Business & Human Rights: Extra recent additions

full statement: "Investor Statement on pharmaceutical companies and the public health crisis in emerging markets" (ISIS Asset Mgt., Universities Superannuation Scheme, Insight Investment, Henderson Global Investors, Schroders, Legal & General Investment Mgt., Morley Fund Mgt., Co-operative Insurance, Jupiter, Ethos, PGGM, Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church, 24 Mar. 2003)

Drugs industry told to do more for poor - The pharmaceuticals industry risks damaging its reputation and future profits if it does not do more to respond to health crises in poor countries, a group of European institutional investors said on Monday. (Reuters, 24 Mar. 2003)

Investors issue a wake-up call to the global pharmaceutical industry (Tobias Webb, Ethical Corporation Magazine, 26 Mar. 2003)

EBRD [European Bank for Reconstruction and Development] meets demonstrators on Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline proposal - EBRD officials today received a letter from demonstrators protesting the planned Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline from the Caspian Sea to Turkey's Mediterranean coast. The EBRD is evaluating whether to finance the project and is in the midst of a thorough examination that involves dialogue with local communities as well as financial, legal, economic and environmental issues. (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 25 Mar. 2003)

Miners fleeing escaping gas forced down into mine shaft shortly before massive explosion kills at least 57 of them [China] (China Labour Bulletin, 25 Mar. 2003)

The UK Corporate Sustainability Reporting Awards [refers to The Co-operative Bank, Shell, BT Group, Risk and Policy Analysts Ltd., Unilever, Scottish Power, Canary Wharf Group, Best Foot Forward Ltd, FRC Group, Co-operative Insurance Society, Traidcraft, British American Tobacco] (Tobias Webb, Ethical Corporation Magazine, 25 Mar. 2003)

Kill a watt and save the planet - and your money - It is 10 in the evening at Liverpool Street in the heart of London's financial district. The work day is over and office blocks are deserted but every window in row upon row of office buildings is ablaze with light...It is the same in every business district across Britain, throughout Europe and indeed, the world - a waste of electricity that is adding billions of tonnes of harmful greenhouse gases every year to Earth's atmosphere. (Reuters, 25 Mar. 2003)

ACTU may launch paid maternity case [Australia] - The ACTU will launch a test case on paid maternity leave if the forthcoming federal budget does not make provision for a national scheme. (AAP, 25 Mar. 2003)

As Bolivian Miners Die, Boys Are Left to Toil - In Latin America, languishing in its worst economic cycle in decades, the use of child labor is becoming more widespread. The children sell knickknacks on streets, work the fields, tend restaurants and, increasingly, work in dangerous jobs in industry and mining. The problem is particularly pervasive in Bolivia, a poor, isolated country of 8.3 million people gripped by political turbulence and recession. An estimated 800,000 children work in this country, with thousands toiling in mines or assisting in the sugar cane harvests, some of the riskiest work. (Juan Forero, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2003)

BOLIVIA: 800,000 Children Reportedly Working, Many In Antiquated Mines (UN Wire, 25 Mar. 2003)

From folk hero to corporate monster - Mallen Baker looks at the financial rise and reputational fall of the world's largest company, US retailer Wal-mart. (Mallen Baker, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 24 Mar. 2003)

WATER: Declaration At End Of World Forum Criticized For Lack Of Specifics...Nongovernmental organizations said the document was too soft, avoiding reference to controversial issues, such as the construction of large-scale dams. (UN Wire, 24 Mar. 2003)

Must do better to stay on FTSE4Good - The first companies were ejected from the FTSE4Good 'ethical' stock market indices last week after environmental criteria were tightened, and many others were warned that they will have to do better if they want to stay in after the next review in six months' time...Three UK companies have been kicked out by the FTSE4Good committee: the printer St Ives, financial software house RoyalBlue, and Goldshield, which sells vitamins and other food supplements such as Evening Primrose Oil and Flexeze. Elan, the troubled Irish pharmaceutical firm was also evicted from the indices. (Roger Cowe, Observer [UK], 23 Mar. 2003)

White Men Still Outearn Other Groups [USA] -...A highly educated white man still makes much more money than anyone else. On average, a white man with a college diploma earned about $65,000 in 2001. Similarly educated white women made about 40 percent less, while black and Hispanic men earned 30 percent less, according to Census Bureau estimates being released Friday. Almost half of Asian residents 25 and older have graduated from college, nearly twice the rate of whites. Still, Asians earned about 8 percent less than whites. (Genaro C. Armas, Associated Press, 21 Mar. 2003)

