Cristiano Mayta: Tengo el cargo de secretario de exteriores del sindicato SINATREL (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Embotelladora Arca Continental Lindley), también soy militante de la organización política Izquierda Socialista Perú.

¡Lucha y Resiste!: ¿Cuándo se va a comenzar la huelga?

Cristiano Mayta: el 20 de octubre a las 7am hora peruana, del presente año recién empezamos

¡Lucha y Resiste!: ¿Por qué se van a hacer la huelga?

Cristiano Mayta: Por que la empresa no quiere dar solución a nuestro pliego de reclamos 2021-2022, llevamos en reuniones ya casi como 7 meses, pero sin resultados, la empresa aduce q no puede atender el pliego de forma integral por que fue afectado por la pandemia, esto no es tan cierto, porque durante toda la pandemia trabajamos normal, fruto de ello genero utilidades en el año 2020.

¡Lucha y Resiste!:¿En cuantas ciudades o plantas embotelladoras entraran la huelga?

Cristiano Mayta: La empresa donde laboramos se llama Arca Continental Lindley que se dedica a embotellar Coca Cola, Inka Cola, Sprite, Fanta y otros. tiene 5 plantas embotelladoras en el Perú, los trabajadores de estas 5 plantas entramos en huelga indefinida.

¡Lucha y Resiste!: ¿Que significa una huelga nacional infinida?

Cristiano Mayta: Significa que dejamos de trabajar por tiempo indefinido (hasta que solucione el pliego de reclamos)

¡Lucha y Resiste!: ¿Como podemos apoyar su lucha, la Huelga?

Cristiano Mayta: Desde hace dos meses estamos haciendo protestas virtuales y ahora presenciales, pedimos su apoyo difundiendo en las redes sociales, estas protestas las pueden encontrar en el Facebook de GLORIOSO SINATREL, con este mismo nombre en Twitter.

Quiero pedirles su apoyo incondicional con esta medida de lucha que vamos a empezar el día 20 de octubre 2021. Pueden apoyarnos de diferentes formas como: difundiendo por las redes sociales nuestras protestas que serán publicadas, enviando un pronunciamiento escrito o tal vez un pequeño video de 60 segundos en respaldo y solidaridad a nuestra institución SINATREL PERU en entra en esta huelga nacional indefinida que empezaremos.

Saludos sindicales a todos y todas.

Que viva la clase trabajadora del mundo.

#Peru #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #CocaCola

Cristiano Mayta: I am the International Secretary of the union SINATREL at a Coca-Cola bottling plant. I am also a member of an organization called Socialist Left of Peru (Izquierda Socialista Perú).

Fight Back!: When is the strike set to begin?

Mayta: At 7 a.m. in the morning of October 20 this year.

Fight Back!: Why is your union going on strike?

Mayta: Because the company does want to offer a solution to our list of demands for 2021-22. We have been meeting for the past seven months with zero results. The company claims they cannot meet our demands because of the pandemic. We do not believe this, because all throughout the pandemic we worked like normal and still generated profits for them.

Fight Back!: At how many different plants will the strike take place?

Mayta: The company we work at is called Arca Continental Lindley and it bottles for Coca Cola, Inka Cola, Sprite, Fanta and others. It has five bottling plants in Perú and the workers at these five bottling plants will be on indefinite strike.

Fight Back!: What does an indefinite strike mean?

Mayta: It just means that we are stopping production, withholding our labor power for an undefined time until the company brings solutions to our demands.

Fight Back!: How can we support your struggle, your strike?

Mayta: It has been two straight months that we have put on virtual protests and others in person. We ask that you share on social media our protests and statements from Facebook and Twitter from the page called GLORIOSO SINATREL PERU.

I want to ask you for the unconditional support in the method of struggle for our strike that starts October 20. Aside from the social media shares, send us written statements of solidarity from your organization or union, and or a short video with a solidarity message for the workers and our union SINATREL PERU. A big working-class thank you.

Long Live The Workers of the World!

#Peru #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #CocaCola

In response to the wave of worker activity, many companies have begun to offer hazard pay, increased time-off benefits and new safety measures. Warehouse and distribution workers on the frontlines have been leading workplace actions and winning demands. Workers at Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution Inc., which operates in several Midwestern states, are fighting for better sick-time policies, hazard pay, assistance for childcare and other policies to keep workers safe.

Teamsters Local 344, which represents Great Lakes Coca-Cola workers in Wisconsin, says the company continues to discipline employees who call out due to COVID-19, and has not fulfilled information requests regarding safety measures the company is taking to protect employees.

Secretary-Treasurer Bill Carroll said the company has “yet to provide any useful response as to what measures they are taking to reduce the risk of our members getting or spreading infection.” Teamsters Local 727 in Illinois also blasted Great Lakes Coca-Cola, calling them a “greedy, anti-worker corporate bully,” saying the company “once again picked profit over people.”

Coca-Cola's leading competitor, Pepsico, is one of many companies that has provided an increase in pay and benefits to employees since the wave of worker activity began. Teamsters are asking Great Lakes Coca-Cola to match competitors who have provided up to a 20% hazard pay bonus and improved safety measures, but so far Great Lakes Coca-Cola has not done so. Instead of offering hazard pay, Great Lakes Coca-Cola proposed a weekly lump sum bonus of $100 if workers show up consistently and do not call in sick.

“This misguided policy would incentivize employees to come to work sick, which contradicts the recommendations put out by government and health authorities,” said Local 344 Business Agent Kevin Schwerdtfeger.

Teamsters are taking the fight beyond the warehouse and going public, asking supporters to call Great Lakes Coca-Cola management at 847-653-0784 and tell them to prioritize worker safety over profits.

#MilwaukeeWI #Healthcare #Teamsters #strike #CocaCola #Wisconsin

The Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions – National Democratic Front of the Philippines – Southern Tagalog (RCTU-NDFP-ST) salutes the workers under the Unyon ng Manggagawa Driver, Forklift Operator, at Picker (UMDFP-IND) of the Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. Sta. Rosa Plant for a victorious strike launched in May 2013. The collective action that was directed at the heart of the capitalist’s interests has once again proven that workers are indeed the decisive force in production.

As the memorandum of agreement nears implementation this October, the RCTU-NDFP-ST reminds and urges workers to fearlessly fight the worsening working conditions under the US-Aquino regime, take back the power of strikes, and track the revolutionary road that will bring them genuine victory in the fight for a society without capitalist oppression.

On 20 May 2013, workers under the UMDFP-IND decisively took their anger to the streets outside the CCBPI-Sta. Rosa plant and declared a strike after months of trying to negotiate with transnational Coca Cola.

Members reached a resolution to launch the strike via strike voting after the Department of Labor and Employment Office of the Secretary blatantly reversed the previous decision released by DoLE-region 4A Med Arbiter Tongzon regarding the workers’ right to certification election abreast their regularization.

The strike that lasted for three days brought workers from other factories and other sectors together to call for the immediate recognition of the previously released decision from Tongzon.

Taking back what is rightfully theirs, the workers paralyzed the factory and ceased, for that particular moment, the capitalist’s seemingly endless acquiring of surplus value from the workers’ labor. For three days, the striking workers, with the support of workers from other factories and unions, have temporarily reversed their economic and social status — forcing the capitalist to bow down and heed the workers’ calls. For this particular moment, workers become the masters, and the capitalist becomes their slave.

Coca Cola lost more than an estimated cost of 100 million pesos during the three-day strike, which left them with no other choice but to face the workers and settle with a set of agreements including the regularization of the workers under UMDFP. Based on a series of talks during the past 4 months, the capitalist has promised to fully implement the decisions based on the memorandum of agreement on 6 October.

In the whole region and even the whole country, the victorious strike of the UMDFP-IND truly sets a new development in the long been oppressed trade union sector. The fight for job security, which has become a crucial struggle for the working class, has now reached a new level, at which we can truly say that there is still hope through our unified ranks and determination.

While it is just right to acknowledge the power of strikes in giving workers economic and political power, there is great necessity in recognizing its momentary effect. Following their brief rise from oppression, workers return to their usual places in production and once again become modern day slaves who trade their labor for measly alms. At the end of the day, they have been able to lessen the capitalist’s rate of exploitation through better working conditions, but remain abused because of the latter’s natural interests in expanding their capital.

RCTU-NDFP-ST calls on all Coca Cola workers, as well as other workers from other factories, to continue the fight for regularization and right to union, escalate their struggle from economic to politically motivated actions, and aim their strength at the heart of the capitalists’ interests not only by intensifying the strike movement, but most importantly, through leading the national democratic revolution that will end all forms of capitalist oppression.

#Philippines #CocaCola #RevolutionaryCouncilOfTradeUnions #laborStrike #UnyonNgManggagawa #Asia

Behind closed doors, Uribe spoke about how he brought prosperity and peace to the Colombian people by combating violent militias. The opposite is in fact true. Uribe supported right-wing militia groups connected to the Colombian military and which were also partially funded by U.S. corporations like Drummond Coal, Chiquita Banana and Coca-Cola. The so-called AUC (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) terrorize the countryside, carrying out gruesome attacks against poor farmers and driving them off their land. Colombia now has the largest displaced population in the world, more than even Iraq, where the U.S. occupation is wreaking havoc. Over 4 million rural Colombians are crowding into towns and cities with no work and few prospects. Many Colombian farmers are fleeing over the borders into neighboring countries like Venezuela.

In addition, Uribe left office on the heels of the ‘false positives, scandal, where dozens of Colombian military officers were caught kidnapping low-income young men from the cities, executing them in the countryside and claiming they were members of the powerful Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group killed in combat. The current President Santos was Uribe’s Minister of Defense overseeing the military officers who carried out the systematic murders of close to 3000 civilians.

Outside Zion Bank’s conference, student protester Emily Lacock explained, “Uribe deserves to know that people recognize his crimes and will not silence their outrage.” While passing out flyers detailing Uribe's criminal record, the protesters chanted, “Plan Colombia is a scam! Death squads sent by Uncle Sam!”

