Workers in Coca Cola's Dublin bottling plant are urging students in UCD, who are to boycott Coca Cola products in Ireland, to reconsider their actions.
UCD students voted by a slim margin this evening to stop the sale of Coca-Cola products at student union shops in protest against human rights violations in Colombia.
The referendum to ban Coca-Cola was passed by 59 votes, with 1,629 voting 'Yes' and 1,570 voting 'No'.
SIPTU workers at Coca-Cola say they were appalled to learn of the degree of confusion and misinformation in the referendum about the production of Coca-Cola products in Ireland.
In a statement issued this evening, SIPTU claims the boycott will affect Irish workers in Coca-Cola factories here.
"Some of the literature issued anonymously before the referendum claimed that a boycott would not affect jobs in Ireland because the Coca Cola concentrate produced in Ireland is destined for the European market," the statement said.
"However, production of concentrate is not the only Coca Cola operation in Ireland. Employment in the Coca Cola bottling plants which serve the Irish market may also be placed in jeopardy by an ill-conceived and misdirected consumer boycott."
SIPTU added that the International Union of Food Workers (IUF) does not believe the Coca Cola Corporation or its local bottling plant in Colombia has instigated or supported recent paramilitary activities against trade unionists in the company.