Killer Coke
A Never-ending Story of Exploitation, Greed, Lies, Cover-ups and Complicity in Kidnapping, Torture, Murder and other Gross Human Rights Abuses

Killer Coke News Archive | 2010


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"Campaign group 'disappointed' with Coca Cola" By John Sexton, China.org.cn, December 30, 2010
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"A report by a student group campaigning to improve working conditions at Coca Cola bottling plants in China says there has been "disappointing" progress in fulfilling a pledge to convert temporary staff to full-time employee status.

"The report from the Coke Concerned Student Group (CCSG) follows earlier highly critical reports that claimed Coca Cola's systematic use of contract staff was a legal device to avoid providing benefits full-time employees are entitled to. The reports also said that long-term use of contract staff is illegal under China's labor law...

"CCSG's latest report, published on Christmas Day [12/25/10], presents the results of a recent investigation of conditions at Swire bottling plants in Guangzhou, Huizhou and Hangzhou. It concludes that, while some contract workers have been given full-time status, a much larger number were simply dismissed without adequate compensation. In March, the report says, 100 contract workers, two-thirds of the total, were dismissed from Swire's Guangzhou plant. And at their Hangzhou plant only a small number of skilled workers were given full-time status..."

"Logra Rogers expulsar a Coca Cola de escuelas en EU" by Elena González Miércoles 29 de Diciembre de 2010
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Coca Cola Christmas Trucks

Watch on YouTube

New Death Threats Against Martha. Take Action Now!

Just days ago, paramilitary gunmen issued a death threat against Martha Giraldo. They said they want to kill her because of her work for justice in the case against her father's killers and her support of other families in a similar situation. You can help protect her and support her by taking action now.
Take Action!

Killer Coke Killer Coke

Martha Giraldo at the Shut Down the SOA rally

Solidarity Needed — Colombian Police Invade Coca-Cola Bottler In Medellin To Break Union And Terrorize Workers

Javier Correa (SINALTRAINAL) this is an emergency!

WORKERS FIGHT, Newsletter of SINALTRAINAL

Since December 18, 2010, the police entered by force to Coca Cola bottler in the city of Medellin, authorized by the president of Coca cola. They entered with armored tanks, shields, firing weapons to chemical fumes, intimidating and pressuring the sub-contract workers who were protesting. They militarized the dispute and forced workers to desist and accept verbal commitment of the multinational that promised to resolve the conflict, but simultaneously the workers were notified of their dismissal. Since then, the police remain in the Coca Cola bottling plant, 24 hours a day, terrorizing workers.

The police is present at all meetings of the factory, even in the restaurant area and workers should take their food under the pressure. This militarization of the labor dispute is an attack of international humanitarian laws, is further evidence of the brutal procedure of Coca Cola and the warmongering alliance between the military and multinational forces to suppress workers and Sinaltrainal. Tramples on human rights, violating the right of association and freedom of association and placing in jeopardy the lives of workers, with the complicity of the authorities who have stated this fact and remain silent complicity.

We call upon the international community to speak out against this abuse of Coca Cola

Send letter of protest to the below email/addresses with copies to javier@sinaltrainal.org

Colombian Embassy Washington DC — Staff

Gabriel Silva Lujan Ambassador ext. 300 emwas@colombiaemb.org
Nicolas Lloreda  DCM ext 290 nlloreda@colombiaemb.org
Alfonso Cuellar Minister Couselor ext. 320 aca@colombiaemb.org
Patricia Cortes Minister Counselor ext. 280 State Department and Think Tanks pc@colombiaemb.org
Vicente Echandia Minister Counselor ext. 340 Political Issues ve@colombiaemb.org
Martha O. Jensen Counselor
ext. 260
Press and Communications Office moj@colombiaemb.org
Rodrigo Rojas Counselor ext. 270 Plan Colombia and Department of Defense rr@colombiaemb.org
Denisse Yanovich Counselor
ext. 255
Cultural and Educational Affairs dy@colombiaemb.org
Natalia Pena Second Secretary ext. 250 Ambassador's Scheduler np@colombiaemb.org
Claudia Cuevas Third Secretary
ext. 226
Human Rights and Minorities cpc@colombiaemb.org
Fabio Forero Third Secretary
ext. 310
Environmental Topics and Financial Issues ff@colombiaemb.org
Klaus Koch Third Secretary ext 240 Congressional and Legal Affairs & Communications kk@colombiaemb.org

Colombian Embassy Washington DC — Military Attachés

Captain Orlando Romero Naval Attache (202) 387-1977 navalattache@colombiaemb.org
Coronel Angel Edgardo Gonzalez Military Attache (202) 387-1976 militaryattache@colombiaemb.org
Coronel Luis Alfonso Garcia Air Force Attache (202) 215-8414 airattache@colombiaemb.org
MG Fernando Soler Defense Attache (202) 387-1976 defenseattache@colombiaemb.org
Police Attache (202) 483-1740 policeattache@colombiaemb.org

General Information

Ambassador's Office emwas@colombiaemb.org
Cultural Information culturalinfo@colombiaemb.org
General Information embassyofcolombia@colombiaemb.org

In Colombia

JUAN MANUEL SANTOS CALDERÓN
Presidente de la República
Carrera 8 No. 7 -26 Palacio de Nariño Bogotá
Fax. 5662071

ANGELINO GARZÓN
Vicepresidente de la República
Carrera 8 No. 7-57 Bogotá D. C.

RODRIGO RIVERA
Ministro de la Defensa
Avenida El dorado con carrera 52 CAN Bogotá D. C.
siden@mindefensa.gov.co
infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co
mdn@cable.net.co

GERMÁN VARGAS LLERAS
Ministro del Interior y de Justicia
Avenida El dorado con carrera 52 CAN Bogotá D. C.
Fax. 2221874
ministro@minjusticia.gov.co

VIVIÁN MORALES
Fiscal General de la Nacion
Diagonal 22B No. 52-01 Bogotá D. C.
Fax. 570 20 00
contacto@fiscalia.gov.co
denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co

WOLMAR ANTONIO PEREZ ORTIZ
Defensor del Pueblo
Calle 55 No. 10 - 32 Bogotá D. C.
Fax. 640 04 91
defensoria@defensoria.org.co
secretaria_privada@hotmail.com

ALEJANDRO ORDÓÑEZ
Procurador General de la Nación
Cra. 5 No. 15 - 80F Bogotá D. C.
anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co
reygon@procuraduria.gov.co


Activists chain themselves to Coca-Cola Truck (Dec. 2010)
Aktivisten ketten sich an Coca-Cola Truck (Dez. 2010)

Watch on YouTube

The Article in German: [B] Aktivisten ketten sich an Coca-Cola Truck

Google Translation:
[B] activists chain themselves to Coca-Cola Truck, Himpel, 12/19/2010

Activists have chained up in the Coca-Cola Christmas Tour 2010 on one of the Coca-Cola trucks.

The activists have drawn attention to their action on the large corporation and its natural and man-hating methods. Behind the glittering facade of Christmas trucks is exploitation of nature and people mainly in the 3rd world, child labor and unverwantwortlicher handling of pesticides and groundwater. The production of a liter of Coca-Cola consumed 9 liters of water. The global player, which is a Santa Claus as a mascot ran forward is to have children in the legal marketing drug lure does not shy away from murder to his greed implement.
As a small diversion donations patch came from 250.000, - € for the benefit of BILD hilft eV "A Heart for Children" to the generosity show just the festival of love.

The two activists chained managed the Coca-Cola Christmas convoy stopped for half an hour. A few other activists made through flyers distributed by KillerCoke.org and screaming loud slogans on the purpose of the action alert, which was taken thoughtfully at the passer against and there were discussions and sympathies.

The two activists chained themselves in a favorable situation on the truck side protection. The police could not solve with a bolt cutter, and they put their hands in plastic tubes. The police screwed up the truck side protection, which the activists were released in chains from the truck. One of the short-chained could flee to what the police quite irritated.

LaborTech 2010 — "Columbia labor leader interviewed on 'Stop Killer Coke' campaign" by DJ Rubble, Dec 19th, 2010
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"As an example of how current technology can be used to communicate in international labor solidarity, a Colombian labor leader named Javier[Correa] is interviewed on video live from Colombia last Sunday morning at UCSF as part of LaborTech 2010. An international day of action was held in Colombia the previous day to protest crimes of Coca-Cola, in the Stop Killer Coke campaign. Coordinated actions were held in Belgium, Turkey and Canada. I think the interviewer is Isabel Wagamans, but I'm not sure. The interviewer translates from Spanish to English. (22 minutes)"

The Coca-Cola Case wins the 2010 CLiFF Best in Festival award! 15 December, 2010
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"The 2010 Canadian Labour International Film Festival has tallied the votes from locations across the country and is pleased to announce that this year's Best in Festival Award goes to The Coca-Cola Case by German Gutierrez and Carmen Garcia. The $2,500 award is given out to the film that captures the highest rating from festival audiences across Canada...

"The Coca-Cola Case played at the following locations as part of CLiFF 2010:

  • Halifax, NS
  • Moncton, NB
  • Prince George, BC
  • Toronto, ON
  • Vancouver, BC

"Save the Children Breaks With Soda Tax Effort" by William Neuman, The New York Times, December 14, 2010
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"Over the last year, Save the Children emerged as a leader in the push to tax sweetened soft drinks as a way to combat childhood obesity. The nonprofit group supported soda tax campaigns in Mississippi, New Mexico, Washington State, Philadelphia and the District of Columbia.

"At the same time, executives at Save the Children were seeking a major grant from Coca-Cola to help finance the health and education programs that the charity conducts here and abroad, including its work on childhood obesity."