“I think it’s atrocious that the U.S. can masquerade Uribe as a 'hero',” said protester Kristen Lambert. Kristen continued, “During Uribe’s presidency, Colombia’s human rights record was the worst in our hemisphere and people suffered more overwhelming poverty while he supposedly improved the economy.”

The sharp divisions in the U.S. were felt on the street that day. As bankers rushed into the Marriott Hotel to hear Uribe's lies, many of the hotel's staff took an interest in the activities on the outside. There were local construction workers and carpenters’ union members who stopped to chat about the situation in Colombia. The union workers were upset to hear how their Colombian counterparts were being murdered at a rate of one a week.

The Revolutionary Students Union (RSU), affiliated with the Students for a Democratic Society, organized the protest as part of the movement against U.S. intervention and war in Colombia. A RSU leader said, “Even in Utah, Uribe will be held accountable for waging a dirty war against the poor farmers and working people of Colombia. We oppose the U.S.-led counter-insurgency war and say no to the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. By speaking out against America's lackeys like Uribe, we cut through the deafening silence that holds so many captive while expressing the solidarity with those who are facing the brunt force of the U.S. empire.”

#SaltLakeCityUT #AntiwarMovement #Colombia #Uribe #CocaCola #AlvaroUribe #Drummond #ChiquitaBrands #AutodefensasUnidasDeColombia #AUC #RevolutionaryStudentUnion #deathSquads #Americas

Cardona dijo, “La campaña mundial en contra de la Coca Cola ha logrado reducir la cantidad de lideres sindicales asesinados por parte de los escuadrones de la muerte en Colombia, pero esta multinacional norteamericana y el presidente Uribe han adicionado nuevas tácticas. Ahora Uribe falsamente detiene y encarcela a los sindicalistas y los acusa de terrorismo o cualquier otra actividad criminal. Los lideres sindicales que ahora mismo están en la cárcel, tienen muchas dificultades para seguir luchando por los derechos de los trabajadores. Encarcelar sindicalistas y lideres del movimiento social es parte del Plan Colombia, el Plan de Guerra de los Estados Unidos contra nuestro país.”

John Lugo del Comité de Acción por Colombia de Connecticut hablo después explicando la historia del movimiento popular en Colombia y el impacto negativo de la intervención norteamericana – especialmente la creciente intervención militar.

Lugo dijo, “los Estados Unidos han estado envueltos en la guerra civil colombiana desde los sesenta cuando la CIA aconsejaba al gobierno colombiano en el montaje de los primeros grupos paramilitares. Muchas veces el movimiento popular han tratado la vía de la paz para lograr el cambio social, como por ejemplo en los 80's y 90's cuando la Unión Patriótica – un partido político legal de izquierda – gano cientos de miles de votos en las elecciones. Escuadrones de la muerte conectados con el ejercito colombiano mataron cerca de 4000 miembros de este partido político, muertos que hiban desde candidatos presidenciales, concejales a miembros de base. La esperanza para un cambio social por la paz fue exterminado. En los anos recientes el gobierno colombiano ha ido perdiendo control de la situación y la insurgencia rebelde ha crecido, entonces la intervención militar norteamericana se ha incrementado.”

Meredith Aby del Comité Antiguerra de Minnesota hablo sobre la intervención norteamericana en Colombia, “El Plan Colombia es un plan para la guerra, un plan para la miseria, la pobreza y a la vez un plan para la muerte. El Plan Colombia fue presentado por los demócratas Clinton y Gore. Como parte de la guerra contra el terrorismo, Bush ha incrementado la ayuda militar a Colombia, utilizando el dinero de nuestros impuestos para proteger los oleoductos de la compañía Occidental, metiendo 1200 boinas verdes como consejeros militares. Ahora mismo tres personas de la inteligencia de los Estados Unidos han sido capturados y son retenidos por el movimiento revolucionario colombiano-FARC-EP. Es evidente el envolvimiento de los Estados Unidos en la guerra civil colombiana.”

Construyendo la Lucha

La reunión resumió las lecciones aprendidas, se discutió como avanzar en el liderato de las campanas en las universidades, los sindicatos y las comunidades. Katie Williams de la Campana del Boicot contra la Coca Cola en la Universidad de De Paul, anunció una victoria, la administración de la Universidad había escrito una carta al Consorcio de Derechos de los Trabajadores para que se iniciara una investigación en contra de los crímenes cometidos contra los trabajadores de la Coca Cola en Colombia. Esto llevara a una investigación y a un proceso de reporte que la Unión de Estudiantes en contra de las Maquiladoras y la Red de Acción sobre Colombia – CAN, por sus letras en ingles- fueron claves en comenzarlas.

Katie Williams dijo, “La Universidad de DePaul debe seguir sus principios de fe católicos y actuar de esa manera. La Universidad tomo una posición moral y accedió a la investigación de la Coca Cola. Esperamos que esto lleve a que se termine el contrato exclusivo de la Coca Cola con nuestra Universidad. Nosotros queremos cambiar la situación de derechos humanos que sufren los sindicalistas en Colombia.”

Otro panelista fue, Fred Gomez de la Universidad Northeastern de Illinois y dijo que los activistas estudiantiles necesitan dos cosas, paciencia y persistencia. El contó como un pequeño grupo de activistas de su Universidad lograron recoger mas de 500 firmas en una petición de CAN y además logro el apoyo de mas de 18 grupos estudiantiles, todo esto después de varios meses de duro trabajo. La administración de su Universidad les aconsejó que le escribieran al Acta de Libertad de Información Requerida para obtener una copia del contrato con la Coca Cola. Después, su campana de boicot a la Coca Cola se acerco al gobierno estudiantil pidiéndoles una resolución de apoyo a sus esfuerzos. Ellos han creado un gran movimiento de apoyo en su lugar de estudio, que incluye clase trabajadora, personas de países oprimidos y estudiantes inmigrantes.

Gomez dijo, “Nosotros sacamos mesas de información todas las semanas y lo hacemos activamente, mientras una persona esta sentada al lado de la mesa, los otros compañeros van por los corredores y la cafetería recogiendo firmas y explicando la situación tan terrible que se sufre en Colombia gracias a nuestros impuestos y la ventaja que toman de ello las compañías norteamericanas.”

Varios grupos que organizan la Campana de Boicot contra Coca Cola han explorado nuevas formas de trabajo y han conectado este tema con temas que conciernen a ciertos grupos oprimidos. En la Universidad del Norte de Arizona, Geronimo Vasquez reporto, “Los estudiantes y la comunidad organizaron una marcha desde la Universidad hasta la alcaldía de la ciudad de Flagstaff y obstruyeron una de las intersecciones mas concurridas durante la hora de mas trafico. Liderados por varias jóvenes universitarias los manifestantes repartieron volantes a los conductores y fueron bien recibidos.”

Geronimo también explico otro aspecto de su trabajo, “el otro éxito es la presentación de la situacion de los lideres sindicales colombianos y el boicot a la Coca Cola a las reservaciones indígenas Navajos y Hopis. Por que hay un movimiento de padres de familia que están preocupados por los efectos de la Coca Cola en la caries dental y otros problemas de salud en los niños indígenas. Además que algunas escuelas han prohibido la venta de Coca Cola por razones de salud es fácil hablar con ellos sobre el ataque de la Coca Cola a los derechos de los trabajadores colombianos. Al mismo tiempo también los podemos educar sobre el Plan Colombia y el abuso de las multinacionales petroleras sobre los indígenas colombianos.”

En la ciudad de New York, el Comité de Acción con Colombia organizo un foro con irlandeses nativos y irlandeses norteamericanos en el punto de los tres irlandeses que son prisioneros del gobierno colombiano. El caso se pone en la mira de la lucha irlandesa anticolonial que han dado por cientos de anos. The Colombian Three, como se les llama, han estado prisioneros por 4 anos, rodeados por cientos de prisioneros paramilitares, mientras al mismo tiempo el proceso en contra de ellos y sin evidencias sigue adelante. Los tres son acusados de ayudar a las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia -FARC-EP . Lo cierto era que ellos habían viajado a Colombia a estudiar el proceso de paz – luego este fue terminado por el gobierno de Pastrana. Ahora estos tres son rehenes del gobierno paramilitar.

Conor McGrady de New York y que fue uno de los participantes en la conferencia dijo: “nosotros planeamos regar la noticia sobre el boicot a la Coca Cola en solidaridad con los sindicalistas colombianos atravez de los bares irlandeses de la cuidad de New York.”

En Missoula, Montana, Scott Nicholson de la Comunidad en Acción por Justicia de las Americas, explico como la comunidad y los activistas estudiantiles marcharon alrededor de la universidad y dentro de las oficinas de la administración con un ataúd. Esto representando a los lideres sindicales muertos por la Coca Cola. Esta acción en la cual participaron 50 personas fue seguida por una reunión donde el Vicepresidente de la universidad Bob Duringuer dijo: “yo no me puedo dar el lujo de preocuparme sobre los derechos humanos.”

En la ciudad de Milwaukee, el grupo COMPA que organiza en la comunidad y en la Universidad, crearon varios eventos musicales y artísticos que sobresaltaban el boicot a la Coca Cola.

La reunión de la Red de Acción por Colombia – CAN, desarrollo un plan de trabajo para aumentar el boicot a la Coca Cola y la construcción de un movimiento de protesta contra el Plan Colombia. CAN creo un volante con la consigna de: “Desde Bagdad hasta Bogota: no a la guerra por petróleo,” que los activistas distribuyeron en todas las manifestaciones en contra de la guerra que se dieron en marzo 20.

Un día de Acción Nacional

Los diferentes grupos que conforman a CAN van a salir en un día de acción nacional el 15 de abril, el día de los impuestos. En este día los activistas sobre Colombia o los que apoyan la causa colombiana van a pedir que los dólares de los impuestos no se utilicen en el Plan Colombia y también resaltaran en como multinacionales como la Coca Cola operan fuera de la ley en Colombia .

CAN también se sumo al Día Internacional de Acción por los Pueblo Indígenas que se dio en marzo 11 con protestas y eventos desde Arizona hasta Latinoamérica y Africa.