Judge: Tyson Foods immigration case going to jury [USA] -...A Tyson personnel manager Thursday disputed earlier testimony, saying there was no 9-year-old working at a Missouri poultry plant. Ahrazue Wilt, the company's complex human resources manager in Sedalia, agreed with earlier testimony that a 14-year-old Hispanic worker was injured on the job at the plant. Wilt said a subsequent U.S. Department of Labor investigation found "about five" underage workers. (Bill Poovey, Associated Press, 21 Mar. 2003)

The Shell Report and Annual Reports published today - The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies published its sixth Shell Report today, alongside its 2002 Parent Company Annual Reports. This year's report, entitled "Meeting the Energy Challenge" describes Shell's economic, environmental and social performance in 2002. (Royal Dutch/Shell, 21 Mar. 2003)

full report: Meeting the energy challenge: The Shell Report 2002 (Royal Dutch/Shell, 2003)

Suit Alleging Firm Aided Genocide Proceeds - A Southern District of New York federal judge has refused to dismiss claims that a Canadian oil company abetted genocide by the government of Sudan against its own people. Talisman Energy Inc. had asked Judge Allen G. Schwartz to dismiss the case brought by plaintiffs who said the company was complicit in a campaign of kidnapping, rape, murder and land confiscation conducted by the government against non-Muslim residents who lived within a 50-mile radius of oil fields and transport systems. (Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal, in New York Lawyer, 20 Mar. 2003)

CEOs Advocate Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability at Conference - The Forum for Corporate Conscience calls on CEOs and corporations to promote triple bottom line performance. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 19 Mar. 2003)

Oekom Applauds Insurers Employing SRI but Chides Rest of Sector's Non-Transparency - Lack of transparency prevented the German corporate research firm from conducting corporate responsibility ratings on the majority of global insurance companies. - Few insurance companies are making the effort to disclose their social and environmental performance...Norway-based Storebrand, which scored the highest overall rating of "B" on a scale from "A+" to "D-", received kudos for employing negative as well as best-in-class screening in substantial portions of its investment portfolio...The report highlighted the shareowner advocacy practices of UK-based Aviva, which placed second in the overall rating with a "B", and Australia-based AMP, which placed twelfth with a "C". "As an example, Morley Fund Management [Aviva] is committed to vote against FTSE 100 companies, which do not publish environmental reports" (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 18 Mar. 2003)

Yale Students Will Sip Fair-Traded Coffee Exclusively [USA] - As of next fall, only "Fair Trade"-certified coffee will be served in the dining halls of Yale University. (Yale News Release, 18 Mar. 2003)

Less money for mining victims - Cape plc’s South African asbestos victims will get only one-third of the £21-million originally promised them by the British-based multinational. (Justin Arenstein, Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 14 Mar. 2003)

Prudence Pays - practical steps to bridge conflicting views on climate change - Climate change is a fundamental challenge in a world where energy needs could grow threefold over the next 50 years. There is compelling evidence that climate change is a threat, although there are still huge uncertainties about the risks and impact. There are no quick fixes so we need to take action now (Philip Watts, Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors, Royal Dutch/Shell, 12 Mar. 2003)

Judge Orders Reinstatement, Backpay for Wal-Mart Worker [USA]; Issues Nationwide Remedy for Retailer's Anti-Union Tactics - Labor Board Judge Rules Retail Giant Illegally Tried to Silence Workers - Wal-Mart Ordered to Remove Anti-Union Language from Benefits Materials (UFCW International Union, 11 Mar. 2003)

company website: Wal-Mart

Let's hear it for the boycott - Direct consumer action is more effective than ever, writes Faisal Islam. But big business is hitting back (Faisal Islam, Observer [UK], 2 Mar. 2003)

When does protest work? Leading campaigners and experts told The Observer what made campaigning effective - and how companies needed to ensure that corporate accountability was not simply a PR exercise if they wanted to protect their brands and reputations. [refers to Shell, ExxonMobil/Esso, Nestle, Unity Trust Bank, Co-operative Bank, Cobbetts solicitors, Enron, Rio Tinto] (Lola Okolosie, Observer [UK], 2 Mar. 2003)

Wal-Mart values: selling women short [USA] - Adams is now a witness in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, in which seven California women--current and former Wal-Mart employees--are charging the company with systematic sex discrimination in promotions, assignments, training and pay. (Liza Featherstone, The Nation, 16 Dec. 2002)

Items added to website on Wednesday 26 March 2003:

'Secrecy' prevents equal pay [UK] - Salary discussions remain a "taboo subject" that is maintaining the pay gap between men and women, according to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). The EOC said secrecy over pay rates in the UK meant firms could shirk their responsibility to check if they were paying women fairly. Its research suggested the average pay gap between men and women was 19%, but as high as 40% in some companies. (BBC News, 24 Mar. 2003)