Mount Allison University Killer Coke UpdateDecember 12, 2010

Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Organizer Rachel Gardner gives an update on the progress at Mount Allison University. Great work!

UAW President Bob King Plans to Remove Coca-Cola from UAW Facilities

UAW President Bob King plans to remove Coca-Cola products from UAW union facilities and also plans to pull UAW funds from Chase Bank in support of farm workers represented by FLOC.

Watch on YouTube

Killer Coke Campaign lands in New Zealand
Wellington, New Zealand
December 11, 2010
Ian Hoffmann Organizer, Corporate Campaign, Inc./Campaign to Stop Killer Coke

New Zealand was one of the first nations to greet the Killer Coke's Day of Action. Eighteen hours ahead of New York, and enjoying the warmest Spring on record, Kiwi's are ready to take on Coca-Cola. Staying in Wellington's largest Youth Hostel, it's been amazing to see the interest people from all over the world have as they delve into the Killer Coke literature I brought. Numerous "Stop Killer Coke" posters will be traveling back to places throughout New Zealand, Australia, Asia, the Americas and Europe.

Today, however, was truly special. In town for a few days, and docked in the Wellington harbor, is the famous "Sea Shepherd" ship. Featured on the Animal Planet's "Whale Wars," the Sea Shepherd is a beacon of hope for whales and marine life around the world as it intercepts whaling ships and educates the public as to the concerns of endangered marine life.

On a tour of the ship, we arrived in the kitchen where I began talking to a member of the crew as I handed out literature. Doug was not only familiar with the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke, but was also familiar with the "School of America's Watch." (He even asked "didn't the SOA change their name?" Indeed they have.) Doug, was from Berkeley, CA and has been the Sea Shepherd's carpenter for the past few months. I look forward to hearing about his work on the Sea Shepherd when he returns to the States. Our message of Stopping Killer Coke now travels throughout Antarctica, the South Pacific and around the world with the Sea Shepherd.

On Monday, December 13th, I will be meeting with representatives of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, and also with organizers of the New Zealand Council of Trade unions regarding the Killer Coke Campaign. I look forward to updating you with regards to those meetings, but if today was any indication, New Zealand looks to have jumped on board the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke.

From Left to Right: Campaign Organizer Ian Hoffman; The Sea Shepherd; Sea Shepherd crewmember, Doug, in the ship's dining area

Killer Coke Killer Coke Killer Coke

Campaign Organizer Ian Hoffman in front of the New Zealand's famous "Beehive" Parliament Building.

Killer Coke

The Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Movement Erupts!

Hundreds gather in Columbus, Georgia to watch the documentary The Coca-Cola Case, protest Coca-Cola's involvement in human rights abuses around the world, and call for the dismantling of the School of the Americas, also known as the School of the Assassins.

Watch on YouTube

"Coca-Cola viola derechos humanos," Javier Correa, President of SINALTRAINAL, making a statement in Spanish

Watch on YouTube

"The Drink That Represses" by Robert Leleux, The Texas Observer, December 7, 2010
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"I quit Coke because my blood sugar was teetering perilously close to the diabetic range, and I wanted to keep my teeth past 30. After reading Michael Blanding's new book, The Coke Machine: The Dirty Truth Behind the World's Favorite Soft Drink, I realize my teeth were by no means the best reason to dump Coke..."

"Ice cold toward Coke," by Allan Benner, Welland Tribune, November 26, 2010
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"Marceau spent an hour in front of the 7-Eleven store at the corner of East Main St. and Crowland Ave., holding signs listing human rights violations Coca-Cola has been accused of and asking people not to buy Coca-Cola products. 'I'm here to try and raise awareness about Coca-Cola's clear and blatant violations of human rights and labour statutes which have been established by the ILO (International Labour Organization).' He said the corporation has been accused of murdering union leaders and union organizers at bottling plants in Colombia and Guatemalia — accusations the company has denied."

Killer Coke

Michael Marceau staged a one-man protest outside
Welland's 7-Eleven store Friday, urging people not to buy Coca-Cola products.
ALLAN BENNER Staff Photo

"The Appointment of Cathleen Black and the Trouble with Corporate Schooling," by Gary Anderson, Huffington Post, November 26, 2010
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"The latest episode in the corporate takeover of public schools in New York City is playing out in Mayor Bloomberg's appointment of non-educator Cathleen Black to replace Joel Klein as the city's Chancellor of Education. Black is a magazine mogul and 20-year member of the board of directors of Coca Cola, a company under attack for its union-busting activities and its contribution to childhood obesity. She is a product of private schools; her kids attended boarding schools; and she has no experience in the public sector...

"The corporate community and most venture philanthropists, persist in thinking schools should be run like businesses. This time around though, instead of the factory model school, they have bequeathed us the latest business fads: quasi-markets (school choice), deregulation (charter schools), autonomy (superintendents and principals as CEOs), statistical control of product quality (high-stakes testing), and a shift from system inputs to system outputs (testing without investing). There is nothing in this corporate grab bag that is evidence-based, and the evidence that has accumulated as these reforms have been implemented over the last two decades is not promising."

"A New Letter Against Black," By Meghan Keneally, New York Observer, November 23, 2010
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In an attempt to turn around one of the main arguments of supporters of Cathie Black's bid to become schools chancellor, an activist group opposed to The Coca-Cola Company says that Black's business experience should keep her from being the city's top educator.

The letter cited her role on the board of Coca-Cola over the last 17 years as a reason to deny her the position, saying that she "lacks the integrity and compassion to serve as Chancellor or a role model for young people," because the corporation was run "like a criminal syndicate with impunity."

"Education Chief Raises Doubts on Pick by Bloomberg," By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ, New York Times, November 23, 2010
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"But Dr. Steiner did not rule out ruling no entirely, expressing skepticism about Ms. Black's ability to master the intricacies of the nation's largest school system. Her cause was further undermined on Tuesday when six of the eight members of a panel Dr. Steiner appointed to evaluate Ms. Black's background voted to deny granting an exemption.

"The erosion of support for Ms. Black, a publishing executive, was a serious rebuke to Mr. Bloomberg, who had enlisted powerful business and political allies to lobby Dr. Steiner."

Open Letter to Commissioner of Education David Steiner Opposing Appointment of Cathleen Black as Chancellor of NYC Public Schools, New Release, Campaign to Stop Killer Coke, November 23, 2010
Read New Release
“There are two clear reasons why Ms. Black should not be chosen to be chancellor of the New York City public school system. First, she has NO educational experience to run public schools and, second, her role as a top policymaker for The Coca-Cola Co. which over the past 17 years has operated like a criminal syndicate with impunity. Her leadership role at Coca-Cola shows that she lacks the integrity and compassion to serve as Chancellor or a role model for young people.”

"Cathie Black, as executive pay czar at Coca-Cola, approved hefty perks, compensation for execs" By Douglas Feiden, Staff Writer, New York Times, Monday, November 22nd 2010
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"Cathie Black earns $195,000 from her part-time gig on Coca-Cola's board of directors, as well as another $300,000 serving on IBM's board, in addition to hear Hearst salary. As longtime executive pay czar at Coca-Cola, Cathie Black rarely met a perk she didn't like or a hefty compensation package she didn't approve...

"Black championed some of those sweeteners in a July 2008 letter to Kent: "You are required ... to travel exclusively on company aircraft both for business and personal travel ... It is also appropriate that your spouse and immediate family travel on company aircraft when accompanying you." Eight months later, the Corporate Library, a research firm that ranks board performance and executive pay, lowered its rating on Coke from a D to an F."

Cathie Black

"Killer Coke Campaign Opposes Cathie Black Appointment" by Billy Wharton, Bronx County Independent Examiner, November 17, 2010
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"Black has publicly stated that she would resign from her position at Coca-Cola if it were deemed a conflict of interest. However, the Killer Coke campaign is joining others in calling for her appointment to be blocked. They described her as having an, 'immoral focus on the bottom line at the expense of the lives of children and their families,' that 'makes her unqualified for this position.' "

"A closer look at new schools chancellor Cathie Black's resume shows troubling link to Coca-Cola" by Juan Gonzalez, NY Daily News, Wednesday, November 17th 2010
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"After several murders of union members at Coke bottling affiliates in Colombia, union leaders there filed a $500 million civil suit against the company in Miami Federal Court. They claimed plant managers routinely called in death squads to terrorize their members. A PBS 'Frontline' report later found attacks had occurred inside the plants with the knowledge of local supervisors. As a member of the company's public issues and diversity committee, Black was well aware of the allegations... "

"Among the local schools that dumped Coke supply contracts are Rutgers, Manhattanville, State University at Stony Brook and Bard College.

"This year, former Coca-Cola employees in Guatemala who were forced to flee their homeland filed suit against the company in New York.

"Jose Armando Palacios and Jose Alberto Vicente Chavez say they were shot at and their families terrorized by armed men because of their involvement with a union at the Guatemalan plant...

"Meanwhile, Mexico's best-known consumer advocacy group, El Poder de los Consumidores, has repeatedly blasted Coca-Cola and other producers of high-sugar products for their marketing campaigns to that country's schoolchildren.

"In the past two decades, consumption of soft drinks among Mexico's poor has increased by 60%, and the country now has one of the highest rates of Coca-Cola use in the world. Nearly 70% of Mexican adults are overweight or obese, and 10 million suffer from diabetes."

"As Bloomberg Fought Sodas, Nominee Sat on Coke Board" By MICHAEL BARBARO, New York Times, November 16, 2010
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"Through most of these battles, Ms. Black, the magazine executive nominated last week to lead the nation's largest school system, was one of 14 people on the company's board of directors, and she sat on a company committee that focused on policy issues including obesity and selling soda to children. On a board that meets six times a year, she was privy to internal debates about the company's combative strategy, and there is no public evidence that she ever questioned it."