Finalmente CAN esta organizando una delegación de solidaridad a Colombia, la cual será recibida por la USO, el sindicato de los trabajadores petroleros colombianos, y REINICIAR – organización de derechos humanos basada en bogota. La delegación se reunirá con el sindicato de la Coca Cola – SINALTRAINAL. La delegación también viajara e investigara algunos lugares afectados por las fumigaciones de los cultivos ilícitos y también estudiara la situación de derechos humanos de los sindicatos y organizaciones campesinas.

#MadisonWI #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #Labor #News #Colombia #CocaCola #LaRedDeAcciónSobreColombia #UnDíaDeAcciónNacional #Americas

Meredith Aby of Fight Back! interviewed members of a delegation to Colombia: Marty Hoerth, Tsione Wolde-Michael and Erika Zurawski.

Community Action for Justice in the Americas and the Colombia Action Network organized a delegation of student and community activists from Montana and Minnesota that traveled to Colombia in June. The delegation met with human rights organizations, labor unions and campesino (peasant) groups to investigate the true effects of U.S. military aid to Colombia.

Paramilitary death squads murder an average of two to three Colombian trade unionists every week. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International document that U.S. military aid, called Plan Colombia, funds the repressive Colombian military and right-wing paramilitary death squads. The U.S. has spent over $3.5 billion since 2000 to fund Plan Colombia.

Fight Back!: What did you see during your trip?

Erika Zurawski: U.S. military aid to Colombia just went up again, renewing $742 million in military aid. As a result, political repression by paramilitary death squads and the Colombian Army has risen dramatically. In the city of Tamé, 85 people were already assassinated from January to May 2005. The situation is deteriorating. Colombians directly relate this to U.S. military aid.

While we were in Tamé, we heard the testimonies of around 50 people with the courage to denounce the massacres of the people in their city. Some of these testimonies were made at a public meeting where paramilitaries were present. The people of Tamé, like the rest of Colombia, are dedicated to resisting oppression and to working towards positive change.

Fight Back!: What is the current situation for the Coca-Cola workers’ union, SINALTRAINAL?

Tsione Wolde-Michael: Coke’s new move is to use psychological tactics in addition to physical ones to dissuade Colombians from joining the union. Company representatives scare workers’ families into signing ‘voluntary agreements’ to resign from their jobs. The Coke psychologists say if the father or mother does not resign, they will get no compensation from Coca-Cola. If the workers resign then Coca-Cola takes no responsibility in lawsuits for job layoffs or if they are murdered.

Nine SINALTRAINAL trade unionists have been killed by Coca-Cola death squads. Local vice president William Mendoza specifically credited the Coca-Cola boycott with protecting them and helping them keep their jobs. Because of the Coke boycott, Mendoza receives a call once a month from the U.S. Embassy to see if he’s alive. In 2003, when eleven Coca-Cola plants were closed, pressure from the Coke boycott forced the company to relocate the union workers instead of throwing them on the street. The international boycott has helped keep the Coca-Cola workers’ union alive.

Fight Back!: Under Plan Colombia, the U.S. government purchases chemical poisons for the Colombian government’s aerial spraying in the countryside. What is the impact that you saw of U.S.-sponsored fumigation in Colombia?

Tsione Wolde-Michael: The fumigation is interesting when you look at it in the context of the ‘war on drugs.’ Our U.S. tax dollars are supposed to be spent to help fight the drug war and coca production. We see that fumigation kills the coca, yes, but it also kills legal crops and animals. People are sprayed too!

In the end, even people growing legal crops are forced to grow coca. The reason is, when you grow a legal crop and the government sprays you, you do not have your crops to sustain yourself, and your animals are dying off, and your family members are sick. You either get up to move, which is sometimes what the government wants so they can get your land, or you begin to grow coca. Campesinos decide to grow coca because it will eventually grow in the polluted soil and it has a guaranteed income.

In Santo Domingo, helicopters fly in to come pick up coca. Whereas farmers who grow legal crops take a three-hour mule ride followed by a two-hour boat ride to get their crops to market. It just is not worth it to take that trip. Conveniently, it is great for U.S. policy because it looks like Bush is trying to stop drugs, when in fact all the money is going to the paramilitaries and military. Fumigation forcibly displaces people and creates opportunities for U.S. corporations to exploit the land and resources.

The ‘war on drugs’ is really about securing U.S. interests and having another puppet government that is strategically placed next to Venezuela and near Bolivia. By controlling Colombia, the U.S. is trying to prevent the full realization of the Bolivarian process – the unity of South American countries against U.S. imperialism.

Fight Back!: You met with many social organizations who are fighting for economic and political rights in Colombia. What dangers do they face from the right-wing government of President Uribé?

Marty Hoerth: Social organization leaders face warrants and arrest. While the police do not immediately act upon them, the warrants limit the movement and organizing of those leaders.

We witnessed this with the campesino leader Álvaro Manzano. We were supposed to accompany him back to his hometown. Previously, he had been arrested, detained and forced to sign a confession that he was a guerilla fighter. The government used this signed paper as ‘evidence’ of rebel activity and further targeted his fellow activists. He escaped from the secret police, the DAS, and went to Bogotá. Eventually he needed to return home, so he took a bus to meet us in Barrancabermeja but only a block from the bus station he was arrested again by the DAS. He was with a member of our U.S. delegation. Fortunately, two weeks later Álvaro was released without charges due to a lack of evidence.

Many leaders have these arrest warrants out for them and can be imprisoned at any time. Three years ago the government had arrest warrants out for six activists on the board of directors of the Cimitarra River Valley Peasants Association, now it is sixty.

Fight Back!: What connections do you see between the U.S. occupation in Iraq and the U.S. intervention in Colombia? What connections do Colombians make between these two areas of U.S. foreign policy?

Erika Zurawski: Colombia, like Iraq, is an oil-rich and occupied country. The difference is that the U.S. is more able to hide their involvement in Colombia because their government bows to U.S. interests. The U.S. cannot hide their involvement, however, from the Colombian people, who say that policies in Colombia are made by the U.S. State Department. Colombians do not choose to displace themselves and give their land to multinational corporations.

Colombia is a land occupied by soldiers and paramilitaries, and those fighting for the people of Colombia are labeled as terrorists and are the targets of assassinations, disappearances and death threats. In Iraq, the U.S. is trying to secure the same government compliance as in Colombia. Though U.S. presence in Iraq is visible now, without the resistance forces that continue to fight against the occupation, a sovereign Iraq will disappear under neo-liberal oppression, as in Colombia.

Colombians understand that resistance to U.S. occupation in Iraq is resistance to U.S.-led oppression in Colombia. A victory by the resistance in Iraq will be a victory to the people in Colombia because it will be a blow to the U.S. agenda of war and terror. Just as Colombians who fight for justice are not terrorists, neither are the Iraqis. Alirio Joreda, a former local president of USO, said, “We admire the strength of the resistance of the Iraqi people in defense of their national sovereignty and will continue to carry out actions in support of them.”

#UnitedStates #Interview #Colombia #Interviews #ColombiaActionNetwork #PlanColombia #CocaCola #SINALTRAINAL #Americas

Chicago, IL – Students boycotting Coca-Cola have won another victory. At Chicago’s DePaul University on July 7, university administrators from across the U.S. agreed to an independent investigation of the murder of nine Colombian trade unionists who worked at Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola uses death squads to break the Coca-Cola workers’ union – SINALTRAINAL – in Colombia. In India, Coca-Cola has been illegally polluting the water and land of poor peasant farmers.

The students came to DePaul to protest Coca-Cola and meet with administrators from the University of California system, DePaul University, University of Illinois, Duke University, Ohio State and others. These schools are questioning multi-million dollar contracts, most of them exclusive, with Coca-Cola.

Some colleges have already banned Coke products – for example, the College of DuPage and Lake Forest College in Illinois, New Jersey’s Rutgers University and Carleton College in Minnesota.

Coca-Cola is growing more worried and hiring more public relations people to combat the spreading student movement to Boycott Coke.

The University of Michigan, represented at the July 7 negotiations by an administrator and a student, decided in June to set a timeline for Coke to agree to an independent investigation and to take corrective action on both the Coca-Cola murders in Colombia and the pollution of water and farmers lands in India.

At the meeting, University of Michigan’s Clara Hardie announced, “I represent the Student Coalition To Cut The Coca-Cola Contract. We are 5,000 students of 20 student groups, ranging from environmental to human rights groups that have been working on the campaign for over seven months now.”

Colombian trade unionist Luis Adolfo Cardona said, “Twenty-five Colombia solidarity activists and students protested outside while Coca-Cola met with administrators and a few students. Coca-Cola does not want me, as a survivor of kidnapping by a Coca-Cola death squad to be in the same room, telling the truth about the crimes of their multi-national corporation. The students took a principled position.”

Ben Meyer of DePaul Students Coalition Against Coca-Cola reports, “The student representatives all stood up and walked out at 9:30 a.m. We said we were willing to return to the meeting if our demands were met and gave the group an hour to make a decision.”

Ben continued, “A little over an hour later a group of representatives from the commission came down to get us and told us that Coca-Cola was no longer part of the group that would decide on the methodology and logistics for an investigation. Instead, the group, which has been dubbed a ‘working group,’ will consist of students and administrators with advisors who have experience with labor investigations. Needless to say, this was a major victory for us. We returned to the meeting and continued to press our other points.”

Luis Adolfo Cardona said, “The Universities’ Working Group committed to meeting with representatives of my union, SINALTRAINAL, and with representatives from community and peasants groups in India on Aug. 9. Coca-Cola will have to change its policies not only in Colombia, but other parts of the world. The students are doing a very, very good job of campaigning for justice for the oppressed communities and workers of the world!”

Students will continue to press the Coca-Cola Boycott on campuses across the U.S. and Coca-Cola will continue to backpedal and to try to shift blame for the Colombian trade unionists’ deaths on to others. Students will struggle to broaden the scope of the investigation and seek redress for the victims of Coca-Cola death squads, especially victims in the union SINALTRAINAL. Coca-Cola will seek to limit the investigation to current conditions inside the plants where SINALTRAINAL is no longer allowed.

