ENDORSEMENTS REQUESTED: Indefinite protest against Coca Cola
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Dear Friends,
Please consider your organization or network of organizations you
represent to endorse the below mentioned campaign against Coca Cola.
Please send your individual and organizational endorsements to
ashaashram@... (Dr Sandeep Pandey/ Arundhati Dhuru),
bobbyramakant@..., mohantysanat@...

thanks,
bobby
for
Dr Sandeep Pandey
Email: ashaashram@...
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The Cola giants are under fire around the world for unethical
corporate practices. Community groups are increasingly demanding that
Coke and Pepsi stop externalizing their costs and exploiting
communities.



A partial list of unethical practices by the Cola giants includes:

(1) Coca Cola involved in assassination of at least 8 union leaders
and torture of other workers at company's plants in Colombia over the
last five years[1]. Its saga of unjust labour practices transcends
commonly held human values. The Global March against Child Labour
found child workers in the production of promotional footballs for
the company in Pakistan[2] .


(2) Coca Cola had to pay $192 million for racial discrimination of
its black workers in the USA in 2000[3].


(3) Coca Cola is a major threat to precious ground water resources
which common people use for drinking and irrigation purposes. In
Plachimada, Kerala, India water has dried up in a radius of 3 km from
the plant site[4]. This situation threatens to displace 20,000 local
habitants, while at the same time the bottling plant only gives
employment to 50 local people[5]. Community groups in Mehdiganj,
Sinchawar and Kaladera in India are also protesting dropping water
levels owing to the companies activities.


(4) Pepsico and Coca Cola have lobbied with the Congress to cut US
funds to WHO[6] after its report on the health effects of high sugar
diets.


(5) In India Coca Cola and Pepsi beverages were found to have 30
times more pesticides than the European Union standard[7]. A High
Court ruling (backed by a Cupreme Court verdict) requires these
companies to mention pesticide levels on bottles[8].


(6) The sludge coming out of Coca Cola plant has been dumped in
neighboring communities in Plachimada, Kerala. BBC found this sludge
to contain hazardous toxins including Cadmium and Lead[9].


(7) In Africa Coca Cola did not provide relevant education and
treatment on AIDS to its 100,000 employees until a public outcry in
2003[10].


(8) Coca Cola renders 5 times more people, who make locally produced
drinks, jobless than it employs[11]. Dropping water levels and
increasing toxicity in the water have also affected agrarian
livelihoods. It is a drain on the local and rural economies.


(9) Coca Cola has been guilty of tax evasion in various countries
[12]. In Mehdiganj, Varanasi Coca Cola has encroached upon village
commons. In spite of the order of a former City Magistrate to
demolish the portion of plant illegally built on this piece of land,
no action has been taken by the administration. Coca Cola was found
guilty of cheating on revenue when it bought this plant and it was
fined. It still has not paid the full amount of Rs. 35 million to the
government. On 9th December, 2005, the Company attempted to encroach
upon a 100 metres road belonging to the Village Sabha in Sinhachawar,
Ballia. The vigilant villagers foiled the attempt.


(10)Coca Cola influences media to stall stories unfavorable to it
[13].



A number of Universities including New York University, University of
Michigan, and McMaster University have canceled their contracts with
Coca Cola because they believe evidence shows that Coca Cola is
involved in unethical practices.



While Cola companies reserve the right to make profits ethically,
they externalize costs of production on to local and global
communities which is exploitative and unethical. We oppose this. They
externalize their costs through unfair wages and work conditions,
through dumping of hazardous wastes on local environments and through
withdrawal of millions of liters of water everyday, affecting health
and livelihoods of local communities. There can be no recompense for
losing access to water or ill health owing to exposure to toxins.



These practices of the Cola companies are unjust and exploitative on
a global scale. We believe that in the globalized world, communities
must act globally to end such practices.



We demand the Coca Cola and Pepsico stop production of their products
till such time that they make products without exploitative methods
and without externalizing the costs of production.



Until such a time, as members of a global community, we hold these
companies responsible for their actions. As consumers, we boycott
their products and call upon other community groups to do so as well.



Endorsements:

National Alliance of People's Movements, Lok Samiti, Asha Parivar,
Socialist Front, Samajwadi Jan Parishad, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party,
INSAF, Plachimada Solidarity Committee, South Asia Parternership
(Pakistan), Pakistan Social Forum, Iniciativas de Economia
Alternativa y Solidaria (Spain), Avalon High School Amnesty Chapter,
Minnesota, USA, Anti War Committee, USA



Contact:

Nandlal, Lok Samiti, Mehdiganj, Raja Talab, Varanasi, PIN 221311,
India, Ph: 542-2632433, Mobile: 9415300520, 9839017693, e-mail:
napm_up@...

Sandeep, Asha Parivar, A-893, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016, India,
Ph: 522-2347365, Mobile: +91 9839073355, e-mail: ashaashram@...

Sanat Mohanty, 3104, 40th Ave., South, Minneapolis, MN 55406, USA,
Ph: 612.623.3802, sanat.mohanty@...



References

[ 1] "Colombia Coke Bottler Faces Death Suit", Stefan Armbruster, BBC
News, 04.04.03

[2] Global March against Child Labour, "Report on Child Labour in
Football Production in Pakistan", May 2002

[3] Les Echos FRA 17/11/2000; May 1 2000, San Francisco Bay Guardian,
http://www.commondreams.org/views/050100-108.htm;
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2000/11/17/11540.htm

[4] CorpWatch India, Nityanand Jayaraman, 28/05-02,
http://www.corpwatchindia.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=1603

[5] Denise Commane and Eric Toussaint, www.cadtm.org, 11th March,
2004

[6] The Guardian, April 21, 2003,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,940287,00.html

[ 7] Report of the Joint Committee on Pesticide Residues in and
Safety Standards for Soft Drinks, Fruit Juices and other Beverages of
Indian Parliament, January 27, 2004, the Center for Science and
Environment, India and Pesticide Action Network/PAN (
http://www.pesticideinfo.org), including extremely dangerous
pesticides such as DDT and Lindane

[8] http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/dec/06cola.htm

[ 9] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3096893.stm

[10] http://www.treat-your-workers.org/,
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1017-02.htm,
http://edition.cnn.com/BUSINESS/programs/yourbusiness/stories2001/coke
.aids/ ,

[11] The plant in Mehdiganj, India produces 250,000 litres of Coca
Cola in a day and employs about 500 people. Assuming one person could
produce and sell 100 litres of a local drink per day, 2,500 will be
employed.

[12] http://www.indiaresource.org/news/2004/1016.html,
http://www.indiaresource.org/news/2005/1071.html ,
http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/000383.html

[13] Bobby Ramakant (bobbyAThdnetDOTorg) was requested by South
Africa Broadcasting Corporation not to mention Coca-Cola by name when
he was being interviewed about human rights violations of protestors
outside Coca Cola plant in Varanasi, India in November, 2004