Some links on Coca Cola

Third post of the day/night..... Links on Coca Cola.

Press reports:


Coca-Cola: Latin America's Second Religion
With subdivisions such as: Refreshment or Religion, Coke Around the World, Sales and Marketing: The Red Blast, Bloody Union Battles, Resistence is Futile
(LiP Magazine)


"The Case Against Coke" - A report on the events at the annual Coke
shareholders' meeting, and a description of the Anti-Coke campaign
(The Nation)


"Coke: The New Nike" - Anti-Coke initiative is comparable to
anti-sweatshop movement with Nike.
(The Nation)



Cola Wars in Mexico
“Consciousness about the role of Coca-Cola relates to the economy, society, politics, culture and even the military. It has to do with human rights, labor rights, rights of indigenous peoples, and control of lands and water by the multinational. This consciousness will grow and integrate citizens, communities, and universities into a giant boycott. It all starts with our consumption habits.”


http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/409/cola_wars/

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/399/cokes_killers/

Coca Cola to be Sued for Bottlers' Abuses
---A summary of the events leading up to the international backlash against Coca Cola.



Activist report:

"COCA-COLA: The Alternative Report"
This report touches on Coca Cola's environmental and labor abuses. The
former is concerned with water operations in India and El Salvador, which
has resulted in the draining of goundwater and local water supplies for
the aim of the commercial commodification of water. It also focuses on
Coke's actions against organized labour in Colombia since the early 1990s,
Russia, Turkey, Pakistan, Nicaragua and Guatemale from the 1970s to this
present day.


Report by anthropology professor Lesley Gill (who has authored several reports that are highly recommended)



Rights groups:

Turning A Blind Eye: Hazardous Child Labor in El Salvador
Human Rights Watch

Children as young as eight work long hours, engaging in high risk
work on El Salvador sugarcane fields. Many are not even paid for
their work since based on international law, children under 18
cannot legally work under harmful or hazardous conditions. The
Coca-Cola company uses Salvadoran sugar from one of the largest
mills, Central Izalco, which recieves much of it's sugarcane from
plantations that use child labor. Coke's guiding principles simply
require it's direct suppliers and it's corporate owned facilities to
follow international law. Since the Central Izalco mill is not
exploiting child labor, Coke is not liable for any activity on the
sugarcane fields. Coca-Cola, along with many other multinational
corporations, are indirectly benefitting from this hazardous child
labor.



The Complicity of Sugar Mills and The Responsibility of Multinational
Corporations
Human Rights Watch

This article investigates further into Coca-Cola’s ties with Central
Izalco, the mill’s connection to the supplier plantations, and the
continued exploitation of child labor.

Coca-Cola/Columbia
Labor Rights News and Press

This site includes links to articles and press releases focusing
on the controversies surrounding Coca-Cola’s international
bottling plants, particularly the occurrences in Columbia. The
articles date from July 2001 to June 2006.