The Colombia Action Network launched the Coca-Cola Boycott here in the U.S. over three years ago, during the time when Coca-Cola death squads were active. Students across the U.S. have taken up the campaign and made it their own, kicking Coke off campus and publicizing the plight of workers and peasants in Colombia and India. The student organizing and activism on campus is the key to winning victories in the ongoing Campaign to Boycott Killer Coke.

#ChicagoIL #News #Colombia #CocaCola #SINALTRAINAL

Dan Kovalik of the United Steel Workers of America stated, “This past year alone, over 90 trade unionists lost their lives at the hands of Colombian military-run death squads.” Unfortunately, under Bush’s Department of Labor, the AFL-CIO solidarity program is being closed down, putting more Colombian trade unionists in harm’s way.

The keynote speaker at the Colombia Action Network (CAN) conference was Javier Correa, president of the Colombian food and beverage workers’ union SINALTRAINAL and leader of the worldwide Campaign to Boycott Coca-Cola. He spoke about the continuing struggle of his union and the great success of the Coke Boycott campaign. Javier Correa, himself a target of the right-wing paramilitary death squads, spoke about the nine trade unionists murdered by Coca-Cola’s death squads. Correa asked the Colombia solidarity activists, especially the students, to “continue to press their campaigns to kick Killer Coke off campus and support the Colombian workers.” [ See Fight Back! interview]

During the Coca-Cola Boycott panel, 50 people listened as Colombian trade unionist Luis Adolfo Cardona told his chilling tale of escape and survival from the clutches of a Coca-Cola death squad. SINALTRAINAL’s lead union negotiator, Isidro Gil, was shot dead at the Coca-Cola plant and the union hall was burned down that night. The same death squad came into the bottling plant, forcing all the Coke workers to sign letters resigning from the union. Coca-Cola refuses to accept responsibility for the nine murders or to recognize the crimes of its bottling company officials.

Luis Adolfo Cardona said, “We hold the Coca-Cola Company responsible for its crimes and condemn the destruction of our union through murder and intimidation. Plan Colombia, what we Colombians call Plan Washington, is George Bush’s plan for poverty and death in our country. Over $3.5 billion in U.S. tax dollars has been used to suppress unions, peasant groups and indigenous people so U.S. companies can take oil, coal, emeralds and other natural resources from our country. We need your help to build a movement to stop Plan Colombia.”

While many attending the CAN Conference lead local efforts in the Campaign to Boycott Coca-Cola, activists are launching a new campaign by the Colombia Action Network: “From Baghdad to Bogotá: No Blood for Oil!” Meredith Aby of the CAN says, “The U.S. government and big business corporations have one and the same agenda in Colombia – to dominate the country politically and militarily so as to pillage the natural resources, especially oil. Bush and big oil companies act like pirates; they sail in, take what rightfully belongs to the Colombian people and leave nothing but death and destruction behind them. The CAN makes the links between U.S. war and occupation in Iraq and in Colombia. We know the war on drugs is phony, that the ‘war on terrorism’ is just another excuse to expand the U.S. oil empire. The U.S. is losing hearts and minds both in Iraq and in Colombia, as well as here at home. Bush’s military adventures are failing and we must act now to stop Plan Colombia before it is too late.”

Dan Kovalik of the United Steel Workers of America spoke on the lawsuit filed in federal court against Occidental Petroleum and its ugly practices in Colombia. “Occidental Oil is the direct beneficiary of $99 million in taxpayer money to protect an oil pipeline in Arauca. There the U.S. advisors and soldiers train the 18th Brigade of the Colombian Army. The 18th Brigade gunned down three unarmed trade unionists on Aug. 5, 2004, just six months ago. This is what U.S. tax money is supporting. These are the supposed ‘anti-terror techniques’ in practice.”

Jhony Meneses, of the Taxi Drivers’ Union in Cartegena, Colombia, explained about U.S. military intervention and oil. “The U.S. military received $99 million from the U.S. Congress to patrol an oil pipeline that is largely used by Occidental Petroleum. In this area of Colombia, near Arauca, the unions, the peasant groups and the ordinary citizens have seen paramilitary death squads move in and force anyone opposed to the policies of Occidental Petroleum or the Colombian government flee the area or be murdered. First come the Colombian military with their U.S. advisors, and they tell the people, you better leave or the paramilitaries who follow us will ‘take care of you.’ Then the union and community leaders must make a difficult choice, stand their ground and possibly die, or abandon everything they have worked for.”

Meneses continued, “Of course this is all legal because no one in the military is held responsible to the laws – under the ‘War on Terrorism,’ anyone opposed to President Uribe’s policies is a suspect. Conservative politicians and the press label trade union leaders as ‘terrorists.’ So anyone demanding trade union rights or advocating for the environment or indigenous people asserting their sovereignty over their land is a ‘terrorist threat.’ This is the meaning of promoting American democracy in Colombia under Plan Colombia.”

The CAN Conference also hosted a unique panel entitled, “No blood for oil!” There was one bright light in the discussions about oil and politics. The Consul General of Venezuela, Martin Sanchez, spoke about the importance of oil to the whole of Venezuelan society. He said, “The Venezuelan government under President Chavez has restructured the national oil industry to benefit the Venezuelan people. The reforms eliminate whole layers of bosses and corrupt officials who did no work, but were being paid. The anti-corruption reforms allow Venezuela to use the savings and the profits from oil to build a new society that benefits working people. The Venezuelan government for the first time can invest in education, healthcare and infrastructure, to benefit all Venezuelans, not just the wealthy.”

Suzanne Adely of the Arab American Action Network spoke about U.S. war and occupation in the Middle East. Many participants said it was the most powerful speech they have heard concerning oil and the U.S. occupation of Iraq. She defended the right of the Iraqi people to resist occupation. Ms. Adely explained, “The outcome of the elections were predetermined in the sense that the new regime could only do the bidding of Bush and the Pentagon, given the ongoing U.S. military occupation and the failing attempt to put down the insurgency.”

She spoke about the unity of the Iraqi people in opposition to British and U.S. forces and the support of the Arab masses for the resistance. Ms. Adely related the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and the liberation of all of Palestine to the desires of people everywhere for freedom from colonialism and empire.

The conference then moved into workshops covering topics such as how to kick killer Coke off campus, organizing delegations to Colombia or to the World Youth Festival in Venezuela, how to organize and stop Plan Colombia, work against the ruinous Free Trade Agreements of Bush and the regional resistance to U.S. empire in Latin America.

One workshop dealt with the formation of a National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, the FARC leader now imprisoned and on trial in the U.S. The Colombian speakers at the Conference insisted that Ricardo Palmera’s trial was a bad precedent for all Colombians and activists and liberation fighters around the world. They emphasized the need for the CAN to take up this campaign and oppose the U.S. extradition of any Colombians for trial in the U.S. The Colombians underlined in the workshop that U.S. solidarity activists must oppose any extraditions, because it undermines the sovereignty and self-determination of Colombia.

The final morning of the CAN Conference took up resolutions supporting the Colombian Oil Workers’ Union, USO; opposing Plan Colombia; supporting the campaign to Free Ricardo Palmera; supporting the Mar. 19 anti-war protests and calling for a national day of action on tax day, April 15.

#ChicagoIL #News #Colombia #ColombiaActionNetwork #CocaCola #Americas

Javier Correa is the president of SINALTRAINAL, the courageous beverage workers’ union, which fights for labor rights in Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia. Coca-Cola-sponsored death squads are responsible for murdering nine Colombian trade unionists. SINALTRAINAL calls for an international boycott of Coca-Cola products because of Coke’s use of paramilitary violence against the union.

Fight Back! : What effect does Plan Colombia (the U.S. military aid package) have on SINALTRAINAL?

Correa : Plan Colombia limits free speech and limits the ability for people to enter cities and regions in order to organize the workers. The war terrorizes the workers and their families. Plan Colombia attacks our union, because our union doesn’t want the war. We demand a political solution to the social and armed conflict in Colombia. We always struggle for peace and social justice. At the same time, Plan Colombia motivates unions to protest against the abuses suffered by the people in the zones where the Colombian government does fumigations, bombings and machine gun attacks. Plan Colombia also, to the union, is a violation of our national sovereignty.

We reject the presence of North American soldiers on our soil and the intervention of the United States government in our country’s affairs. We see Plan Colombia as a tool of force to subject the Colombian people and our movements to the will of the transnational corporations, so that the big foreign companies, without any barriers, can exploit our natural resources and our labor. Plan Colombia is a plan against our country. It is an instrument of military domination against organizations that resist and that struggle for a different or alternative model of life. Also, Plan Colombia forces the governments of the region to impose the so-called free trade agreement on their people, the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas). Plan Colombia is a plan for domination.

Fight Back! : What are the conditions for SINALTRAINAL today?

Correa : At this time we live under real conditions of great persecution. We live with a lot of uncertainty due to the policies of the foreign companies and of the Colombian state that continuously violate our rights. The government refuses to acknowledge the conditions of poverty and misery that the workers and the people live in. This puts the workers in a struggle for survival and in defense of their lives, a difficult struggle.

Fight Back! : How is the boycott against Coca-Cola affecting the work of SINALTRAINAL?

Correa: The boycott, or the campaign against Coca-Cola, has had a positive impact for the union and for the workers of Colombia. First, because the world is learning what is happening in Colombia. Second, the truths of the abuses by Coca-Cola are being revealed. Third, it has put increasing pressure on Coca-Cola. Since 2002, Coca-Cola has not assassinated any of our members. Although other types of aggression continue, this is a major advance. Fourth, the boycott has allowed the continued existence of the union, because there is a strong sense of solidarity around the world with us, the workers of Coca-Cola and SINALTRAINAL. And fifth, we are very hopeful that we will achieve a victory against Coca-Cola in order to obtain truth, justice and compensation [reparations].

Fight Back! : How do the SINALTRAINAL members feel about our solidarity work here in the United States?

