UAlbany’s 10 year long, multimillion dollar monopoly Coca Cola contract is close to finished. For this past year, UA students have been organizing to sever our contract and cease giving business to the global corporate king of union-busting, water stealing and labor abuses.  We refuse to have our name and money associated with this corporation  who is tainted with corruption, murder and endless greed that trails Coke. We’ve demanded a nonexclusive contract to limit the stranglehold of corporate identity taking over our campus and increase the healthy choices offered to students.  We’ve worked cooperatively with our administration and its gotten us nowhere so far. Please call and email Provost in Charge Susan Herbst, CC’d to other administrators, our Student Senate, Association representatives to show them the student  support to kick coke off our campus for good!  Please list if you are a faculty, community organization or student.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I'm writing to state my support for the Killer Coke campaign, led by on-campus humanitarian groups such as Students for Workers' Rights, Campus Greens, and Students for a Democratic Society. I'm urging your university to cease all business with the Coca-Cola Company, because of what we deem to be inexcusable violations of human and workers' rights both here and abroad. These violations include:

- The contracting of paramilitary forces to murder, torture, unlawfully detain or effectively silence trade union leaders in Colombia; - Overexploitation of water sources in India, Mexico, Ghana and elsewhere; - Benefiting from hazardous child labor in sugar cane fields in El Salvador as documented by Human Rights Watch; - Giving executives hundreds of millions of dollars in stock options and bonuses while laying off thousands of employees; - A history of racial discrimination, fraudulent business practices, tax avoidance and corporate welfare schemes.

In addition, I wish for future contracts to beverage providers be non-exclusive, that these providers be contractually obligated to exhibit conscionable actions toward their workers and consumers, and that the University at Albany promote local businesses and employment in their upcoming engagements to beverage companies.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
April 19, 2007