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Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Teaching Does NOT Go Better with Coke

Ask the AFT to end its partnership with Coca-Cola.




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As strong supporters of teachers and teachers' unions, we are distressed that the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is partnering with Coca-Cola.

Four months ago, AFT members caused their union to begin a boycott of Coca-Cola over its reliance on child labor. But now the union leadership has caved.

With terms of the agreement undisclosed, AFT ended the boycott -- and has begun a partnership to do things like "advocating for increased educational opportunities for children."

Talk about a severe sugar headache!

Labor activist Ray Rogers, director of Corporate Campaign Inc., says: "The most effective way for Coca-Cola to help end illegal child labor in places like the Philippines and El Salvador is not through pointless additional studies, audits and meaningless rhetoric, but to pay sugar processors enough money to pay fair wages to sugar cane harvesters."

Click here to ask the AFT to end its partnership with Coca-Cola.

The Coca-Cola company is responsible in part for the epidemics of obesity and type-2 diabetes that afflict children in the United States and elsewhere.

According to the executive director of U.S. Right to Know, Gary Ruskin, the AFT's agreement "will undermine the moral authority of teachers nationwide. That is a regrettable outcome for teachers, schools, and especially our children, who deserve so much better from their teachers."

Please click here to help undo this bad decision by AFT.

After signing the petition, please forward this message to your friends. You can also share it from the webpage after taking the action yourself.

-- The RootsAction.org Team

P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Coleen Rowley, Frances Fox Piven, Lila Garrett, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others.

P.P.S. This work is only possible with your financial support. Please donate.

Background:
> Institute for Public Accuracy: AFT Teams with Coke
> AFT: Ending the Coca-Cola Boycott
> AFT: AFT and Coke Pledge to Work Together Against Child Labor
> CNN: Life Not Sweet for Philippines' Sugar Cane Child Workers
> Corporate Crime Reporter: AFT Ends Four Month Old Coca-Cola Boycott

  
  
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