The Coke Machine (56 page)

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Authors: Michael Blanding

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Page 261 31 percent of Coke workers in Colombia:
Cokefacts.org
website, June 22, 2004 (accessed through “Wayback Machine,”
web.archive.org
); Sarah Greenblatt, “Coca-Cola War Escalates at Rutgers,”
Home News Tribune
(East Brunswick, NJ), May 2, 2004.
Page 261 that rate applied only to official employees:
See Killer Coke News Bulletin, August 31, 2005,
http://www.Killercoke.org/nb0831.htm
.
Page 262 Worker Rights Consortium:
Liza Featherstone and United Students Against Sweatshops,
Students Against Sweatshops
(New York: Verso, 2002).
Page 262 a chance to directly affect a situation:
Camilo Romero, interview by the author.
Page 262 take the campaign national:
Jim Lovell, “Students Call for Coke Boycott,”
Atlanta Business Chronicle
, November 21, 2003.
Page 263 a new generation of activists:
Romero, interview by the author.
Page 263 “Always Rutgers, Always Coca-Cola”:
Greenblatt, “Coca-Cola War Escalates at Rutgers”; “Coke Wars,”
Daily Targum
, April 10, 2000; Candice Choi, “Rutgers Group Voices Exploitation Concerns,”
Daily Targum
, April 4, 2000.
Page 263 delay its decision until May 2005:
Ray Rogers, interview by the author; Ken Tarbous, “Rutgers to Join the Pepsi Generation,”
Home News Tribune
(East Brunswick, NJ), June 10, 2005.
Page 263 a giant inflatable Coke bottle:
Kristen Hamill, “Students Form Coalition Against Coke Contract,”
Daily Targum
, May 31, 2005.
Page 263 shock troops behind the scenes:
Michael Blanding, “Coke: The New Nike,”
The Nation
, March 24, 2005,
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050411/blanding
.
Page 264 “It certainly catches your eye”:
Romero, interview by the author.
Page 264 “Maybe you don’t like it”:
Rogers, interview by the author.
Page 264 ten-year, $17 million contract:
Tarbous, “Rutgers to Join the Pepsi Generation”; Kelly Heybour, “At Rutgers, Pepsi’s $17 Million Deal Is the Real Thing,”
Star-Ledger
(Newark), May 14, 2005.
Page 264 “big blow to the company”:
Rogers, interview by the author; Heybour, “At Rutgers, Pepsi’s $17 Million Deal Is the Real Thing.”
Page 264 about a hundred vending machines:
Crystal Yakacki, former organizer with anti-Coke campaign at NYU, interview by the author; Victoria Foltz and Barbara Leonard, “NYU Senate Bans Coke from Campus,”
Washington Square News
, December 9, 2005; Brittani Manzo, “Possible Coke Ban to Take Effect at NYU,”
Washington Square News
, November 28, 2005.
Page 264 USAS led the way:
Romero, interview by the author; Barbara Leonard, “Coke Refuses NYU Request to Audit Workers’ Rights Practices,”
Washington Square News
,” April 21, 2005.
Page 264 Students wrapped vending machines:
Campaign to Stop Killer Coke “Student Protest Pics,”
www.killercoke.org/proteststud.htm
.
Page 264 the student senate voted sixteen to four to ban Coke:
“How NYU Chose Colombia over Coke,”
BusinessWeek
, Online Extra, January 17, 2006,
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_04/b3968078.htm
.
Page 264 a university-sponsored forum with the WRC:
Jason Rowe, “Senate Must Challenge Coke,”
Washington Square News
, March 10, 2005.
Page 265 The issue was tabled:
Yakacki, interview by the author; “NYU Senate Is Impotent,”
Washington Square News
, April 25, 2005.
Page 265 activists at . . . Michigan demanded that the school:
Talia Selitsky, “Killer Coke Coalition Rallies at U. Michigan,”
Michigan Daily
, February 10, 2005.
Page 265 the board ruled in the students’ favor:
Scott Leith, “University Says It Will Drop Coke Unless Colombia Charges Probed,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, June 18, 2005.
Page 265 “If they don’t step up”:
Jeremy Davidson, “U. Michigan Adjusts Coca-Cola Contracts,”
Michigan Daily
, June 20, 2005.
Page 265 Ed Potter had represented . . . new corporate code of conduct:
Caroline Wilbert, “Trouble-shooter’s Big Job Has Kept Him Traveling, from Colombia to China,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, April 16, 2006.