50 Bodies Found in Chinese Mine Blast -...China's mining industry is one of the world's deadliest. More than 5,000 deaths were reported last year in coal mines. Many accidents were blamed on a lack of fire and ventilation equipment in small, often illegally run mines. (AP, 24 Mar. 2003)

North China Coal Mine Blast Kills at Least 50, 22 Missing -...The Shanxi provincial government has ordered all coal mines to stop operation starting from Sunday, as this was the third gas explosion in this area with a death toll higher than 10 since February. (Xinhua News Agency, 24 Mar. 2003)

Company sued for flouting job laws [Bahrain] - A Bahrain company which employed 32 expatriate workers illegally has been taken to court, as part of a government campaign to enforce labour laws...More labour inspectors have been recruited and inspections stepped up, said Labour and Social Affairs Ministry labour inspection head Shaikh Ali bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa..."As it is a human rights issue, we shall study the cases of illegal workers with the embassies concerned, as well as the human rights organisations." Shaikh Ali said his inspectors would also visit labour camps to ensure that the workers' accommodation meets the necessary safety and hygiene conditions. (Soman Baby, Gulf Daily News [Bahrain], 24 Mar. 2003)

Declaration on Water Lacks Clear Programme of Action - A ministerial meeting tackling the world's water problems fell short of producing a clearly defined programme of action in its final declaration, which was released here in this central Japanese city on Sunday. Also missing in the final text seeking to achieve water security was language recognising the right to water as a human right. (Marwaan Macan-Markar, Inter Press Service, 23 Mar. 2003)

Activists rage against global 'water wars' - Campaigners met in Florence this weekend to condemn the notion that water is a resource to be bought, sold and monopolised by wealthy nations and corporations. Disgusted with a World Water Forum in Kyoto that they say is "one more celebration of market forces, capital and private investment," 1,000 campaigners and activists streamed into Florence to flesh out their vision of water as "the basic common good". (Peter Popham, Independent [UK], 23 Mar. 2003)

An Age Of Discrimination? The U.S. sees an increase in suits complaining of age and religious bias -...Although EEOC complaints are relatively easy to file, they face tough outcomes. Only about 20 percent of the complainants prevail. [refers to age discrimination complaint against Seal Dynamics; religious discrimination complaint against Computer Sciences Corp., Foot Locker Inc., Ford Motor Co.] (Carrie Mason-Draffen, Newsday, 23 Mar. 2003)

Migrant workers seek state protection [Florida, USA] - With the support of House Majority Leader Marco Rubio, R-Miami, along with a coalition of black and Hispanic legislators, migrant workers and their advocates are pushing for a state law that would require employers to better train and inform workers to protect them from the pesticides many think are making them sick. (Diana Marrero, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2003)

Call for debate on privacy at work [Australia] - Australian workers are questioning what level of workplace monitoring is acceptable as more companies introduce measures such as drug testing and email and video surveillance. The Victorian Law Reform Commission is investigating privacy issues in the workplace and is expected to publish an options paper by the end of the year. (Liz Gooch, The Age [Australia], 23 Mar. 2003)

Friendly's settles claim of discrimination [USA] - A charge four mentally retarded people were refused service at a Friendly's restaurant has led the chain to establish a new anti-discrimination policy and give the Wrentham Developmental Center money for recreational trips. (Laura Crimaldi, MetroWest Daily News, 22 Mar. 2003)

Banning Gender Identity Discrimination [New Mexico, USA] - The state Legislature late Friday approved a bill to prohibit discrimination in the workplace against people based on sexual orientation or gender identification...The measure now goes to Gov. Bill Richardson, who has said he would sign such a measure. (Santa Fe New Mexican, 22 Mar. 2003)

WATER: Multibillion Dollar Plan Launched At Forum Amid Protests - International financiers at the World Water Forum today in Kyoto launched a $180 billion plan to prevent a worldwide water crisis...Environmentalists and anti-poverty activists have criticized the plan, saying that the forum, which is largely sponsored by construction and drug companies, was being used by the private sector and focuses too much on large-scale funding at the expense of small-scale efficiency gains. (UN Wire, 21 Mar. 2003)

INVESTMENT: Developing Nations Get Venture Capital Advocate - In a move designed to spur the investment of venture capital in developing countries, Venture Exchange Network today announced the creation of an action group at a special session of the U.N. Economic and Social Council. The Policy Action Group on Venture Capital, formed under the auspices of the Commission on Globalization with partners such as the International Chamber of Commerce, will create a channel for venture capital in developing countries. (UN Wire, 21 Mar. 2003)

Venture Exchange Network announces formation of Policy Action Group on Venture Capital at the United Nations (Venture Exchange Network, 21 Mar. 2003)

