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Below are brief accounts of recent Campaign activities. October 31, 2003
Campaign Contingent Marches
The Campaign was plainly visible at the annual Greenwich Village Halloween parade, with an array of “Coke Float” posters, “Stop Killer Coke” stickers worn as armbands and one marcher wearing a giant “Coca-Killa” can (see attached photos). One stay-at-home supporter reported that the gleaming red and white can, emblazoned with the words, “Ask Coke to stop the violence against its workers,” appeared on the cable news channel New York 1 as an announcer asked, “What kind of a costume is that?”
Photos of the Halloween Parade
October 28, 2003
Campaigners Protest Diller Speech
A group from the Campaign met at the 92nd Street Y, where Barry Diller was scheduled to give a speech about Internet. The Y is a very busy place with classes, lectures and a gym. We distributed our literature to those entering the Y to hear Diller speak; we also leafleted many who were entering for other reasons. Diller appeared about one half hour before his speech was to take placeand entered the Y refusing to take our literature. However, his chauffer asked to see it and returned it after reading it.
Read the Leaflet Distributed at the 92nd Street Y
October 27, 2003
Campaign Joins HealthGap to Protest
Campaign activists distributed our literature along with a press release prepared by Health GAP at a “Youth AIDS Gala” at which Coke was being honored “for its effort to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa.” Despite worldwide protests against its neglect of its employees in Africa who do not have access to care and medicine that would treat, or prevent the further spread of, HIV/AIDS, Coca-Cola, the largest private-sector employer on the continent, continues to treat the problem as a public relations matter and makes extravagant claims that its “treatment program” is already sufficient.
Read the Leaflet Distributed at the AIDS/HIV Event
October 24, 2003
Campaign Targets Diller’s and Buffett’s
On Friday morning, Oct. 24, supporters of the Campaign distributed "$ix-Pack" brochures and a specially-prepared leaflet in front of the offices of the Washington Post. Barry Diller and Warren Buffett, members of Coca-Cola’s board of directors, also serve on the board of the Washington Post Co.
Read the Leaflet Distributed at the Washington Post
October 21, 2003 Campaign to Stop Killer Coke
At 8 a.m., six activists from the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke appeared at the two entrances to the building that houses Barry Diller's company, InterActiveCorp, at 152 West 57th St. in New York City. Diller, the Hollywood and Internet mogul who is a member of the Coca-Cola Board of Directors, is one of six prominent Coke and SunTrust Banks policymakers whose failure to address Coke's involvement in anti-union brutality and other misconduct in Colombia justifies their inclusion in the "$ix-Pack" who are featured on the cover of the Campaign's four-page brochure. Among those distributing petitions and other Campaign materials were Juan Carlos Galvis, a leader of the Colombian SINALTRAINAL union who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in August, and Ray Rogers, director of the Campaign.
Employees arriving at work accepted leaflets, chuckled at the "$ix-Pack" caricature of Diller, and continued on to their offices. Many identified themselves as employees of InterActiveCorp. Some refused to take leaflets, but returned later to ask for them. Security guards and chauffeurs also requested copies. One security guard who demanded that the entire group leave the sidewalk apparently got a civics lesson from a New York City police officer who explained that in the United States, no one can legally interfere with the public's right to assemble and protest in a public place.
October 23, 2003 Does Coca-Cola's General Counsel
On Oct. 23, 2003, the organization Equal Justice Works honored Deval Patrick, General Counsel of Coca-Cola, for his role as an "advocate for civil rights, equality, and fairness in the workplace." Members of the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke protested the decision to give Mr. Patrick the "Scales of Justice" Award and handed out leaflets about Coca-Cola's outrageous record of human rights violations in Colombia. Several attendees at the awards ceremony in Washington expressed their own unease and anger over the organization's choice of an honoree.
According to a statement by Terry Collingworth, Executive Director of the International Labor Rights Fund, Patrick's activities in his current position at Coca-Cola "nullify any basis" for the award. The campaign to expose Coke's complicity is founded on the assumption that public relations gimmickry is no substitute for corporate accountability, nor should an apologist for corporate crimes be honored by any organization that claims to promote human rights.
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