Dear Friends,
I am writing to let you know that, while the struggle is not yet over, there is a positive achievement from our efforts which we can point to. As the article below indicates, Coke has created a $10 million social fund to aid victims of the war in Colombia. As the article also makes clear, this was done in the midst of (and clearly because of) the Coke campaign. While we have not yet achieved everything we want to through the campaign, you should be very proud that your efforts have obtained something real and good for people in Colombia. Many times in the movement, we cannot point to such concrete gains. So, it is important to recognize them when we do; this is such an occasion.
At the same time, we have not yet obtained the key demands of our struggle -- an affirmative commitment on the part of Coca-Cola and its bottlers to take steps to prevent such violence in the future and compensation for the victims of the violence against the Coca-Cola workers in Colombia. For this, we fight on! I am confident that we will achieve victory.
Best wishes and keep up the great work.
Yours,
Dan Kovalik
Assistant General Counsel
United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO/CLC
http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/13/news/fortune500/coke_colombia.reut/