She has designs on global activism [USA] - Stephanie Odegard...started what has become a multimillion-dollar hand-woven rug business [Odegard Inc.] that also combats child labor and inhumane practices. (Neal St. Anthony, Star Tribune, 21 Mar. 2003)

TUC calls for enforcement of ILO Conventions [Ghana] - The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the government to legislate all International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions into the national laws in conformity with Article 75 of the Constitution to make them enforceable on social partners. (News in Ghana, 20 Mar. 2003)

DR Congo bans child labor, eases women's access to jobs - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has revised its laws, banning child labor and lifting a requirement on women to obtain their husband's permission before getting a job, the labor and social minister said Tuesday. (Nando Media/Agence France-Presse, 18 Mar. 2003)

Office Depot and Office Max stores urged to improve their use of paper [USA] -...Staples' Office Supply stores last year announced a major environmental policy that included increasing the acquisition and sales of recycled fibre content paper. Consumers and their citizens' groups are now focussing boycott demands on two other large U.S. office supply stores - Office Max and Office Depot. (Gary Gallon, The Gallon Environment Letter, 17 Mar. 2003)

Dow's Texas headquarters blockaded; contaminated water returned - "Our message is simple," said Greenpeace's Casey Harrell. "Dow must clean up Bhopal now and accept full responsibility for the health and environmental damage in that city. Until it does so, Dow will never be a responsible corporate citizen." (Greenpeace, 11 Mar. 2003)

press release: Global Buyers of Wood Products “Going Green” - ‘Greenward Shift’ a warning for British Columbia’s government and industry: future market share will depend on producers’ environmental responsibility - Environmental groups today applauded the release of a new report demonstrating that major customers of BC forest products are shifting their purchasing toward greener, more environmentally friendly products. Greenpeace Canada, ForestEthics and Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter, are reacting to a report released today by IBM Business Consulting Services (formerly Pricewaterhouse Coopers) titled: A Greenward Shift in the Market for Forest Products from British Columbia. (Greenpeace Canada, ForestEthics and Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter, 11 Mar. 2003)

full report: A Greenward Shift in the Market for Forest Products from British Columbia (IBM Business Consulting Services, 2003) [scroll down; full report can be downloaded at bottom of press release]

Intel's Hudson Plant Stays In the Loop With Water Recycling (GreenBiz.com, Mar. 2003)

World's Largest Window Company Acts to Save Chile's Endangered Forests and Indigenous Communities - U.S. Company Leads Trend Toward Ecologically Certified Wood - Andersen Corporation, the world's leading wood window manufacturer, announced today that it will no longer buy Chilean wood products unless they are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. (ForestEthics, 27 Feb. 2003)

Allan Rock's office deluged with thousands of clothing labels, days before government due to respond to coalition's proposal for new disclosure rules to address sweatshop abuses [Canada] -...ETAG's [Ethical Trading Action Group's] detailed proposal, submitted in 2001, calls on the Industry Minister to make minor changes to the Textile Labelling Act requiring apparel companies to publicly disclose the names and addresses of the factories that produce their clothing...Retail and manufacturer associations have lobbied against the proposal for new disclosure rules, but several well-known retailers, including Roots Canada, Mountain Equipment Coop and American Apparel, have signalled their support. (Ethical Trading Action Group, 24 Feb. 2003)

press release: Make Trade Fair for the Americas : Oxfam says NO to FTAA - Oxfam International launched today a report opposing the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Oxfam believes that trade and investment rules, such as those proposed in the FTAA and the WTO, must be radically changed in order to promote sustainable development, poverty reduction, and respect for human rights. (Oxfam International, 25 Jan. 2003)

report: Make Trade Fair in the Americas - Agriculture, Investment and Intellectual Property: Three Reasons to Say No to the FTAA - While poverty, inequality and the concentration of wealth persist in Latin America and the Caribbean, trade and investment agreements are being promoted that would seriously limit the possibilities of development and poverty eradication in the countries of the region. The Free Trade Area of the Americas is an agreement that would favor the interests of large corporations over the rights of the people of the Americas. (Oxfam International, 2003)

{···español} nota de prensa: Por un Comercio con Justicia para las Américas Oxfam internacional dice no al ALCA - Oxfam Internacional presenta hoy, en el Foro Social de Porto Alegre su informe en contra del Acuerdo del Libre Comercio para las Américas. Oxfam cree que las normas de comercio y de inversiones tal y como se contemplan en el ALCA necesitan cambios radicales para que promuevan el desarrollo sostenible, la reducción de la pobreza y el respeto a los derechos humanos. (Oxfam Internacional, 25 enero 2003)

{···español} informe: Comercio con Justicia para las Américas- Agricultura, Inversiones y Propiedad Intelectual: Tres razones para decir no al ALCA (Oxfam Internacional, 2003)