Correa: First of all, there is an understanding that the United States government is responsible for the aggressions that we suffer in Colombia. And we see the North American people, who speak out against the policies of the U.S. government and of U.S. corporations, as being very different from the U.S. government. Second, the solidarity work in the U.S. gives us a lot of hope, a lot of strength to keep fighting. Third, we see that we are not alone in this struggle; that equally, we must continue to strengthen solidarity between the people. And in general, the workers and the union are very grateful for your solidarity because, thanks to all the support, even in the middle of such a difficult conflict as in Colombia, it is possible to keep organized and to struggle for change for all of society. It makes us very happy to see how the campaign creates a higher consciousness among many people in the United States and in other countries, and to see how, through this campaign, the truth becomes known about what is happening in our country and how our struggle unites other sectors of the population here – like students, indigenous peoples, the peace and anti-war movement, the women’s movement, peasants and ethnic minorities.

Fight Back! : What do you want us to do here in the U.S. in order to support the struggle of the SINALTRAINAL members?

Correa : One very important task is to help eliminate Coca-Cola contracts in universities and in other institutions. Another is to demand that Coca-Cola resolve the requests for compensation [reparations petitions] that were presented by SINALTRAINAL and require that the U.S. government and corporations like Coca-Cola adopt a policy of respect for human rights. Another possibility is to send delegations to Colombia so that you may verify testimonies directly from the victims and convince Coca-Cola and the United States government that the abuses are real.

#Interview #Colombia #Interviews #PlanColombia #CocaCola #SINALTRAINAL #JavierCorrea #Americas

The Colombia Action Network has called for national days of action, Nov. 1 through Nov. 6, to support Colombian trade unionists and to stop Plan Colombia. Plan Colombia is the U.S. military aid package given to Colombia’s death squad government.

A statement from the Colombia Action Network (CAN) notes, “$3.1 billion is spent by the U.S. government for a dirty war against Colombia's poor. While Colombian military death squads kill trade unionists and peasant leaders, U.S. military personnel and contractors spray dangerous chemicals on peasant lands. The U.S. congress just doubled the number of U.S. military personnel and increased by 50% the 'private contractors' (mercenaries). Whatever the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, Bush's terror war will continue in Colombia with more poison, more death and more war.”

The statement also calls for continuing the boycott of Coca-Cola, pointing out, “In response to the killing of nine trade unionists by Coca-Cola's death squads, some student groups have successfully kicked Coke off their campuses and more will do so this year. The popular campaign to ' Boycott Killer Coke!' has spread across the country. Some of the largest unions – Service Employees International Union and the American Postal Workers Union – passed resolutions to boycott Coke.”

The CAN is introducing a new campaign: “Colombia: No Blood For Oil!” The CAN states, “Like the war in Iraq, the U.S. conducts a dirty war in Colombia to seize oil…USO, the Colombian Oil Workers Union, the most important union in Colombia, recently won a strike to stop privatization of Colombia's oil industry. USO is asking for our support and we are organizing to stop Plan Colombia.”

To participate in the national days of action, the Colombia Action Network is urging activists to organize events, pass out leaflets and get petitions signed. For more information, go to the web site of the Colombia Action Network at www.colombiaactionnetwork.org.

#UnitedStates #News #Colombia #ColombiaActionNetwork #CocaCola #Americas

In July, the Colombia Action Network (CAN) sent a solidarity delegation of anti-war and student activists to meet with representatives from the Colombia trade unions, including the CUT, Colombia's largest labor federation; USO, the oil workers' union; the Bogota teachers' union and SINALTRAINAL, the beverage workers' union which is fighting at Coca-Cola plants. The goal of the delegation's two-week visit was to stand in solidarity with the people of Colombia and investigate the effects of the U.S. military aid package, Plan Colombia. The delegation saw the effects first hand. Two unions had members killed the same day the delegation visited them.

Government Repression

In addition to extralegal violence, the Colombian government is also waging a war by 'legal' means. The Colombian Congress passed the new Democratic Security Act, similar to the U.S. Patriot Act. It legalizes the indefinite detention of people the government labels 'suspected terrorists,' these people then lose their rights to formal accusations, to bail and to being considered innocent until proven guilty. Every trade union and social movement organization the delegation talked to expressed concern about this new law. They explained while these acts of repression were standard practice for the armed forces and police in the past, but at least when such activities were illegal, activists could use the legal system to fight the unlawful detention and imprisonment of their fellow compañeros and compañeras. Now the government has given itself these new powers legally under the guise of 'anti-terrorism' legislation.

Activists and trade unionists in Colombia specifically blamed the Bush administration for these new repressive policies. They said that post 9-11, the Colombian government, especially under the current president Alvaro Uribe, has been given clear direction from the U.S. to use whatever means necessary in order to fight against both leftists and rebels.

Domingo Tovar, director of human rights for the CUT (Central Unitaria de Trabajadores), layed out the political situation for us on our first day in Bogota, “There’s an annual 30,000 dead each year. Only 7% are killed in combat between the two forces. One hundred sixty kids die daily due to poor health and nutrition and the rest of the deaths are the responsibility of the state. The government is the primary violator of human rights. There are more than 12,000 members of the armed forces who are devoted to violating human rights and paramilitarism.”

He continued, “Colombia is the country with the most assassinations of union members in the world. Under the administration of Uribe, the current president, there's been more than 160 union deaths. This year there’s been 29, including a compañero this morning. Under Uribe there's been more than 700 illegal arrests. Under the new anti-terrorism statute it gives judicial police the power to investigate, capture and condemn. The CUT has more than 100 members in jail and more than 500 are in exile. The violation of human rights will increase due to the application of Plan Colombia or Plan Patriotica, and the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas. Because of that, please send a message to the U.S. to not continue this war on Colombia.”

As Tovar points out, the U.S. is supporting the Uribe government for its own purposes. The U.S. gives $3 million in military aid per day to Colombia because the U.S. has plans for the country and the region. The U.S. wants Colombia to be a part of its free trade vision for the hemisphere. The U.S. wants its corporations to be able to sell their goods cheaply in Colombia and for their products to be made cheaply there as well. However, in order for the FTAA and other free trade agreements to pass and be implemented, several conditions need to change. Colombia's strong labor movement and rebel armies are in deep opposition to these policies. Additionally, Colombia lacks the infrastructure for free trade. So the U.S.’s military aid is used to train the military in torture and in to wage warfare against the guerillas. The U.S. military aid is also being used to guard Occidental Oil's pipeline in Arauca and to guard the highways being built for multi-national trade.

Fighting for Control of Oil

By law, the state-owned oil company, Ecopetrol, used to handle 50-70% of the nation’s oil production. Six years ago, under the previous president, the law was changed to give 70% to multi-national corporations. This change decreased the amount of revenue the state earns from oil production and it increased taxes for Colombians. It also meant more profits for foreign oil companies like Occidental Oil and BP Amoco.

In May, the oil workers union, USO, completed one of the most important strikes in Colombia’s recent history. The government, acting on behalf of multi-national corporations and World Bank pressure, wanted to sell off its national industries, including Ecopetrol. The government purposefully sabotaged the oil company’s economic viability to justify selling it to foreign companies. Had this plan for privatization succeeded, it would have robbed the Colombian people of an important source of wealth, and it would have placed one of Colombia’s most valuable resources, oil, in the hands of foreign corporations. It would have killed the nation’s most militant union.

The battle began this past spring when the Colombian government instituted layoffs that violated the union contract and directly targeted the leadership of the oil workers union. USO responded with a 36-day strike to fight against further layoffs, against the privatization of the oil company, and for the right to have a union. 70 to 80% of the oil workers are unionized at Ecopetrol. 65% of the union went out on strike. The company offered bonuses, bribes and promotions to try to persuade workers not to strike.

During the strike, the families of strikers received letters and phone calls threatening death. Pressure was brought to bear on the family members of union workers, who in a few cases caved in and encouraged their loved ones to scab rather than risk job loss and the family's economic support. The union remained strong however, and in the end the government agreed to not privatize the company and to keep it 100% Colombian. With their courage, USO won an important victory for the Colombian people.

Unfortunately, after the strike, two USO members were framed for a crime they didn't commit, under the new 'terrorism' laws. One member is charged with planting a bomb and running from the scene of the crime, even though he had a broken leg at the time. The jail they are held in is extremely overcrowded. In whispers they told the CAN delegation that paramilitaries inside the jail are trying to intimidate the union activists and get special privileges from the jail guards.

These tactics have not broken the Colombian spirit. In July, several months after the strike, there was still a considerable amount of political graffiti throughout the entire country calling for nationalized oil. Graffiti expressed solidarity with the union using slogans like, “The battle for USO is the battle for Colombia!”

The Battle against Killer Coke

In Barrancabermeja the delegation met with the vice-president of the beverage workers union (SINALTRAINAL), William Mendoza. He gave the delegation context for the struggle at Coca-Cola plants throughout Colombia: “Since 1990 the Coca-Cola company has had the goal of union-free plants in Colombia. Twelve years ago 96% of the Coke workforce was unionized. 96% of the jobs with Coke were full-time permanent positions. Now only 4% of the jobs with Coke are permanent full-time jobs. The rest are now temporary jobs. In 1993, 1808 workers were members of SINALTRAINAL, but now only 300 workers are with the union. The company’s campaign of firing, pressuring and threatening union members and leaders has severely hurt the union. Nine compañeros have been assassinated, 45 displaced and 75 threatened.”

Recently Coca-Cola has applied to the Colombian government to dismiss 63 workers, including 31 leaders of the union. This is in violation of their contract. These union workers should be relocated to other positions or transferred to other plants. The government has approved this attack and each of Coke's massive layoffs. These firings are more evidence that Coca-Cola, with its economic and political power, is plotting with the Alvaro Uribe administration to eliminate the union.

Mendoza continued, “Another tactic Coke is taking is to close the plants. They have closed twelve in total. The union believes the plants will be reopened but without a union. However the union offers a better way of life for the workers.” He explained, “At Coca-Cola's plants a union worker will earn $260 per month and work an 8-hour day, whereas a non-union worker will earn $110 per month, the legal minimum, and work 14 to 16 hours per day. Coca-Cola is trying to eliminate the contract by closing all the plants where union members work. However, Coke isn't just trying to destroy the union through plant closings. Several union members in Barrancabermeja, including the vice president, reported that their families had been threatened and that paramilitaries had tried to abduct their children.”

