The Carleton College Student Association (CSA) has decided not to renew its longstanding contract with Coca-Cola because of the company?s failure to adequately investigate and address murders of its workers in Colombia, the students said.
The decision, made May 8 on a 13-7 vote, was brought on by the hard work of dozens of Carleton students who formed around the issue once they realized that the Student Senate had control over all the vending machine contracts at the school, and that the Coke contract was overdue for renewal.
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Mike Schorsch initiated the student movement at Carleton and invited Colombian Coke worker-in-exile Luis Adolfo Cardona to address a large assembly of concerned students on Feb. 23. After listening intently to Cardona and conversing with him, the CSA decided to give Coke two weeks to respond to the allegations brought against them.
Surprisingly to the Carleton students, corporate Coca-Cola flew two of its public relations executives to Northfield to argue their case in front of hundreds of students. Ray Rogers, a leading anti-coke activist, also flew in from New York to offer a rebuttal to Coke?s assurances that they were taking the utmost care of their workers.
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After hours of student opinions, professional presentations, and debate, the CSA voted that they regretfully could not to continue their contract with Coke in light of its labor record in Colombia. They cited failure to protect workers and links between local bottlers and paramilitary death squads.
Schorsch was elated by the results, saying, ?I think the campaign at Carleton was (and is) a good thing because even if Coke wasn't involved in the killings in Colombia, it seems that at the very least the company profiteered from extreme anti-union violence. Somebody needs to stand up for workers in the Third World when they?re getting pushed around, and students, I think, have been traditional allies of the labor movement.?
Carleton decided to split its vending machines between Pepsi and a smaller third party bottler, a decision that will generate decreased funding for the Carleton Student Association.
The new Pepsi truck drivers are not unionized whereas Coke?s were, but students decided that the basic threat to workers? lives was more important than this concern.
?It's going to be a while before we really know what the consequences are (of the decision)," Schorsch said. He noted that press coverage of the issue increased after the Carleton action, "so at the very least, we were able to bring the issue into the mainstream again, which is important."
Four schools, including Carleton and Macalester College in St. Paul, have now also requested an investigation into the matter by the Workers' Rights Consortium.
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"There's a whole culture of anti-unionism there that we need to work against, and get our government to stop supporting," said Schorsch.
David Holman is an intern at the Resource Center of the Americas in Minneapolis and a member of the class of 2006 at Carleton College.
Related article
Macalester seeks investigation of Coca-Cola in Colombia
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The Carleton College Student Association (CSA) has decided not to renew its longstanding contract with Coca-Cola because of the company?s failure to adequately investigate and address murders of its workers in Colombia, the students said.
The decision, made May 8 on a 13-7 vote, was brought on by the hard work of dozens of Carleton students who formed around the issue once they realized that the Student Senate had control over all the vending machine contracts at the school, and that the Coke contract was overdue for renewal.
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Mike Schorsch initiated the student movement at Carleton and invited Colombian Coke worker-in-exile Luis Adolfo Cardona to address a large assembly of concerned students on Feb. 23. After listening intently to Cardona and conversing with him, the CSA decided to give Coke two weeks to respond to the allegations brought against them.
Surprisingly to the Carleton students, corporate Coca-Cola flew two of its public relations executives to Northfield to argue their case in front of hundreds of students. Ray Rogers, a leading anti-coke activist, also flew in from New York to offer a rebuttal to Coke?s assurances that they were taking the utmost care of their workers.
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After hours of student opinions, professional presentations, and debate, the CSA voted that they regretfully could not to continue their contract with Coke in light of its labor record in Colombia. They cited failure to protect workers and links between local bottlers and paramilitary death squads.
Schorsch was elated by the results, saying, ?I think the campaign at Carleton was (and is) a good thing because even if Coke wasn’t involved in the killings in Colombia, it seems that at the very least the company profiteered from extreme anti-union violence. Somebody needs to stand up for workers in the Third World when they?re getting pushed around, and students, I think, have been traditional allies of the labor movement.?
Carleton decided to split its vending machines between Pepsi and a smaller third party bottler, a decision that will generate decreased funding for the Carleton Student Association.
The new Pepsi truck drivers are not unionized whereas Coke?s were, but students decided that the basic threat to workers? lives was more important than this concern.
?It’s going to be a while before we really know what the consequences are (of the decision),” Schorsch said. He noted that press coverage of the issue increased after the Carleton action, “so at the very least, we were able to bring the issue into the mainstream again, which is important.”
Four schools, including Carleton and Macalester College in St. Paul, have now also requested an investigation into the matter by the Workers’ Rights Consortium.
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“There’s a whole culture of anti-unionism there that we need to work against, and get our government to stop supporting,” said Schorsch.
David Holman is an intern at the Resource Center of the Americas in Minneapolis and a member of the class of 2006 at Carleton College.
Related article
Macalester seeks investigation of Coca-Cola in Colombia