[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

BurmaNet News: Day of Action Campai



Received: (from strider) by igc4.igc.apc.org (8.6.12/Revision: 1.15 ) id MAA04893 for conf:reg.burma; Sat, 21 Oct 1995 12:27:32 -0700
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 1995 12:27:32 -0700
Subject: BurmaNet News: Day of Action Campaign Special



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: October 21, 1995
Issue #258   SPECIAL ISSUE: OCTOBER 27 CAMPAIGN UPDATE


HEADLINES:
==========
PRESS RELEASE: INDIANA U- INTL ACTION DAY
ANNOUNCEMENT: CARLETON UNIVERSITY JOINS CAMPAIGN
REPORT FROM U WASHINGTON BURMA GROUP
PENN STATE FREE BURMA GROUP TAKES ACTION
REPORT FROM BURMA GROUP AT U. MICHIGAN
FBC: REPORT FROM U. WISCONSIN, MADISON
NORTHWESTERN B. GROUP: NOTES ON STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS
OPIRG: PEPSI/BURMA "CO-SIGNING" CAMPAIGN
----------------------------------------------------------

PRESS RELEASE: INTL ACTION DAY FOR A FREE BURMA
October 19, 1995 Posted by David Horne, Indiana University	

        INTERNATIONAL ACTION DAY FOR A FREE BURMA
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
U.S. CORPORATIONS PROFIT FROM SLAVE LABOR AND OPPRESSION IN BURMA
       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ON OCTOBER 27, 1995 Burma activists around the world will initiate strategies
to terminate corporate funding of the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC), Burma's military dictatorship.

Burma is a Southeast Asian nation of 40 million people held hostage at gunpoint
by SLORC armed criminals.  The United Nations, Amnesty International, and Human
Rights watch call SLORC one of the major human rights violators in the world.

Since seizing power in 1988, SLORC has murdered thousands of pro-democracy
activists, and supporters of the country's Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi (after six years of unlawful detention), thousands of political
prisoners remain in captivity.  Moreover, the military regime, SLORC, refuses
to hand over power to the elected government resulted from the 1990 election.

U.S. corporations are among the top investors in Burma following Britain,
France, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan: PepsiCo, Unocal, Texaco, ARCO, Chase
Manhattan Bank, Walt Disney Co., Eastman Kodak Co., General Electric Co., Pan
American Pharmaceutical Ltd, Sears Roebuck, Wal-Mart Stores, and many others
bankroll yet another dictatorship regime in the world.

The city of Bloomington conducts business with some of these companies,  and
thus taxpayers' monies goes directly to the coffers of Burma's genocidal
regime!  It must divest.

World Wide Call for Sanctions and Divestment

Burma activists around the world have called for the withdrawal of foreign
investors until and unless SLORC transfers power to the duly elected
representatives of the people headed by Aung San Suu Kyi.  Many Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama and
Rigoberta Menchu support our call for economic sanctions.

Since 1992, Bloomington has held several Burmese related events.  Two Burmese
refugee students attend Indiana University and led a conference this past
summer.  The attenders were from all parts of the country.  This semester in
conjunction with the I.U. Chapter of Amnesty International and Bloomington
Labor Action group, students and area citizens will take the message of Burma
to Bloomington.  Through protests, letter writing campaigns and a future
discussion in the City Council the activists hope to educate this community on
the atrocities taking place in Burma.  Several cities and one state have began
sanctions against any company that conducts business with SLORC.  Among these
are Berkeley, CA, New York City, Seattle, Portland, Santa Monica, CA, San
Francisco, Cambridge, MA, and hopefully in the near future Bloomington, IN.
The state of Massachusetts also has taken such action.

Therefore, we, the Monroe County Friends of Burma, declare October 27, 1995
"International Action Day for a Free Burma", in order to terminate corporate
funding of SLORC.

We invite you to join hands with us in our fight against corporate greed and
injustice.  We will protest at the Pepsi plant on 17th. Street in Bloomington
on Oct. 27 1995 from noon to 4 p.m.

There are many activist groups from about fifty U.S. universities including the
University of Chicago, Harvard, Stanford, Wisconsin, UCLA, Georgetown,
Washington, Boston University, Tufts, Brandeis, Penn State, Columbia, Cornell
and Indiana University.

