FACT: Coca-Cola has does nothing to stop paramilitary groups from murdering and threating Coca-cola union workers and their family members in Colombia. http://killercoke.org/report.htm
FACT: Coca-Cola deliberately allows children to work in their sugar cane fields in El Salvador. Child labor is illegal in these fields. http://www.hrw.org/children/labor/ elsalvador/
FACT: Coca-Cola sells products with poison (DDT) in India. http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2004/coketwist.html
FACT: Coca-Cola gives toxic waste as fertilizer to local farmers, a BBC study has found. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3096893.stm
FACT: Coca-Cola depletes water resources for farmers in India. http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_shiva.html
FACT:The American Anthropological Association's Executive Board has adopted the following statement regarding the Coca-Cola Co.: "Given the growing anthropological record of problems in communities where The Coca- Cola Company operates and with operations of The Coca-Cola Company globally, the American Anthropological Association endorses boycott actions against The Coca-Cola Company as specified below. Investigations thus far have created a scholarly record of the operations and impact of The Coca-Cola Company through interviews with eyewitnesses; union organizers and other stakeholders; field observations; and archival research. Their findings indicate that The Coca-Cola Company has not been sufficiently proactive in protecting workers and their families from intimidation and violence, that internationally recognized rights to organize unions have not been respected, and that information disclosure has been inadequate and insufficiently verified by independent sources. Based on these findings, the American Anthropological Association supports the Colombian union SINALTRAINAL's call for a boycott of The Coca-Cola Company and its products, and calls its members to do the same, until Coca-Cola agrees in good faith to negotiate with workers."http://dev.aaanet.org/pdf/coke_resolution.PDF
FACT: Numerous universities across the country have already kicked Coca-Cola based on these FACTS!!! Most notably, Rutgers (the state university of New Jersey), New York University, DePaul University, and Oberlin. Other Big Ten schools working on the campaign are Michigan, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, and Iowa. It should be noted that Illinois just signed a contract with Pepsi, and Penn State already has a contract with Pepsi. It should be made clear Students Against Coke is not advocating for Pepsi, but Pepsi is a saint compared to Coca-Cola. http://killercoke.org/active-in-campaign.htm
Common concerns with not resigning with Coca-Cola
1. Ohio State will loose millions of dollars.
Response: a)NO! What beverage company would
not want to support the biggest university in the country that has consistent national
championship apperances? b)If you find yourself asking this question, you
really need to be asking, "Where are my morals?" Students Against Coke and numerous
other Ohio State students, faculty, teachers, etc. do not want to be associated with
a corporation that has as few morals as Coca-Cola. It is a common belief that murdering,
child laboring, and water resource depleting are amoral behaviors. It boggles minds
when some people think it is ok for Coca-Cola to do this, and it is ok for Ohio State
to accept their money when they do these actions.
2. Pepsi is just as bad as Coca-cola.
Response:No! Pepsi is no shinning star, but the magnitude of
abuses against human rights, worker rights, and environmental rights is no where near as bad as Coca-Cola. Also, what about signing a contract withRC Cola, Jones, and Faygo who are rarely accused of such abuses?
If you have a concern, please email it to osustudentsagainstcoke@gmail.com, and we will try to post it with a response on our webpage.
A good article to read can be found here http://www.pressureworks.org/frontline/features/cocacola.html
A good place to get some basic info is a video by Mark Thomas. It is hosted at this website http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5JXmDApzp4
Meetings Thursdays at 7:30pm in Hagerty Hall Room 0056
osustudentsagainstcoke@gmail.com