No Water? Drink Coke!

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http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17592

 

 

No Water? Drink Coke!

 

By Naeem Mohaiemen, AlterNet

January 17, 2004

 

Several years ago, I was leafing through a health magazine and came across a

piece about Coca-Cola. According to the story, Coke, like many other soft

drinks, contains additives that eat away at tooth enamel. Ever since then, I've

avoided all soft drinks. This habit presents an etiquette problem whenever I

visit Bangladesh. Along with milky cups of tea, Coke-with-ice is the most

frequently offered drink to visitors. My refusal of Coke is often seen an

snobbishness, or some faddish " health consciousness. "

 

 

 

This subcontinental love affair with Coke may soon change drastically. If

campaigners assembled at this week's World Social Forum in Mumbai, India are

successful, Coca-Cola will soon be hit by a global boycott of unprecedented

scale and ferocity. Although the Indian Campaign to Hold Coke Accountable has

already been in motion for a year, the WSF meet is globalizing the project. At

issue are Coca-Cola's production practices in India, which are draining out vast

amounts of public groundwater, turning farming communities into virtual deserts.

Completing the cycle of abuse, the plants are also pumping out toxic sludge as

waste product. The controversy has been aggravated by recent tests that showed

levels of toxic substances in Indian Coke, which are higher than FDA-approved

standards for Coke-additives in the US.

 

 

 

Organizers consider Coca-Cola to be one of the most abusive transnationals (TNC)

operating in India today. They are particularly irked by the way that Coke, a

huge foreign investor in India, has used its commercial clout to bully the

government into bending the rules regarding local ownership.

 

 

 

After a year of Indian protests, Coca-Cola's PR department simply said they were

the " target of a handful of extremist protesters. " For good measure, the

corporate website says, " Local communities have welcomed our business as a good

corporate neighbor. "

 

 

 

But at the end of the WSF, Coke may be facing an organized campaign that cannot

be easily dismissed. One of the key benefits of highlighting the Coke case at

the WSF meet is the opportunity to link up with similar cases worldwide and turn

the project into a global boycott. Since international capital benefits from a

borderless world, activists want to create a model where their clout is also

increased by the free flow of information between world community groups. In the

process they are linking up with campaigners in Colombia, who have targeted Coke

for very different abuses. At WSF, the campaign has generated strong feedback

from American and European organizers, many of whom see the red-and-whites of

Coke as a symbol for businesses that work without accountability.

 

 

 

Draining Local Water

 

 

 

There are now several Indian communities that have lodged complaints against

Coca-Cola factories. The most celebrated of these is the Plachimada village in

Kerala state, home of one of Coca-Cola's biggest bottling plants in India. This

was one of the first villages to allege that the plant was draining water from

wells, drying up ponds and destroying the livelihood of more than 2,000 farm

families.

 

 

 

Researchers found that the plant had drilled 65 bore holes into the ground,

siphoning off a million gallons of water a day. In addition, they also found

that Coke was washing bottles with chemicals which were then released, without

treatment, into local ground water. British NGO Actionaid has investigated the

village and concluded that it was a thriving agricultural community until the

arrival of the bottling plant in 1998. Under pressure from activists, 300 of

whom were arrested during various protests, the local panchayet announced that

it would cancel the plant's operating license.

 

 

 

Coke has vigorously fought back against the allegations, submitting scientific

studies and appealing the panchayet's decision. The plant manager, N Janadhanan,

indignantly told the AP that, " The villagers are not suffering and we are not

exploiting the water resource. " But in admission of the severe crisis, Coke now

sends around water tankers each morning to supply the villager's with minimum

amounts of water. The company is appealing the decision in Indian courts, with

activists also determined to press on with their demands.

 

 

 

Another dark spot is Mehdiganj (UP), where Coke built a bottling plant in 1995.

Two tube wells draw hundreds of thousands of liters of ground water each day.