Stop Killer Coke Opposes Coke Director Cathie Black's Appointment for Chancellor of NYC School System
(Released Tuesday, November 16, 2010)

What makes Cathleen P. Black qualified to become the next Chancellor of the NYC Public Schools? According to The New York Times: "...Ms. Black has NO educational background, in keeping with Mr. Bloomberg's preference for executives from the business world." That in itself should make Ms. Black unqualified to run the largest public school system in the U.S.

But there's more. One of Ms. Black's jobs in the business world has been serving as a director and top policymaker of The Coca-Cola Co. since 1993, a company that has caused pain and heartbreak to millions of children worldwide. In that position, she has raked in millions of dollars in compensation.

Coke's plan has been to make all schools captive markets addicting young people to Coca-Cola's sugar-laden soft drinks, helping to fuel the obesity and diabetes epidemics in our country and throughout the world. "We know high school students will continue to drink Coca-Cola products for 50-60 years...we're trying to gain their business for the future," said a Coca-Cola Youth Market Representative.

Furthermore, The Coca-Cola Co., with Ms. Black as a top policymaker, has been complicit in labor, human rights and environmental abuses of workers and their families throughout the world. Ms. Black has voted time and time again at Coke's annual meetings against solving these problems.

She has voted against authorizing an independent investigation of the Company's crimes in Colombia--crimes such as the intimidation, kidnapping, torture and murder of union leaders in Coca-Cola's bottling plants. She voted against a resolution brought by the office of New York City's former Comptroller William Thompson calling for an independent delegation of inquiry to investigate human rights abuse allegations by its bottlers in Colombia.

And it gets worse — there is currently a lawsuit against Coke and its operations in Guatemala charging complicity in murder, attempted murder and rape as intimidation tactics against union leaders there.

Ms. Black also voted against resolutions which would put Coke on record in opposition to human rights abuses in China, a country in which Coke is rapidly expanding its business through the promotion of mass consumption of soft drinks to children as they continue to do in Mexico and elsewhere. There has also been reports that the Company uses prison labor in its operations (BBC) and workers have been exploited and beaten.

Coca-Cola continues to benefit from hazardous child labor in sugar cane fields in El Salvador, first documented by Human Rights Watch in 2004 and later highlighted in film footage taken in 2007 for a documentary that aired on prime time national television in Great Britain.

Over the past years, with Ms. Black in attendance, resolutions have been brought to the Coke shareholders meeting regarding environmental degradation and destroying the water sources of entire communities needed for drinking, irrigation and sanitation - and all resolutions brought by shareholders have been voted down unanimously by Ms. Black and the rest of Coke's board of directors. In India, El Salvador and Mexico, Coke has overexploited and polluted water sources forcing mothers and children to walk many miles a day to obtain decent drinking water.

Finally, The Coca-Cola Co. has been forced to settle two racial discrimination lawsuits in the past ten years brought by employees and job seekers.

Why has Ms. Black been silent on these issues?

It has been reported that Ms. Black will resign from Coke's board to avoid what will appear to be a conflict of interest. However, her history with The Coca-Cola Co. shows that her immoral focus on the bottom line at the expense of the lives of children and their families makes her unqualified for this position. She does not represent the ideals and values of someone that children should be looking to for guidance and serving as a model.

Ms. Black should not be appointed Chancellor of the NYC public school system. She is not a qualified educator and her history of turning a blind eye to labor, human rights, health and environmental abuses should not be rewarded.

Here is a flyer we produced some years ago aimed at Black's complicity in the labor and human rights abuses of SINALTRAINAL union leaders in Colombia:

Cathie Black

Download the Campaign's flyer regarding Coca-Cola Co Director Cathie Blank-Side 1

Download the Campaign's flyer regarding Coca-Cola Co Director Cathie Blank-Side 2

For more information and documentation, go to KillerCoke.org.

"Activists Protest Cathie Black Becoming Next Schools Chancellor [in New York City]" By NY1 News, November 14, 2010
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"Parents, educators and civil rights advocates held a demonstration on the steps of Manhattan's Tweed Courthouse on Sunday against Cathie Black becoming the mayor's replacement for schools chancellor, saying that the publishing executive lacks proper experience in the educational field."

"Big School Problems Await New Chancellor" By Sharon Otterman, The New York Times, November 11, 2010
Read Article
" 'I have no illusion about this being an easy next three years — quite the opposite,' said Ms. Black, a publishing executive without political or education leadership experience. 'But what I ask for is your patience, as I get up to speed on the issues facing K-12 education.' "

"Schools Chancellor Pick to Quit Corporate Boards" By Sharon Otterman and Michael Barbaro, The New York Times, November 12, 2010
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"Ms. Black, who is the chairwoman of the compensation committee and a member of the public issues and diversity review committee of Coca-Cola, attended 10 meetings in 2009, for which she earned $195,000 in cash and stock. She has been a director there since 1993."

"Mayor Takes Idea of Education Outsider to New Level" By Elissa Gootman and Jennifer Medina, The New York Times, November 10, 2010
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"Ms. Black has freely acknowledged her 'limited exposure' to unions. She and her children are products of private schools, while Mr. Klein attended New York public schools. She sits on a charter school advisory board, but joined only a few months ago and so has yet to attend a meeting."


We received this message from McMaster University. Congratulations McMaster and Campus Choice!

"Our campaign to end Coke's monopoly at McMaster has finally succeeded. It took two referenda in which the undergraduates rejected the exclusive contract and constant work by the campus club called Campus Choice, with its allies, to get this to happen. We are not specially happy that the company that has replaced much of the Coca Cola' machines on campus is Pepsi, but at least Pepsi has not murdered anyone to our knowledge."

We responded to this email with a congratulations and this link to Director Ray Rogers's answer to a question about Pepsi at the University of Alberta.

Saturday, December 11, 2010
International Day of Action to Stop Killer Coke's Labor & Human Rights Abuses

On the International Day of Action, there will be 24 hours of programming on the "Stop Killer Coke" streaming channel. The programming will include interviews, protests, music and discussion throughout the world and it will be broadcast at the LaborTech 2010 conference being held at the University of San Francisco. The programming will be integrated with the conference and the channel will be embedded in other channels throughout the world.

Actions will take place around the world in solidarity with Coke workers and their families who have been systematically intimidated, kidnapped, tortured and murdered in many countries including Colombia and Guatemala (see "Coke's Crimes By Country" at KillerCoke.org).

As part of Labortech.net, actions around the world will also be broadcast live on Labortech.net and on other portals. If you are going to have an event in solidarity with Coke workers on December 11, 2010 or want to upload an event you have had please contact LaborTech.net for information on how to do this.

We will have a schedule of streamed events and it will be broadcast on www.justin.tv at and mirrored on Labortech.net and other sites around the world. Contact info@brightpathvideo.com or info@labortech.net for further info on how to stream your event on this international day of action.


Also, contact us at info@KillerCoke.org to inform us of your plans to participate.

Adios Uribe! @ Georgetown, "Georgetown Students Serve Uribe Subpoena to Speak Under Oath About Paramilitary Ties," November 4, 2010
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"At approximately 8:10 last night, Alvaro Uribe was served a subpeona as he was leaving the Georgetown campus after teaching a class in the Inter-Cultural Center...The students attempted to serve Uribe multiple times November 3rd, but when campus police and University representatives who were present became aware of their aim, they vigorously protected Uribe, telling the students that they were not permitted to serve him. The students told the campus employees that they simply intended to hand him some papers and they would leave. The Georgetown administrators made clear that that they did not want Uribe to be served on Georgetown's campus."

Please see this press release from International Rights Advocates/Conrad & Scherer: Download in PDF

From the editor: Uribe should also be served a subpoena for the murder by paramilitaries of Coca-Cola union leaders from SINALTRAINAL in Colombia. A Coke director, Donald McHenry, is also a professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown U. McHenry has been a director of Coca-Cola since 1981 during which time all these murders, as well as kidnapping and torture have occurred. He and all other Coca-Cola directors have refused to agree to an independent investigation of the Company's complicity in these murders.

Citybizlist, "Barry Diller Increases Stake in Coca-Cola," Nov. 3, 2010
Read Article
New York University trustee and director of The Coca-Cola Co., Barry Diller, has increased his stock ownership in Coca-Cola to 1.13 million shares currently valued at more than $70 million. Is it any wonder why NYU brought Coke back on campus last semester, thus violating the resolution passed in December 2005 that led to the removal of all Coke products from campus. We'd like to hear from you in the NYU community who would like to work with us to again remove Coke from campus and to hold Barry Diller accountable.

Killer Coke

io9.com, "In 1911, Coca Cola went on trial for being a killer brain tonic," by Cyriaque Lama November 3, 2010
Read Article
Nowadays Coca Cola is demonized for causing obesity and dissolving your incisors, but in the early 1900s the US government accused the soft drink of poisoning consumers.

Killer Coke

Fox Chicago News, "Report: Mexican Coke May Be a Myth," Nov. 3, 2010
Read Article
Turns out there might not be a difference between Coke sold in the United States and in Mexico after all. That could be bad news to the cult-like followers of Mexican Coke, which even have their own Facebook page .The Mexican Coke's advantage, fans say, is that it is made with real sugar, not high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) like the American version.

NY Daily News Sunday, "When aiming at soda, Bloomberg is picking a fight with an industry famous for marketing to kids" by Mark Pendergrast, October 10th 2010
Read Article
Mayor Bloomberg thinks that poor people should be healthy. That, presumably, is why he and Gov. Paterson, working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, want to prevent the purchase of soft drinks with food stamp cards. "This initiative will give New York families more money to spend on foods and drinks that provide real nourishment," the mayor said in announcing the initiative.

