[tml] 3/14 COCA-COLA

[tactical]

COCA-COLA

CEO: E. Neville Isdell
Contact the Corporation: Coca-Cola
One Coca Cola Plaza
P.O. Box 1734
Atlanta, GA 30301
Phone: 404-676-2121

Human Rights Abuses: violent killings, kidnap and torture, water 
privatization, health violations, and discriminatory practices

Coca-Cola Company is perhaps the most widely recognized corporate symbol on 
the planet. The company also leads in the abuse of workers' rights, 
assassinations, water privatization, and worker discrimination. Between 
1989 and 2002, eight union leaders from Coca-Cola bottling plants in 
Colombia were killed after protesting the company's labor practices. 
Hundreds of other Coca-Cola workers who have joined or considered joining 
the Colombian union SINALTRAINAL have been kidnapped, tortured, and 
detained by paramilitaries who intimidate workers to prevent them from 
unionizing. In Turkey, 14 Coca-Cola truck drivers and their families were 
beaten severely by Turkish police hired by the company, while protesting a 
layoff of 1,000 workers from a local bottling plant in 2005.

In India, Coca-Cola destroys local agriculture by privatizing the country's 
water resources. In Plachimada, Kerala, Coca-Cola extracted 1.5 million 
liters of deep well water, which they bottled and sold under the names 
Dasani and BonAqua. The groundwater was severely depleted, affecting 
thousands of communities with water shortages and destroying agricultural 
activity. As a result, the remaining water became contaminated with high 
chloride and bacteria levels, leading to scabs, eye problems, and stomach 
aches in the local population. Water shortages have occurred in Varanasi, 
Thane, and Tamil Nadu as well. The company is also guilty of reselling its 
plants' industrial waste to farmers as fertilizers, despite its containing 
hazardous lead and cadmium.

Coca-Cola is one of the most discriminatory employers in the world. In the 
year 2000, 2,000 African-American employees in the U.S. sued the company 
for race-based disparities in pay and promotions. In Mιxico, Coca-Cola 
FEMSA, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Latin America, fired a senior 
bottling manager for being gay. Finally, by regularly denying health 
insurance to employees and their families, Coca Cola has failed to help 
stop the spread of AIDS in Africa. The company is one of the continent's 
largest private employers, yet only partially covers expensive medicines, 
while not covering generic medicines at all.

Who's working on it:
•<http://www.cokewatch.org>Coke Watch
•<http://www.corpwatch.org>Corp Watch
•<http://www.indiaresource.org>India Resource Center
•<http://www.killercoke.org>Killer Coke
•<http://www.polarisinstitute.org>Polaris Institute
•<http://www.wateractivist.org>Public Citizen
•<http://www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org>Students Against Sweatshops
•<http://www.usleap.org>USLEAP


da Global Exchange le peggiori multi del 2005 
http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/corporateHRviolators.html

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