Geologists have estimated that the company's voracious consumption may have

lowered the groundwater level as much as 40 feet. The area's water crisis was

further aggravated by the World Bank-funded Golden Quadrangle superhighway

project, which shut off the water pipeline from a neighboring area. The Coke

plant's proximity to the holy city of Benares has created further controversy.

The factory's waste product was being disposed in a nearby canal that emptied

into the holy Ganges River.

 

 

 

Local Indians were enraged when they discovered that polluted waste was being

dumped into the Ganges. Until recently, there was no clear way to test for

Coke-related pollution in the vast Ganges. But in order to make way for the

superhighway, construction workers dislodged Coke's waste disposal canal. The

company then began disposing its waste products into neighboring fields and

mango groves. At this point, the level of toxic waste became readily obvious to

local residents. Although Coca-Cola officials claim they use ecological filters,

this was easily refuted by looking at waste-submerged areas. In an area of 20

acres covered with factory waste, grass, neem trees, wheat, paddy and chickpea

crops had all been destroyed. Health crises were also created by the stagnant

waste, including a mosquito epidemic and mysterious rashes on the bodies of

local villagers.

 

 

 

Villages Fight Back

 

 

 

Fighting to stop the TNC giant, local villagers have organized groups with

slogans like " Coca-Cola Bhagao, Gaon Bachao " ( " Save the village, chase away

Coke " ). Dalits (the so-called " untouchable " caste) and indigenous peoples are

playing a key role in leading protests. Unlike past top-down activism, these

campaigns are primarily village-organized, with national globalization activists

bringing access to press and linkages with other affected villages.

 

 

 

As a result of linking affected communities, the Mehdiganj-Perumatty campaigns

have been joined by Wada (Thane) and Sivaganga (Tamil Nadu) – also sites of

Coca-Cola factories. In a preemptive move, residents of Sivaganga protested

against plans to set up a factory near their village. A key aspect of the

organizing has been the training of local youth groups in non-violent

resistance. Although protestors may employ Gandhian tactics, the responses are

not always so gentle. At the Mehdiganj plant, police and gun-carrying private

security guards beat protestors.

 

 

 

The Indian campaigns have begun to get results, although not always in the

direct areas targeted. As a result of sustained anti-Coke campaigning, other

parts of the company's business practices have also come under inspection. In

April 2003, Coca-Cola was targeted for boycott to protest the U.S.-led invasion

of Iraq. As a result of that protest, Coke sales dropped 50 percent in states

such as Kerala, which was declared a " Coca-Cola and Pepsi-free zone. "

 

 

 

Later, a local court found the Mehdiganj plant guilty of illegally occupying a

portion of village common property resources and evading payment of land

revenue. The court also noted that the plant was illegally receiving subsidized

electricity because the occupied land was classified as " agricultural. "

Recently, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) ordered its regional

officer to investigate the Mehdiganj claims of toxic waste. In Madurai, the CPCB

also ordered the company to stop disposing its " sludge " in agricultural fields

because a " metal " element had been discovered in tests.

 

 

 

Finally, in a case that has generated even more negative publicity, independent

tests discovered traces of a pesticide in Coke bottles. A Joint Parliamentary

Committee is now investigating the case and the Indian Parliament has already

banned Coke from its cafeteria.

 

 

 

Coke's Clout

 

 

 

While activists have cheered on these apparent signs of progress, it would be

naïve to say they have " Coke on the run " (as one reporter claimed).

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola is a multi-billion dollar company, and although the

Indian protests are a major irritant, the company has the resources to dig in

for the long haul. Like BP and many other new-breed TNCs, they also have the

foresight to make a few strategic concessions in order to take the steam out of

the campaign.

 

 

 

In addition, Coca-Cola enjoys a favored relationship with the government, and in

the history of its interaction with the Indian state, it has always maintained

the upper hand. In 1977, Coke was ordered to increase Indian ownership of its

operations. Rather than giving in, the company left India. It made the

reasonable estimate that one day India would need the foreign investment and ask

them to return. Two decades later, as India opened its doors to massive

liberalization of the economy, Coca-Cola returned triumphantly. It then rapidly

began buying up all the local brands that had sprung up in the intervening

years.

