New York University announced Thursday it would move ahead with its previously announced ban on Coca-Cola products in response to the company's inability to comply with requests made by the NYU Senate.
The University Senate passed a resolution Nov. 3 giving Coca-Cola until Dec. 8 to agree to a third-party investigation into allegations of human rights violations by Coca-Cola plants in Columbia.
"The committee asked that the ban not be put into place until Coke could [be given the opportunity] to cooperate into bringing forward a group to investigate these allegations," Arthur Tannenbaum, Chair of the University Senate's Public Affairs Committee, said.
Tannenbaum was hopeful that the Coca-Cola Company would have been able to come to an agreement that would be satisfactory to all parties involved.
"Unfortunately, that has not been the case," he said.
The university began removing all Coca-Cola products from campus Friday, including the Coca-Cola, Minute Maid and Dasani brands.
This resolution was a result of accusations made by the "Stop Killer Coke" campaign, which included allegations of the kidnapping, torturing and murdering of union organizers and leaders by managers at its Columbia bottling plants.
The Coca-Cola Company refutes these claims, saying they do not "accurately reflect the facts on the ground in Columbia"
"Our bottling partners enjoy extensive, normal relations with 12 separate unions in Columbia and currently have collective bargaining agreements in place with all of them covering wages, benefits and working conditions," the company said in an official statement.
In reaction to the alleged human rights violations, Coca-Cola hired a for-profit company called Cal Safety Compliance Corporation to conduct an investigation of their bottling plants in Columbia, which Coke officials said "found no instances of anti-union violence or intimidation at Coca-Cola bottling plants."
"There were no threats by management discovered nor attempts to attack or intimidate a worker for being affiliated with a union, or for being a union organizer, or for being a union official," the CCSC report stated. "Workers were not afraid to speak to outside auditors."
This investigation was found to be unsatisfactory by the NYU Senate committee, however, as they did not view the CSCC to be an appropriately independent investigatory body.
Tannenbaum was encouraged by the effort being made by Coca-Cola to address NYU's concerns, but believed it was not enough to satisfy the senate's demands.
"People were not satisfied with [the investigation]," he said. "[They] identified Cal-Safety as a 'corporate creature.'"
NYU plans to adhere to this ban on Coca-Cola products until the company shows they have addressed the demands of the university senate. The university will continue to be engaged in talks with the company until a resolution can be made.
University of Wisconsin sociology professor Pamela Oliver said NYU's protest against Coca-Cola is not unusual.
"The general idea of trying to get major institutions to deal with governments or companies that one disapproves of is pretty standard at this point," Oliver said. "Protests are often successful, not always, but often."
Tannenbaum believes the ban would either be lifted upon Coca-Cola's agreement to an independent third-party inquiry to these claims, or upon the conclusion of such an inquiry.