HOW TO BOYCOTT COCA-COLA FROM THE FAR LEFT

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by Jack Wright

They said  not to drink Coca-Cola. That one must support the workers of the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Fuenlabrada, on the outskirts of Madrid, more than two hundred of whom are affected by the company’s plan to reduce personnel.

For months now Unidos Podemos, a coalition of two far-left political parties, has been engaged in a running campaign against Coca-Cola Iberian Partners, owner of the Fuenlabrada plant.  Last December, in a protest event organized by the coalition, their leader Pablo Iglesias  told the crowd: “Let’s go on not drinking Coca-Cola because Coca-Cola is attacking workers’ rights.”

The Spanish Senate

Unidos Podemos tabled a move in the Senate to prohibit the sale of Coca-Cola on the premises, alleging that despite a Supreme Court ruling Coca-Cola Iberian Partners has failed to readmit workers laid off under the company’s redundancy scheme . Actually, the high court has indeed ruled that the company’s plan to reduce personnel, announced in 2014, is illegal.

However, in the morning of 4 April 2017 the Senate informed Unidos Podemos that it could not possibly prohibit the sale of Coca-Cola in the Upper Chamber of the Parliament because of a pre-existing contract allowing such sale. At noon of same day Ramon Espinar, Unidos Podemos spokesperson in the Senate, was caught red-handed in the Senate dining hall with two bottles of Coca-Cola on his lunch tray. The photo, taken by a fellow senator, immediately hit the social media sites and became trending topic – never mind making the front pages of mainstream as well as online publications.

Ramon Espinar, center, in a Podemos event

Pablo Iglesias said that buying those bottles of Coca-Cola was a mistake but added that it was an error leve (minor error).  Espinar admitted the same and apologized with this PS:  People are hypocrites; they make such a big deal of this little incident when the party in power, Partido Popular, has been robbing the Public Health in order to finance its electoral campaigns.

Podemos Unidos claims it’s turning the “minor error” into what they call “a blessing in disguise” (no hay mal que por bien no venga): “The error will make us redouble our efforts to support the embattled Coca-Cola employees” or words to that effect.

The bizarre silver lining of the far left (this left)!

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Featured image by Lee Coursey CC BY 2.0
The Senate by Esetera via Wikipedia, CC BY-SA3.0 cropped
“Lunch refreshed” by Coca-Cola Museum, CC BY2.0 cropped
Espinar, PD

About Jack
Jack has been with Guidepost for more than a decade now and sees no end to his association with The Dean. He travels around with his ubiquitous laptop, ready to pound it when a story hits him. He loves writing and doesn’t shy away from controversy; he could be mordant in his articles.
Jack has a bachelor’s degree with Political Science as major.