The IMF Strikes Back - Slammed by antiglobalist protesters, developing-country politicians, and Nobel Prize winning economists, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has become Global Scapegoat Number One. But IMF economists are not evil, nor are they invariably wrong. It’s time to set the record straight and focus on more pressing economic debates, such as how best to promote global growth and financial stability. (Kenneth Rogoff, economic counsellor and director of the research department at the IMF, in Foreign Policy, Jan./Feb. 2003)

VIGEO: Corporate social responsibility rating

{···français} VIGEO

Items added to website on Monday 24 March 2003:

Upcoming Event: Global Compact Policy Dialogue on HIV/AIDS, 12-13 May Geneva 2003 (U.N. Global Compact)

Water - an essential human right -...Amnesty International stressed the need to focus on the human rights dimension regarding the issue of access to water...Disputes over water must then be resolved in ways that guarantee access, and do not, for example, make it conditional on one's relative wealth, social status, or nationality. Further, speaking of a right to water makes it clear that governments have duties to fulfil that right. Whatever arrangements are put in place regarding private sector investment and ownership in delivering water, governments cannot sub-contract this responsibility...Recent experiences have shown that several large development projects intended to provide access to water have ended up causing human rights violations, either through mass displacement of people (as in the Narmada project in western India) or by increasing charges for access to water drastically and using force against peaceful protestors (as in Cochabamba, Bolivia). (Amnesty International, 22 Mar. 2003)

Government promises to name racist employers [UK] - Racist employers are to be named as part of government measures aimed at ending all discrimination in the workplace within 10 years. (Paul Waugh, Independent [UK], 22 Mar. 2003)

Ministry to expose race bias companies [UK] - Employers with a bad record of racial discrimination will be named by the government as part of an effort across Whitehall to boost the job prospects of ethnic minorities. Companies that lose a number of employment tribunal cases involving racial discrimination will be revealed by the Department of Trade and Industry. (David Turner, Financial Times, 21 Mar. 2003)

Discrimination plaguing UK workplaces - Nearly half of the British workforce has experienced discrimination at work, according to an alarming new survey...Age discrimination appears to be most rife in the UK workplace, with one in three staff complaining they have been discriminated against in this way. Just over one in ten felt they had suffered sexual discrimination, while just two per cent believed that had been unfairly treated because of their race. (Startups.co.uk, 22 Mar. 2003)

Job seekers report age bias [UK] - Four people out of 10 believe they have suffered discrimination at work and many think their age is excluding them from the labour market, a survey will reveal today. (Alexander Jolliffe, Financial Times, 21 Mar. 2003)

Philip Morris ordered to pay $10.1 billion in ``light'' cigarette suit [USA] - A judge ordered Philip Morris USA on Friday to pay $10.1 billion for misleading smokers into believing its "light" cigarettes are less harmful than regular labels. (AP, in San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Mar. 2003)

Philip Morris must pay $10.1bn in 'lights' case - Philip Morris was last night ordered to pay $10.1bn damages by a judge who ruled that the world's biggest cigarette maker had deceived smokers into thinking "light" cigarettes were safer than regular ones. (Neil Buckley, Financial Times, 22 Mar. 2003)

Arrests begin in Suizhou retired textile workers’ protest [China] - China Labour Bulletin was reliably informed today that a retired worker who wrote the protest banners and poems displayed by former employees of the Tieshu Textile Group, in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, during their collective demonstration outside the factory gate last week has now been secretly arrested...China Labour Bulletin urges the Chinese authorities to end the arbitrary detention of workers for their involvement in legitimate and peaceful demonstrations and instead to respond to the demands of the workers for an end to official corruption and non-payment of basic wages and pensions. (China Labour Bulletin, 21 Mar. 2003)

UN Global Compact and Global Reporting Initiative Strengthen Cooperation -...The goal of collaboration is to embed the Compact’s principles into day-to-day business operations while measuring and reporting performance with the GRI framework. (Global Reporting Initiative, 19 Mar. 2003)

SAS [Students Against Sweatshops] continues push to oust Taco Bell [USA] - Due to labor issues surrounding the people who pick tomatoes for Taco Bell, a Grand Valley student organization is trying to get the restaurant kicked off campus. Allison Kranz, member of Students Against Sweatshops, a fair labor and human rights organization, has been working on the project for over a year now. (Danielle McGillis, Grand Valley Lanthorn, 19 Mar. 2003)

