Coca-Cola’s exclusive deal to supply beverages to McMaster University-one of many contracts it has with universities and colleges across Canada-has been dealt a blow.
Students at McMaster University overwhelmingly voted to allow their student union to oppose exclusivity contracts with Coca-Cola, in a referendum that took place October 18 and 19. The contract prevents companies other than Coke from selling beverages on campus.
A total of 2,228 voted on whether the McMaster Student Union should not renew their contract with Coke, and whether they should pressure the university to cancel their deal. Approximately 1,500 answered yes to three questions proposing that the MSU oppose the Coke deal.
The high voter turnout and the overwhelming response could spell a shifts McMaster’s future relationship with corporate sponsors, and speaks volumes of growing resentment among young people to the corporate presence in public institutions.
“Success here at McMaster could directly affect our collective ability to get Coca-Cola to abandon its nonchalant stance and implement better social and environmental business practices throughout the world,” said Adam Tracey of McMaster Campus Choice. “Students have the opportunity to be global actors by taking part in this referendum.”
Coke has had an exclusive beverage-supplier contract with McMaster since 1998. The company’s reputation for mistreatment of workers and environmental degradation, combined with its domination of the many campuses’ beverage supplies has resulted in a recent, massive backlash from various sectors.
McMaster’s discontent with the deal kick-started in March 2005 with the inception of Campus Choice, a student-run organization concerned with the existence of exclusivity contracts at McMaster University. The group gained widespread support for their cause, placing significant pressure on student administration. On September 15, Campus Choice presented a motion to McMaster’s Student Representatives Assembly (SRA) and the MSU to put this issue to referendum, and the motion was approved shortly after.
“The greatest benefit is knowing that we have taken an ethical action that will pressure Coke to improve conditions for its workers around the globe,” said MSU’s External Affairs chair Rob Gillezeau. “The loss to students is entirely financial, and will amount to approximately 0.1 per cent of university revenues.”
But for McMaster’s administration, the financial loss of losing Coke is far from a non-issue. Roger Trull, McMaster’s vice-president of University Advancement, has argued that exclusivity contracts are standard business practice. Moreover, he has said the Coke contract has been important to McMaster at a time when provincial government funding has dropped.
“[If the university terminated the contract] we’d have to find [the money] elsewhere,” Trull told the Globe and Mail, “and of course, we only have two sources of income at the university. One is the government. We don’t expect them to give us more money. And the other is the students. In a roundabout way, it’s saving students money.”
Coca-Cola Ltd. has repeatedly denied all allegations of wrong-doing. In a statement provided to the Globe, Coke claimed that it “has been an exemplary member of the business community,” has not harmed the environment, and treats its workers fairly.
“The exclusive rights Coca-Cola Ltd. has to our campus not only conflicts ideologically with an institution of higher learning, but diminishes our right to freedom of choice,” said Michelle Peek of Campus Choice.
Peek also says the group plans to take the movement further.
“We also plan to host a conference in early 2006 aimed at addressing the exclusivity contracts various multinationals have secured in universities around the globe. It will address the problems that such a monopoly on campus creates, in terms of a violation of democratic principals both locally and globally, and explore various means of resistance.
“By networking with administrators at other universities, we can work together to ensure that the companies our schools do business with act responsibly and respect basic rights.
The referendum is the first of its kind in a Canadian school. The results speak volumes to the future of what has become a marriage between private corporations and public institutions.
Campus leaders hope the referendum signals a movement of power from the corporate world back to the student body, and that it will send a wave of inspiration to other activists involved in similar causes around the world.
