Allegations that paramilitary organizations hired by Coca-Cola in Colombia assassinated union leaders prompted eight members of the student organization No Sweat! to lay on the floor of the Indiana Memorial Union lobby covered in faux blood. The protest took place earlier this month during a press conference following a board of trustees meeting. \nIn response to the accusations that Coca-Cola bottlers have committed labor and human rights violations in Colombia, eight universities nationwide have chosen not to renew their contracts with the company, said Pablo Largacha, director of public affairs and communications for Coca-Cola.\nIU's contract with Coke, for which the University receives approximately $1.7 million annually, expires in 2009, said IU Spokesman Larry MacIntyre.\nIU's No Sweat! campaign demanded that University administrators cut IU's contract with Coke last year. But no formal action has been taken, and there is no official discussion or consideration of canceling the contract.\n"Currently, the administration is satisfied with the contract; Coke has done everything it's supposed to do," MacIntyre said. "At this point nothing has persuaded Vice President (Terry) Clapacs or President (Adam) Herbert that some sort of action is required by the University. ... We think Coke products are good products."\nBut some students, including sophomore Philip Shelton, disagree.\n"(In supporting labor rights), President Herbert would be taking a big step for IU and one which would put our University in a leadership position in great programs," said Shelton, a No Sweat! member who's also active with the IU Anti-Sweatshop Advisory Committee. \nA coalition of colleges and universities have been asking Coca-Cola to grant them a third-party investigation of the situation in Colombia. The collective universities, headed by a staff member at the University of California, Los Angeles, have begun a renewed campaign to investigate Coke in 2006.\n"IU's actions on these issues depend on what happens in the coming months," said Dean of Students Dick McKaig. "The possible investigation's report will shape the decision."\nMacIntyre said while the University wants to consider the interests of the students, it also has an obligation.\n"We always take note of the concerns of students, and certainly a number of people in the administration are aware of the concerns of these students," he said. "But we also really have an obligation to meet the contractual obligations with people who do business with us."\nMacIntyre added that canceling a contract would "probably" result in a penalty.\n"I think there are always penalties to canceling contracts," he said. "But no one has proposed canceling this contract, so no one has taken a look at what penalties there might be,"\nIU's contract with Coke is exclusive, unlike that of NYU or the University of Michigan.\nMcKaig and MacIntyre said there are benefits to having an exclusive contract.\n"IU negotiated this agreement because an exclusive contract will generate more income for the University," McKaig said. "However, since it is exclusive, it would have more political impact if we cancelled the contract."\nMcKaig said IU is in contact with other schools regarding the issue. \n"We've been in communication with universities around the country and with them are trying to determine the allegations' validity," McKaig said. "It won't take until 2009 to get this issue resolved."\nReplacement beverage companies would go through a competitive bidding process for IU's business, should the school decide to cut the Coke contract, McKaig said.
Coke contested\nLargacha said four universities chose not to renew their contracts last year because of the allegations: Carleton University, Bard College, Union Theological Seminary and Macalester College. Four more, Salem State College, the University of Guelph, Rutgers University and Santa Clara University, cited the Colombia allegations as one, though not the primary, reason not to renew.\nIn December 2005, New York University issued a campus-wide ban on the sale of Coca-Cola products, according to the university's Office of Public Affairs.\n"NYU did begin to remove our products, but it's important to know that we did not have a contract with them," Largacha said.\nThe soft drink giant -- which holds contracts with universities in North America and the British Isles -- has been accused of murdering leaders of the Colombian union Sinaltrainal and forcing 110 members to resign from the union, according to the International Labor Rights Fund, a nonprofit organization that advocates workers' rights. The ILRF also reports that Coke has been accused of committing human rights violations in Turkey, India and Indonesia.\n"The allegations against the Coca-Cola company come from a lawsuit that was filed back in 2001 by two organizations that the company collaborated with paramilitary organizations to kill a union leader back in 1996," said Largacha, who was born and raised in Colombia and worked for Coca-Cola's Colombian bottling plant for nine years. "However, two judicial decisions did not find any evidence that our bottling management collaborated with paramilitary groups in the killing of union leaders."\nUnited Students Against Sweatshops and No Sweat! are international student movements that promote sweatshop-free labor conditions and workers' rights. The two groups are asking IU administrators to sever the University's contract with Coca-Cola.\n"Ultimately, we are using our power as students to affect the larger industry that thrives in secrecy, exploitation and the power relations of a flawed system," said the USAS on its Web site.\nShelton said Coke will be hurt more by the loss of consumers than the loss of profits.\n"College students are tomorrow's mass consumers," he said. "If they get hooked on drinking only Coke for four years, they're going to drink it when they leave. And Coke knows that very, very well"
