Campaign to Stop Killer Coke Alert

Dear Supporters of the Campaign To Stop Killer Coke,

The below communication from LabourStart.org regards the imprisonment of three union leaders in Eritrea. One of these is the leader of a Coca-Cola union. Eric Lee of LabourStart points out that, “It is believed that he was about to lead Coca-Cola workers in a strike to defend their catastrophically falling standard of living.”

Please read the below communication and visit LabourStart’s action page on this matter so that you can send an e-mail in support of these workers.

Send your message from LabourStart’s site

LaborStart will also try to fax your e-mails to the Eritrean government. Additionally, you can find more information and fax numbers at IUF’s website

Union leaders held for 6 weeks in secret security prison.

Your solidarity needed right now

There are two kinds of campaigns that trade unions wage on the Internet.

There are campaigns in support of workers who were dismissed for trade union activity or unions in disputes with companies that refuse to negotiate. Those are important campaigns and we know that thousands of you regularly respond and show your support.

And then there’s the other kind of campaign. The one that tears your heart. Campaigns that follow massacres of trade unionists, or jailings and kidnappings of union activists. Those are the campaigns that we all feel a moral obligation not only to support, but to spread widely.

Unfortunately, those kinds of campaigns still have to take place because we still live in a world where being a trade union member can cost you your life in some countries.

Yesterday evening, we received a report from Geneva regarding the arrests and detention without trial of three trade union leaders in Eritrea. You may remember Eritrea – it is sometimes in the news because of its ongoing conflict with Ethiopia (from which it won its independence several years ago). But what you may not know is that the country is a single-party state which brutally represses dissent.

Two of the union leaders were arrested on March 30th. On April 9th, the head of the Coca-Cola workers union was also picked up. It is believed that he was about to lead Coca-Cola workers in a strike to defend their catastrophically falling standard of living. All three mean are now believed to be held in a secret security prison in Asmara.

Two of the global union federations (IUF and ITLGWF), as well as the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), have issued an urgent action appeal demanding the release of the union leaders.

LabourStart has tracked down an email address for the Eritrean government. We will also be relaying as many of the messages received via fax, direct to the Eritrean government.

It’s now been nearly six weeks since the first two men were arrested. We can only imagine with horror the conditions in which they are being held. Time is running out.

Please send off your messages today.

Please pass this message on to your union mailing lists. Thank you.

Eric Lee

Campaign to Stop KILLER COKE

We are seeking your help to stop a gruesome cycle of murders, kidnappings, and torture of union leaders and organizers involved in daily life-and-death struggles at Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia, South America.

“If we lose the fight against Coca-Cola, we will first lose our union, next our jobs and then our lives.” SINALTRAINAL VIce President Juan Carlos Galvis

Please donate to the Campaign.

Learn the truth about The Coca-Cola Co.

“We believe the evidence shows that Coca-Cola and its corporate network are rife with immorality, corruption and complicity in murder.”

Campaign to Stop Killer Coke/Corporate Campaign, Inc. Director Ray Rogers

Visit www.KillerCoke.org