Page 265 spelling out the protections for workers:
Ed Potter, interview by the author; The Coca-Cola Company, 2006 Corporate Responsibility Review; The Coca-Cola Company “Workplace Rights Policy,”
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/pdf/workplace_rights_policy.pdf
.
Page 266 a supposedly independent group:
Cal Safety Compliance Corporation (CSCC) for The Coca-Cola Company, “Workplace Assessments in Colombia,” 2005; Russ Childrey, vice president of CSCC, interview by the author.
Page 266 denying responsibility for the violence in Colombia:
Author notes of shareholder meeting; Michael Blanding, “The Case Against Coke,”
The Nation
, April 13, 2006.
Page 266 “felt more like a student protest rally”:
“Flat Coke,”
Financial Times
(London), April 20, 2005.
Page 266 real negotiations began after the meeting:
Potter and Romero, interviews by the author.
Page 266 Coke was soon setting its own rules:
Notes from September 9, 2005, commission meeting by anonymous student.
Page 266 The students dismissed those demands:
“How NYU Chose Colombia over Coke,”
BusinessWeek
, Online Extra, January 17, 2006,
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_04/b3968078.htm
.
Page 267 The university issued an ultimatum:
Jacob Gershman, “University Senate at NYU Threatens to Oust Coca-Cola from Campus,”
Sun
(New York), November 7, 2005.
Page 267 NYU . . . would begin removing Coke from campus:
Patrick Cole, “NYU Bans Coca-Cola Products,” Bloomberg News, December 9, 2005.
Page 267 “Certainly if there was any wrongdoing”:
Caroline Wilbert, “A Surprising Critic of Coke,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, January 28, 2006.
Page 267 new country: Turkey:
Ali Riza Küçükosmanoğlu, president of Nakliyat-İş trade union, interview by the author;
Erol Türedi, et al. v. The Coca-Cola Company, et al.
, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 05-CV-9635 (2005) (hereafter
Türedi v. Coke
).
Page 268 Coke had nothing to do with it:
The Coca-Cola Company statement, “Lawsuit Regarding Protest in Turkey,” November 15, 2005; Potter, interview by the author.
Page 268 “the flipside of being a big brand”:
Kenneth Hein, “Advertising: Big Ban on Campus for Coke Products,”
Brandweek
, December 12, 2005.
Page 268 the union hadn’t first exhausted its remedies:
Türedi v. Coke
, Decision and Order Granting Motion to Dismiss (39); Notice of Appeal (42).
Page 268 “investigate and evaluate”:
Donald R. Knauss, President, Coca-Cola North America, to Tim Slottow, Executive Vice President and CFO, University of Michigan, April 10, 2006.
Page 268 more conciliatory approach to negotiations . . . continued to throw cold water:
“Why Does the IUF Attack SINALTRAINAL,”
http://www.killercoke.org/iufsinal.htm
; “The Facts: The Coca-Cola Company and Columbia,” The Coca-Cola Company press release, January 25, 2006; “Joint Coca-Cola and IUF Statement,” March 15, 2005,
http://www.iufdocuments.org/www/documents/coca-cola/jtstate-e.pdf
.
Page 268 The anti-Coke campaign immediately cried foul:
“University of Michigan Falls Prey to Another Coca-Cola PR Scam,” Campaign to Stop Killer Coke news release, April 17, 2006.
Page 269 “There are 640 people”:
John J. Miller, “Fizzes and Fizzles,”
National Review
, June 16, 2006.
Page 269 less of an explanation:
Potter, interview by the author.
Page 269 “assessment of current working conditions”:
“University of Michigan Falls Prey to Another Coca-Cola PR Scam.”
Page 269 “We have a document”:
Videocast, The Coca-Cola Company, Annual Meeting of Stockholders, April 19, 2006,
http://events.streamlogics.com/pmtv/coke/apr19-06/auditorium/index.asp
.
Page 269 “My message to you”:
Videocast, The Coca-Cola Company, Annual Meeting of Stockholders, April 19, 2006,
http://events.streamlogics.com/pmtv/coke/apr19-06/auditorium/index.asp
.
Page 269 activists raised red flags:
Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center press release, “Coca-Cola Funded Group Investigates Coca-Cola in India,” April 16, 2007.
Page 269 listed Coca-Cola as a sponsor:
Confirmed from TERI website, April 16, 2006,
www.teriin.org
(accessed through Internet Archive,
www.archive.org
).
Page 269 had been paid by Coke:
Confirmed by Ibrahim Rehman, Director, Social Transformation Division, The Energy and Resources Institute, in interview by the author.
Page 269 most responsible companies:
Confirmed by Ritu Kumar, “Human Face of Corporates,”
Times of India
, December 24, 2001.
