,000-member American Postal Workers Union held its national convention in Los Angeles with about three thousand delegates in attendance. Delegates passed a resolution, stating:

"That the national American Postal Workers Union requests that the United States Postal Service remove all Coca-Cola products from all postal facilities, and

"That the National American Postal Workers Union requests that all unions, State and Local American Postal Workers Unions, stop purchasing all Coca-Cola products until this issue (Colombian) is resolved."

Delegates from Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota initiated the resolution and, along with others, distributed thousands of pieces of Campaign literature to the delegates.

Photos of convention delegates holding Campaign protest signs are now on our website in our Protest Pics section

2. Labor Council for Latin American Advancement Unanimously Rebukes Coke
Upon arriving at the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement's (LCLAA) convention, held from Aug. 25-28 in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico, delegates learned that The Coca-Cola Co. was a co-sponsor their convention. The Campaign was contacted by David Galarza asking for Campaign literature, which we immediately sent. We also sent a communiqué to the convention (Read the communiqué.). A motion was passed unanimously which called for handing back to Coca-Cola its $10,000 sponsorship and to request that the AFL-CIO fund a LCLAA fact-finding delegation to Colombia.

The resolution was introduced by David Galarza, member of CSEA Local 1000, AFSCME and member of the LCLAA New York City chapter and the NYC Justice Committee. The motion was supported by New York City Central Chapter members Santo Crespo of AFSCME District Council 37; Ed Vargas of UNITE HERE, and Sonia Ivany of NYS AFL-CIO and LCLAA NYC Central Chapter president.

3. Demonstrate at the Copacabana against Coke and the RNC
The Coca-Cola Co. and New York State Gov. George Pataki are co-sponsoring an event for Republican delegates to the RNC. Coca-Cola is a large contributor to the Republican Party.

Please join the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1 at the Copacabana. We want to greet Coke representatives, the Republican delegates, and Gov. Pataki with our literature and protest signs.

Copacabana
560 W. 34th Street, near 11th Avenue, Manhattan
10 pm to 2 am, we expect to demonstrate until midnight.
Wednesday, Sept. 1.

The demonstration is drawing a lot of interest. CISPES will be coming with their own signs and pots and pans. RingOut will be coming with bells and we will be bringing placards, literature and noise-makers. The sound of this demonstration will wake the dead delegates inside the Copacabana.

4. International Speaking Tour in the UK
The International Campaign to Hold Coca-Cola Accountable will be on a speaking tour in the UK from October 6-17, 2004. Edgar Paez from Sinaltrainal will be joined by Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center to bring a unified message — on labor and human rights, environment and social justice — from Colombia and India to hold Coca-Cola accountable for its crimes against humanity. The tour will visit Manchester (Oct 8), Birmingham (Oct 10), Oxford, Dublin (tentative) and end in London (Oct 12-17) with a series of events, where the European Social Forum will be taking place from October 14-17.

We are working with a variety of groups including labor, human rights, environmental justice, development, anti-racist, South Asian and anti-globalization groups.

We need your help to make the tour a success. If you are in the UK and would like to know more about the tour, including visiting your community and supporting the tour, please contact Amit Srivastava at amit@IndiaResource.org