Killer Coke

Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 7 pm
Film: "The Coca-Cola Case" and speakers
IBEW Local 103 Union Hall

256 Freeport Street, Dorchester, MA
Seating capacity is about 1,200
LETS PACK THE HALL!

Looking for volunteers to help promote the event and turn out unions, students and the public.
Contact Bill Corley at bcorley@ibew103.com.
Read about IBEW Local 103 at www.the103advantage.com.

Killer Coke

Download the 8x10 Flyer


Saturday, November 20, 2010; 5 pm
Film: "The Coca-Cola Case" and speakers

Columbus Convention Center Ballroom
Columbus, Georgia
Seating capacity is about 3,000
LET'S PACK THE PLACE!

Looking for volunteers during the Shut Down SOA activities to help organize a full-house. If you can help us distribute thousands of leaflets and posters, contact us at info@KillerCoke.org.

Read about the SOA Watch at www.soaw.org

Killer Coke

Download the 8x10 Flyer

The Campaign to Stop Killer Coke will be attending the School of the Americas (SOA) events in Columbus, Georgia, during the weekend of November 19 to 21. Here is the 11" x 14" poster/flyer we will be distributing detailing the relationship between the SOA and the kidnapping, torture and murders of Coca-Cola union leaders in the Coke bottling plants in Colombia. If attending, please look for our table and, if possible, help us distribute this poster/flyer:

Killer Coke

Download the 11x14 Flyer


The Press Association, "Coca Cola workers protest over restructure plans," October 27, 2010
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Unite's national officer Jennie Formby said: "We are extremely concerned that a recession-resistant company seems bent on using the economic difficulties to force through attacks on jobs and pay. While the boardroom rewards shareholders, it is callously cutting the jobs of the workers who help make Coke its massive profits.

My San Antonio Opinion "A ban and refusing to subsidize unhealthy products different matters," by Froma Harrop - Creators Syndicate Oct 16, 2010
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When government tells restaurant owners that they can't let customers smoke on their premises, that's the nanny state. When it fines motorcyclists for not wearing helmets, again, the nanny. But is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg playing Mary Poppins when he tries to stop low-income people from using their food stamps for Coca-Cola and other sugary, fattening drinks? He is not.

OFCCP News Release, "US Labor Department settles discrimination case with 2nd-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the nation," October 7, 2010
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"CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated has agreed to pay $495,000 in back wages and interest to 95 African-American and Hispanic job seekers who applied in 2002 for sales support positions at the company's Black Satchel Road distribution facility in Charlotte. The settlement follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs."

Associated Press "Wash. becomes battleground for soda industry," By RACHEL LA CORTE, Oct. 6, 2010
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Washington state consumers started paying more for soda, candy and gum this year amid a nationwide push to impose higher taxes on sugary foods. But the soft drink industry is fighting back. The industry has spent more than $14 million and counting to overturn the Washington tax in a November ballot measure, hoping to stop the movement dead in its tracks here and send a powerful message to states contemplating similar efforts...

"This is about large soda companies coming into our state and trying to get a tax break," said Celia Schorr, spokeswoman for the No on I-1107 campaign. "I really, really doubt that the American Beverage Association put more than $14 million in Washington because they're worried about how much Washingtonians pay in taxes."

Wyckoff Patch, "Are We Paying to 'Jeopardize Our Own Health?' A name change can't alter the effects of high fructose corn syrup," By Gloria Johnson, October 2, 2010
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"But fat is one thing and fatty liver disease is another. Some studies have shown that people with diets high in high fructose corn syrup can wind up with something called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Regular sugar may make you fat but it doesn't give you fatty liver disease."

Life Exenstion Magazine, "Metabolic Danger of High-Fructose Corn Syrup," By Dana Flavin, MS, MD, PHD, December 2009
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"Americans are being poisoned by a common additive present in a wide array of processed foods like soft drinks and salad dressings, commercially made cakes and cookies, and breakfast cereals and brand-name breads. This commonplace additive silently increases our risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. The name of this toxic additive is high-fructose corn syrup."

SocialistWorker.com, "Escalate to beat Coke bosses," By Tom Walker, September 28, 2010
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"Coca-Cola workers in Edmonton, north London, struck again on Wednesday and Thursday of last week in their fight for a decent pay rise. The Unite union members were to be out again from 3pm to 9pm on Wednesday and Thursday of this week...And a delegation of London bus workers came to offer solidarity to the solid strike."

Killer Coke

Demotix, "Coca-Cola workers strike over pay - London," September 22, 2010
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"Workers at the Edmonton bottling plant in North London strike as part of Unite the Union's demand to secure a new two year pay offer."

University of Bangor, UK, kicks Coke out of the University

We received the following email from Amnesty International at the University of Bangor:

"The Amnesty International group at Bangor University has managed to sucessfully kick Coca-Cola out of the University and get the University to change its catering contract to Britvic instead, hopefully not the last time this is done at a British University."

Congratulations, University of Bangor!

Facebook site for "Kick Coca-Cola out of Bangor University!"

The Daily Californian, "Students Criticize Campus's Coca-Cola Contract," By Noor Al-Samarrai, September 27, 2010
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"A 10-year contract giving Coca-Cola Co. exclusive rights to sell beverages on the UC Berkeley campus is coming under fire within the student community. Students with the Coalition For a Better Contract joined forces with ASUC senators to author a bill condemning Coca-Cola's business practices and urging the campus to reconsider the terms of its contract. The student bill is scheduled to be reviewed tonight by the ASUC Senate Committee on University and External Affairs and may move to the senate floor on Wednesday, said Cooperative Movement Senator Elliot Goldstein, an author of the bill"

Killer Coke

Photo by Chris McDermut/Staff
Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center speaks on campus about Coca-Cola's allegedly unethical
actions in India. The group hopes the university will not renew its contract with the company.

Killer Coke

Campaign Director Ray Rogers addresses South Carolina AFL-CIO convention as labor body intensifies its support for the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke, September 9, 2010.

Killer Coke

South Carolina AFL-CIO President Donna Dewitt is standing at the center of the banner behind the word "Killer;" AFT Colorado Organizing Director Russell Bannan, who took this photo, is kneeling next to Campaign Director Ray Rogers at the far right. Note Campaign signs supporting "Shut Down SOA!" "The U.S. government has trained over 10,000 of Colombia's military troops at the School of the Americas ("SOA") in Fort Benning, Georgia. And, SOA training manuals which the Pentagon was forced to turn over in 1996 show that the U.S. encouraged these troops to engage in torture and murder of those who, inter alia, do 'union organizing and recruiting'; pass out 'propaganda in favor of the interests of the workers'; and 'sympathize with demonstrators or strikes.' As a consequence of the official vilification of trade unionists by the Colombian and U.S. governments as well as corporations operating in Colombia, Colombia has led the world in the number of murders of trade unionists." [From the 2001 lawsuit describing Coca-Cola's human rights abuses in Colombia.]

From our September 2008 Campaign to Stop Killer Coke newsletter:

South Carolina State AFL-CIO unanimously passed resolution to ban Coke products

A motion to ban Coca-Cola products from the facilities of the South Carolina State AFL-CIO, representing 78,000 workers, was passed unanimously at their 2008 convention in September. The resolution called upon affiliates and their members to avoid purchasing Coca-Cola products.

"THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that South Carolina State AFL-CIO ban Coca-Cola products from its facilities and functions in solidarity with our union brothers and sisters fighting a life and death struggle to secure basic democratic and trade union rights, and

"RESOLVED that South Carolina State AFL-CIO, calls upon affiliates and their members to avoid purchasing Coca-Cola products, including Dasani, Fanta, Minute Maid, Nestea, Odwalla, Powerade and Sprite, until the violence against union leaders and organizers stops and the lawsuits are resolved."

The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Vitamins + water + sugar: As a suit over Vitaminwater's marketing argues, purveyors of sweetened beverages have been misleading consumers," By Amy Jordan, September 3, 2010
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"We live in a time when advertising feels like part of the air we breathe. But we also live in a time when the costs of and health problems related to obesity are soaring. Should we really have to pull out our reading glasses to determine whether a product is just fortified sugar water? And can't we develop equally clever campaigns to promote truly healthy foods?"

The Press Association, "Coca-Cola plant staff to strike," September 3, 2010
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"Workers at a Coca-Cola factory in north London are to launch a wave of 24-hour strikes from next week in a row over pay, it has been announced. Unite said its members at the firm's plant in Edmonton will walk out on Wednesday, with stoppages repeated over the following weeks unless a "fairer" pay deal is made. The move follows an 8-1 vote in favour of strikes by the 110 workers in protest at a 2% pay offer, which the union said amounted to a wage cut because it was less than half the rate of inflation."

The Seattle Times, "Coca-Cola workers on strike sue soda giant," By the Associated Press
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"SEATTLE — The 500 Coca-Cola employees who went on strike earlier this week have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company after the soda giant canceled their health care coverage."

In These Times, "Teamsters Union Protests Coca Cola's Labor Practices, as Company Shutters Plants," By Akito Yoshikane, August 25, 2010
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"While the world's largest beverage company has come under fire for their reported anti-union activities abroad, the company is now facing growing labor conflicts here in the United States."

Killer Coke>

The above article has a link to an article in NaturalNews.com about Coke's abuses in Colombia.

Coca-Cola's murderous record of anti-union activity in Colombia exposed, May 22, 2010, by Ethan A. Huff
"(NaturalNews) Coca-Cola: to many, it is simply the all-American cola that everyone grew up drinking. Originally created in the late 1800s as a medicine, Coca-Cola eventually evolved into one of the world's most popular soft drinks. Besides being a very unhealthy beverage, Coca-Cola has another dirty secret for which few people are aware; the Coca-Cola Company has been involved in a series of kidnappings involving union leaders and organizers at its Colombia bottling facilities. Many of those kidnapped have been severely tortured and even murdered by company thugs."
One of the links to our site at the end has www.killercoke.com; of course, it should be www.killercoke.org.

