International Labor Rights Fund Campaign to STOP KILLER COKE
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
We need your help to stop a gruesome
cycle of murders, kidnappings and torture of SINALTRAINAL (National Union of
Food Industry Workers) union leaders and organizers involved in daily
life-and-death struggles at Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia.
In July 2001, the United Steelworkers of
America and the International Labor Rights Fund (www.laborrights.org) filed a
lawsuit on behalf of SINALTRAINAL, several of its members and the estate of
Isidro Gil, one of its murdered officers. The lawsuit and campaign aim to force
Coca-Cola to prevent further bloodshed and to provide safe working conditions.
Coca-Cola bottlers “contracted
with or otherwise directed paramilitary security forces that utilize extreme
violence and murdered, tortured, unlawfully detained or otherwise silenced trade
union leaders,” the lawsuit states.
It also notes that Colombian troops
connected with the paramilitaries have trained at the U.S. Army’s School
of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Ga., where trainees were encouraged to
torture and murder those who do “union organizing and recruiting;”
pass out “propaganda in favor of workers;” and “sympathize
with demonstrators or strikes.” This was made public when the Pentagon was
forced to reveal the contents of training manuals used at the school. (For more
information, see www.soaw.org, the website of SOA Watch.)
The year that the lawsuit was filed, The
Coca-Cola Co. made $4 billion in profits and paid its CEO, Douglas Daft, more
than $105 million. Coca-Cola continues to rake in billions each year, yet the
frightening conditions at the Coke plants remain unchanged. Labor unions and
human rights advocates in the United States can stop these atrocities at
Coca-Cola’s bottling plants.
Please read the exposés on
<www.killercoke.org>. The Campaign to Stop Killer Coke will move the fight
to the doorsteps and into the boardrooms of Coca-Cola and its key financial
ally, SunTrust Banks. As long as SunTrust, “the bank of Killer
Coke,” maintains its intimate ties to Coke through board interlocks, large
stock holdings and credit relationships, SunTrust, along with Coca-Cola, will be
a principal target of this campaign.
We ask you to take part in this most
important struggle. Any contribution you can make to the campaign will serve as
a critical building block and act of solidarity to help end one of the ugliest
chapters in labor history. Please make a financial contribution, participate in
protest activities and mail in the coupon below. By working together, we can
protect our sisters and brothers and restrain corporations like SunTrust and
Coke that behave so immorally and irresponsibly. Any support you give will be
greatly appreciated and acknowledged.
In solidarity,
Javier Correa, President, Sinaltrainal
William Mendoza, President of SINALTRAINAL,
Barrancabermeja.
Ray Rogers, Director,
Campaign to Stop Killer Coke
Posted: Fri - August 1, 2003 at 08:21 PM