Atlanta protest at Coke supports Colombian unionists
By Teresa Gutierrez
Atlanta
Some 200 people protested at the headquarters of Coca-Cola
Corp. here on July 20. Community people and others joined labor
unionists, AIDS and anti-war activists from the area to protest
Coca-Cola policies. Specifically, protesters emphasized the
deadly role Coca-Cola plays in Africa and Colombia.
The demonstration was part of an international campaign to
expose Coca-Cola's collusion with the murderous right-wing
death squads in Colombia. Three out of five trade unionists
killed in the world today are Colombian. It is open season
there for workers organizing union rights.
A lawsuit initiated by the United Steel Workers here in the
U.S., in conjunction with the union in Colombia that represents
Coke workers, is charging that the corporation is not only
aware of the role the death squads play in Colombia, but is in
cahoots with them.
ACT-UP, one of the sponsors of the Atlanta demonstration, is
also demanding that Coke bosses provide health care for their
workers in Africa. Coca-Cola, they say, is the largest private
employer in Africa and it provides little or no health
insurance for workers with AIDS. Africa has been devastated by
the disease, which makes health insurance even more urgent.
The labor unionists who came to Atlanta from Colombia urged
the progressive and anti-war movements here to join their call
to demand the end of death squad terror in Colombia. A
follow-up tribunal on Coke's role in Colombia will be held in
Brussels in October. In addition, the workers are organizing a
tribunal in Bogota, Colombia, in December.
Reprinted from the Aug. 8, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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