Workers in Colombia Start National Hunger Strike: Will Coca Cola Let them Die?

EMERGENCY Action Alert: Coke Workers on Hunger Strike in Colombia: Take Action Now!

This morning, Monday March 15, Coca-Cola union workers in Colombia began
a hunger strike in front of the Coke bottling plants in Barrancabermeja, Bogotá,
Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Medellín, and Valledupar. Juan Carlos
Galvis, vice president of the local union in Barrancabermeja, has said, "If we
lose the fight against Coca-Cola, we will first lose our union, next our jobs and
then our lives."

On September 9, 2003, Coca-Cola FEMSA, Coca-Cola's largest Colombian
bottler, closed the production lines at 11 of their 16 bottling plants.
(The Coca-Cola Company shares several board members with Coca-Cola FEMSA
and owns 46.4 % of its voting stock.)  Since then, they've pressured more than 500
workers into "voluntarily resigning" from their contracts in exchange for a lump-sum
payment.  Most of the union leaders have refused to resign and the company has now
escalated the pressure against them.  On February 25, the Colombian Ministry of
Social Protection (Labor) authorized Coca-Cola FEMSA's plans to dismiss 91 workers -
70 percent of whom are union leaders.  This is Coca-Cola's effort to essentially
eliminate the union.

United Students Against Sweatshops supports the union's call for
Coca-Cola FEMSA to relocate those workers to other positions within
those plants or to transfer them to other plants.  This is what the
company is required to do, according to Articles 18 and 91 of the
current collective bargaining agreements.  In January, a Colombian judge
also ordered the company to do this for the workers at the plants in
Barrancabermeja and Cúcuta. 

On behalf of the workers and their families, please send the strongest
possible message to The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta and Coca-Cola
FEMSA in Colombia.  Here are sample messages and contact information,
along with a communication that was issued by the union this morning.

***********************************************************
SAMPLE LETTER:

Douglas Daft
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Coca-Cola Company
1 Coca-Cola Plaza
Atlanta GA, 30313
404-676-3808

Steven Heyer (FEMSA Board Member)
President and Chief Operating Officer
The Coca-Cola Company
404-676-2121

E-mail c/o:
Lori Billingsley
Issues Director, Media Relations
The Coca-Cola Company
lbillingsley [at] na.ko.com

Dear Ms. Billingsley,

Please forward this message to Douglas Daft, CEO and Chairman of the
Board of the Coca-Cola Company, and Steven Heyer, Coca-Cola FEMSA
board member and President & Chief Operating Officer of The Coca-Cola Company:

On March 15, union workers in Colombia began a hunger strike in front of
the Coke bottling plants.  They've taken this action to protest
Coca-Cola FEMSA's plans to dismiss 91 more workers from the bottling
plants in Colombia.  Seventy percent of those workers are union leaders, so
that would essentially eliminate the union.

On September 9, 2003, Coca-Cola FEMSA closed the production lines at 11 of
their 16 bottling plants in Colombia.  Since then, they've pressured more than 500
workers into "voluntarily resigning" from their contracts in exchange for a lump
sum payment.

These massive dismissals are part of an ongoing campaign by the
Coca-Cola bottlers to eliminate the union in Colombia.  Seven leaders of
SINALTRAINAL have been murdered - including Isidro Segundo Gil, who
was shot to death by paramilitaries inside the plant in Carepa.  Sixty-seven
union leaders have been threatened with death.  Now, more than 88 percent
of the Coke workers in Colombia are temporary employees orcontractors -
many of whom earn just the minimum wage of $120 per month and don't have
any benefits.

Mr. Daft, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Coca-Cola
Company, which owns 46.4% of Coca-Cola FEMSA's voting stock, and Mr. Heyer,
as President and Chief Operating Officer of The Coca-Cola Company and a member
of Coca-Cola FEMSA's board,  I demand that you to tell Coca-Cola FEMSA to relocate
the workers to other positions within those plants or to transfer them to other plants. 
This is what the company is required to do, according to Articles 18 and 91 of the current
collective bargaining agreements.  In January, a Colombian judge ordered
the company to do this for the workers at the plants in Barrancabermeja and
Cúcuta.

I will spread the word about the ongoing repression against the Coke
union workers in Colombia and about the hunger strike.   Please let me
know how you intend to address these matters.

Sincerely,

******************************************************************

Juan Manuel Arbelaez
Director de Recursos Humanos
Coca-Cola FEMSA
Fax: 011-57-1-401-1687 (011 is the international access code, 57 is the
country code for Colombia, and 1 is the city code for Bogotá) 

English translation follows
-------------------------------------
Estimado Sr. Arbelaez,     
     El 15 de marzo, los trabajadores sindicalizados comenzaron una
huelga de hambre en frente de las embotelladoras de Coca-Cola FEMSA
en Colombia.  Ellos han tomado esta acción en respuesta a los planes de
Coca-Cola FEMSA para despedir 91 trabajadores más de las embotelladoras
en Colombia. 
    
El 9 de septiembre de 2003, Coca-Cola FEMSA cerró las líneas de
producción en 11 de sus 16 embotelladoras en Colombia.  La empresa ha
logrado hacer renunciar, por presiones, a más de 500 trabajadores. 
    
Estos despidos masivos forman parte de una campaña dirigida a
eliminar al sindicato.  Siete líderes del sindicato han sido asesinados
y 67 líderes han sido amenazados.  Ahora, la subcontratación de los
trabajadores de la Coca-Cola en Colombia es más de 88 por ciento, y
muchos de ellos sólo ganan el sueldo mínimo de 120 dólares mensuales
y no reciben ninguna prestación.
    
