Coca-Cola has joined the iconic American companies publicly opposing US President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration.
Issued last Friday, the order sets new entry barriers for people from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya.
“Coca-Cola Co. is resolute in its commitment to diversity, fairness and inclusion, and we do not support this travel ban or any policy that is contrary to our core values and beliefs,” Bloomberg reports Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent (right) saying in a statement.
“As a US company that has operations in more than 200 countries and territories, we respect people from all backgrounds and greatly value the diversity of our global system’s more than 700,000 associates,” Kent continued. “We are continuing to assess any potential impact to our employees, and will provide them with appropriate support as needed.”
Kent – a first-generation American born in New York while his father was serving as Turkey’s consul general – has previously advocated for immigration reform.
In 2013, he told USA Today: “I know firsthand the blessings of living in this country. As a business leader, I also know we need to make it easier for committed, highly skilled people to make their lives and livelihoods here. Immigration is an essential part of the growth calculus for this great country.
“Nearly half of Fortune 500 companies were started by immigrants or their children. Last year, three-quarters of patents coming out of our 10 top research universities were granted to immigrants.”
Another major FMCG company criticising Trump’s policy is Chobani, headed by billlionaire Turkish immigrant Hamdi Ulukaya.
“This is very personal for me,” he said in a memo to employees obtained by Bloomberg. “As an immigrant who came to this country looking for opportunity, it’s very difficult to think about and imagine what millions of people around the world must be feeling right now. America has always been a symbol of hope, tolerance and diversity — and these are values we must work very hard to uphold.”
Ulukaya actively hires refugees to work at his factories and has dispatched legal and human-resources teams to help employees are affected by the order.
“We’ll have their backs every day and every step of the way,” he said.
Meanwhile, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told his employees that he had a “heavy heart” regarding the ban and vowed to hire 10,000 refugees from around the world.
Most major American technology companies, including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, IBM, Intel, Salesforce, Netflix, Uber and Airbnb have also put out statements condemning Trump’s policy.
Shutterstock CEO Jon Oringer said: “The diversity of our employees is what makes our organization so great. We depend on people from different parts of the world, different cultures, to help us every day to achieve our goals.”
