Killer Coke Update | September 30, 2004
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Contents of the Newsletter
- Please send us your information
- College of DuPage Dumps Coke's Odwalla
- Dallas vote for Dr. Pepper (letter)
- Canadian Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Fundraiser and Mobilization, Oct. 23
- Photos of a Rally in Toronto, New Photos of the Coke Demo at RNC and images from SINALTRAINAL's website
- India Reports: "India: Anti-Coca-Cola Agitation Picks up in Kaladera, Rajasthan" Fact Sheet from the India Resource Center.
- "The Student School" in Toronto Boycotts Coke
- Union Resolutions: CWA and APWU
- New York Times Article on Coke
1. Send us your info. In what region are you?
Often we are contacted by Campaign supporters asking for a link to other supporters in their city, town or region. Unfortunately, we do not always have that information. We would appreciate it if you would take a moment to send us an e-mail (info@KillerCoke.org) giving us your name, e-mail address, city or town, state or province, etc., and country. If you feel OK about giving us your phone number and postal address, please send that along, too. This will facilitate the coordination of campaign activities throughout the world.
2. College of DuPage Dumps Coke's Odwalla Juice and Candy Bars
Led by Campus Greens, Ellen Rebman and Tony Massih, and working with Campus Green faculty advisor, Keith Yearman, Assistant Professor of Geography, College of DuPage in Illinois has removed Odwalla fruit juices and candy bars from the cafeteria of the 35,000-member campus after a year-long campaign. Odwalla, taken over by Coke in 2001, was the only Coke product sold on campus and it was replaced by Naked Food-Juice.
Here are articles about College of DuPage which can be found on our Student Activist page:
"Resolution passed against Coca-Cola," by Bobby Ziziarek, Courier, April 23, 2004
Read the Article
College of DuPage Resolution from the Student Leadership Council Opposing Coca-Cola Products/Terms and Conditions of Student Leadership Council's Resolution Opposing Coca-Cola, March 9, 2004
Read the Resolution
"Campus Greens spreads awareness about Coca-Cola," by Cheryl Scott, Courier, Dec. 5, 2003
Read the Article
Contact Campus Green faculty advisor Keith Yearman at: Yearman@cdnet.cod.edu.
3. Dallas City Council Votes for Dr. Pepper
The Dallas City Council chose Dr. Pepper (Cadbury-Schweppes) over Coca-Cola and Pepsi beverages on Sept. 13 with a bid for rights to supply all vending machines on city property. The Campaign to Stop Killer Coke had sent a letter to the mayor and city council to make them aware of Coke's abuses.
Read our Letter
Please be on the lookout in your area for Coke's efforts to secure exclusive contracts with local governments and agencies and contact us with that information so that we can work to get our message out to public officials and sympathetic community members. We would like them to know that no institution that prides itself as a center of ethics and morality should be lending its name and credibility to Coca-Cola, nor serve as a marketplace or venue for its advertising.
4. Attend the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Fundraiser and Mobilization, Oct. 23 @ 7 pm; Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street, Toronto, Canada; Speakers: Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Director Ray Rogers; Lawsuit Co-counsel Dan Kovalik, and SINALTRAINAL member Over Rico; $10 at the door.
During the week leading up to the Oct. 23 event, Campaign Director Ray Rogers will be doing press interviews and speaking at a number of student- and -union- sponsored events to build support for the Campaign in Canada. For more information, contact Larry Wells of the Oakville and District Labour Council at larrywells@cogeco.ca.
5. New Photos in our Protest Pics section
We've posted photos we received from Canada of a rally held in front of the Colombian Consulate in Toronto, Canada, on Sept.16, endorsed by the Canadian Auto Workers, United Steelworkers of America, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Fed., Oakville and District Labour Council and others.
We've also posted new photos of the demonstration that the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke organized at New York City's Copacabana club, the site of a Coca-Cola-sponsored event for Republican delegates to the Republican National Convention.
See Photos
If anyone has photos taken at events where Killer Coke is protested, please send them to us at: info@KillerCoke.org or to: Cooper Station, P.O. Box 1002, New York, NY 10276-1002
We've also added a link to images on SINALTRAINAL's website.
See Images
6. Reports on Coca-Cola's abuses in India. An issue highlighted in the worldwide campaign is Coke's abuses in India. Our Campaign has been working with the India Resource Center (www.indiaresource.org):
"India: Anti-Coca-Cola Agitation Picks up in Kaladera, Rajasthan,"
Read Report
Fact Sheet from the India Resource Center
Read Brochre
We've also posted these reports to our Reports section.
7. "The Student School," Grades 9 to 12, a Toronto District School, Boycotts Coke:
The Student School, an alternative high school of about 180 students in Toronto, voted in June to boycott Coca-Cola.
Read Resolution
8. Union Resolutions. We noted in our last newsletter that the Communications Workers of America and the American Postal Workers Union passed resolutions to support the Campaign. Here are the links to the resolutions:
The CWA Resolution
The APWU Resolution
If anyone has information about resolutions that have been passed against Coca-Cola's abuses, please notify us and send us the resolution and a contact person.
9. The New York Times, "All is Not Sweet at the Home Base of Coca-Cola," 9/28/04 and our response.
Read the Article
A Letter to the Editor to The New York Times by a supporter. The letter follows:
Letter to the Editor
The New York Times
Dear Editor:
It should be noted that Coca-Cola has additional serious problems ("All is Not Sweet at the Home Base of Coca-Cola," 9/28/04).
For the past year, The Coca-Cola Company's public image and bottom line have been under fire by the worldwide Campaign to Stop Killer Coke. The Campaign was founded to hold Coca-Cola accountable for the murders of union leaders in Colombia by paramilitary thugs collaborating with Coke plant managers, for which the International Labor Rights Fund and the United Steelworkers of America have filed a lawsuit against the company.
This is a movement to remove Coca-Cola from its critical markets and to shake up its top management. At this point, eight colleges, working with the Campaign, have removed Coke products from their campuses; numerous national unions have passed resolutions this summer to support this campaign, and many restaurants, bars and food coops no longer serve Coke products. Is Coke worried? In March 2003, Coca-Cola sent five executives, including a major spokesperson from Atlanta, to Carleton College, Minn., to stop the students from removing Coke from the campus. The students voted to remove the campus's 42 Coke machines.
This company has spent billions and decades to promote the world's most recognized brand as "The Real Thing." Today, more people are recognizing Coca-Cola as "The Wrong Thing."
Sincerely,
Campaign to Stop KILLER COKE
We are seeking your help to stop a gruesome cycle of murders, kidnappings, and torture of union leaders and organizers involved in daily life-and-death struggles at Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia, South America.
"If we lose the fight against Coca-Cola, we will first lose our union, next our jobs and then our lives." SINALTRAINAL VIce President Juan Carlos Galvis
Please donate to the Campaign.
Learn the truth about The Coca-Cola Co.
"We believe the evidence shows that Coca-Cola and its corporate network are rife with immorality, corruption and complicity in murder."
Campaign to Stop Killer Coke/Corporate Campaign, Inc. Director Ray Rogers
