Coca-Cola threatens union workers in Colombia
Don't Let Coke Fire Union Workers in Colombia!
From: list-owner@campaignforlaborrights.org
[Information for this
alert comes from www.unionvoice.org
and United
Students Against Sweatshops ]
Call Coca-Cola Now!
Demand the End of Union Busting, Intimidation and
Murder!
Call or write Coke's Chief Executive Officer Neville
Isdell today!
bottler Coca-Cola FEMSA permission to dismiss 63 workers from Coke's
bottling plants, half of whom are members of SINALTRAINAL, the Colombian
food and beverage union. In order to carry out the firings, Coca-Cola
FEMSA will request that union protection be removed from the 31 union
leaders. This means that in less than two months the union could be
completely eliminated from Coke's plants and these workers could be
forced out of their jobs without security protection! The union is
concerned that as soon as their members are no longer employed by Coke,
there will be another string of murders by paramilitaries who are
reluctant to kill union leaders as long as they continue to be employed
by Coke because "their deaths would create problems for the company."
SINALTRAINAL is
asking that people in the United States and abroad put
as much pressure as possible on Coke right now! The
World Social Forum
declared today to be the International Day of Action
Against Coca-Cola,
marking the one-year anniversary of the launching of
the International
Campaign Against Coca-Cola. Please take action
today, in solidarity with
actions around the world, to demand that Coke stop
its violent union
busting, and protect its workers' right to the
freedom of association.
On behalf of the workers and their families, please
send a strong
message to The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola FEMSA
in Colombia. Please
call Coke's Chief Executive Officer Neville Isdell
at (404) 676-2121 today!
Sample phone script:
"Hello, my name
is ______________. I demand that you do not allow
Coca-Cola FEMSA to dismiss the 63 SINALTRAINAL
workers at your Colombian
bottling plants and stop the continued union busting
campaign.
Additionally, Coke must respect the right to
organize of everyone
involved in producing its product and assure a stop
to the campaign of
murder and intimidation against its Colombian
bottlers. I am appalled
that this situation has persisted and that Coke has
not made strong
steps to ensure the safety and freedom of its
employees. I expect
Coca-Cola to ensure that the union workers are not
dismissed, that all
bottlers and Coke employees are guaranteed the right
to organize, and
that the horrific killing and intimidation
stop."
To fax a letter go to:
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/cokefirings/dwwu664qk5i6n
Or send this letter by regular mail to: Chief
Executive Officer Neville
Isdell The Coca-Cola Company, P.O. Box 1734,
Atlanta, GA 30301
Subject: Don't Let
Coca-Cola FEMSA Dismiss Dozens of Workers!
Dear Mr. Isdell,
I am writing to you in protest of the action being
taken by your related
company, Coca-Cola FEMSA in Colombia, to dismiss 63
workers, among them
31 leaders of SINALTRAINAL (National Food Workers
Union). SINALTRAINAL
sees this as a violation of Articles 18 and 91 of
their collective
bargaining agreement under which the workers must be
relocated to other
positions or transferred to other plants. We see
this as violating the
internationally recognized right of workers to
freedom of association
and nothing more than a move to completely eliminate
the union in
Coca-Cola FEMSA.
Your company has already pressured more than 500
workers from their
employment. A prolonged reign of paramilitary terror
at Coca-Cola has
resulted in nine workers being killed, and 67 placed
under death threat.
Many have suffered attempted murder, kidnappings,
forced displacement
and deadly attacks on their families. The company is
also allegedly
implicated in the burning of a union office by
Paramilitaries. Such are
the issues involved in the suit filed by
SINALTRAINAL in the Southern
District Court of Florida against the Coca-Cola
bottlers.
Responding to the current attempt to destroy the
Union, one SINALTRAINAL
leader warned, "If we lose the fight against
Coca-Cola, we will first
lose our union, next our jobs and then our
lives." The truth of that
statement may be imminent. Another Union leader now
personally states
that if the firings take place and the union is
broken, "it makes things
very complicated for me - in terms of my security.
This decision removes
any political cost to the paramilitaries who would
assassinate me."
Your company must stop the union busting, observe
the workers' right to
belong to their union, stop the arbitrary dismissals
and put a stop to
the reign of paramilitary terror. We implore you to
discontinue this
prelude to a tragedy.
If this union-busting scheme plays out, the blood of
the workers will be
on company hands and will stain the famous trademark
of Coca-Cola
wherever the product is marketed. The world is
watching.
Sincerely,
*************************************************************
