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The student organization is leading a campaign in of Coca-Cola's policy on the mistreatment and deaths of union leaders and members. Solidarity's grievances against Coca-Cola include a list of human rights violations, including the threatening, displacement and kidnapping of union members.
The complaint against flyers placed by Solidarity and other student organizations on the Coke machines has come from Max Cook, representative of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated based out of Nashville.
Scott Young, a participant of the blind vendors program, which is run through the Nashville Business Enterprise, said there have also been flyers on his snack machines at Peck Hall that he clams are illegal. Young also said that one morning, 10 Coca-Cola machines and five of his snack machines were discovered unplugged.
Solidarity claims to be following the MTSU's rules of conduct when posting flyers, Chris Comstock, Solidarity member and campaign organizer, said.
"I have personally watched where the flyers have been placed," Comstock said, adding that Solidarity does not post flyers on doors, and that they get approval to post flyers when necessary.
Coca-Cola has notified campus police to watch for anyone posting flyers or vandalizing the Coke machines.
Regarding the unplugged the machines, Comstock said that Solidarity has not been involved in any illicit activity. According to Comstock, though, Coca-Cola vendors remove Solidarity flyers while leaving other flyers posted.
According to Cook, Coca-Cola's official position is that there are not supposed to be any flyers, regardless of the organization, on Coke vending machines.
"It's a touchy subject," Cook said. "I'll talk to my contact at MTSU and tell them that no flyers will be allowed on the Coke machines."
Solidarity claims that it is their right to free speech to place flyers on the Coke machines.
"That's the place where we want to get the message out the most," Solidarity member Jase Short said.
Solidarity's campaign is part of a movement that includes 118 universities and 12 high schools around the world to get Coca-Cola to acknowledge and take responsibility for the deaths of union leaders and coercion of union members by paramilitary organizations, who have been allegedly associating with bottling plant management.
So far, their campaign has consisted of informing the student body about what is happening in Colombia. Although Solidarity members boycott Coke products and have alluded to individual participation in their flyers, they have not called for a campus-wide boycott to protest against Coca-Cola.
According to Comstock, such a protest would include terminating the sponsorship agreement between Coca-Cola and MTSU. This agreement is an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola that determines location of machines, prices and advertising benefits with the Athletic Department.
Eighteen universities and high schools have terminated contacts with Coca-Cola.
The primary benefit for MTSU is a commission payment from revenue earned from product sales, which amounts to an average of $200,000 after tax revenue annually.
The contact also provides that the Athletic Department receives $40,000 for maintenance and purchasing of scoreboards and $92,000 for advertisement and marketing pieces, which helps the Athletic Department reach its budget, said Vice President for Business and Finance John Cothern.
Solidarity's intentions are not meant to negatively impact the local economy or to increase revenue for MTSU, Comstock said.
"We just want to hold Coca-Cola to a higher standard," Comstock said.
If the Coca-Cola contract were terminated, it is possible that Pepsi could pick up the sponsorship. However, according to Cothern, Pepsi would have to pay a higher cost for set-up.
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