Bellevue Reporter, "Coca-Cola workers strike in Bellevue," By Joshua Adam Hicks, August 24, 2010
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"Teamsters Local 117 says the beverage maker wants to raise workers' health-insurance rates and stop retirees from buying into the health-care program."
Puget Sound Business Journal, "Teamsters plan game-day protest of Coca-Cola," August 19, 2010
Read Article
"The union says Coca-Cola Enterprises plans to close three of its Washington state facilities. Earlier this year, the Coca-Cola Co. agreed to acquire Coca-Cola Enterprises' North American business, according to company financial reports."
The Atlanta Journal-Constituion, "Teamsters: CCE workers to vote Oct. 7," By Jeremiah McWilliams, August 23, 2010
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" 'We're very close to having unionized Coca-Cola employees in Atlanta,' Dave Laughton, director of the union's brewery and soft drink division, said at a Sunday afternoon rally inside the meeting hall of Teamsters Local 728 in Atlanta. 'If it's good for the rest of the country, it should be good for Atlanta.' "

El Poder del Consumidor (The Power of the Consumer), "Historias Endulzadas "Aspartame" [In Spanish & English]

Click here or above for this video about aspartame, the artificial sweetener in Diet Coke.
The site for El Poder del Consumidor; If your browser is Google Chrome, you can get a translation.

Mike Wallace Investigates Aspartame and Studies of Aspartame

Click here or above to watch this video

Sites that Support the Campaign

Buddhist Peace Fellowship
See site

Desobeissance Civile Belgique
See site

Ethical Footprint
See site

WasserInBuergerhand!
See site

Educating for Justice
See site

Is Coke's VitaminWater a hoax?Read articles about the VitaminWater lawsuit

MinnPost, "Coca-Cola's argument in "vitaminwater" lawsuit is exhibit 1 for corporate chutzpah," By Susan Perry August 11, 2010
Read Article
"In reality, of course, Coca-Cola's vitaminwater is essentially sugar water with some added vitamins. Adding the vitamins to the sugar water doesn't make it good for you, just as adding vitamins to a Snickers candy bar wouldn't make it good for you...And if it's vitamins you're after, then get them the very best way possible: Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Several times a day. Day after day."

Packaging World, "Coca Cola sued for misleading consumers," By Jim Chrzan, August 10, 2010
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"This time a non-profit public interest watchdog, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has alleged Coca Cola's latest health offering, vitaminwater '...is basically sugar-water, to which about a penny's worth of synthetic vitamins have been added. And the amount of sugar is not trivial. A bottle of vitaminwater contains 33 grams of sugar, making it more akin to a soft drink than to a healthy beverage,' according to a blog post by John Robbins, author of The New Good Life, Diet for a New America"
Natural News, "Vitaminwater revealed as non-healthy beverage by Coca-Cola's own lawyers (opinion)," by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, August 10, 2010
Read Article
"Do you ever wonder things like "Who is actually gullible enough to think that Vitaminwater is healthy?" Although that question may seem demeaning or even arrogant, it turns out that the Coca-Cola company (which owns the Vitaminwater brand) is essentially asking that exact question."
As Miami Heat star promotes Coca-Cola's VitaminWater, CSPI sues to challenge false product claims,

Business Standard, "Nat Consumer Comm raps Coca Cola for unfair trade practice," Press Trust of India, August 9, 2010
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"The National Consumer Commission today rapped beverage giant Coca Cola for a promotional scheme launched by it in 1998 which had resulted in deficiency in service and unfair trade practice. The apex consumer body said the terms and conditions of the scheme — Coca Cola Diwali Karishma, which had run from September 21 to October 26, 1998, were not specified clearly causing 'utter confusion' among participants. 'Coca Cola was guilty of both deficiency in service and unfair trade practice...In running the promotion scheme,' the Commission bench comprising Justice R C Jain and Anupam Dasgupta said."

Slate, "Why Do Foreigners Like Fanta So Much? A brief global history of sweet fizz," By Brian Palmer, August 5, 2010
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"The original Fanta was a Nazi product. When Pearl Harbor ended the flow of Coca-Cola syrup to German bottlers, German Coca-Cola chief Max Keith--who sported a tiny Hitler-style mustache and celebrated the Fuehrer's 50th birthday at company conventions--formulated an alternative. He blended together an ever-changing combination of dregs, like leftovers from cheese production, the fibrous remains of apples that had been pressed for cider, and whatever surplus fruit he could acquire from Italy. He sweetened the soft drink with saccharin and named it Fanta, after the German word for fantasy or imagination. It sold well, especially once food became scarce and buyers began using Fanta as a soup base. When the international parent company reunited with its German branch after the war, it discontinued Fanta."

Omaha World-Herald, "A tax on sugary drinks?" By Paul Hammel, August 2, 2010
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"Get ready for a debate on sugar-sweetened drinks in Nebraska. The Nebraska Medical Association — armed with studies that link childhood obesity with consumption of soda pop and sugary energy drinks — wants to remove the sales tax exemption on such drinks at grocery stores, convenience shops and vending machines.

"It's part of a national trend to remove tax incentives — or enact higher taxes — on sugary drinks, for public health reasons. And it'sgetting opposition from lobbyists for the soft drink industry."

New Art sent to the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke

Video, "Life is Good," Leonora
"Don't be another robot of the system.
Don't be a soldier for more oil to be drillin'. Don't drink coke when you know Colombia is killing.
Don't be so naive because not everything is innocent.

Read all the lyrics

Watch Video of Leonora

Poster, "The Coke Side," By Julien Torres

Killer Coke

A piece of history — TreeHugger.com, "Coca-Cola Femsa Faces US$ 111,000 Fine over Contamination in Bogota," By Paula Alvarado, August 14, 2008
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"Industria Nacional de Gaseosas, a subsidiary of the biggest bottler of Coca-Cola trademark beverages in Latin America (Coca-Cola FEMSA), has been fined with a US$111,000 bill by the Bogota District Environmental Office for illegal spilling of industrial waste in Colombia's capital sewage system and wetlands."

>


El Tiempo-Bogota, "Multa de $200 millones a Coca Cola por descargar aguas residuales en red de alcantarillado y humedal, El Tiempo.com/Bogota-En Español

Examiner.com, "Coca-Cola admits in court that vitaminwater is not a healthy beverage," By Mark Rubi, July 29, 2010
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"Coca-Cola admits in court that vitaminwater is not a healthy beverage. Millions of consumers of Coca-Cola's heavily marketed vitaminwater brand drink are now dealing with the fact that despite numerous advertising claims to the contrary, the reality about the drink may be that it is little more than sugar-water fortified with a few vitamins...

"As to Coca-Cola's claims that "no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage" — many critics are asking how many tens of millions of dollars did Coke spend trying to mislead those consumers if they could not reasonably be misled? Or another question making the rounds is this: Is it ok for product manufacturers to lie about their products if they claim that nobody believed their lies?"

Indianapolis Alternative Medicine Examiner, "Could vitaminwater lawsuit leave product all washed up?" By Becky Oberg, July 23, 2010
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" 'Plaintiffs' allegations sufficiently state a claim that defendants have violated FDA regulations by making health claims about vitaminwater even though it does not meet required minimum nutritional thresholds, by using the word "healthy" in implied nutrient content claims even though vitaminwater's fortification does not comply with FDA policy, and by using a product name that references only two of vitaminwater's ingredients, omitting the fact that there is a key, unnamed ingredient [sugar] in the product,' wrote Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York."
Complaint CSPI vs. Coca-Cola

Video, "VitaminWater Lawsuit"

Center for Science in the Public Interest, "Lawsuit Over Deceptive VitaminWater Claims to Proceed," July 23, 2010
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"WASHINGTON — A federal judge has denied Coca-Cola's motion to dismiss a lawsuit over what the Center for Science in the Public Interest says are deceptive and unsubstantiated claims on the company's 'vitaminwater' line of soft drinks. The company claims that vitaminwater variously reduces the risk of chronic disease, reduces the risk of eye disease, promotes healthy joints, and supports optimal immune function, and uses health buzz words such as 'defense' , 'energy' and 'endurance' on labels."

PRNewswire, "NLRB: Atlanta Coca-Cola Enterprise Employees to Get Tens of Thousands of Dollars in Back Pay: Teamsters Settle Series of Unfair Labor Practices with CCE," By Teamsters Local 728, Atlanta, July 23, 2010
Read Article
"The NLRB has required Coca-Cola to post a notice to employees stating the company will not interfere with their right to form a union, grant the retroactive raise to the Marietta employees, and rescind an unjust discipline issued to a key union activist."
Teamster flyer: "We Have a Date! The Time is Now for Change at CCE Atlanta!

Killer Coke

"Jeffrey Wright speaking at Union Rally
encouraging CCE workers to stay strong and
reminding them that together we have the POWER!"
Read Jeffrey Wright's "What Coca-Cola Did to Stop the Union from Coming In."

At the Coca-Cola annual meeting on April 21, 2010, a representative of the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke spoke, aiming his comments at Coke CEO Muhtar Kent: "Your efforts to be as union-free as possible and to undermine union organizing at your bottling facilities right here in the U.S. — in Georgia — were addressed in a book, 'What Coca-Cola Did to Stop the Union from Coming In,' by former Coke worker, Jeffrey Wright. Today, Teamster demonstrators outside are protesting Coke's efforts to prevent union organizing in the U.S."

