Belching Out the Devil (42 page)

 

The feeling that the company's moves were motivated by a degree of antipathy towards the union was compounded by what happened next. The workers from Drogheda finished their final shift on Friday 27 June 2008. On the following Monday morning, 30 June, it was announced that Coca-Cola was to open a new plant in Wexford in the south.
⁷
‘By which stage it was too late to try and negotiate moving the Drogheda workers to Wexford.' That chance had gone, and you wouldn't need to be a cynic to think that the timing of the announcement about the Wexford plant was deliberately
chosen to come after Drogheda had closed. Jerry says, ‘There is one reason and one reason only why they do not want Drogheda people there, they do not want a union over there.'

 

In their defence Coca-Cola point to the fact that the new plant in Wexford is a flavourings plant, which is different from a concentrate plant. But Jerry says ‘Well, if you are trained in one side of the business it won't be too difficult to train for flavourings.' Surely retraining experienced Drogheda workers would be preferable from starting with people with no knowledge at all.

 

There are rumours that the Wexford plant will make 7X the company's secret ingredient and Coca-Cola management are reported to have said that the company never allows a union into a 7X plant, apparently fearful that if they have a dispute in the flavour plant the worldwide system goes down. So with Drogheda gone the only union members are in Athy. ‘You have about fifty union members, and that is about it for the concentrates side of it, for the whole of Ireland.'

 

When the closure of Drogheda was announced SIPTU organised demonstrations, Ireland's national media covered the issue and the union even developed its own rescue package that would save the company some 10 million euros in voluntary redundancies and changes in overtime patterns. None of which had any effect. But as Jerry points out ‘We failed to get the local community on our side, the local community sees Coca-Cola workers as extremely well paid… So was there a lot of sympathy for them? Probably not.' According to Jerry folk around here have not yet grasped the implications of the plant going, ‘This town does not realise the devastation. That plant brought about 30-40 million euros into the local economy. That is gone.'

Jerry comes from a trade-union family, his father was a union man, his brother Ollie is a shop steward. So, during a family holiday when the three of them were sitting up talking late one night, it came as a surprise when his father questioned him. Jerry's father had asked, ‘Do you think the company shut the plant down or is it the union that shut the plant?'

‘It took me a while to realise what he was getting at,' says Jerry, ‘he is a well-known fella about the town, he knows what is going on.' His father's question was not so much a question at all but a gentle nudge as to what the town was thinking.

 

After taking advantage of the tax regime - and it is a fair bet to say that should the tax rate increase to an unfavourable level the company would shift its operations quicker than you could say ‘Is Bono here too?', after ‘assistance' from the Irish Development Agency to set up its plants, after reducing the trade union to the margins and after making nearly $6 billion in profit The Coca-Cola Company leaves Drogheda with the community wondering if it was the union that lost the jobs.

 

Welcome to the World of Coca-Cola.

A heartfelt salute goes to Susan McNicholas who agreed to research this book. She was an inspiration to work with and a loyal friend.

Thanks also must go to Conor McNicholas, and Rian too, who put up with my endless calls to Susan at all hours of the night and day.

Martin Herring - who went above and beyond the call of duty, came to India filmed it, never got paid and remains a true friend.

 

Thanks to: Nicky Branch who was transcript queen, Jess Hurd the comrade photographer, Emilio Rodriguez, Alpkan Birelma. Amit Srivasvta, who has been an enlightening presence and friend, Andy Higginbottom at Colombia Solidarity Campaign, Geoff Atkinson who oversaw the
Dispatches
documentary on Coca-Cola for Channel 4, Joan, Phoebe, Carrie, Amber, Sally Friedman, Kathy Haywood, Sarah McDonald at Uproar, David Lom, Armando, Eduardo, Sophie, Saroj Dosh and Alice Wynn Wilson at Action Aid, Peter Hirst and the Red Shed, Karen at Travel Matters, Olaf Christiansen, Kerim Yildiz, Mustafa Gundogu, Mel Alfonso, Tracey Moberley, Helen Waghorn, Bipasha Ahmet, Claudia, Lynn Sardinha, Sumita Joseph, Amanda Jordan. Lew Freidman and Nancy Romero - special thanks for looking after my family in Brooklyn, Ray Rogers, Jerad, Bernardo, Liam and Jaime for extended Brooklyn support, the Polaris Institute, Mariela Kohon at Justice for Colombia, Arife and Ronnie, Bijoy, Sandeep Panday, Nandlal Master, Santosh, Anita Komanduri, Kavaljit Singh, Nick Hildyard at the Corner House for advice and late-night support, Pablo Leal without whom stuff would not have happened, Alejandro Calvillo, Octavio, Joy and Damaso, Antonino García, Laura Jordan, Jason Parkinson, Guy Smallville, Tony Pletts, Ed Smith, Matthew Harvey, Amy Hopwood, Jeff and the list, Wendy, Andrea, Catherine Strauss and Michael Cummins who are bound to have helped somewhere along the line, Steve Mather and Charlie Allen at Hands Off Venezuela. Hannah MacDonald and Ken Barlow at Ebury Press, Justine Taylor for patient copyediting, Amanda Telfer for smoothing out the legal wrinkles and Sarah Bennie for waving at me on the M5.