SINALTRAINAL members in Barrancabermeja stated that the company and the paramilitaries were working together to destroy the union. They gave the delegation several examples and personal testimony of cases when known paramilitaries were allowed into the plant to meet with Coca-Cola executives, even after the workers reported these in-plant meetings to Coca-Cola in Bogota. They even gave the example of Coca-Cola donating free soda pop to paramilitaries so they are refreshed while manning the check points that intimidate and terrorize people in the Barrancabermeja area.

William Mendoza, in an email communication to the CAN, said, “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. Mendoza also said 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.”

Since 2002, the Colombia Action Network has been organizing in solidarity with SINALTRAINAL. Last summer the CAN joined the international campaign for a boycott of all Coca-Cola products for their union-busting tactics including the support of right-wing paramilitary death squads. Mendoza informed the delegation that the movement in the U.S. has helped. He said, “We've felt international solidarity and pressure has decreased the threats to us. The company has had to give some means of security to us because of the international pressure. It’s because of this international pressure that we can continue our struggle.”

#UnitedStates #News #Colombia #ColombiaActionNetwork #CocaCola #USO #SINALTRAINAL #Americas

Killer Coke's use of terror tactics has not broken the spirit of SINALTRAINAL. The union's struggle is winning international attention, and last July an international boycott of Coca-Cola products began in response to Coke's use and support of paramilitary death squads in Colombia. The Colombia Action Network (CAN) is organizing support for the militant labor movement in Colombia. From June 30 to July 14, a delegation of CAN student and anti-war activists from Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin met with representatives from many human rights groups, campesino organizations and unions in Colombia, including SINALTRAINAL, to hear about the effects of Plan Colombia (a U.S. military aid package).

Mendoza explained that Coca-Cola is changing their strategy. Because of international pressure, Killer Coke's union busting strategy includes less actual murder. Now the company is using the Colombian government to break the union. The Ministry of Social Protection (formerly the Labor Ministry) decided in favor of the Coca-Cola Corporation in the third and final appeal of their dismissal of 63 members of the beverage workers' union. In this way, Coca-Cola and the Ministry are working together to deliver a blow to SINALTRAINAL.

The situation for the members of SINALTRAINAL is extremely critical. Twenty days after the union is formally notified of the decision, the company will be able to dismiss more than 30 of the union workers. The other affected workers are union leaders who have union protection. In order to dismiss those union leaders, the company will have to formally request the removal of their union protection. That process can take as little as one month. Through this process the union could be eliminated from all the Coca-Cola plants. The union's leadership, like SINALTRAINAL vice-president William Mendoza, could be out of work and without security protection in less than two months.

William Mendoza explained the importance of the government's decision, stating, “The judicial system in this country is now making its decisions based on politics rather than the law. The most likely outcome is that Coca-Cola, with its economic, political and legal power, will apply pressure so that the decision comes out in its favor and it can dismiss the union leaders. This will then conclude the greatest infamy against an organization that struggles to improve the conditions of workers and in favor of the human rights of all Colombians. The only desire of Colombian president Alvaro Uribe's government is to eliminate all the forms of organization of the Colombian people in order to impose a totalitarian regime. A regime in which the common denominator will be terror, hunger and misery for the people, so that the rich can become even richer.”

SINALTRAINAL and the Colombia Action Network are calling for solidarity. They are asking supporters to call or contact Coke headquarters on July 22, the International Day of Action Against Coke, to denounce Coca-Cola's union busting. Colombian union leaders need support. They are concerned because now, international political pressure is protecting them and their families from murder – but when they are laid off from Coca-Cola, and no longer members of a union in the spotlight, the paramilitaries will kill them. By voicing support for the members of SINALTRAINAL, we can try to prevent a murderous attack against the courageous sisters and brothers of the Colombian labor movement!

To contact Coca-Cola: Douglas N. Daft, CEO

Coca-Cola Company

One Coca-Cola Plaza

Atlanta, GA 30313

Board of Directors

Coca-Cola Company

PO Box 1734

Atlanta, GA 30301

For more information go to:

www.colombiaactionnetwork.org

www.sinaltrainal.org

www.fightbacknews.org

#BarrancabermejaColombia #Barrancabermeja #News #Colombia #ColombiaActionNetwork #CocaCola #SINALTRAINAL #Americas

Chicago, Il – In a spectacular development, Colombian trade unionist Luis Adolfo Cardona can breathe easy again after winning political asylum in the U.S. Cardona escaped kidnapping and execution by Coca-Cola’s death squads in 1996. On Dec. 5, 1996, the day before union negotiations were to begin, a Coca-Cola death squad came to the bottling plant where Cardona worked and shot dead the lead union negotiator Isidro Gil. The same paramilitary gang kidnapped Luis Adolfo Cardona that afternoon, but he escaped using his skills as a semi-professional soccer player to tear away and dodge their attempts to shoot him down. Later that night, the paramilitaries, who work in collusion with the Colombian military, looted and burned down the union hall. A week later the paramilitaries appeared inside the Coca-Cola bottling plant while managers distributed resignation letters for all the union members to sign.

Since that time, Luis Adolfo and his family have been hounded by Coca-Cola’s death squads. Forced to move twice within Colombia, Luis Adolfo Cardona eventually came to the U.S. through an AFL-CIO protection program for Colombian trade unionists. While Luis was living in Washington D.C. and Chicago, his wife and young daughter lived in Bogotá and continued to receive death threats from the paramilitaries. Luis says, “When the Colombian government heard that I was in the U.S. talking about corruption and all the social problems, my family was threatened with death.” At that point, Luis Adolfo Cardona decided to bring his wife and daughter to the U.S. and apply for asylum.

When asked how he feels about winning asylum, Luis says, “I and my family, we feel very happy now that there is no longer the phantom of a possible deportation back to our country. Our return there is not possible because of the imminent danger of losing my life.”

The Coca-Cola corporation refuses to take responsibility for the murder of the nine trade unionists. Coca-Cola continues to receive big profits from its operations in Colombia, but rejects any responsibility for the conduct of its bottlers or management. When asked what the political asylum victory will mean for the Campaign to Boycott Coca-Cola, Luis responded, “I think it is important to continue the campaign of resistance against the politics of the Coca-Cola corporation and to continue the campaign at the international level against the Colombian government’s assassinations of trade unionists; also to boycott Coca-Cola’s products and to force the multinational to stop their political assassinations against the workers, against the community and against a normal life.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s granting of political asylum to Luis Adolfo Cardona exposes Coca-Cola and their violations of union and human rights in Colombia. Dan Parry, a Colombia Action Network activist, says, “The process for political asylum includes a very detailed investigation of Luis and his family, including investigations by the FBI in Colombia and the U.S. The only conclusion that can be reached is that Luis Adolfo Cardona’s story and the experiences of his union are true.” When asked why he thinks Homeland Security granted his application, Luis said, “I think the U.S. government was able to verify how dangerous it is for me to return to my country, where the death squads would assassinate me and possibly my family also. The U.S. government is also conscious of the social problems and was able to verify the situation in terms of us living in Colombia at this time.”

The granting of political asylum to Luis Adolfo Cardona follows another huge blow against the Coca-Cola corporation. In June, the largest trade union in the U.S., the Service Employees International Union, passed a resolution at their convention calling for the support of the Colombian trade unionists and the Coca-Cola boycott. With 1.7 million members, the SEIU resolution takes a firm stance against corporate murder of Colombian trade unionists and the continuing U.S. government funding of war and chemical fumigation called Plan Colombia. Luis Adolfo Cardona, a guest at the SEIU Convention, was warmly received with applause by the 4000 delegates.

On July 22, an International Day of Action to Boycott Coca-Cola is being organized, with the help of the Colombia Action Network (CAN) in the U.S. Seven students and solidarity activists from the CAN recently returned from a two-week trip to Colombia to investigate human and labor rights in Bogotá, Barrancabermeja and Arauca. While in Colombia, they met with SINALTRAINAL, the food and beverage union that Coca-Cola is trying to break. The CAN activists are asking people to call Coca-Cola and demand that the remaining members of the union in Colombia not be fired or dismissed.

#ChicagoIL #News #Colombia #ColombiaActionNetwork #CocaCola #LuisAdolfo #Americas

The Colombia Action Network (CAN) works to stop and is investigating the effects of Plan Colombia, the U.S. government’s military aid package for the war against poor peasants and working people. Over $3 billion in U.S. tax dollars have gone to pay for the Colombian military and private contractors (mercenaries) that repress the people’s movements. The U.S. government is funding a dirty war against a popular rebellion by the insurgents of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) in the countryside. The FARC control nearly half the country’s territory and are growing more popular in the cities. The FARC demands an end to poverty, oppression and exploitation by foreign companies, rich businessmen and narco-traffickers.

The delegation will see how George Bush, like Clinton before him, is funding a dirty war that uses chemical fumigation to drive poor peasants off their land; meanwhile big narco-traffickers’ plantations remain untouched. The delegation will hear from human rights lawyers, trade unionists, peasants’ association leaders and women community organizers about the paramilitary death squads and their partners in the Colombian military who murder and intimidate whole villages, towns and cities. The paramilitary death squads have killed, on average, three trade unionists every week for the past eight years.

Representing the Colombia Action Network are students and solidarity activists from across the country who have been leading the Campaign to Boycott Killer Coke, by raising awareness and taking action to spread the ‘boycott Coca-Cola’ theme across U.S. campuses. The delegation is meeting with the leaders of the militant union SINALTRAINAL, who have had nine of their union leaders murdered by Coca-Cola’s death squads. No one has been brought to justice and Coca-Cola continues to deny responsibility, despite eyewitness evidence. The students and activists of the CAN will be organizing meetings and report backs from their trip during the summer and fall.

