Labor, youth expand Coke boycott

Since October 2004, UAW Local 122 in Ohio has not served Coca-Cola products in its hall. This action followed a discussion by a number of union officers and activists with Luis Cardona, an exiled representative of Sinaltrainal, the food workers’ union in Colombia.

Thousands of members of Sinaltrainal and other Colombian unions have been assassinated by right-wing paramilitaries in collusion with foreign corporations. Nine Coke workers have been murdered; Cardona personally witnessed the murder of Isidro Gil on the premises of the company in 1996.

In 2003 Sinaltrainal called for an international boycott of all Coca-Cola products. The boycott has been endorsed by a number of labor organizations, including the American Postal Workers Union, Service Employees International, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, UNISON, the largest union in Britain, and VERDI, a 4-million-member union in Germany. Student activists have convinced 30 college campuses in the U.S. and around the world to stop serving Coke products.

The issue came up for Local 122 of the UAW again when some members wanted to resume serving Coke at the hall. This prompted boycott supporters to draft a formal resolution on the issue, stating clear support for the boycott and pledging to win support from other UAW bodies. The UAW nationally has not yet embraced the Coke campaign.

The resolution passed unanimously at the local’s January membership meeting. It was also well received the next day at a meeting of the UAW Community Action Project Council, comprised of elected delegates of many UAW locals.

Meanwhile, on Jan. 20, student activists from a dozen Ohio campuses met at a day-long teach-in sponsored by the Inter-Religious Task Force in Cleveland. March 1 has been declared an all-Ohio day of action to support the Coke campaign.