As always CB, IJ and Gan Gan xxx

1
Manifesto for Growth, The Coca-Cola Company website,
www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ourcompany/manifesto_for_growth.html

2
Obesity Report, House of Commons Health Committee,
www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhealth/23/23.pdf

3
The Coca-Cola Company Press Center,
www.thecoca-colacompanycom/presscenter/viewpoints_india_situation.html
.

1
‘Another Trim In Spending',
New York Times
, 27 June 2007

2
Global Policy Forum

3
US Congressional Budget Office, Testimony before the Committee on the Budget, US House of Representatives, 24 October 2007

5
Best Global Brands 2007, Interbrand/
Business Week

6
The song was later re-recorded and the brand name removed to create ‘I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing'

7
Atlanta Development Authority Quarterly Report, 18 May 2005,
www.atlantada.com/media/1Q2005.pdf

8
‘
Business As Usual, Unfortunately',
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, 29 March 2005

9
‘
City Oks Bond Issue',
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, 9 June 2005

11
Mark Pendergrast,
For God, Country, and Coca-Cola
, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1994

12
Martin Luther King, ‘I've been to the Mountaintop', 3 April 1968, Mason Temple, Memphis

13
‘Coke Settles Bias Lawsuit for $192.5 million'
, USA Today
, 17 November 2000

15
ibid

17
ibid

18
Best Global Brands 2007, Interbrand/
Business Week

19
Best Global Brands 2006, Interbrand/
Business Week

20
Best Global Brands 2005, Interbrand/
Business Week

2
‘Colombia Paramilitary Chief Says Businesses Back Him',
New York Times
, 7 September 2000

4
www.hrw.org/reports/2001/colombia/1.htm669C8B63
. Readers should note that the Colombian army now has created a 6th Division, so if the report were written today I would imagine it would now be entitled the 7th Division

5
‘Colombia Paramilitary Chief Says Businesses Back Him',
New York Times
, 7 September 2000

6
Congressional Testimony on Violence against Trade Unionists and Human Rights in Colombia, Human Rights Watch, 28 June 2007

8
‘Colombia's Uribe ends Washington visit with fate of free trade agreement still uncertain',
International Herald Tribune
, 4 May 2007,
www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/04/america/NA-GEN-US-Colombia.php

10
Distorted perceptions of Colombia's conflict, Garry Leech,
Colombia Journal
, 1 June 2008, referencing Adam Isacson, ‘CINEP: Colombia's Conflict Is Far from Over,' Center for International Policy, 10 April 2008,
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KKAA-7F89EE?OpenDocument

1
Workplace Assessment in Colombia
, Cal Safety Compliance Corporation 2005,
www.cokefacts.com/citizenship/cit_co_assessmentReport.pdf

2
ibid

3
ibid

4
‘Coca-Cola sued over bottling plant “terror campaign”',
Guardian
, 21 July 2001,
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/jul/21/julianborger

5
SINALTRAINAL v THE COCA-COLA COMPANY,
news.lp.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/cocacola/clmbiacocacola72001.pdf

6
Coca-Cola FEMSA is the Mexican multinational that bought Panamco in December 2002 creating the world's second- largest Coke bottling company, behind Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Enterprises

7
‘An Investigation of Allegations of Murder and Violence in Coca-Cola's Columbian plants', The New York City Fact-Finding Delegation on Coca-Cola in Colombia, January 2004
killercoke.org/pdf/monsfinal.pdf

8
ibid

9
ibid

10
‘Energy giant agrees settlement with Burmese villagers',
Guardian
, 15 December 2004

11
‘Yahoo Settles With Chinese Journalists',
New York Times
, 14 November 2007

13
‘Feinstein Fights McCain on Burma Tax Break for Big Oil',
New York Sun,
6 June 2008,
www.nysun.com/foreign/feinstein-fights-mccain-on-tax-break-for-big-oil/79452/

15
‘Coca-Cola sued over bottling plant “terror campaign”',
Guardian
, 21 July 2001,
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/jul/21/julianborger

16
fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/cocacola/clmbiacocacola72001.pdf
p. 14

17
ibid, p. 15

20
‘Dismissal Of Coke Lawsuit To Be Appealed',
International Business Times
, 3 November 2006,
www.ibtimes.com/articles/20061103/apfn-colombia-coca-cola-lawsuit.htm

2
The New York City Fact-Finding Delegation on Coca-Cola in Colombia, January 2004,
killercoke.org/pdf/monsfinal.pdf

7
Ed Potter interview with author

8
Email from The Coca-Cola Company to author

9
ibid

10
Interview conducted by author

11
Email from The Coca-Cola Company to author

1
fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/cocacola/clmbiacocacola72001.pdf
p. 26

2
ibid

3
The defendant is listed as Panamco Colombia (d/b/a Embottellador de Santander, S.A.). Panamco was bought by Coca-Cola FEMSA in 2003. In turn, The Coca-Cola Company owns 31.6 per cent of Coca-Cola FEMSA,
www.b2i.us/profiles/investor/fullpage.asp?f=1&BzID=994&to=cp&Nav
=0&LangID=1&s=0&ID=1940#COCACOMPANY) although it ‘indirectly owns 39.6% of our capital stock, representing 46.4% of our capital stock with full voting rights.'
www.b2i.us/profiles/investor/fullpage.asp?f=1&BzID=994&to=cp&Nav=0&LangID=1&s=0&ID=1940#COCACOMPANY

4
fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/cocacola/clmbiacocacola72001.pdf
, p. 28

5
Email from The Coca-Cola Company to author

6
Coca-Cola's Global Workplace Rights Policy,
www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/workplace_rights_policy.html