Contact the Colombia Action Network at:

info at colombiaactionnetwork.org

#UnitedStates #News #Colombia #ColombiaActionNetwork #CocaCola #USO #Americas

On Tax Day, April 15, activists around the country took part in the Colombia Action Network's third national day of action this year. The April 15 protest brought attention to the human rights crisis that U.S. military aid is creating in Colombia. In Colombia, an average of three trade unionists are murdered each week. The U.S. counter-insurgency program, 'Plan Colombia,' and the new 'Andean Initiative' is arming, training and directing the war in Colombia using U.S. taxpayers' money.

Tom Burke, of the Colombia Action Network (CAN), explained, “We called for this national day of action to draw attention to the connection between the $2.1 billion in military aid that our tax dollars have provided to Colombia. This military aid funds paramilitary death squads, which target trade unionists and human rights activists. We have been leading a boycott of Coca-Cola since July 22, 2003. Corporations like Coke are able to hire death squads to intimidate and murder Colombian trade unionists because of the U.S.'s military aid and training to the death squads through Plan Colombia.'

Actions were held in Chicago; Flagstaff, Arizona; Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Missoula, Montana.

In Chicago, the Colombia Solidarity Committee and the DePaul University Anti-Coke Coalition organized a march from the Federal Plaza to DePaul University – ending at the Colombian Consulate.

At the rally at DePaul University, the Anti-Coke Coalition – a collaboration of more than ten student organizations – raised awareness about the anti-union practices of the Coca-Cola Company in Colombia. Organizers also thanked DePaul for asking the Workers' Rights Consortium to investigate reported human rights abuses in Coca-Cola bottling plants. Students signed a petition asking Coca-Cola to change their corporate policies by complying with human rights standards. These petitions were presented to university officials to show student dissatisfaction with the university's current contract with Coca-Cola.

In Minneapolis, the Anti-War Committee organized a picket outside of the downtown post office and passed out flyers explaining what taxpayers are really paying for in Colombia. Supporters held signs that said, “Boycott Killer Coke,” and “U.S. out of Colombia.”

Jared Cruz, of the Anti-War Committee, said, “In Latin America, the U.S. continues to attempt to dominate economically and intervene in other countries' politics. The cost of U.S. domination has been terrible to the people of Latin America, but it also hurts us here. We cannot detach what is going on in Latin America from what happens in the U.S. The Colombian trade unionists who fight for human rights, who are killed in Colombia by U.S-funded paramilitary forces, are helping to defend union jobs here in the U.S. But also, the U.S. funding for these murders and massacres comes out of our own tax dollars. So we must stand in solidarity with people around the world opposing U.S. domination.”

In Milwaukee, COMPA held an event where Luis Adolfo Cardona, the trade unionist from Coca-Cola who escaped from the paramilitaries, spoke at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. This was their seventh event in the 'Make Coke Broke' series.

In Missoula, Miguel Cifuentes, a leader of the Cimitarra River Valley Peasant Association in Colombia, spoke at the University of Montana. Cifuentes urged Congress to vote against funding for Plan Colombia and the 'free trade' agreements. Community Action for Justice in the Americas activists will deliver letters from voters written during Cifuentes's tour, along with the videotape of his talk, to their congressional representatives at an upcoming meeting.

On Feb. 2, Bush proposed the 2005 federal budget, which earmarks $700 million for Colombia – including $109 million to finance a special Colombian military brigade to protect an oil pipeline. Call Congress and the president to say NO to continuing Plan Colombia! Call to demand money for human needs, not for military aid. Call 202-223-3121 for the Capitol switchboard and ask to be connected with your Congressperson's office.

For more information go to www.colombiaactionnetwork.org

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #News #Colombia #AntiWarCommittee #ColombiaActionNetwork #PlanColombia #CocaCola #Americas

Cardona said, “The world campaign against Coca-Cola has helped to reduce the death squad murders of trade unionists in Colombia, but the U.S. multi-national corporations and Colombian President Uribe have added new tactics. Uribe now falsely detains and jails hundreds of trade unionists on charges of ‘terrorism’ or criminal activity. Union leaders have a difficult time fighting for the rights of the workers while they are behind bars on trumped-up charges. Jailing leaders of unions and popular movements is part of Plan Colombia, the U.S. plan for war in our country.”

John Lugo of Colombia Action Connecticut spoke next, explaining the history of the people’s movements in Colombia and the negative impact of U.S. intervention – especially the growing military intervention.

Lugo stated, “The U.S. has been involved in Colombia’s civil war since 1964, when the CIA first advised Colombia’s government in setting up paramilitary death squads. Many times the people’s movements have attempted peaceful roads to social change, as in the late 1980s and 1990s, when the Patriotic Union – a legal political party – won millions of votes in elections. Death squads connected to the Colombian military murdered nearly 4000 members of the Patriotic Union, from presidential candidates to election workers. Hope for peaceful change was killed. In recent years, the Colombian government has been losing control as the rebel insurgency grows, so direct U.S. military intervention has increased.”

Meredith Aby of the Anti-War Committee in Minnesota spoke about U.S. intervention and militarization in Colombia, “Plan Colombia is a plan for war, a plan for misery and poverty and a plan for death. Plan Colombia was introduced by democrats Clinton and Gore. As part of the ‘war on terror,’ Bush has increased military aid to Colombia, using our tax money to protect Occidental Oil’s pipeline, introducing 1200 Green Berets as advisors. Now three U.S. intelligence personnel have been captured and are being held by Colombia’s revolutionary movement – the FARC-EP. The U.S. is clearly involved in Colombia’s civil war.”

Building the Fight

The meeting summed up lessons learned and discussed how to lead the campaigns forward on campuses, in unions and communities. Katie Williams of DePaul University’s Boycott Coca-Cola Campaign announced a victory. DePaul’s administration wrote a letter to the Workers’ Rights Consortium requesting an investigation of Coca-Cola’s crimes against trade unionists in Colombia. This will begin a public investigation and reporting process that the United Students Against Sweatshops and the Colombia Action Network were key to kick starting.

Katie Williams said, “DePaul must follow their own Catholic Vincentian principles of faith and act accordingly. The University took a moral stand and agreed to the investigation of Coca-Cola. We hope it leads to ending the exclusive Coca-Cola contract on campus. We want to change the human rights situation for trade unionists in Colombia.”

Another panelist, Fred Gomez of Northeastern Illinois University, said student organizers need two things, patience and persistence. He told how a small group of activists on his campus collected over 500 signatures on a CAN petition and got the endorsement of 18 student groups after a few months of hard work. Their campus administration advised them to write a Freedom of Information Act Request to obtain a copy of Coca-Cola’s contract. Next, their Campaign to Boycott Coca-Cola will approach student government for a resolution backing the effort. They have built tremendous public support at this diverse campus of working class, oppressed nationality and immigrant students.

Gomez stated, “We table every week, but we do it actively. While one person sits in the main hallway, the others go around the halls and the cafeteria collecting petition signatures and explaining the deadly situation in Colombia that our tax dollars support and U.S. companies take advantage of.”

Groups organizing the Boycott Coke Campaign have pushed it to new levels and have tied in to issues of oppressed peoples. At Northern Arizona University, Jeronimo Vasquez reports, “The students and community organized a march from campus to Flagstaff City Hall and occupied the busiest intersection during rush hour. Led by young college women, protesters leafleted drivers and were well received.”

Jeronimo explains another aspect of their work “The other success is in bringing the issue of the Colombian trade unionists and the Coca-Cola Boycott to the Hopi and Navajo reservations. There is a movement of parents concerned about Coca-Cola and tooth decay and health problems of Native children. Schools have banned Coca-Cola for health reasons in many places, so it is easy to talk with parents about the rights of Colombian trade unionists who Coke has attacked. We can also educate about Plan Colombia, oil corporations and the abuse of indigenous peoples in Colombia.”

In New York City, the Colombia Action Committee organized a forum with Irish and Irish-Americans on the plight of three Irishmen imprisoned by the Colombian government. The case is seen in the light of the Irish anti-colonial struggle over the last few hundred years. The Colombia Three have been in prison for three years, surrounded by 4000 right-wing paramilitary prisoners, while a trial with no evidence drags on. The three stand accused of aiding the revolutionaries of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP). In fact, they traveled to Colombia to study a peace process – later ended by the Uribe regime. The Three are now hostages of the death squad government.

Conference participant Conor McGrady, of New York, said, “In solidarity with the Colombian trade unionists, we are planning to spread the Coca-Cola Boycott throughout the Irish pubs in New York.”

In Missoula, Montana, Scott Nicholson of the Community Action for Justice in the Americas explained how community and student activists marched around campus and into the University of Montana’s administration office with a coffin, representing trade unionists murdered by Coca-Cola. The action by fifty protesters followed a meeting where University Vice President Bob Duringer said, “I do not have the luxury of caring about human rights.”

In Milwaukee, the group Compa organizes both in the community and on campus, producing music and artistic events that highlight the Coca-Cola Boycott.

The CAN meeting laid plans to develop the Boycott of Coca-Cola and build a protest movement against Plan Colombia. The Colombia Action Network created a flyer with the slogan, “From Baghdad to Bogota: No War for Oil!” that activists distributed at anti-war rallies across the U.S. on March 20.

National Day of Action

The CAN is going all out for National Day of Action on tax day, April 15. On this day, supporters of Colombia will demand that no tax dollars be spent on Plan Colombia and will point out how multi-national corporations like Coca-Cola operate outside the law.

The CAN also endorsed an International Day of Indigenous Action on March 11, 2004, marked by protests and events from Arizona to Latin America to Africa.

Finally, the CAN will travel to Colombia for a solidarity trip, hosted by the USO (the Colombian Oil Workers’ Union) and Reiniciar, a Bogota-based human rights group. They will be meeting with and talking strategy with the Coca-Cola workers’ union, SINALTRAINAL. The CAN delegation will also investigate U.S. chemical fumigation policies and the human rights situation for trade unionists and peasant organizations.

