UNION ACCUSES COCA-COLA OF MURDER

(By Alfredo Castro, ANNCOL Colombia) In recent years the Colombian Food Industry Worker's Union (SINALTRAINAL) has been the victim of a systematic campaign of destruction, which has seen the assassination of 14 senior members of the union. According to the union the Colombian state and the multinational Coca-Cola Corporation are behind the crimes and at least 7 members of the union working in Coca-Cola plants in Colombia have been murdered after demanding that the company pay fair wages and respect the local environment.

The Colombian authorities have neither investigated nor punished those responsible for these crimes and as the union no longer believes in the impartiality nor the objectivity of the Colombian justice system, SINALTRAINAL has decided to convene an International Public Hearing so that the crimes can be judged and sentences pronounced. ANNCOL is an official endorser of the Hearing and the union are calling upon international public opinion to support the event.

The Hearing will be divided into three sessions held in North America (July 22nd in Atlanta), Europe (October 12th in Brussels) and in Colombia itself (December 5th in Bogota). For more information on how to support the hearings please contact SINALTRAINAL direct by telephone (57) 1 245 5324 or at sinaltrainaldinal [at] hotmail.com