Hello. This is an excerpt from an article from globalexchange.org
about coke. It has some good links at the end, and also talks about
race-based discrimination, something that we haven't talked about
much. Enjoy!!
Peace, emily
COCA-COLA
CEO: E. Neville Isdell
Contact the Corporation: Coca-Cola
One Coca Cola Plaza
P.O. Box 1734
Atlanta, GA 30301
Phone: 404-676-2121
Human Rights Abuses: violent killings, kidnap and torture, water
privatization, health violations, and discriminatory practices
Coca-Cola Company is perhaps the most widely recognized corporate
symbol on the planet. The company also leads in the abuse of workers'
rights, assassinations, water privatization, and worker
discrimination. Between 1989 and 2002, eight union leaders from Coca-
Cola bottling plants in Colombia were killed after protesting the
company's labor practices. Hundreds of other Coca-Cola workers who
have joined or considered joining the Colombian union SINALTRAINAL
have been kidnapped, tortured, and detained by paramilitaries who
intimidate workers to prevent them from unionizing. In Turkey, 14
Coca-Cola truck drivers and their families were beaten severely by
Turkish police hired by the company, while protesting a layoff of
1,000 workers from a local bottling plant in 2005.
In India, Coca-Cola destroys local agriculture by privatizing the
country's water resources. In Plachimada, Kerala, Coca-Cola extracted
1.5 million liters of deep well water, which they bottled and sold
under the names Dasani and BonAqua. The groundwater was severely
depleted, affecting thousands of communities with water shortages and
destroying agricultural activity. As a result, the remaining water
became contaminated with high chloride and bacteria levels, leading
to scabs, eye problems, and stomach aches in the local population.
Water shortages have occurred in Varanasi, Thane, and Tamil Nadu as
well. The company is also guilty of reselling its plants' industrial
waste to farmers as fertilizers, despite its containing hazardous
lead and cadmium.
Coca-Cola is one of the most discriminatory employers in the world.
In the year 2000, 2,000 African-American employees in the U.S. sued
the company for race-based disparities in pay and promotions. In
Mιxico, Coca-Cola FEMSA, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Latin
America, fired a senior bottling manager for being gay. Finally, by
regularly denying health insurance to employees and their families,
Coca Cola has failed to help stop the spread of AIDS in Africa. The
company is one of the continent's largest private employers, yet only
partially covers expensive medicines, while not covering generic
medicines at all.
Who's working on it:
Coke Watch
Corp Watch
India Resource Center
Killer Coke
Polaris Institute
Public Citizen
Students Against Sweatshops
USLEAP
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