Le exijo que Coca-Cola FEMSA se siente a negociar con el sindicato,
y que capacite y reubique a los 91 trabajadores.  Según los artículos 18 y
91 de las convenciones colectivas de trabajo, la empresa tiene la obligación
de hacer esto.  En enero, un juez ordenó a la empresa a hacer esto con los
trabajadores de las embotelladoras de Barrancabermeja y Cúcuta.   
    
Me estoy comunicando con todos mis amigos y familiares sobre la
represión en contra de los trabajadores sindicalizados de la Coca-Cola
en Colombia y la huelga de hambre.  Voy a seguir muy cerca a esta
situación, y espero recibir su pronta respuesta.
     Atentamente,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Arbelaez,
     On March 15, the union workers began a hunger strike in front of
Coca-Cola FEMSA's bottling plants in Colombia.  They have taken this
action in response to Coca-Cola FEMSA's plans to dismiss another 91
workers from the bottling plants in Colombia.
     On September 9, 2003, Coca-Cola FEMSA closed the production lines
at 11 of its 16 bottling plants in Colombia.  The company has been able to
pressure more than 500 workers to resign from their contracts.
     These massive dismissals are part of a campaign directed towards
eliminating the union.  Seven leaders of the union have been killed and
67 have been threatened.  Now, 88 percent of the workers are
subcontracted, and many of them just earn the minimum wage of $120 per
month and don't receive any benefits.
     I demand that Coca-Cola FEMSA negotiate with the union, and train
and relocate the 91 workers in other positions.  According to articles
18 and 91 of the collective bargaining agreements, the company has the
obligation to do this.  In January, a judge ordered the company to do
this with the workers in the bottling plants in Barrancabermeja and
Cúcuta.
     I'm communicating with all my friends and family members about the
repression against the Coca-Cola union workers in Colombia and the
hunger strike.  I'm going to follow this situation very closely, and I'm
awaiting your quick response.
     Sincerely,
***********************************************************
Communiqué from the Coke workers' union

WORKERS ON NATIONAL HUNGER STRIKE
FOR THE RIGHT TO WORK AND
AGAINST THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AT COCA-COLA

Starting at 6 A.M. on March 15, we, the workers, have initiated a Hunger
Strike in front of the Coca-Cola plants in Barrancabermeja, Bogotá,
Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Medellín, and Valledupar.   We're
doing this to denounce, nationally and internationally, that nine
Coca-Cola workers have been killed and 67 have been threatened with
death; and that we've been the victims of attempted murder, kidnappings,
forced displacement, and the burning of one of our union offices by the paramilitaries. 
This has forced many workers to resign from the union. We're also denouncing
the unjust termination of employment contracts, the use of illegal confinement to
force workers to resign, the subcontracting of more than 88 percent of the workers
and the impact this has had on living conditions, and the attempt by Coca-Cola to
eliminate rights in the negotiations of collective bargaining agreements as has been
occurring since March 1 of this year.

Coca-Cola has imported sugar which affects the production and economy
of Colombia.  The company has taken advantage of the irrational use of
water - the vital resource for humanity, has refused to commit itself to not
using raw materials and products that are genetically modified, and has refused
to agree to social investment for the communities.  It must also be said that
Coca-Cola is being denounced for abuses in other parts of the world.

We're struggling for truth, justice, and reparations.  That's why we
filed suit in Southern District Court in Florida, United States, against
the Coca-Cola bottlers.  On March 31, 2003, Judge José E. Martínez,
ruled that the cases filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) for
violations of human rights could proceed for, among other reasons, the
symbiotic relationship that exists between the paramilitaries and the
Colombian state.  But Coca-Cola has tried to criminalize various leaders
of SINALTRAINAL, falsely accusing them of insult, slander, conspiracy to
commit a crime, terrorism, rebellion, sabotage, property damage, and
theft.  In this way, Coca-Cola stigmatizes the unionists in order to
justify their persecution and repression by the government through the
legal system.  Various leaders of SINALTRAINAL have been unjustly
imprisoned, in spite of having shown that we're innocent and were
falsely charged.        

Since September 9, 2003, Coca-Cola has kept the bottling plants in
Barrancabermeja, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Ibague, Montería, Neiva, Pasto,
Pereira, Popayán, Valledupar, and Villavicencio illegally closed.
Previously, they illegally closed the bottling plants in Bogotá,
Buenaventura, Girardot, and Mariquita.  To complete this panorama of
injustice, on February 25, 2004, the Social Protection Ministry
authorized the dismissal of 91 workers.  This was done without taking
into account that the company had already pressured more than 500
workers to resign, which is more than the 300 workers that the company
initially wanted to dismiss.  Coca-Cola has not respected the law, nor
does it want to fulfill the legal resolution ("tutela") that ordered it
to relocate the workers in other positions.  It is refusing to abide by
articles 18 and 91 of the collective bargaining agreements that require
it to not dismiss workers in the case of a reduction of activities,
closure of plants, or restructuring; but to train the workers and
relocate them in other positions.  With all this, the company is trying
to destroy SINALTRAINAL, finish off the collective bargaining
agreements, eliminate direct and long-term employment contracts,
reduce costs, and increase its profits, by producing in just five megaplants
and supplying the market from distribution centers.   

We, the workers affected by the closure of the production lines, are
continuing to resist.  But, given the grave aggression that we're
continuing to suffer, there's no other recourse but to declare a hunger
strike and demand that Coca-Cola respect the law, and fulfill the legal
resolution passed by the judge in January 2004 to protect the right to
work and require Coca-Cola to relocate the workers in other positions.
We're also demanding the fulfillment of the collective bargaining
agreement by relocating the workers in other positions, an end to the
repression, and respect for our human rights.

LUIS JAVIER CORREA SUAREZ
President    
SINALTRAINAL
_____________________________