A useful piece from The Nation published in May, “The Case Against Coke,” offers background on The Campaign to Stop Killer Coke, Ray Rogers, the the company’s activities in Colombia, India and Indonesia, among other places.
Here are the first two paragraphs: “The ballroom at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware, is the picture of opulence. Paintings of Greek gods and goddesses peer down from the walls, lit by two crystal chandeliers the size of Mini Coopers. It’s here in April that the Coca-Cola Company will hold its stockholders’ meeting, an annual exercise designed to boost the confidence of investors. If the meeting is anything like last year’s, however, it may do the opposite.
“As stockholders filed into the room in April 2005, news hadn’t been good for Coke, which has steadily lost market share to rivals. Investors were eager for reassurance from CEO Neville Isdell, a patrician Irishman who had recently assumed the top job. Few in the room, however, were prepared for what happened next. As Isdell stood at the podium, two long lines formed at the microphones. When he opened the floor, the first to speak was Ray Rogers, a veteran union organizer and head of the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke. “I want to know what [Coke is] going to do to regain the trust and credibility in order to stop the growing movement worldwide…banning Coke products,” boomed the 62-year-old.”
Believe it or not Bob other blogs cover things besides BMG, maybe you should check them out. đŸ˜‰ Kidding aside it was because of this Nation article that I stopped drinking anything related to Coke and convinced my wife to do the same. I glanced over the article again and was happy to see that Patrick wasn’t mentioned in it which suggested to me that his role wsa very limited.
The fact that the article doesn’t mention it doesn’t mean much. I think it makes sense to look at what positions Deval held, how much power he had, and who he worked with.
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Regardless, saying Deval wasn’t a big part of it is a bit like excusing someone for being in the KKK simply because they didn’t lynch anyone. That’s sort of not the point.
You are right, I am drawing the conclusion I want to draw because it makes me feel better. I think your KKK reference is a bit extreme because thus far there is no proof of Coke’s knowledge. As I have said many times before, I wish Deval never got involved in these corporations because frankly, none of them were any good to begin with.
So, Andy, you’re saying that only evil people should work for evil corporations?
Deval was appointed by a federal judge to go in and clean up Texaco’s employment practices. He did such a good job that Coke hired him to do the same thing. Where would you have reformers work? Only in churches? I just don’t get it.
Why would Coke hire someone who would clean up their act and straighten them out? How in the world would that help their profits jump?
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Coca-Cola, I’m sure, hired him for one reason- because he was a good enough lawyer that he could settle charges against Coke out of court.
I’m just plodding along here, trying to do my best. đŸ˜› Feel free to link back to stuff in the comments, or write a new post, even if it is about “old news” that people would be interested in.
I know you were kidding!
That’s one of the top roles in major corporate organizations…Chairman, CEO, COO, CIO, Chief Counsel, etc.
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If you’ve stopped drinking Coke, you can’t possibly vote for Deval without marking yourself as a complete hypocrite.
Get off the stump, pedestal, soapbox, whatever it is your pontificating from. The rhetoric is getting a bit deep in here.
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Deval Patrick is not a sum total of his years at Coke. C’mon. Are you a sum total of your years, at, what? Herding sheep?
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This is absurd. The lengths to which the anti-Patrick crowed is stooping to here recalls the stridency of the Phelps family of the Westboro (Kansas) Baptist Church.
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Get a grip.
Maybe I haven’t had enough of the Kool-Aid huh Ernie? I may lose a few friends but Deval’s corporate history does trouble me. MFW asks me above where should the reformers work and he makes a good point, I have said other places that sometimes you have to join ’em to beat ’em and I think that is ultimately how I justify my vote for Deval. MFW what I meant was that in the case of Coke and Texaco is that these companies are extra evil as it were. I am all for reform but the history and the products these companies offer are so long associated with things I would rather not associate myself with that I do not believe reform to be possible. Actually Deval proved that.
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Let me say this to hopefully win some friends back. Deval Patrick is for me one of the greatest candidates I have ever seen. Each and every time I hear him speak or listen to his explanations I am more convinced that he is exactly the kind of leader I would hope every politician be. Those reasons weigh far more in my opinion than a few lines on a resume that I don’t agree with. He has come across to me as genuine and honest. No candidate in this race can even come close to Deval on that and that is why I am going to vote for him.
Well if I see a corroborating report in Mother Jones then I’ll believe it.
Mr. Patrick worked as a corporate counsel for a few years in his life. I do not think this should be a major issue in this campaign, especially since he has made public statements highlighting that he resigned as counsel for Coca-Cola for reasons including these incidents in Colombia.
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I do not expect this becoming a major problem in the Patrick campaign.