For more information contact:

Tun Myint
(812)339-3888
email: tmyint@xxxxxxxxxxx

Moe Zaw Aung
(812)857-6776
email: maung@xxxxxxxxxxx

David Horne
(812)824-9680
email: dhorne@xxxxxxxxxxx

************************

ANNOUNCEMENT: CARLETON UNIVERSITY GROUP IN OTTAWA 
JOINS OCT 27TH CAMPAIGN

OPIRG-Carleton's Burma-Tibet Group (campus-based Ontario Public
Interest Research Group), joins the Oct. 27th campaign for a free Burma.

On that day, OPIRG will target Pizza Hut (controlled by PepsiCo) at
Carleton University. Customers will be offered form letters that
they can sign and hand to the Pizza Hut manager, demanding to know
whether PepsiCo profits from forced farm labour in Burma.

With this action, OPIRG-Carleton launches a letter co-signing
campaign to PepsiCo on forced labour. Student Presidents and School
Authorities (both high school and post-secondary) are urged to
co-sign letters requesting assurance from PepsiCo that it does not
support forced farm labour in Burma.

Canadian Friends of Burma also endorses this campaign. CFOB is
issuing a nation-wide action alert to all Canadian university
campuses to take action for Burma on Oct. 27th. OPIRG-Carleton's
action will be cited as an example of what students can do. CFOB is
already providing info and names of guest speakers to university
groups who are organizing for the 27th.

Contact at CFOB: Christine Harmston
           cfob@xxxxxxxxxxx
           145 Spruce St. Suite 206
           Ottawa, ON K1R 6P1
           ph: 613-237-8056
           fax:613-563-0017

Contact at OPIRG-Carleton: Reid Cooper
            ai268@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
            326 Unicentre
            1125 Colonel By Drive
            Carleton University
            Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6
          ph: 613-788-2757
          fax:613-788-3989

*************************

REPORT FROM U WASHINGTON BURMA GROUP

We have elected to not do a demonstration on Red Square and to have an
information table instead.  This is because I perceive a demonstration to
be somewhat confrontational, and the administration has been more than
supportive of us.... We will be going over to the UNOCAL station too.

We will also be showing the video that evening. Separately, I am trying
to get an article in the paper which will draw attention to: 1) the
administration's proactive support of us last year; 2) that Burma
activism is getting popular and hip, and plenty of info in the popular
press; 3) what's happenning on the 27th and how people can get involved.

 - Campaign Organizer

**************

PENN STATE FREE BURMA GROUP TAKES ACTION

Leading into the SEAC regional conference in Lock Haven, 
there will be a protest against Pepsico in State College.

State College (dead center, PA) is home to Pennsylvania State University and
is less than an hour from Lock Haven.  Penn State has a $14 million monopoly
contract with Pepsico.

On the 27th (next Friday), we invite all people heading to the SEAC regional
in Lock Haven to stop in Penn State for the 5pm Friday protest in front of
Pizza Hut (and Taco Bell across the street).

We have a banner that reads "Pepsi, the choice of a new genocide" and
will be staging a die-in, where we'll fall down at one point and will be 
outlined in chalk in front of the restaurants.

Anyone wanting directions to State College or info on the conference,
contact Mike Ewall at mxe115@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or 814-862-7959 
(email is better).

************************

FBC: REPORT FROM U. WISCONSIN, MADISON

  We in Madison will begin leafletting (and some envision leafletting)
before Taco Bell and Pizza Hut beginning this Friday until Oct. 27.  We're
meeting with labor unions who are after Pepsi for its contributions
(surprise surprise) to the lock-out of workers in Decatur, Illinois.
**FYI: In some areas, we have heard that some activists have been
unplugging Pepsi machines on campuses and dorms or calling  1-800-433-COLA
from pay phones and leave the handsets off once it rings.

****************

REPORT FROM BURMA GROUP AT U. MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor, Michigan

There's a lot of energy and enthusiasm for the Burma demonstration here, 
much more than I envisioned. We're even going to try to get a selective-purchasing 
act through to the Ann Arbor City Council, to boycott Pepsico... hopefully, we'll get 
a lot of support for this during the demonstration as well...
- Demonstration Organizer

*************************

NORTHWESTERN B. GROUP:  NOTES ON STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS
>From Brad Simpson, a Burma campaign organizer at Northwestern

As I see it, there are three main issues to be dealt with, the Pepsi
connection, the Unocal connection, and the alumni association trip to
Burma.  The goal for the last is clear: cancel the trip.  The goal for the
Pepsi connection is not as clear, to get Pepsi off campus (a good
short-term goal, but one which leaves larger issues unresolved), to attempt
a boycott, to get Arnold Weber off of the board of Pepsi, or some
combination of these?  And what of the Unocal connection?  What ought the
goal to be?  to get Dean Jacobs off the board?  attack their pipelines?
humiliate Jacobs however we can?  here the goals seem unclear.

