Killer Coke Case Study

Killercoke.org has essentially created the campaign to expose the acts by the Coca Cola bottling companies in several countries but most notably Guatemala, Columbia and Turkey. In these three countries, the Coca Cola bottling company is accused of hiring paramilitary organizations to carry out extreme human rights violations, which include murder, torture theft and rape of union leaders . In each case while unions are, forming to negotiate better working conditions the local Coca Cola management chose intimidating and violent methods to prevent the unions from forming. Coke management would also support local management legally when union members were fired.

KillerCoke's talking points includes a replay of the 70's and 80's in the Columbia. In Guatemala for nine years, 450 workers fought for their rights. In the end eight of the leaders were killed or disappeared. This caused a multinational boycott of coke products, which finally forced Coca Cola to put new ownership into the bottling factory.

They also speak of Judge Martinez's conflicts of interest. They point out that he should have recused himself from the case since he had close ties to the University of Miami athletic department, which is intertwined with Coca Cola. In addition, his former law firm has a relationship with a Colombian law firm, which one of the partners was a vice president of Coca-Cola Colombia.

A bogus 'Investigations' by Cal Safety and White & Case in 2005 in general Cal Safety and White claim no instances of anti-union violence occurred. This is what Coke hangs on to with their claims. Investigations by Monserrate, Gill & Higginbottom performed in 2004 found 179 major human rights violations, which include nine murders.

While Coca Cola claims to have solid relationships with organized labor, KillerCoke claims it to be a big lie. Coke claims nearly 9000 employees in Columbia to belong to unions when in fact only about 4% of the 12000 employed are unionized and that only 10% of the workforce is permanent coke employees.

In other parts of the world, KillerCoke makes claims of Coke's crimes and corruption in India and Mexico. In India Coke's largest plant has been shut down since March of 2004 due to pollution of scarce water resources and the high levels of pesticides found in some of its products. According to Coca Cola, the India plants have won the prestigious Golden Peacock Environmental Award for the last four years, given by the World Environmental Organization. What Coke fails to state is that their president and CEO of Coca Cola India is on the board of the World Environment Organization, which Coke donates heavily.

As a member of Coca Cola, I would need to ensure anything I did know that was confidential would need to stay that way. I have faced these types of situations in my current position as a manager in the medical device industry. I have let friends know that I cannot speak about issues not publically known with anyone outside of the company.

I could share that the claims of violating human rights are being investigated by the company in many countries. So far, the company has not found any real violations of human rights. The company has also implemented a business code of conduct and installed hotlines to report violations directly to the compliance office. I would likely tell my friend about my experiences in these countries and how business is conducted differently in these regions in comparison to the US and how I personally have dealt with these local customs.

Coca Cola in its actions as claimed by KillerCoke has dug itself a proverbial hole in the ground with its actions but it remains to be relatively unscathed. I myself have been a diet coke drinker for several years and do not remember hearing or reading anything about Coke's actions. It appears at least face value that a corporation with $46 billion dollars in sales with $12.69 billion in profits that it has somehow managed to hide