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From: Colombian Labor Monitor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 14:54:48 -0500 (CDT)
UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF AMERICA
Thursday, 19 July 2001
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* PRESS RELEASE *
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Coke to be Sued in U.S. Court
for Human Rights Abuses in Colombia
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PITTSBURGH, Penn. -- The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the
International Labor Rights Fund will file suit tomorrow, July 20, in U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Miami) against Coke
and Panamerican Beverages, Inc., the primary bottler of Coke products in
Latin America. Additional defendants include owners of a bottling plant in
Colombia where trade union leaders have been murdered.
The case was initiated by SINALTRAINAL, the trade union that represents
workers at Coke facilities in Colombia. SINALTRAINAL has long maintained
that Coke is among the most notorious employers in Colombia and that the
company maintains open relations with murderous death squads as part of a
program to intimidate trade union leaders.
SINALTRAINAL is filing the case on July 20, Colombian Independence Day, to
renew its campaign to highlight that Colombia holds the terrible
distinction of being ranked number one in the world for the number of
trade union leaders murdered each year. The suit alleges that Coke plays a
key role in maintaining that distinction.
Other Plaintiffs include the Estate of Isidro Segundo Gil, a trade union
leader who was murdered while working at the Coke bottling plant in
Carepa, Colombia. The suit alleges that the manager of that facility,
owned by an American, Richard Kirby, who is also a defendant in this case,
specifically threatened to kill the leaders of the union if they continued
their union activities, and that he made good on the threat and ordered
the murder of Mr. Gil.
The other Plaintiffs are Luis Eduardo Garcia, Alvaro Gonzalez, Jose
Domingo Flores, Jorge Humberto Leal and Juan Carlos Galvis, all leaders of
SINALTRAINAL, who, while employed by Coke, were allegedly subjected to
torture, kidnapping, and/or unlawful detention in order to intimidate them
into ceasing their trade union activities. These Plaintiffs allege that
Coke employees either ordered the violence directly, or delegated the job
to paramilitary death squads that were acting as agents for Coke.
"This case is extremely important for trade union and human rights," said
Steelworkers President Leo Gerard. "If we can't get Coke, one of the best
known companies in the world, to protect the lives and human rights of the
workers at its world-wide bottling facilities, then we certainly have a
long way to go in making the global economy safe for trade unionists.
"While the offenses detailed in the Complaint occurred in an industry
outside the Steelworkers' core jurisdiction," he added, "we are filing
this case to show our solidarity with the embattled trade unions of
Colombia. We absolutely must stand together to stop such criminal activity
against our union brothers and sisters, regardless of where or in what
industry it occurs."
"The case is extremely strong from a legal perspective," said Terry
Collingsworth, general counsel of the Washington, D.C.-based International
Labor Rights Fund, who is co-counsel for the Plaintiffs, and has brought
similar cases against Exxon Mobil and Unocal Corporation for human rights
violations in Aceh, Indonesia and Burma, respectively. "There is no
question that Coke knew about and benefits from the systematic repression
of trade union rights at its bottling plants in Colombia, and this case
will make the company accountable."
The case is based on the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), a law passed by
Congress in 1789 aimed at protecting the new nation's international
reputation by enabling non-citizens to use federal courts to hold
Americans accountable for violations of international law.
"The Plaintiffs allege that Coke and the other defendants violated clear
standards of international law by maintaining a willful campaign of terror
against members and leaders of SINALTRAINAL," explained Dan Kovalik, a
lawyer with the Steelworkers, who is co-counsel for the Plaintiffs and who
interviewed many of the Coke victims in Colombia.
In addition to pursuing legal remedies in federal court, the Steelworkers
and the International Labor Rights Fund join with SINALTRAINAL in asking
workers and consumers around the world to send a message to Coke to end
the terror at the Coke facilities in Colombia and makes reparations to the
victims.
A copy of the Complaint will be available at www.laborrights.org
CONTACT: International Labor Rights Fund
Terry Collingsworth, 202/347-4100 Ext. 2
or
United Steelworkers of America
Dan Kovalik, 412/562-2518
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