I can envision (eventually) a multi-prong strategy attacking all three of
these issues.  Certain tactics, i.e. utilizing campus publications and
local press, could provide opportunities for dealing with all issues, as
could demonstrations, etc.  Three strategies which would allow this are:

1. periodic planned actions (demos or whatever) to highlight all three themes

2. creating news for local or campus press to raise awareness and begin a
public dialogue- i.e. getting friendlies to start covering and exploring
the issues.

3. utilizing campus politics to embarass the university, such as attempting
to get various organs of student government to pass resolutions against the
"Northwestern-Burma connection"; holding meetings with relevant university
bodies (the alumni association)to present demands (like cancelling Burma trips).

possible tactics:
1. for Pepsi
        a. campus boycott program- pasting flyers regularly on every
	vending machine
        b. symbolic actions such as "Pepsi dumps", Zarni's idea
        c. raising questions with Administration about Pepsi's monopoly
           on campus through meetings, petition drive, etc. with principals.
        d. demos outside Arnold Weber's home, office, etc.

2. Alumni accociation trip to Burma
        a. petition drive to demand cancellation of trip
        b. negative publicity (flyers, editorials)
        c. negotiations with University
        d. call-in campaign for students' parents and/or alumni to voice
           opposition.
        e. direct actions at Alumni association offices, such as die-ins,
           sit-downs, etc.
        f. letter campaign to prof. from Northwestern going on this trip,
	demos outside his office, boycott of his classes.
        g. find out which travel agency is promoting this and apply same
           (wherever said travel agency is located)

3. Dean Jacobs and Unocal connection
        a. letter writing to, demos for Dean Jacobs as outlined above
        b. get Kellog student govt. to pass resolution censoring dean?

Once again, these are just some ideas.  It seems like it will be easiest to
attack the alumni trip to Burma and Pepsi on campus.  Dealing with Dean
Jacobs and Arnold Weber is something else entirely.  I doubt there is
anything we can do to force them off the boards of these corporations.
Public pressure and embarrassment are unquantifiable, there is no telling
what impact they will have.  The questions are, assuming some combination of
the above strategies and tactics, how to integrate them, along what time
frame, and on what scale?  Certainly there is much room for action on other
campuses which could impact Northwestern.  Many of these tactics (letter
writing, call-in campaigns) could be very effective and coordinated
nationally.

*************************

OPIRG: PEPSI/BURMA "CO-SIGNING" CAMPAIGN

OCT '95: There is growing outrage at firms doing business in Burma under
military rule. Many actions target PepsiCo and oil firms Unocal, Texaco,
Total & ARCO, which fund gas pipeline ventures supported by forced labour,
forced relocation and other abuses.

SUPPORTING FORCED LABOUR?

PepsiCo may be profiting from forced labour in Burma. Because it cannot
repatriate profits due to Burma's worthless currency, PepsiCo engages in
"countertrade" in farm products. PepsiCo buys cash crops and sells them
abroad to earn the money it needs to pay for imported supplies for its
bottling operations.

PEPSICO PULLED OUT OF SOUTH AFRICA

PepsiCo withdrew from South Africa under apartheid. Why not Burma?
The parallels are compelling: again, the leader of the democratic
movement, the Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is being held
hostage. In South Africa the trade embargo helped bring down
apartheid. Why does PepsiCo defend business with the "slave
drivers" of Burma?

OTHER FIRMS DO "PACK UP AND LEAVE"

PepsiCo defers to US trade law to justify being in Burma. But Coca-
Cola, Levi Strauss & Co., Eddie Bauer, Liz Claiborne, Reebok and
Macy's have all either withdrawn, or rejected SLORC's tiny captive
market as more trouble than it's worth! Meanwhile, PepsiCo has
joined Multinational Monitor's list of ten worst corporations.

DEFYING SHAREHOLDERS AND REFUGEES

PepsiCo disregarded pleas by Burmese refugees to withdraw in 1990.
As a result, the All Burma Students' Democratic Front called for a
boycott of all products marketed by PepsiCo.
       Mr. Calloway rejects the importance of democratic protest.
He compares boycotts to "those despised tactics of the past...
practiced by Joe McCarthy and the like." But boycotters are not
targetting dissidents with unfounded slurs. They are taking to task
a powerful corporation for trading with dictators. It is PepsiCo
that has resorted to "coercion and strong-arm tactics," in twice
denying shareholders the right to vote on resolutions calling for
withdrawal from Burma.