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #Labor #News #Colombia #ColombiaActionNetwork #CocaCola #Americas

Report from Colombia Action Network (Chicago)

On Tuesday, March 30th, 2004, the Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) Student Government Association passed a resolution in support of the International Boycott of Killer Coke. Nine Colombian trade unionists have been murdered by Coca-Cola death squads, so the Colombia Action Network has been organizing a boycott in the U.S.

The NEIU Alliance to Boycott Coke, which consists of 22 campus clubs who stand with the union workers of Colombia as they fight for their rights, brought the bill to the Student Senate. Colombia Action Network member Alfredo Gomez answered questions from the Student Senate on the boycott, stating “our goal is the removal of Coca-Cola from our campus”. Professor Dennis Grammenos gave a moving portrayal of the deadly situation for trade unionists in Carepa, Colombia. The Senate voted 11 in favor, 0 against, and 1 abstention. This is a very important victory in the struggle to kick the killer off campus. NEIU, often called “the teachers' college”, has a largely working class and immigrant student body. Alfredo Gomez said “Our victorious vote today in front of over fifty students and staff should send the corporate bosses at Coke and the Administrators at our campus a strong message. No more Coca-Cola on campus!”

Northeastern Illinois University Alliance to Boycott Coke

Resolution for the Student Government Association:

Where As: We the students of Northeastern Illinois University understand that the university has an exclusive sponsorship agreement with the Coca-Cola USA/International. The financial terms are withheld from the student body. Also Coca-Cola is the sole vendor of soda pop, juice and water on campus.

Where As: Consistent, credible reports by the press and human rights groups have documented serious human rights violations in facilities producing Coca-Cola products in Colombia, South America, including kidnapping, torture, and murder of workers in efforts to request better pay and safer work conditions.

Where As: The exclusive nature of the contract limits choice on campus thereby limiting the ability for consumers to make educated decisions based on individual and community benefits, the working conditions of workers, human rights issues, and price comparisons.

Where As: Seeing as NEIU stands for the education and promotion of humane and responsible indivuals, it is contrary to what the university stands for if it continues to align itself with the corporation's continued violations of human rights. Also it can lead to a defamation of the universities name.

Therefore, Let it be Resolved: That we students of NEIU disapprove of the exclusive nature of the sponsorship agreement, the complete terms which are withheld, and are deeply troubled by the accusations against the Coca-Cola Corporation until time the Coca-Cola Corporation takes action to protect all workers in the bottling plants in Colombia.

#ChicagoIL #StudentMovement #Labor #Colombia #Statement #ColombiaActionNetwork #CocaCola #Americas

Coca-Cola has been the subject of an international boycott since July 22, 2002. The Colombian Action Network (CAN) has been leading the boycott in the United States. They have been organizing the boycott in communities and on college campuses across the country. Meredith Aby, of the Colombia Action Network, explained, “We called for an international boycott against Killer Coke for their hiring of paramilitary death squads to murder, threaten and kidnap union leaders. Nine union leaders at Coca-Cola have been killed in Colombia. It is the most dangerous place to be a union leader in the world.”

Aby continued, “On average, three trade unionists are killed every week in Colombia! The Colombia Action Network stands in solidarity with the Colombian labor movement in their fight for the right to organize. We criticize the U.S. government for the $3 billion in military aid they have given to the Colombian government since 2000. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented that these funds have gone directly to support the right-wing paramilitary death squads, which are the same organizations attacking the workers at Coca-Cola's plants in Colombia.”

On Sept. 9, 2003, Coca-Cola FEMSA (Coke's largest bottler in Latin America) closed the production lines at 11 of their 16 bottling plants in Colombia. The Coca-Cola Company shares several board members with Coca-Cola FEMSA and owns 46.4% of its voting stock. Since then, Coca-Cola FEMSA has pressured more than 500 workers into 'voluntarily resigning' from their contracts in exchange for a lump-sum payment. Most of the union leaders refused to resign and the company is escalating the pressure against them. On Feb. 25, the Colombian Ministry of Social Protection (Labor) authorized Coca-Cola FEMSA's plans to dismiss 91 workers – 70% of whom are union leaders. This would essentially eliminate the union.

The union is calling for Coca-Cola FEMSA to relocate those workers to other positions within those plants or to transfer them to other plants. This is what the company is required to do, according to Articles 18 and 91 of the current collective bargaining agreements. In January, a Colombian judge also ordered the company to do this for the workers at the plants in Barrancabermeja and Cúcuta.

In a communiqué from the Coca-Cola workers' union, SINALTRAINAL, President Luis Javier Correa Suarez said, “We're doing this (hunger strike) to denounce, nationally and internationally, that nine Coca-Cola workers have been killed and 67 have been threatened with death; and that we've been the victims of attempted murder, kidnappings, forced displacement, and the burning of one of our union offices by the paramilitaries. This has forced many workers to resign from the union. We're also denouncing the unjust termination of employment contracts, the use of illegal confinement to force workers to resign, the subcontracting of more than 88% of the workers and the impact this has had on living conditions and the attempt by Coca-Cola to eliminate rights in the negotiations of collective bargaining agreements as has been occurring since March 1 of this year.”

“We, the workers affected by the closure of the production lines, are continuing to resist. But, given the grave aggression that we're continuing to suffer, there's no other recourse but to declare a hunger strike and demand that Coca-Cola respect the law, and fulfill the legal resolution passed by the judge in January 2004 to protect the right to work and require Coca-Cola to relocate the workers in other positions. We're also demanding the fulfillment of the collective bargaining agreement by relocating the workers in other positions, an end to the repression, and respect for our human rights.”

Tom Burke, of the Colombia Action Network, urges supporters of the right to organize to contact Coca-Cola immediately. “This is an emergency! We need action! This may be the final show down between the Colombian workers' union, SINALTRAINAL, and Coca-Cola. This is an important time for an overwhelming response from the grassroots. People who are concerned about the rights of Colombian trade unionists must call Coca-Cola to demand that they recognize the union and the rights of workers!”

To contact Coca-Cola and send a message of solidarity with the unionists go to www.colombiaactionnetwork.org

#UnitedStates #Labor #News #Colombia #ColombiaActionNetwork #CocaCola #Americas

Colombia is the world’s most dangerous place for labor activists. Trade unionists in Colombia have been threatened, disappeared and murdered by right-wing military death squads, financed by the Colombian government. Colombia is the third highest recipient of U.S. military aid.

In response to the call from the workers, the Colombia Action Network has been organizing the boycott from coast to coast. They organized two days of student protest, Oct. 16 and Dec. 5, with enormous success. Over 80 student groups on more than 40 campuses participated in both or one of the days of action. The national days of action gave students the opportunity to stand together and demand that their universities break their exclusive contracts with Coca-Cola and helped to educate other students on the cooperation between Coca-Cola and the right wing paramilitary death squads in Colombia.

In Chicago, 70 protesters gathered at St. Pious Church and marched to a Coca-Cola distribution center in the Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen. Colombian trade unionist Luis Adolfo Cardona said, “We remember my friend and our lead union negotiator Isidro Gil, who was gunned down seven years ago today by Coca-Cola’s death squads. We build this shrine to Isidro Gil on the steps of Coca-Cola to commemorate him and all the other Colombian workers killed by the death squads of Plan Colombia. Our candles may be blown out by Coca-Cola’s management here tonight, but the struggle for justice will continue to burn in our hearts. Those who struggle for social justice in Colombia have a saying, ‘If you do not organize and fight back, then you are already dead!’ Thank you my friends for supporting the workers and those struggling for social justice in Colombia.”

At Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, students with the Student Labor Action Coalition have been pressuring campus administrators to end their contract with Coke. They have had several educational events on campus since the visit of Colombian trade unionist Luis Cardona. They also organized students to wear red armbands in solidarity with the workers in Colombia, to pass out literature, sign petitions and to drink alternative beverages to Coke.

In Madison, Wisconsin, community members and students at the University of Wisconsin in the Colombia Action Committee organized a Latin America and Human Rights fair with Amnesty International. Earlier that day they tabled at the Community Action on Latin America’s Fair Trade Fair.

Kris Penniston, an organizer with the Colombia Action Committee, explained, “We took the opportunity to build connections with other groups on and off campus around Colombia and other Latin American countries in regards to human and labor rights. We’ve had high visibility on campus on the Coke boycott. Next semester we’d like to demand that the University of Wisconsin end its beverage contract with Coke and to continue to connect with the broader issue of Plan Colombia. We think this is especially important as the U.S. changes its military operations in Iraq.”

In Missoula, Montana, Community Action for Justice in the Americas organized a funeral procession of 50 people to the office of university president to deliver a coffin with the names of the union leaders who have been killed in Colombia.

Erin Thompson, president of Missoula’s Community Action for Justice in the Americas explained, “By promoting and marketing Coca-Cola, the university administration is supporting Coke’s practices in Colombia which include allowing right-wing paramilitaries to threaten and murder union leaders. When Vice President Bob Duringer was presented with information about the repression of Coke’s union workers in Colombia, he responded that he didn’t have the ‘luxury’ of being concerned about human rights.” At the event organizers read a letter from William Mendoza, the president of SINALTRAINAL, which passionately explained why the union needs college campuses to end their contracts with Coca-Cola. Students at the University of Montana at Missoula are committed to making the university administration see the value in respecting labor rights both here and abroad!

In Flagstaff, Arizona, 40 community members and students at Northern Arizona University marched through downtown, passed out flyers and plastered stickers on vending machines. Jeronimo Vasquez, a Latin American studies student at NAU and organizer said, “We are participating in a national day of action against Coca-Cola to protest the human rights violations by Coke in Colombia and other places in the world. On this national day of action we are standing in solidarity with people all over the country and especially in Latin America.”

Campaigns against Coca-Cola are taking place around the country. Lake Forest College, near Chicago, ended its contract with Coke earlier this year. Bard College in New York has stated that it won’t renew its contract with Coke when it expires in 2004, in protest of the treatment of the company’s union workers in Colombia. The Colombia Action Network will continue their campaign to end Coca-Cola’s repression of union activists and to end the U.S. financial support of Colombia’s right wing paramilitary violence.

#UnitedStates #News #Colombia #ColombiaActionNetwork #CocaCola #Americas