Congratulations, Teamsters Local 728!

Appetite for Profit, "Family doctors debate if they should take Coke money, after they took it," By Michele Simon, July 22, 2010
Read Article
"Dr. Howard Brody, AAFP member and director of the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He's not in favor of the idea: The physician has a duty to prescribe medications or make dietary recommendations based on scientific evidence. The companies have an interest in selling more beverages, or more drugs, regardless of the evidence."

Polaris Institute, "Protest at Coca Cola plant in India reaches 3,000 days," July 12, 2010
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"G. Prabhakaran, 12 July 2010, The Hindu PALAKKAD - The agitation against alleged exploitation of groundwater by soft drink major Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. at Plachimada, a remote village in Perumatty grama panchayat in Chittur taluk, completed 3,000 days on Friday.

"The agitation has been described as a struggle by the local people to establish their right to natural resources such as soil and water and a fight to protect their livelihood of agriculture."

The Consumerist, "Burger King And Coca Cola Both Caught Badvertising In The UK," By Chris Morran, July 21, 2010
Read article
"Meanwhile, the folks at Coca Cola have some explaining to do after a Facebook promotion to push Dr. Pepper (which Coke distributes in the UK) ended up pointing people in the direction of one of the internet's most infamous — and disgusting — videos. The Facebook campaign used the accounts of users who signed up to post supposedly humorous status updates about the beverage. Alas, one of those messages was 'I watched 2 Girls 1 Cup and felt hungry afterwards.' "
Coca-Cola apologizes for Dr. Pepper's "2 Girls 1 Cup" Facebook snafu," By Laura Shunk, July 20 2010

FoodConsumer, "Is This Popular Sports Drink [VitaminWater] as Damaging as Coca-Cola? By Dr. Mercola, July 17, 2010
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"It's very fitting that Coca-Cola owns the Vitaminwater brand, as this beverage is closer to soda than it is to water. And as you may remember, Coca-Cola was actually sued last year in a class-action lawsuit that contended the Vitaminwater line was being illegally promoted as a healthy product.

" 'Vitaminwater is Coke's attempt to dress up soda in a physician's white coat. Underneath, it's still sugar water, albeit sugar water that costs about ten bucks a gallon,' said litigation director Steve Gardner of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)."

KillerCola Flashmob 1 & 2, July 6, 2010
Two videos from our Polish friends

Watch Flashmob 1 Video

Watch Flashmob 2 Video

The New York Times, "VENTURE CAPITAL: Case Study: Can Honest Tea Say No to Coke?" By Elizabeth Olson, July 8, 2010
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"But meshing Honest Tea's socially responsible, ecologically aware, small-company sensibility with the huge international brand of Coke has not always gone smoothly. A few months after the deal, Coke started vetting Honest Tea's ingredients to make sure they complied with federal requirements and noticed Honest Kids' packaging had prominent lettering that promised: 'no high-fructose corn syrup.' Executives at Coke construed the phrase as an implicit rebuke of its products, some of which contained the controversial factory-produced syrup. 'We got a strong request to change the wording,' Mr. Goldman said."

Softpedia, "Woman Talks Coca Cola Addiction, Being Overweight Because of It: Lisa McKay gained over 120kg, required gastric bypass to kick off her addiction," By Elena Gorgan, July 6, 2010
Read Article
"'It was difficult giving up drinking Coke. I was addicted to it and I had severe withdrawal symptoms after stopping. I was suffering from shakes. The gastric band operation was the best thing I've done. I haven't drunk a mouthful of Coke since and I never will again. I would buy a box of 30 cans of Coke and it would last me a day and a half. I didn't realize that there was so much sugar in Coke that would make me so fat. The more Coke I drank, the more hungry I became too,' "
Mirror, Mum kicks 20 Coca-Cola a day habit and loses 10 stone," By Matt Roper, July 7, 2010

examiner.com, "Mayor Newsom directs say no to soda: Another Northern California city bans soda on public property," July , 2010
Read Article
"Following a similar Santa Clara policy passed in 2008, San Francisco institutes a ban on soda."
San Francisco Chronicle, "Sugary-drink ban starts to affect S.F. sites," By John Cote, July 6, 2010
Read Article
"That includes non-diet sodas, sports drinks and artificially sweetened water. Juice must be 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice with no added sweeteners. Diet sodas can be no more than 25 percent of the items offered, the directive says. There should be 'ample choices' of water, 'soy milk, rice milk and other similar dairy or non dairy milk,' says the directive, which also covers fat and sugar content in vending machine snacks...

"The mayor's administration points to studies linking soda to obesity, including a UCLA one released last year that found adults who drink at least one soft drink a day are 27 percent more likely to be obese than those who don't, and that soda consumption is fueling the state's $41 billion annual obesity problem. The study also found that 41 percent of children and 62 percent of teens drink at least one soda daily."

The Standard, "New StupidJuice does the trick, too bad about the antibodies," July 6, 2010
Read Article
" 'This is StupidJuice!' I exclaimed, laughing like a maniac. 'You are selling StupidJuice for 100 times the original price.' The service staff had no idea what I was talking about, but nodded nervously while phoning the mall security department. It was too weird. Rich yuppies were lining up to buy a product identical to the scam fruit juices sold in Asia two decades ago.

"I phoned a business reporter and asked: 'Who makes this stuff? Why is there no logo on the bottle?' He laughed, explaining: 'The logo has been omitted because it might give buyers a clue that it is not really a fruit-based health drink at all. A Coca-Cola subsidiary makes the most expensive colored sugar- water on the planet. Coke has taken a US$4.1 billion (HK$31.98 billion) bet on human stupidity.' " [This is VitaminWater.]

Blip.tv, "The Coca-Cola Case:An Interview With Ray Rogers On the 'Killer Coke' Campaign,"
Watch Video
Ray Rogers, the campaign coordinator of the Killer Coke campaign is interviewed about the film "The Coca-Cola Case". The company has systematically engaged in a campaign to murder and terrorize union organizers in Colombia and Guatemala. The film is about the case in Federal Court in Florida to put them on trial for the murders and rapes of Coca-Cola workers and their families. The Coca-Cola Case (81 min.) By Carmen Garcia and German Gutierrez (2009) - Canada This important film shows the struggle to get justice for the workers and their families of the Coke bottling plant workers in Colombia. These workers have been terrorize, murdered and raped by the Colombian company owners in complicity with US executives and are fighting for a trial for these crimes in Florida. Over 1400 Colombian trade unionists have been assassinated for union activity in past years and US companies are intimately involved in some of these murders. Through interviews with the lawyers, the conspiracy of the Coca-Cola company to destroy unions and violate democratic rights is a threat to workers and people throughout the world and this films exposes these criminal connections.
Watch the trailer of 'The Coca-Cola Case'

Green Left, "Pakistan: What has Coke got to hide?" July 4, 2010
Read Article
"Having informed both TCC [Coca-Cola] and CCI [Coca-Cola Icecek] of the IUF's intention to challenge the loan application owing to the company's serial violations of basic rights at their Multan plant in Pakistan's Punjab district, the IUF made an official complaint to the IFC, backed by substantial documentation — only to be told that CCBPL had withdrawn its application...

"So why would Coke walk away at the last minute from $60 million on easy terms? Was it worried its claims to meet the Performance Standards couldn't withstand IFC scrutiny once the IUF filed its formal complaint?

"In response to the IUF complaint, the IFC would have needed to revisit its evaluation of the loan application and particularly the degree to which the applicant respected its standards.

"If CCBPL's labour rights record was so grossly at odds with the company's claims, what else about the operation might emerge from an IFC investigation? The potential risks were apparently sufficiently troubling for Coke's Pakistan bottler CCBPL to turn its back on the IFC money."

Killer Coke

The Wall Street Journal, "Coke's Kerala Problems Bubble Up," By Arlene Chang, July 5, 2010
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"The Kerala cabinet last week approved the setting up of a tribunal to recover payment worth 2.16 billion rupees ($48 million) from Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages for alleged damage caused to the environment by its Plachimada bottling plant in Palakkad."

From 'The Ecologist':

The Ecologist, "Coca-Cola 'misleading' investors over water use in India," April 23, 2010
Read Article
"Campaigners accuse Coca-Cola CEO of not being open with investors about the potential liabilities it faces for environmental damage in water-stressed areas of India."

The Ecologist, "Coca-Cola just part of India's water 'free-for-all'," By Tom Levitt, December 4, 2009
Read Article
"Water scarcity and mis-management in India are creating a significant human and ecological crisis that will only be worsened by climate change."

Killer Coke

The Ecologist, "Behind the label: Diet Coke," By Pat Thomas, June 1, 2006
Read Article
"Far from being the healthy drink implied by its sports sponsorships, Diet Coke is a worrying cocktail of neurotoxic and potentially carcinogenic chemicals."

Business Standard, "Kerala to set up tribunal over Coca-Cola Issue," July 2, 2010
Read Article
"The Kerala cabinet has decided to establish a tribunal for awarding compensation to people affected by a production plant of Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Private Limited (HCCB) at Plachimada in Palakkad district."
Read Press Release-India Resource Center
"In a major step towards holding Coca-Cola accountable for damages it has caused in India, the state government of Kerala decided on Wednesday to move forward with the formation of a tribunal that will hear and award compensation claims against the Coca-Cola company."
"Coca-Cola Liable for US$ 48 Million for Damages — Government Committee," March 22, 2010, India Resource Center

The Washington Post, "How nutritious is Vitaminwater?" [owned by Coca-Cola], By Jennifer LaRue Huget, July 1, 2010
Read Article
" 'Vitaminwater,' she concludes, 'is a marketing ploy.'