Page 269 student campaign had “stalled”:
David Teather, “Has Coke Become the Next McDonald’s?”
Guardian
, August 18, 2006.
Page 270 indifference, if not contempt:
Order of Clarification as to Plaintiffs SINALTRAINAL and Juan Carlos Galvis (233), Order Granting Motion to Quash Attempted Service of Process (234), Order Reiterating Stay (237),
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
.
Page 270 “If you didn’t know any better”:
Status conference transcript, June 6, 2006.
Page 270 “unwarranted international fishing expeditions”:
Consolidated Omnibus Order Dismissing the Cases for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction (322),
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
.
Page 270 “We hope this decision”:
Duane D. Stanford, “Lawsuit vs. Coke Bottlers Tossed; Group Representing Colombian Workers May Appeal Ruling,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, October 4, 2006.
Page 270 denying the union proper discovery:
Appellants’ Opening Brief (1),
SINALTRAINAL, et al. v. The Coca-Cola Company, et al
., on Appeal from the Decision and Final Order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Case No. 06-15851-HH (hereafter
SINALTRAINAL v. Coke
Appeal).
Page 270 “Put aside Colombia, Coca-Cola”:
Terry Collingsworth, interview by the author.
Page 271 engaged a retired judge:
Judge Daniel Weinstein (ret.), biography,
http://www.jamsadr.com/weinstein/
.
Page 271 call off the dogs:
In re: TCCC’s [The Coca-Cola Company’s] Reply Brief, in Support of Motion for Sanctions and Related Relief, February 12, 2008. The documents and e-mail exchanges cited below are taken from exhibits to this brief.
Page 271 resumed criticizing Coke:
Faith Gay to Judge Daniel Weinstein, re: TCCC Motion for Sanctions In re SINALTRAINAL Mediation, December 21, 2006.
Page 271 both sides refrain from public statements:
Judge Daniel Weinstein e-mail to Faith Gay, Terry Collingsworth, et al., September 27, 2006.
Page 272 trolled Web and newspaper reports:
Linda Spencer e-mails, October 2, 4, 9, and 27, 2006.
Page 272 they would have to resign from the union:
Draft, “Colombia Settlement Agreement,” October 13, 2006.
Page 273 “Every request we made for”:
Faith Gay to Terry Collingsworth, November 22, 2006.
Page 273 $120,000 in penalties:
Order for Sanctions, January 8, 2007.
Page 273 “Look, don’t waste my time”:
Terry Collingsworth, interview by the author.
Page 273 into the “lions’ den”:
Duban Velez, secretary-treasurer of SINALTRAINAL, and Romero, interviews by the author.
Page 274 whatever the union leaders decided:
Rogers, interview by the author.
Page 274 “We don’t intend to give up our fight”:
The Coca-Cola Case
, directed by Germán Gutiérrez and Carmen Garcia (Montreal: Cinema Politica and the National Film Board of Canada, 2009).
Page 274 a personal money grab:
Romero, interview by the author.
Page 274 a bum deal:
Romero, interview by the author.
Page 274 Finally Kovalik walked out:
Romero, interview by the author.
Page 274 Collingsworth proposed . . . a breakthrough:
Velez and Romero, interviews by the author.
Page 275 their elation turned to dismay:
Velez, interview by the author.
Page 275 “It may be time”:
Ed Potter e-mail to Terry Collingsworth, April 22, 2007.
Page 275 contract at the University of Minnesota:
Amit Srivastava, interview by the author; Jeff Shelman, “U Stands to Get Big Boost from Coke Contract,”
Star Tribune
(Minneapolis), April 3, 2008; Ahnalese Rushmann, “U Renews Aramark, Coca-Cola Contracts,”
Minnesota Daily
, April 14, 2008.
Page 275 “When you do something”:
Rogers, interview by the author.
Page 276 “ensur[e] that the Killer Coke Campaign”:
Draft Colombia Settlement Agreement, October 13, 2007.
Page 276 “Ladies and Gentlemen of The Coca-Cola Company”:
Letter from Javier Correa to The Coca-Cola Company, September 14, 2007.
Page 276 filing a complaint:
SINALTRAINAL, “SINALTRAINAL Files Complaint Before the ILO,” press release, September 28, 2007.
Page 276 “cause irreparable damage” . . . another fine:
Faith Gay e-mail to Terry Collingsworth, September 24, 2007; Motion for Injunctive Relief and Sanctions in Order to Permit Parties to Hold Final Settlement Talks, October 15, 2007.

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