Students to Protest Coca-Cola Contract
Comhaltas na Mac Léinn, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – the University of Galway Students’ Union and the Palestinian Solidarity Society are demanding an end to Coca-Cola exclusivity on University of Galway campus.
They are demanding;
- A release from the current contract with Coca-Cola.
- Student representation on any tendering board for future exclusivity agreements for drinks on campus.
- A commitment to human rights obligations aligned with the BDS Movement in any tendering requirements.
Both groups will be protesting outside the Quadrangle during a meeting of Údarás na hOllscoile on Wednesday 21st October and picketing the main entrance to campus at University Road on Thursday 22nd October.
Students’ Union President, Seán de Búrca said; “Coca-Cola’s business practices are incompatible with fundamental human rights. That alone should make them incompatible with this campus.”
Palestine Solidarity Society Auditor, Oisín Ó Ceallaigh said; “This action is being taken as a student-led commitment to upholding human rights and international law. Nelson Mandela, an honorary graduate of the University of Galway, famously stated “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians””
Background to the protest action:
In 2014, the Students’ Union passed a referendum in support of the BDS Movement. Coca-Cola is a priority target of the BDS Movement.
Coca-Cola, through its Israeli franchisee, operates a distribution centre and cooling house in the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone, in occupied Palestine. Its subsidiary, Tabor Winery, produces wine using grapes sourced from occupied settlements in the West Bank and Syrian Golan.
In 2024, the ICJ found Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank to be illegal. There is no disputing that Israel’s occupation is a war crime, and as such Coca-Cola is complicit in these war crimes.
Coca-Cola has also faced allegations of torturing, kidnapping, and murdering trade unionists in Colombia and Guatemala. They have used violence against student-workers in China. They have polluted and stolen indigenous waterways in Mexico. In India, Coca-Cola has been blamed for turning farmlands into wastelands. In El Salvador, they benefit from child labour, whilst further harming children globally by aggressively advertising to children.
PICTURED: University of Galway Students’ Union at the recent National March for Palestine