"Critics have bashed Vitaminwater for being a calorie trap... 'Once you go beyond what you need, you urinate it out,' Sandon says. 'You're peeing that money away.'

"A multivitamin is a better option when trying to supplement your diet, she says, because Vitaminwater doesn't provide a full complement of nutrients as does One-a-Day or Centrum."

Business Standard (India), "New divisions emerge in Govt on Coca-Cola," By Goerge Joseph, June 30, 2010
Read Article
"The report, submitted to the state assembly on March 22, said that the Coca Cola plant had caused serious damage to the environment of the village leading to a loss to the tune of Rs 216.25 crore. It said the plant damaged the agriculture sector by giving hazardous waste as manure. The committee also recommended constitution of a separate tribunal to provide adequate compensation to the affected, citing the limits on its own mandate."

Axis of Logic, "Colombia: Leader of Deathsquads Wins Colombian Election," By James Petras, June 28, 2010
Rread Article
"Juan Manuel Santos, notorious Defense Minister in the regime of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe and closely identified with high crimes against humanity 'won' the recent Presidential elections in Colombia, June 2010. The major electronic and print media CNN, FOX News, Washington Post, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the once liberal Financial Times (FT) hailed Santos election, as a great victory for democracy. According to the FT, 'Colombia not Venezuela is (the) best model for Latin America' (FT 6/23/2010 p. 8). Citing Santos 'overwhelming' margin - he garnered 69% of the vote, the FT claimed he won a 'strong mandate' (FT 6/22/2010). In what has to be one of the most flagrant cover-ups in recent history, the media accounts exclude the most egregious facts about the elections and the profoundly authoritarian policies pursued by Santos over the past decade."

Orissadiary, "Orissa: Death toll in Coca Cola bottling unit mishap increased to three," June 26, 2010
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"Report by Orissadiary correspondent; Khurdha : The death toll in Coca Cola bottling unit mishap at Khurda on Saturday increased to three. Banabihari Behera, a labourer who was undergoing treatment at a private hospital at Cuttack Saturday evening. Earlier, two other labourers namly Ranjit Mohanty and Madhusudan Behera were died on Friday.

"Seven labourers were injured when the boiler at the soft drink plant exploded yesterday. All the labourers were first admitted to a hospital in Khurda and later three were shifted to private clinics in Cuttack. In view of tension adequate police force has been deployed at the plant site."
Press Release, India Resource Center, "Three Workers Killed In Coca-Cola Factory Explosion in India" Police Arrest Three Coca-Cola India Officials
Read Article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

IUF, "The Pause that Represses: Coca-Cola Pakistan Greets New Union with Death Threats, Abduction, Extortion and Dismissals," June 18, 2010
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"Since forming a union at Coca-Cola's bottling plant in the southern Pakistan city of Multan in June 2009, members have met with death threats, abduction, firings, extortion, forgery and fraud. Management's vicious response to the workers' fight for a union is a story drenched with violence, corruption, sleaze and escalating criminality."
Send a protest message to Ed Potter and others at Coke

altmuslimah, "A fearless leader: An interview with Vandana Shiva," By Sarah Jawaid, June 18, 2010
Read Article
"You worked closely with the women of Kerala, India who peacefully protested a Coca-Cola plant which was polluting their water. Do you have stories of women who left an impression on you?

"Mylamma. She was the tribal woman who started the protest. I was invited by her and her friends to celebrate a year of them protesting Coca-Cola. Initially, I didn't know the women or what know what Coca-Cola was doing. I learned that Coca-Cola was literally stealing the water of the community. And, here were these courageous women trying to put a stop to it. I helped them develop legal and political strategies to push the movement along and in 2004, the Coca-Cola plant was shut down. It has been shut since then. Mylamma passed away two years ago, but her legacy continues."

The National Organization of Legal Services Workers (NOLSW), UAW Local 2320, AFL-CIO, "Resolution to Boycott Coca-Cola Beverages," June 2010
The Union's Website
Resolution to Boycotts Coca-Cola Beverages

RESOLVED, that the National Organization of Legal Service Workers, UAW Local 2320 will ban all Coke products from all its meetings and events;

RESOLVED, that the National Organization of Legal Service Workers, UAW Local 2320, calls on its members to initiate and support campaigns in schools, labor unions and public institutions, etc. to similarly hold The Coca-Cola Company accountable by removing all Coke machines and Coke beverages and banning the sale and advertising of Coke products;

RESOLVED, that the National Organization of Legal Service Workers, UAW Local 2320 calls on the United Auto Workers (UAW) and all other unions to adopt a similar Resolution;

RESOLVED, that until The Coca-Cola Company can prove that it has taken genuine remedial actions to become a responsible corporate citizen, the call for this ban on Coca-Cola products by the National Organization of Legal Service Workers, UAW Local 2320 will remain in effect.

Press Release, "Coca-Cola's Ed Potter Prevents Colombia From Making ILO 'Most Wanted List'," Campaign to Stop Killer Coke, June 10, 2010
Read Press Release from the Campaign
"...Colombia's largest union confederation, the United Workers Central (CUT), announced that the business sector of the United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO), led by The Coca-Cola Company's Director of Global Labor Relations Ed Potter, successfully maneuvered to keep Colombia off the list of 25 countries which the ILO will monitor in light of those countries' abuses of worker and labor union rights."
Read CUT's announcement
"Reality is that the Colombian State has not complied with the observations and recommendations ofthe ILO organs of control, and this reality does not change because this year Colombia is not on the list of cases of the Standards Committee."

Video, "Coca-Cola, Take Down That Ugly Sign!" June 11, 2010, By Paul Weiss
Watch Video
"The soda pop company is polluting an important Argentine cultural and national site in Buenos Aires with tasteless commercials on a huge LCD screen. Blogger (On The Journey) & video essayist Paul Weiss claims Coke is 'branding' Argentina's most famous cultural and national icon, the 660-foot Obelisco and demands they take it down."

Guardian, "Mexico bans junk foods in schools: Government orders end to fried foods and sweets on school grounds in fight against childhood obesity," By Jo Tuckman, May 27, 2010 guardian.co.uk, Thursday 27 May 2010 20.02 BST
Read Article
"The Mexican government is to ban junk food and fry-ups in primary and secondary schools in an effort to combat one of the worst obesity problems in the world.

"From the beginning of the next school year, school shops will no longer be allowed to stock fizzy drinks, sugar-stuffed fruit juices, processed snacks, or more local delights such as chilli soaked sweets. Nor will school kitchens offer traditional standards such as fried tacos...

"The school ban comes after years of resistance from corporations such as Coca Cola and Pepsi..."

Garforth today, "Wakefield Coca-Cola workers in strike ballot," By Stuart Robingson, June 9, 2010
Read Article
"The unions claim the company is refusing to consult on major changes to conditions of employment, and is not negotiating on basic pay increases."

Press Association, " Coca-Cola staff to vote on strikes," June 7, 2010
Read Article
"Thousands of workers at drinks giant Coca-Cola are to be balloted for industrial action in a row over employment conditions and bargaining rights, it has been announced...The unions accused the company of refusing to consult on major changes to conditions of employment, and of not negotiating on basic pay increases."

Bloomberg Businessweek, "Hugo Chavez decrees seizures of more companies," By Ian James, June 6, 2010
Read Article
"Chavez also expressed concern about 'water that transnational companies have privatized,' and he mentioned Coca-Cola and Pepsi."

The Lantern (Ohio State University), "How is Coke money spent?" By Jack Moore, June 1, 2010
Read Article
"It's no secret what lies inside the red and white vending machines that dot Ohio State's campus. Since 1998, OSU has had an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola. But details of the deal, which was renewed in 2008 for at least $33 million, and how money is distributed from it have often been as elusive as Coke's secret recipe."

The Lantern (Ohio State University), "Coke contract shrouded in secrecy," By Jack Moore, May 31, 2010
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"Coca-Cola's formula for its sugary sweet soda is under lock and key, guarded by Coke as a trade secret. Now, Ohio State and Coke say that parts of the exclusive contract between the beverage giant and OSU, which was renewed in 2008, are also trade secrets and should be kept from public view, even though contracts at comparable universities are not."

Killer Coke

See full chart at 'Responsible Shopper'

Green Left (Australia), "Colombia: Challenging 'Killer Coke'," By Paul Benedek & Marcela Escauriaza, May 30, 2010
Read Article
"Despite the many murders of unionists at its plants, Coke tries to cry poor to justify not compensating victims of anti-union violence. However, The Coca Cola Case explains Coke pays US$2.6 million for a single 30 second advertisement during the US Superbowl.

