William Mendoza, who is a Coca-Cola worker and Vice President of SINALTRAINAL (Food and Beverage Workers' Union) in Colombia and Amit Srivastava, Coordinator of India Resource Center, will be speaking on Monday, November 14th from 12pm to 2pm at San Francisco State University, and from 7pm to 9pm at UC Berkeley. They will speak about the growing campaign against the Coca-Cola company for its violations of human rights, workers’ rights, and the environment in Colombia, India and globally. Details

On Friday, November 18th, a protest will be held at the entrance of the "World of Coca-Cola" in Atlanta, Georgia. An international movement for justice and human rights will come together to expose the Coca-Cola Company for murder, torture, pollution, and union-busting throughout the world. At 12pm there will be a rally and press conference with William Mendoza. Mendoza has been on a national speaking tour with United Students Against Sweatshops. This protest comes at the beginning of a weekend of actions in Fort Benning, Georgia to demand the closure of the School of the Americas.

Organizers say that they believe that they are at a turning point in the campaign to hold Coke accountable for violence in Colombia, India, Turkey, Indonesia and Guatemala. Activists say that Coke has been trying to discredit the union SINALTRAINAL in Colombia and grassroots movements in India and elswhere, and also to deflate the global student movement. Since 1986, roughly 4,000 Colombian trade unionists have been murdered. Most of these murders have been committed by right-wing paramilitary groups, known as death squads, on an ideological mission to destroy the labor movement. These groups often work in collaboration with the U.S.- supported Colombian military, and in some instances with managers at plants producing for multinational corporations. In the case of Coca-Cola, the company and its business partners have turned a blind eye to, financially supported, and actively colluded with paramilitary groups in efforts to destroy workers' attempts to organize unions and bargain collectively.

Read more about Coke and its abuses in Colombia and other countries | Past Indybay Coverage of Struggles Against Coke

USAS's Coca-Cola Page and Organizing Resources | India Resource Center