This term teaming up with Amnesty International and the mmu Pakistani society as part of the Buy Right campaign our agenda is getting Coca-Cola off campus! The coca-cola company has many controversies with it’s human rights violations and environmental destruction among its unethical practises. This is a company based on corruption, from taking up precious local water supply in Plachimada, India in April 2002 – “Barely six months after the factory set up, villagers and farmers living around the bottling unit began noticing changes in the quantity and quality of well water. Water from a well in Plachimada, a tribal colony with nearly 100 families living along the eastern wall of the factory, rapidly turned brackish and milky white in colour. The water was unfit for drinking, cooking and bathing.” leaving life miserable for nearby villagers, women were forced to walk up a kilometre away for water and return in time to get to work – to its anti-union standpoint; in the 1980′s three General Secretaries of a union in Guatemala City were murdered and five other workers killed, four more people were kidnapped and have disappeared. Most recently in 2010 another human rights abuse lawsuit had been filed against Coca-Cola in the supreme court of New York, the case involving a campaign of violence – including rape, murder and attempted murder – against trade unionist and their families at the behest of the management of Coca-cola bottling and Processing plants in Guatemala. Again their track record with unionist is evident as in 2005 in Istanbul, Turkey when 105 people joined a union and were terminated. After several weeks of protesting, leaders of the workers were meeting with management for the company, when their company ordered Turkish riot police to attack the workers who were peacefully assembled – many with their spouses and children. Nearly 200 were beaten badly and many required hospitalization. Lawsuits are still pending.
With murders in Colombia, Child labour in El Salvador, Stealing and polluting water in India, El Salvador and Mexico other universities have boycotted Coca-cola terminating their contracts and removed Coke machines or banned the sale or distribution of Coke products from their premises.
With 43 universities in the United States
6 Universities in Canada
Universities in Norway, Sweden, Italy and Ireland
4 Universities in the UK including University of Sussex, University of Manchester and The University of Bangor
6 Universities in Canada
Universities in Norway, Sweden, Italy and Ireland
4 Universities in the UK including University of Sussex, University of Manchester and The University of Bangor
come along and support the cause at our film showing of Mark Thomas on Coca-Cola, see facebook for more information at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175879752447812
see you there!