Tell PepsiCo: "We insist you terminate all
business in Burma, until democracy is restored!"

The use of forced labour on commercial farms there is well-documented. But
PepsiCo refuses our requests to investigate its suppliers of farm products
or even reveal their names. It also refuses to respond to such inquiries
from shareholder and human rights organizations.

But PepsiCo might respond to letters from student associations that are
co-signed by education authorities. Both sign lucrative contracts giving
PepsiCo access to student consumers in our education system.

Please approach your own student and school authorities. Be persistent but
polite. Inform them of growing concern among students. Begin highly-
visible actions in your school that directly target PepsiCo, such as
postering, or leafleting students near vending machines. Display protest
placards at the entrance to PepsiCo-controlled restaurants on campus.
These include KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, East Side Mario's, D'Angelos
Sandwich Shops, Chevy's, Hot n'Now & California Pizza Kitchens.

If authorities refuse to write PepsiCo, or if they go ahead and sign a
contract with PepsiCo, target THEM with student letters persistently
urging them to ask PepsiCo about forced labour. The latest unfortunate
example is the Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU) in Montreal.
It just handed PepsiCo exclusive vending rights in its (William) Shatner
University Centre and all SSMU-run cafeterias.

Let's ensure that PepsiCo's most important customer, our education system,
really makes itself heard. If PepsiCo receives dozens of inquiries from
schools and universities, it might decide that business with dictators is
more trouble than it's worth!

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Please write letters similar to the one attached:

If you're in college or university, write to
a) your student association        b) your university governing body.

Ask them to co-sign a letter to PepsiCo. Other good co-signers may be
faculty heads and alumni associations.

Publicize the co-signed letter. Distribute it by hand, post it, and submit
it to school and community newspapers. Make sure that many people start to
wonder: "does PepsiCo trade in products made by forced labour in Burma?"

-------------------------------------------------------------
LETTER TO YOUR STUDENT LEADER AND SCHOOL AUTHORITY

Dear_____ and _____:

I would like to share with you my concerns about PepsiCo, which does
business with the brutal regime in Burma, the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC).

PepsiCo engages in "countertrade" in farm products in Burma. This means
that PepsiCo must buy cash crops and sell them abroad for hard currency in
order to pay for imported supplies for its bottling operations.

This countertrade may well involve forced labour, extortion or land
expropriation. We know that SLORC boasts repeatedly about using
"voluntary" labour throughout Burma. The use of forced labour on
commercial farms there is well-documented.

But PepsiCo will not investigate its suppliers of farm products or even
reveal their names. PepsiCo has refused to respond to inquiries from
shareholder and human rights organizations.

However, PepsiCo may listen to student leaders, especially if they have
the backing of school and university authorities, since together they
control access to student consumers.

Thus I request that the governing authorities of this school/university,
and the president of the student association/high school club, co-sign the
enclosed letter to PepsiCo. Feel free to revise this letter using the
enclosed background sheet. Please send me a copy so that I may pass it on
to concerned students and local news outlets.

Forced labour is not the only concern in Burma. PepsiCo's very presence on
Burma's campuses legitimizes a pattern of repression against student
dissidents. This has been documented by Amnesty International and other
sources.

PepsiCo has ignored appeals by Burmese student refugees to withdraw from
Burma. The All Burma Students Democratic Front has called for a global
boycott. The International Union of Students and Asian Students
Association are among the 50-odd organizations that now endorse this
boycott. Growing numbers of North American students are becoming outraged
at PepsiCo's support for dictatorship in Burma.

I hope you agree that our fellow students should be able to enjoy snack
foods without supporting forced labour and repression against students
anywhere in the world.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

--------------------------------------------------------
CO-SIGNED LETTER TO PEPSICO

Wayne Calloway
Chairman & CEO
PepsiCo, Inc.
700 Anderson Hill Road
Purchase, NY 10577, USA

Dear Mr. Calloway:

On behalf of concerned students at our school/university, we request that
you respond to allegations that PepsiCo is benefiting from forced labour
in Burma (Myanmar). We understand that you operate soft-drink bottling
plants under Burma's military regime, the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC).

Before agreeing to future contracts with PepsiCo, we want assurance that
PepsiCo's operations in Burma do not support human rights abuses in that
country. Reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch/Asia
indicate that SLORC has subjected millions of Burmese to forced labour.

