BY CARLENE WILSON
On December 5, 1996, an armed group of paramilitary thugs walked into a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Colombia. They shot union negotiator Isidro Gil seven times, killing him. Later that day, another unionist was kidnapped from his home. The paramilitaries returned to the plant with pre-prepared letters of resignation from the union for all the workers. They were told to sign them or suffer the same fate as Gil.
The paramilitaries camped outside the plant for two months, during which time all the workers resigned from the union and most fled for their lives. Experienced workers who had been paid US$380 a month were replaced with people on the minimum wage of $130 a month.
This was just the beginning of a systematic campaign of terror, murder, kidnap and torture aimed at breaking workers' ability to organise in Coca-Cola plants in Colombia. The paramilitaries are targeting Sinaltrainal (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de Alimentos — the Colombian National Food Industry Workers Union). Eight prominent Sinaltrainal members have been murdered since 1990.
Panamco, the company that bottles Coca-Cola in Colombia has gone further. Union members have been unfairly dismissed from their positions. There have been attempts to have workers sign resignations from the union and union organisers have been arrested and detained, many for more than a year on trumped up charges of "terrorism".
All of this has taken place under the constant threat of the paramilitaries who are often present in the factories.
Murder and intimidation of trade unionists is not unusual in Colombia. An average of three unionists a week are murdered by paramilitaries, who have proven ties to both the US-backed government and company owners.
The paramilitary leaders say that their main aim is to "protect" corporate interests and that this means preventing trade unions from organising. On January 13, paramilitary forces announced they would kill members of Sinaltrainal because they were "interfering" in the business of the Coca-Cola's Barranquilla bottling factory. They admit to be operating on the instructions of the factory management.
But the deadly collusion goes beyond the paramilitaries and management. The CIA's US-based School of the Americas has long been a training ground for paramilitary death squads throughout Latin America. And the handbook of that school, responsible for training the paramilitaries in Colombia, is clear that one of its purposes is to defend big business by preventing any kind of trade union organisation.
It is these links that have encouraged Sinaltrainal to bring its struggle to the attention of the international movement against capitalist globalisation.
In its call for international solidarity, the union states: "Our struggle is for peace with social justice and for the well-being of all peoples, for this we embrace the anti-war struggle, we contribute to the construction of the movement against capitalist globalisation, we participate in the struggle against the Free Trade Area of the Americas [FTAA], and we share in the initiatives taken by the Continental Social Alliance, the World Social Forum, and all others that are allowing the people to strive for happiness, sovereignty and freedom.
"The struggle against capitalist globalisation is a struggle against the policies of the transnational corporations; the initiative that we are raising from different parts of the world against the transnational Coca-Cola is part of that fight against war and for the well-being of all peoples."
The World Social Forum has endorsed the campaign, which officially begins on July 22. The call from the union is initially for a boycott of Coca-Cola products where possible but also for more general actions to raise the issues and to pressure Coca-Cola, whose head office is in Atlanta, to do something about the behaviour of its bottlers in Colombia and all over the world.
Coca-Cola has a history of shocking labour relations. An important struggle was conducted by Coca-Cola workers in Guatemala in the 1980s. Under similar conditions of murder and intimidation to those now being experienced in Colombia, Guatemalan Coca-Cola workers were organising a union in the local plant.
In a series of three strikes, including a year-long occupation of the factory, the union was able to win recognition for itself and also the international federation of food workers. This was partially through their own determined struggle and also because of international solidarity action. Coca-Cola workers in other parts of the world, including as far away as Norway and Sweden, took strike action. It was this which was key in winning the struggle.
In Australia, the campaign in solidarity with Colombia's Coca-Cola workers already has widespread support from trade unions, particularly in Victoria. While many unions do not support a boycott, they have backed other aspects of the campaign. Leigh Hubbard, secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, has reported that the body's executive is urging unions to support the July 22 national day of action. "We view the orchestrated murder of trade unionists very seriously", he said.
The Electrical Trades Union has threatened to black-ban Coca-Cola vending machines from July 22. This support from trade unions in Australia is important to the success of the campaign internationally. And at a time when trade unions in this country are under serious attack, it is especially important to defend the rights of workers everywhere to organise.
On June 27, the national executive of the Socialist Alliance agreed to endorse and build the solidarity campaign.
In Melbourne, the international day of action will be marked by a demonstration in Federation Square, from 5pm on July 22. In Sydney, there will be a demonstration on July 22 at 5pm at Coca-Cola Amatil's headquarters at 71 Circular Quay East.
For more information contact <colombianet@optusnet.com.au>, phone Lucho on 0401 558 373 or Carlene on (03) 9384 6960, or visit <http://www.socialist-alliance.org>. Messages of solidarity can be sent to Sinaltrainal at <sinaltrainaldinal@hotmail.com>.
[Carlene Wilson is Workers Power's representative on the Socialist Alliance national executive.]