For years, workers in Colombia have demanded that Coke take responsibility for its role in the murder of union leaders. Last year, Coke announced that, instead of meeting the workers demands, they would participate in an "investigation" of current conditions in Colombia. However, in addition to not even looking into past conditions in Colombia, almost a year later the investigation has not even begun. Meanwhile, while Coke has been hiding behind this supposed investigation, workers in Colombia have received another set of death threats, environmental devastation continues in India, and union busting runs rampant throughout Coke's supply chain. Tell Coke to stop hiding behind a flawed investigation that is never going to happen and take responsibility for their crimes.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing today to express my outrage over the various human rights abuses that have become commonplace throughout your supply chain. It seems that, contrary to the image that is displayed in your adverstisements, the Coke side of life includes the murder of union leaders in Colombia, environmental devastation throughout India, the beating of workers in Turkey, the illegal firing of workers in Indonesia, and the threatening of workers in Guatemala.

As if these abuses weren't enough, your company is spending millions of dollars attempting to clean up its image, but making no effort to actually improve things on the ground. For the past year, Coca-Cola has been hiding behind a supposed investigation of working conditions in Colombia. However, if one looks beneath the surface, one soon discovers a series of problems with this "investigation."

On the one hand, the investigation will not include past events, including the very murders that have raised so much concern. How can an investigation that does not touch upon these accusations be used to prove your company's innocence? If anything, a refusal to examine these past attempts should be understood as an attempt to hide your company's guilt.

Secondly, Ed Potter, your Director of Global Relations, sits on the board of the ILO, the organization that you have commissioned to do this investigation. This hardly seems like the best way to ensure a fair and objective process.

Finally, although this investigation was supposed to be completed almost a year ago, the process has not even begun. As a matter of fact, there has been no indication from the ILO that it is ever going to happen.

As if this weren't enough, an additional investigation that has been planned for India is being undertaken by an organization that receives a large portion of its funding from Coca-Cola itself. If these are the organizations that Coke chooses to "investigate" its practices then it is clear that your company has no interest in an investigation that uncovers the truth about any of your practices.

In the meantime, while your company insists on hiding behind these investigations, the abuses througout your supply chain continue to multiply. Recently, members of the union that represents workers in Coca-Cola bottling plants throughout Colombia, SINALTRAINAL, received another series of death threats for their attempts to stand up for their basic rights.

If Coca-Cola is truly committed to ensuring that workers' rights are respected throughout your supply chain, then your company needs to stop hiding behind suspect investigations and meet the demands of the workers and the communities that are affected by these practices. Until then, the Coke side of life will continue to be associated with environmental devastation, union busting, and murder.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
March 07, 2007