"Paez said: 'We are campaigning for a boycott — if you love life, don't drink Coke. We want to see Coke expelled from schools, sporting complexes, cultural centres and community spaces.' "

El Universal, "Coca-Cola como San Pedro," Alberto Barranco, 12 de mayo de 2010
En Español
"Integrado, en la paradoja de acumular acciones de la compania, a la asamblea general de accionistas de Coca Cola a nivel corporativo, el principal activista contra su causa, Rey Rogers, llevo el caso Mexico al escenario de esta, espetando al presidente mundial de la firma. Estamos hablando del litigio que enfrenta la empresa ante el reclamo de un ex ejecutivo que laboro 16 anos en ella, acusandola de simulacion en su contratacion, dado que habiendo trabajado para el corporativo y su filial en Mexico, su adscripcion la tenia una firma outsourcing creada por la propia Coca Cola."
Concienciaradio.com

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "At Coca-Cola, age is experience," By Jeremiah McWilliams, May 23, 2010
Read Article
"Coca-Cola's shareholder meeting at the cavernous Gwinnett Center in Duluth was wrapping up last month when John Evans rose from his seat in the audience after CEO Muhtar Kent asked for questions. 'The board of directors is just too old!' Evans said into the microphone, eliciting chuckles and a smattering of applause from the crowd. 'And they need to be replaced. And I can say that safely because I'm 77 myself. I think we need a young movement.' "

Penn & Teller, "The Truth About Bottled Water"

Click here or above to see the video

Natural News, "Coca-Cola's murderous record of anti-union activity in Colombia exposed," By Ethan A. Huff, May 22, 2010
Read Article
"The Campaign's offensive tactics against Coca-Cola are having an impact. Considering that Coca-Cola is one of the most powerful multi-national corporations in the world, it is impressive that numerous institutions of higher learning have already banned Coca-Cola products, and many more are taking steps to ban them as well. As awareness continues to increase, a point of critical mass will be achieved for which Coca-Cola will have to acknowledge and address the issue."
Read the article in the Salem-News

The New York Times, "ECONOMIC SCENE: The Battle Over Taxing Soda," By David Leonhardt, May 18, 2010
Read Article
"The argument for a soda tax is the same as the argument for a tax on tobacco, pollution or, for that matter, banks that take big, expensive risks. When an activity imposes costs on society, economists have long said that the activity should be taxed. Doing so accomplishes two goals: it discourages the activity, and it raises money to help pay society's costs.

"In the case of soda, those costs come in the form of medical bills for diabetes, heart disease and other side effects of obesity. We're all paying these bills, via Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance premiums. Obesity has become a significant cause of our swelling long-term budget deficit.

"And soda is a huge reason the country is so much more obese. The typical American consumes almost three times as many calories from sugary drinks as in the late 1970s. This increase accounts for about half the total per-capita rise in calorie consumption over the same period. Remember, many of these drinks have zero nutritional benefit — unlike meat, cheese or juice."

Dallas Blog, "San Antonio to Ban Unhealthy Food and Drinks on City Property," By Tom McGregor, May 18, 2010
Read Article
"According to the San Antonio Express-News, 'City Manager Sheryl Sculley has declared war on sugar. Well, at least when it comes to sodas and candy bars. Sugary sodas no longer have a home in the city's 250 beverage vending machines and unhealthy foods in the 25 snack machines in city facilities are next.'

"Sculley said, 'I asked the staff to remove the high-calorie soda drinks from our vending machines. I'm a fitness person and I care about our employees, and I want them to be healthy. And I think this is a very small gesture.' "

Centro de Estudios del Trabajo, "El Caso Caoca Cola: Documental
Read Article in Español

Killer Coke

New Book by B Wardlaw, "Coca-Cola Anarchist"
B Wardlaw, philanthropist and large Coke shareholder, has been a consistent critic of The Coca-Cola Co. for not having used its influence to improve human rights around the world, particularly in China and Latin America.

Go to Site
"Anarchist - One who believes in the inviolability of life, the primary value of the individual, mutual aid to one's fellow humans, egalitarianism, and co-operation on all levels of society, a philosophy upheld by no party line and no sacred texts." - Johnson Thomas (1937-2009)

"This is an important and perceptive memoir that provides insight into the counter-culture movement of the 1960s and social justice movement of the 1980s with its concern for helping the homeless and its opposition to public authority. B Wardlaw provides a moving account of why he joined these movements and the personal struggles he faced." - Clifford Clark, Professor of History, Carleton College

"From brazen antics around the White House lawn while working with the Community for Creative Non-Violence in Washington, D.C. to the touching scenes of his mother's final days in Atlanta, B Wardlaw's story follows the unexpected turns of a tumultuous life. A fortune inherited from his grandfather left him free to express his compassion for the outcast, the prisoner, and the persecuted in concrete ways. This engaging memoir will make you laugh out loud and bring tears to your eyes as it introduces you to a Southern voice you have not heard before." - Kathleen Cleaver. Senior Lecturer, Emory University School of Law; editor of Eldridge Cleaver's Target Zero: A Life in Writing; and author of the forthcoming Memories of Love and War.

Killer Coke

BBC, "Coca-Cola 'sickie' ad attacked by Lord Digby Jones," May 6, 2010
Read Article
"The former head of the CBI, Lord Digby Jones, has criticised Coca-Cola over labelling that appears to condone taking unauthorised sick days."

Counterpunch, "Killer-Coke Hits the Screens," By Billy Wharton, May 5, 2010
Read Article
" 'Sailing round the world in a dirty gondola,' Bob Dylan sang in 1971, 'Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola!' After forty years of corporate globalization, Dylan would be hard pressed to find a place that isn't the land of Coca-Cola . Multinationals have torn up the globe converting the repression of workers into cheap labor and free trade agreements into new market opportunities all in the name of ever-increasing profit margins. Left in their wake are legacies of environmental destruction, corrupt governments and employer violence. This process is precisely what a documentary currently making the rounds in campus political circles, by German Gutierrez and Carmen Garcia's entitled "The Cola-Case," aims to expose...

"The union attempts to maintain its position inside of the bottling plants while shuttling between street campaigning in Colombia and speaking tours across North America. Ray Rogers develops an effective public relations campaign that proves capable of mobilizing activists on college campuses throughout the United States in support of the Colombian trade unionists. Simultaneously, the attorneys, backed by the financial muscle of the United Steel Workers and the International Human Rights Fund, attempt to exploit an obscure US tort law that allows foreign nationals to pursue claims against US-based companies."
Read the Article in Examiner.com

The National (Abu Dhabi, UAE), "All you need to know about Coca-Cola," May 7, 2010
Read Article
"THE CONVERSATION: Coke's high-fructose corn syrup is said to aggravate obesity and type-2 diabetes. The company has also been accused of overly aggressive marketing to children, exploitative work practices, having high levels of pesticides and monopolistic business practices."

Care2.com, "Have a Coke and a Smile? Maybe Not: Coke Disses BPA-Worried Shareholders," By Cynthia Samuels, May 5, 2010
Read Article
"At Coca-Cola's annual shareholders' meeting last month, nearly a quarter of them called on the beverage behemoth to come clean about its use of bisphenol-A (BPA) in the linings of its cans. These concerned investors voted for a resolution urging Coke to make public how it is responding to the growing public anxiety over its use of the toxic, gender-bending chemical. Coke thinks shareholders don't need to know - even though they asked. Coke, being Coke, decided that this wasn't information that those who invest in the company should be privy to."

FoodQualitynews.com, "Coca-Cola dismisses BPA criticisms as shareholder coalition vows to fight on," By Rory Harrington, April 22, 2010
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"Some 22 per cent of Coca-Cola shareholders yesterday voted in favour of a resolution urging the company to disclose how it is responding to public fears over bisphenol A (BPA) used in the linings of Coke's beverage cans. But in a statement sent to FoodProductionDaily.com prior to the vote at its annual meeting, the soft drinks giant dismissed the proposal, saying it did not think the information requested 'would be useful to our shareholders' ".

Art Threat, "Report from Hot Docs: Bhutto, Budrus, and a questionable contract with Coke," by Ezra Winton, MAY 4, 2010
Read Article>
"And now finally, the ethics of the fest: I plan on writing about this more in the future, but for now I'd like to flag a huge problem with this year's edition of Hot Docs. Organizers have made the massive mistake, ethically inexplicable as it is, of signing on with none other than Coca-Cola as their, get this, environmental film sponsor. At many of the social events I accosted Hot Docs management about the festival facilitating greenwashing for one of the world's worst human rights and environmental abusers..."

Upside Down World, "Movie Review: The Coca-Cola Case," By Lainie Cassel, May 3, 2010
Read Article
"Although only slightly mentioned in the film, organizing by groups pushing for boycotts on college campuses has been one of the most successful tactics of the anti-Coke campaign. Close to 200 universities have started Killer Coke chapters and many have been effective in actually banning Coke from their campuses...Beyond college campuses, the highly visible campaign has also attracted activists all over North America, while the Killer Coke logo has become recognizable in Latin America as well."

Sin Permiso, "Esa inocente coca-cola...," By Gregorio Moran, May 2, 2010
Read Article [in Spanish/En Español]
"Llevamos un par de siglos dandole vueltas a la libertad de expresion frente a las instituciones y hemos llegado a unos grados de autonomia, irregulares y viciados, pero aceptables en ocasiones, donde la prensa y los medios de comunicacion pueden criticar a la judicatura, al ejercito, a la iglesia. Levemente por supuesto y segun el principio hoy sagrado de la correccion politica. Lo que aun no sabemos es donde figuran los derechos de la ciudadania frente a las grandes empresas, autenticas instituciones internacionales frente a las cuales una persona es menos que un ciudadano, es un consumidor; una nada que paga."

The Tribune, "Opposition, NGOs, farmers allege exploitation of water resources: Coca Cola's Guntur plant runs into trouble," May 2, 2010
Read Article
"A Coca Cola plant in Guntur district of AndhraPradesh has incurred the wrath of opposition parties, NGOs and farmers for "exploiting local water resources and causing pollution". Bowing to mounting pressure from the Opposition and farmers' bodies, the state government has reversed its earlier order of allocating 21.50 lakh litres of water per day for the factory located near Atmakur village in the coastal district of Guntur."

Scientific American, "Underage, Overweight: The Federal Government Needs to Halt the Marketing of Unhealthy Foods to Kids," By The Editors, May 2010
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"Unfortunately, like the tobacco industry before it, the food industry cannot be trusted to self-regulate in this regard. In a study published in the March Pediatrics, investigators looked at the prevalence of food and beverage brands in movies released between 1996 and 2005. They noted, for instance, that although Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have pledged to not advertise during children's television programming, their products routinely appear in movies aimed at kids."

For more news in 2010, goto www.KillerCoke.org/news_archives.php

David Rovics, Coke is the Drink of the Death Squads

Click here or below.

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