Submitted by Bob Burton on
After the International Labor Organization included Australia on a list of 25 countries of concern, the Australian government lashed out. The Minister for Workplace Relations, Joe Hockey, claimed that the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) had lobbied to have Australia included -- instead of Colombia, where many labor leaders have been assassinated. The ACTU's international officer, Alison Tate, countered that international unions want scrutiny of Colombia. Tate told the Sydney Morning Herald that it was representatives from the International Organization of Employers who vetoed listing Colombia -- in particular, Ed Potter, the Coca-Cola Company's Director of Global Labor relations. Numerous union leaders and workers in Coke's Colombian bottling plants have been murdered, tortured and kidnapped by paramilitary groups, according to the Killer Coke campaign. The campaign supports legal action against Coke and is pressing the company to "prevent further bloodshed and to provide safe working conditions."
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