Low pay crooks dodge the law [UK] -...The fashion industry has also seen an explosion in back street sweatshops exploiting illegal or underpaid labour...Anne Carvell of trade body the Knitwear Industries Federation says sweatshop labour could account for up to 40% of the jobs in the clothing and knitwear industry...The High Street retailers make all of their suppliers sign a code of conduct forbidding the use of cheap labour. But according to one senior industry source, "the retailers like to keep everything at arms length." (Brian Wheeler, BBC News, 19 Mar. 2003)

USA: Judge Tosses Bhopal Lawsuit - A federal judge threw out a lawsuit Tuesday that sought damages for those living near the deadly 1984 gas leak that killed thousands in Bhopal, India, saying Union Carbide Corp. had done enough and that too much time had passed. (Larry Neumeister, Associated Press, 18 Mar. 2003)

Victims of industry poisons demand better medical care [Thailand] - All talk, no action, protesters claim (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, Bangkok Post, 18 Mar. 2003)

Silver Bay man wins age discrimination lawsuit [USA] - The court rules the employer [Anderson Fuel and Lubricants Inc.] was wrong to demote the man after his heart surgery. - A Silver Bay man was awarded a $157,000 judgment after a court determined that a Superior company was guilty of age discrimination and reckless indifference to the Minnesota Human Rights Act in firing him. (Mark Stodghill, Duluth News Tribune, 18 Mar. 2003)

Race discrimination victim still waiting for tribunal cash award [UK] - A Rastafarian who won a race discrimination tribunal against his employers [Adam Fire Surrounds Ltd] is still waiting for his compensation. (Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 18 Mar. 2003)

External Monitor Gives Chiquita SA8000 Certification for Costa Rica Banana Farms - Chiquita Brands International Inc. said that Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI), an external auditing organization, has certified that Chiquita’s banana farms in Costa Rica meet the Social Accountability 8000 (SA8000) labor standard. According to the AFX Global Ethics Monitor, BVQI has certified that Chiquita’s Costa Rica farms forbid the use of child and forced labor, guarantee the right to unionize, require a safe and healthy workplace and provide other safeguards for workers. (Business for Social Responsibility News Monitor summary of article in AFX Global Ethics Monitor, 18 Mar. 2003)

Private sector is not the answer for the 1.2 billion people who lack water -...'New Rules, New Roles: Does PSP (private sector participation) benefit the poor?' shows that the private sector is unlikely to be able to provide water to the 1.2 billion people currently lacking it. WaterAid and Tearfund want institutional organisations like The World Bank to stop blanket promotion of this as the main solution to the world water crisis. (Tearfund and WaterAid, 17 Mar. 2003)

Workers flee sweatshops [New York City] - Chinatown's garment factories, already reeling from a string of setbacks, are facing an unexpected challenge: Longtime garment workers are turning down factory work and instead taking paid job-training classes that they hope will lead to better-paying jobs. (NY Times News Service, 17 Mar. 2003)

{···français} Les femmes s'organisent en réseau dans les entreprises françaises [France] - La mixité dans la hiérarchie contribuerait à améliorer les performances des entreprises..."La discrimination positive? Elle existe à 200% en faveur des hommes", rétorque Annick Mathieu. (Annie Kahn, Le Monde, 17 Mar. 2003)

Flight attendants lose travel vouchers won in discrimination suit [USA] - Flight attendants who fought Trans World Airlines for almost 20 years over its policy of grounding pregnant employees won't get the free travel they were promised to settle the discrimination case in 1995. A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that American Airlines, which bought bankrupt TWA in 2001, does not have to honor the flight vouchers (David B. Caruso, Associated Press, 14 Mar. 2003)

Global Compact Participants Implementing Host of Supply Chain Initiatives - Reflecting a growing trend within the Global Compact initiative, Tweezerman, a leading manufacturer of personal-care products, announced that it plans to implement a new supplier agreement that mandates adherence to the nine principles of the Global Compact...Other companies that have submitted related examples [actively incorporating the Global Compact principles into their supply chains] to the Global Compact Learning Forum are: Petro-Canada, William E. Connor & Associates, Bayer AG, Li & Fung (Trading) Ltd., Ericsson, Robert Stephen Holdings, OneNest, and Engineers India Limited (U.N. Global Compact, 13 Mar. 2003)

BP panel warns of risk to human rights in Indonesia - BP has been warned by a panel of experts led by the US senator, George Mitchell, that it could trigger human rights abuses if it proceeds with a $2bn gas scheme in Indonesia. Concern centres on the role of the military which could be brought in to guard the Tangguh LNG facilities to be built in the Papua region...Despite this, the American politician...said yesterday the massive financial benefits of the scheme outweighed the problems...BP established the panel last year and is keen to avoid the kind of difficulties that have intermittently closed ExxonMobil's operations in Aceh province. (Terry Macalister, Guardian [UK], 12 Mar. 2003)

