Saturday,
July 5, 2003
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CPT marches on World of Coke
By ANNA GROFF and RALUCA BARZU
Goshen College Saturday, July 5, 2003
Christian Peacemaker Teams organized a prayer walk yesterday from the Georgia World Congress Center to the World of Coke to protest the alleged actions of managers for Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia. CPT claims that Coca-Cola managers are linked to paramilitary forces that have intimidated and killed union organizers in company plants. The multinational corporation maintains that these allegations are false and, in an press release, have stated, “The Coca-Cola system in Colombia provides jobs for nearly 3,000 employees and almost 7,000 contract workers.” CPT has a longstanding connection to Colombia. The CPT team in Colombia has witnessed paramilitary intimidation of labor and social activists and church workers. Janine Martin of Canby, Ore., said, “Church workers in Colombia are threatened by the same paramilitaries threatening the Coke workers.” Before the walk, Mark Frey from Chicago, Ill., spoke to youth groups waiting to leave for their service projects to explain the purpose of the demonstration. He told the youth, “We believe Coca-Cola can stop this; they simply refuse to.” CPT demonstrators carried signs with photographs of workers killed in Colombia. Group members also sang, prayed and read litanies outside of the World of Coke. Two marchers, including the CPT Director Gene Stoltzfus of Chicago, handed out fliers explaining the purpose of the prayer walk. Stoltzfus said he found the diverse crowd of Atlantans to be interested in the demonstration. Rich Meyer of Millersburg, Ind., said the purpose of the march was “to negotiate a binding global agreement protecting the human rights of Coca-Cola workers.” He added that while the Interfaith Council on Corporate Responsibility continues to negotiate with Coca-Cola, Mennonites need to take advantage of this time in Atlanta to “come to the table and bargain with the Coca-Cola company.” Martin, who served in Colombia for one year with Mennonite Mission Network, said that “when we drink Coke, we are drinking the suffering of people in Colombia.” According to information on the CPT web site, union leaders were also killed at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Guatemala in the 1980s. The violence continued until international pressure forced the company to take more responsibility to ensure its employees’ safety. Additional prayer walks are planned for Saturday from12:30-2 p.m., Sunday from 5-7 p.m. and Monday from 12:30-2 p.m.  |
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