In particular, we wish to know if PepsiCo's "countertrade" in farm
products is supported by forced labour, extortion or land expropriation.
We understand that, due to Burma's worthless currency, PepsiCo must buy
cash crops in Burma and sell them abroad for hard currency, in order to
pay for imported supplies for its bottling operations.

These allegations first came to light in October 1994 through reports by
the Karen Human Rights Group. We understand that you have not responded to
inquiries on this issue since then. We hope you will answer the following
urgent questions:

- Can PepsiCo name the parties with whom it conducts its countertrade in
  farm products? Can it assure us that these parties... as well as the
  businesses from which they purchase... have no connection with the
  military?

- Can PepsiCo demonstrate that no forced labour, land confiscation or
  extortion were used in the production of farm products it purchased in
  Burma?

Many of our students enjoy PepsiCo products: Pepsi-Cola beverages, Frito-
Lay chips, and restaurants such as Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC. However,
we understand that a boycott against PepsiCo products is growing
worldwide. If our students begin to observe this boycott, this may affect
any future contracts with PepsiCo that we may consider.

Thank you for your attention. We trust you will respond in the very near
future.


Sincerely,                 Sincerely,


Student President          University Dean/President

cc.  local media; local and campus contacts for Pepsi, Frito-Lay, KFC,
          Pizza Hut or Taco Bell

CALL Pizza Hut 1-800-358-2222
KFC 1-800-CALL-KFC
Taco Bell 1-800-TACO-BEL
Pepsi-Cola 1-800-433-COLA
Frito-Lay 1-800-FL-CHIPS (1-800-376-2257 in Canada)

CONTACT PEPSICO!

World Headquarters: Wayne Calloway, Chairman & CEO
PepsiCo, Inc., 700 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase, NY 10577
Elaine Franklin, Manager of Corporate Information
Tel. (914) 253-3122, fax (914) 253-2203
Responsible for Burma venture: Chris Sinclair, President & CEO
PepsiCo Foods & Beverages International
1 Pepsi Way, Somers, NY 10589, USA

FOR THE ADDRESS OF YOUR NEAREST BOYCOTT GROUP:

Westchester People's Action Coalition
PO Box 488, 255 Grove Street, White Plains, NY 10601, USA
Tel. (914) 682-0488; fax (914) 682-9499
E-mail: ai268@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (OPIRG-Carleton, Ottawa)
Or: Brischmidt@xxxxxxx (Pepsi-Burma Boycott Committee)


FOR PEPSICO BOYCOTT INFORMATION:

OPIRG-Carleton, tel (613) 788-2757, fax (613) 788-3989
Ontario Public Interest Research Group at
Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive
326 Unicentre, Ottawa ON  K1S 5B6, CANADA
E-Mail: ai268@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ON BURMA:

Canadian Friends of Burma, tel (613) 237-8056, fax (613) 563-0017
National Office: 145 Spruce St., #206,
Ottawa ON  K1R 6P1, CANADA
E-Mail: cfob@xxxxxxxxxxx

PEPSICO BOYCOTT ENDORSED BY
A-SEED Europe (Netherlands); Asian Students Association; Asian Human
Rights Commission (Hong Kong); Association of Nature Clubs
(Bangladesh); Boycott Network (Italy); Brisbane Burma Group (Australia);
Burma Action Group (UK); Burma Issues (Thailand); Burmese Relief
Center (Japan); Canadian Federation of Students; Canadian Youth
Network for Asia-Pacific Solidarity (CYNAPS, BC); Chicago Coalition
for a Democratic Burma; City of Berkeley (CA); International Union
of Students (Czech Republic); Jeay Sindh Taraqi Pasand Students
Federation (Pakistan); All Burma Students League (India); Massachu-
setts Campaign for a Free Burma; Nonviolence International (DC);
Peace & Justice Coalition (VT); Pepsi-Burma Boycott Committee
(USA); Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs in Canada); Rainforest
Action Network in L.A.; Reconciliation International (TX); Social
Justice Magazine (Sri Lanka); Westchester People's Action Coalition
(NY); Westerville Social Action (OH); University of Wisconsin
Greens; and many other groups worldwide

COALITION FOR CORPORATE WITHDRAWAL FROM BURMA

Associates to Develop Democratic Burma; Canadian Friends of Burma;
Franklin Research & Development Corporation; Institute for Asian
Democracy; Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility; Oil,
Chemical & Atomic Workers Union, AFL-CIO; Sierra Club

COALITION ENDORSED BY

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (Government in
Exile); Democratic Alliance of Burma (representing non-Burman
nationalities in Burma); Karen National Union; Nobel Peace
Laureates Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams