VTMBH Article: Body
As Coca-Cola shareholders celebrated in Madison Square Garden at their annual meeting on Wednesday, union leaders and humanitarian organizations rallied outside to lob a series of accusations at the multinational company, including allegations of murder and torture in Latin America.
I was stunned while I was inside, said Colombian union leader Javier Correa as he exited the conference. They said everything [we were saying outside] was a lie, as if the people had not witnessed the seven assassinations.
Correa said seven Colombian Coca-Cola employees have been mysteriously murdered during labor contract negotiations over the last couple of years. Three were negotiating contracts; the body of another was discovered at the bottling plant, said the union leader. And on top of that, many of our brothers are in jail, accused of being guerillas or terrorists.
One Coca-Cola employee committed suicide because he had not been paid and was unable to feed his family, Correa said. In his suicide note he held Coca-Cola responsible for his situation.
The multinational has repeatedly denied any connection with these and any other cases. In Colombia, there are more than 10,000 people working for Coca-Cola; in Guatemala there are more than 1,000.
Guatemalan union leader Jose Argueta had similar complaints. He traced parallels between events in Guatemala between 1975 and 1980 and what is happening now in Colombia. I think our friends are living with a situation similar to ours, he emphasized. In the 70s eight union leaders were assassinated in Guatemala, it was never discovered who did it, he added.
Correa and Argueta arrived in the United States on April 12 to accompany students and unions, specifically the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, at the rally. Both will return to their countries on April 22.
Outside Madison Square Garden, many people protested conditions of Coca-Cola workers in many countries. They also united with the health activist organizations Act Up/NY and Health Gap, who were there to demand that Coca-Cola offer its workers in African countries health coverage for medication to fight against AIDS.
Teamsters President James Hoffa was given an ovation as he approached the crowd after leaving the shareholders meeting.
They have killed workers in Colombia, yelled Hoffa, Jr. We will fight for worker rights, we will not allow more abuses, more injustices.
These abuses will not go unpunished, the terror will not have us take any steps back, Correa emphasized, saying that 76 percent of the labor contracts in Colombia are temporary and situations for these people are miserable.
I was stunned while I was inside, said Colombian union leader Javier Correa as he exited the conference. They said everything [we were saying outside] was a lie, as if the people had not witnessed the seven assassinations.
Correa said seven Colombian Coca-Cola employees have been mysteriously murdered during labor contract negotiations over the last couple of years. Three were negotiating contracts; the body of another was discovered at the bottling plant, said the union leader. And on top of that, many of our brothers are in jail, accused of being guerillas or terrorists.
One Coca-Cola employee committed suicide because he had not been paid and was unable to feed his family, Correa said. In his suicide note he held Coca-Cola responsible for his situation.
The multinational has repeatedly denied any connection with these and any other cases. In Colombia, there are more than 10,000 people working for Coca-Cola; in Guatemala there are more than 1,000.
Guatemalan union leader Jose Argueta had similar complaints. He traced parallels between events in Guatemala between 1975 and 1980 and what is happening now in Colombia. I think our friends are living with a situation similar to ours, he emphasized. In the 70s eight union leaders were assassinated in Guatemala, it was never discovered who did it, he added.
Correa and Argueta arrived in the United States on April 12 to accompany students and unions, specifically the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, at the rally. Both will return to their countries on April 22.
Outside Madison Square Garden, many people protested conditions of Coca-Cola workers in many countries. They also united with the health activist organizations Act Up/NY and Health Gap, who were there to demand that Coca-Cola offer its workers in African countries health coverage for medication to fight against AIDS.
Teamsters President James Hoffa was given an ovation as he approached the crowd after leaving the shareholders meeting.
They have killed workers in Colombia, yelled Hoffa, Jr. We will fight for worker rights, we will not allow more abuses, more injustices.
These abuses will not go unpunished, the terror will not have us take any steps back, Correa emphasized, saying that 76 percent of the labor contracts in Colombia are temporary and situations for these people are miserable.