 

 

 

Today Coke is one of the largest Foreign Direct Investors (FDI) in India,

rivaled only by other giants like GM, Ford, Pepsi, Hughes Electronics, and until

recently, Enron. The company's clout with the local government is without

parallel. In an unprecedented move, Coke was able to pressure the government to

reverse its own rules on Indian ownership of Coke operations. Under the terms of

the special dispensation, Coke would sell 49 percent of the company to local

shareholders, but retain 100 percent of voting rights. This unheard of

" compromise " was garnered by the direct intervention of US Ambassador Blackwill

and Commerce Assistant Secretary Lash.

 

 

 

Acknowledging the economic bargaining power and entrenched position of Coke in

India, organizers are using the WSF meet as a tool to turn their campaign

global. In this project, one of the templates is the Colombian campaign against

Coke. That campaign is spearheaded by Colombia trade union SINALTRAIN, which

brought a suit against Coke in the U.S. alleging that their local bottler hired

death squads to kill union organizers at bottling plants. Colombian speakers

have been traveling across the U.S. and Europe, urging colleges and towns to

boycott Coca-Cola.

 

 

 

Initiatives to remove Coke from college-owned cafeterias are being debated at

over 20 American universities, including Columbia, Hofstra, NYU, Fordham,

University of Vermont and UC Berkeley. Bard College and Lake Forest College have

already cancelled their contracts with Coke. The financial impact of getting cut

off from the nation's next generation of consumers is no trivial matter to the

company. At UC Berkeley alone, Coke pays $1 million per year for a 10-year

contract that gives it exclusive rights to sell its products on campus.

 

 

 

In Ireland, the boycott has spread outside campuses into surrounding towns.

After University College Dublin removed Coke products from student union stores,

Irish businesses like John Hewitt Bar and Belfast Tourist Center also removed

Coke products. Finally in an audacious move that could, if successful, really

hurt Coke's pocketbook, Corporate Campaign announced a campaign to force

SunTrust Banks to divest its 130 million shares of Coca-Cola stock.

 

 

 

J.P. Morgan analyst John Faucher, who follows Coca-Cola, was quoted dismissing

the boycotts: " I find it hard to believe this could turn into anything that

would have a significant impact on the company. " But the organizers plan to use

the WSF meet as a catalyst to disprove this orthodoxy and shake Coke at its

foundation. Their demands include shutdown of offending plants, compensation to

affected communities and provision of clean drinking water.

 

 

 

But even if the activists were only able to enforce a change in Coke's business

practices, it would be a major victory against a powerful TNC. Amit Srivastava

of Global Resistance has been in Mumbai for weeks preparing for the Coke

campaign's meetings at the WSF. Explaining the objectives of the campaign he

said, " Of course, Coke is not the only one doing this. We are also talking about

Pepsi and Indian companies that engage in similar practices. This is also about

community rights over national resources versus corporate and private control

over the same. Coca-Cola is just one example of many when corporate power is

allowed to do what it wants freely. "

 

 

 

Sujani Reddy, who is helping with the media coverage of the campaign, framed the

issues in another manner: " The Coca-Cola campaign maps the processes of

globalization really well. The liberalization of the Indian economy has created

this global middle-class as a consumer class. Now, Coke as a product has a

symbolic value, associated with Americana and cosmopolitanism. So, this moment

is a perfect symbol for how the middle class' own consumption has toxic elements

in it. "

 

 

 

In a battle over big business, symbolism is a key leverage point for activists.

After the WSF meet ends, organizers plan to focus on campaigning against Coke in

its hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. If the campaign can leverage Coke's own

symbolism against itself, the giant corporation may find itself with much more

than a simple " PR problem " on its hands.

 

 

 

Naeem Mohaiemen (nmohaiemen) is editor of Shobak.org.

 

 

 

 

 

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