The University Senate will vote Thursday on whether to repeal NYU's ban on Coca-Cola products, potentially ending a 28-month ban on the soft drink and angering students who continue to accuse the company of labor and human rights violations.
In December 2005, the Senate passed a resolution banning the sale of Coca-Cola products on campus until the company agreed to an investigation of allegations that it sponsored the murder of union leaders at its Colombian bottling factory. But while supporters of the ban say little has changed, the Senate is nonetheless voting on whether to approve the resolution rescinding the ban later this week.
Late last month, a coalition of student groups from NYU's School of Law submitted a report to the Public Affairs Committee objecting to the resolution.
The report - undersigned by groups including the Latino Law Students Association, Law Students for Economic Justice, Law Students for Human Rights, Law Students for Reproductive Justice, Coalition for Legal Recruiting, National Lawyers Guild and OUTLaw - pleaded to uphold the Coke ban.
"The bottom line is that Coke's purported willingness to allow an investigation is a pretext to justify lifting the ban," the law students' report said. "Coke has not agreed to an independent investigation. More importantly, they have not changed their policies in Colombia. At the very least, NYU should await unequivocal evidence that Coke has met the terms of NYU's 2005 resolution before considering lifting the ban."
The dispute gained notoriety in July 2001 after the United Steelworkers of America and the International Labor Rights Fund, working on behalf of Colombian food trade union SINALTRAINAL, filed a $500 million lawsuit against Coca-Cola in Miami district court. Although the charges against Coca-Cola itself were eventually dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, a boycott movement - dubbed the "Campaign to Stop Killer Coke" - quickly gained traction among activists and, in particular, college students.
Since then, more than 47 colleges and universities worldwide have banned the soft drink.
But at the university's February Senate meeting, Arthur Tannenbaum - chair of the Senate's Public Affairs Committee, which has been monitoring progress in the Coca-Cola saga since the ban was instituted two years ago - said new developments could bring an end to the ban.
Tannenbaum said he received letters from officials at Coca-Cola and the International Labour Organization, an agency of the United Nations that focuses on labor and human rights issues.
The letters, Tannenbaum said, confirmed Coca-Cola's agreement to an ILO investigation that would put the company in compliance with the university's demand for a "third-party investigation."
Tannenbaum has said the ILO investigation would likely lead to lifting the Coke ban. Activists and student groups have come out of the woodwork recently to oppose such a decision and scrutinize the legitimacy and neutrality of the ILO's involvement.
Supporters of the ban have also been quick to point out that the ILO's investigation is nothing new. The investigation was originally announced by Coca-Cola and the ILO in March 2006, over a year before Tannenbaum and the Public Affairs Committee brought it to the attention of the University Senate.
Following the announcement in 2006, the University of Michigan, another major player in the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke, voted to overturn its Coca-Cola ban. But in April 2007, The Michigan Daily reported that the ILO's investigation had missed all of its scheduled deadlines.
In a March 19 letter to the Public Affairs Committee, Ray Rogers, director of the Stop Killer Coke campaign, said lifting the Coke ban would be "an outrageous move."
"Any suggestion that Coca-Cola has agreed to an independent investigation is completely false and only the latest in a series of public relations scams intended to deceive college officials, students and the public," Rogers said.
In his letter, Rogers attacked the ILO's status as an independent investigator, suggesting a conflict of interest for one ILO member: Ed Potter, Coca-Cola's director of global relations and a member of the ILO's Applications of Conventions Committee.
ILO officials did not return requests for comment.
Sergio Hernandez is a staff writer. E-mail him at shernandez@nyunews.com.