Oil giant gets Indonesia warning - Energy firm BP has been warned against relying on Indonesia's military as it develops a huge new gas field in a remote, poor area of West Papua province. The recommendation comes from a panel of advisors whom BP asked - and paid - for independent external guidance on its Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project...TIAP's report said security at Tangguh would be "the most difficult and sensitive issue for BP". (Manuela Saragosa, BBC News, 12 Mar. 2003)

City diary - Senator George Mitchell, heading a panel of "experts," last week warned BP to tread carefully in Indonesia, where exploiting a vast gas field could lead to brutal treatment of the Papuan inhabitants by the Indonesian military...Senator Mitchell got very sniffy last week at a press conference when asked how much he was being paid by BP to provide the company with his expert advice. (Richard Adams, Guardian [UK], 19 Mar. 2003)

Loggers vs. "Invisible" Tribes: Secret War in Amazon? [Peru] - The greatest pressure the isolated peoples face is from the loggers who have come to Madre de Dios to extract mahogany from the forests. Recent encounters between loggers and the isolated peoples have resulted in violence...They are at risk to disease that their immune systems cannot fight as well as mortal injury from the loggers. (John Roach, National Geographic News, 12 Mar. 2003)

ICICI Onesource Evolves New Code Against Sexual Harassment [India] - Corporates are slowly waking up to issues of sexual harassment in the workplace and how they will impact employees. At ICICI Onesource Ltd, it’s therefore deploying initiatives that will therefore better team management and awareness enhancement. A new internal policy on sexual harassment has also been evolved. This has been formulated after conducting benchmarking studies with corporates like GE, Wipro Ltd and Infosys. (Tarun Narayan, Financial Express [India], 12 Mar. 2003)

It's not women's day in the boardroom - yet [Singapore] -...At just over 6 per cent of all company directors in Singapore - little changed from a year ago - women remain a token presence in the boardroom. (Anna Teo, Business Times [Singapore], 8 Mar. 2003)

Suit accuses Friedman's of racial discrimination [USA] - Friedman's Inc., the Savannah-based jewelry chain, was accused in a federal lawsuit Thursday of racial discrimination against African-Americans in hiring and promotions, and maintaining a racially hostile workplace. (Matthew C. Quinn, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7 Mar. 2003)

{···español} PCB en las calles Plantenses [Argentina] - La Defensoría Ecológica de La Plata denunció ayer a la empresa de energía eléctrica Edelap por la utilización de transformadores con la sustancia tóxica PCB luego de que el viernes pasado vecinos de Gonnet presentaran un reclamo ante el organismo en donde afirmaban que por lo menos 10 personas, en una cuadra del barrio donde viven 15 familias, contrajeron diversos tipos de cáncer por la contaminación ambiental. (Página/12 [Argentina], 6 marzo 2003)

{···español} Nueva Protesta en Esquel contra la Mina de Oro y Plata [Argentina] - Piden que no se modifique la fecha fijada para el plebiscito que decidirá la suerte de la explotación. Temen que se contamine el medio ambiente...La empresa El Desquite, propiedad de la multinacional canadiense Meridiam Gold, compró en 1.400 millones de dólares un yacimiento de oro y plata ubicado a 7 kilómetros de la ciudad...Hará una inversión de 100 millones de dólares y creará 1.500 puestos de trabajo directos e indirectos. Pero la gente del pueblo y de las localidades vecinas se opone: tienen temor a la contaminación del medio ambiente debido a que, para sacar el oro y la plata de la roca, la empresa utilizará grandes cantidades de cianuro, un elemento altamente tóxico. (Clarín [Argentina], 5 marzo 2003)

HIV/AIDS Reporting Framework Released - Key performance indicators for HIV/AIDS management were set out for public feedback today...The resulting draft document, “Reporting Guidance on HIV/AIDS: A GRI Resource Document”, was released today in an effort to elicit extensive global feedback that will shape the final report. In parallel, a broad range of South African manufacturing, mining, banking, and government organisations have agreed to evaluate the HIV resource document. All public feedback should be submitted by 21 April 2003 to the South African contacts listed below. (Global Reporting Initiative, 4 Mar. 2003)

{···français} Les offres d'emplois ont-elles un sexe? [France] - Une étude révèle que les formules discriminatoires n'ont pas disparu des annonces. (Francine Aizicovici, Le Monde, 25 février 2003)

ExxonMobil in Aceh [Indonesia] - In Aceh, where security concerns forced ExxonMobil's gas operations to close down for several months in 2001, a peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), has been given a cautious welcome...For Acehnese living near the ExxonMobil operations in North Aceh, the deal will hopefully reduce the numbers of Indonesian troops stationed to guard the site, although post-Bali fears of terrorist attacks may well persuade ExxonMobil and Jakarta that current numbers should be maintained. This is the security force that stands accused of subjecting local people to torture, killings and disappearances, prompting a lawsuit against ExxonMobil in the US (Down to Earth Newsletter, Feb. 2003)

BP and Pertamina in pipeline safety row [Indonesia] - The British oil company BP has been accused of negligence in maintaining gas collection pipes at its offshore Pagerungan gas field near Madura in East Java. The president of state oil company Pertamina, Baihaki Hakim, said in January that BP should have anticipated a possible gas leak but had "failed to deal with it". (Down to Earth Newsletter, Feb. 2003)

Rio Tinto: practise what you preach! [Indonesia] - The efforts of UK-based mining company Rio Tinto to convince the world of its commitment to human rights have suffered another blow. According to media reports, in December, the family of human rights defender and poet Wiji Thukul rejected a human rights award funded by the company...The family said they refused the award because Rio Tinto was involved in several human rights violations at its mining operations in Indonesia and was responsible for the 1992 arrest of demonstrators who were demanding proper compensation for the use of their land. (Down to Earth Newsletter, Feb. 2003)

Villagers and PT PLN in Riam Kanan dam dispute [Indonesia] - Local people in South Kalimantan whose land was taken for a dam project over thirty years ago, threatened to cut electricity supplies if the state electricity company continued to deny them proper compensation. (Down to Earth Newsletter, Feb. 2003)

NGO to sue Singapore over sand imports [Indonesia] -...Since sand dredging started in 1979 [in Indonesia], coral reefs have been destroyed and fishing has suffered. So far around 500 million cubic metres of sand have been exported for land reclamation projects in Singapore...In 2001, Bisnis Indonesia reported that Dutch, Japanese and German companies had been contracted by Singapore to procure sand for reclamation projects. (Down to Earth Newsletter, Feb. 2003)

New report reveals women bear the brunt of mining operations in Indigenous Australia and abroad -...Contributors from Indigenous Australia, Papua New Guinea, India, Indonesia and The Philippines give various examples in which mining projects have overlooked or disregarded women's rights, resulting in further gender inequality, marginalisation, impoverishment and abuse of women. (Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, 25 Nov. 2002)

full report: Tunnel Vision: Women, Mining and Communities [includes reference to Benguet Corp., Alcan, Norsk Hydro, Indal, Rio Tinto, Kennecott, Placer Dome, Misima Mining Ltd., PT Freeport Indonesia, PT KEM, Aurora Gold, Newmont, PT IMK] (Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, Nov. 2002)

Women suffer worst impacts of mining - cases from Indonesia - The severely damaging impacts of mining on women have been highlighted in a new report. [Indonesian cases refer to Rio Tinto, Freeport, PT Indo Muro Kencana, Aurora Gold, Newmont, Inco] (Down to Earth Newsletter, Feb. 2003)

AWARE - Association of Women for Action and Research (Singapore)

Items added to website on Friday 21 March 2003:

Peru warns Southern on copper smelter upgrade - Peru will give Southern Peru Copper Corp three months to catch up on commitments to overhaul its aging smelter to curb pollution or face fines that could lead to the facility's closure, the government said...The Mexican-controlled firm had no comment. (Reuters, 20 Mar. 2003)

Rights case against Talisman allowed to proceed - A federal [U.S.] judge Wednesday refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Talisman Energy Inc., one of Canada's biggest oil companies, alleging it participated in human rights abuses against non-Muslim residents of southern Sudan. (Reuters, 19 Mar. 2003)

Working conditions: Results of the monitoring of Chinese garments suppliers - The pilot project on independent monitoring set up by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and by Migros, Switcher and Veillon makes today public the reports on its follow-up visits to Chinese suppliers of these three Swiss companies (Press release of the Clean Clothes Campaign in Switzerland and the companies Migros, Switcher and Veillon, 19 Mar. 2003)

Findings to the Chinese supplier of Switcher (Clean Clothes Campaign)
- Summary report on supplier of Switcher
- Comment from Clean Clothes Campaign
Findings to the Chinese supplier of Migros and Veillon (Clean Clothes Campaign)

Eight killed, including ChevronTexaco worker, as violence escalates in oil-rich Niger Delta [Nigeria] - Ethnic clashes in an oil-rich area of Nigeria have left eight people dead, including an employee of ChevronTexaco, officials said Tuesday...The Ijaws...accuse Nigeria and multinational companies of unfairly favoring smaller, rival tribes with lucrative contracts and development projects. (Dulue Mbachu, Associated Press, 19 Mar. 2003)

US seeks $289bn in tobacco claim - The US Justice Department is suing the world's leading tobacco companies for $289bn (£184.5bn) of their profits for the alleged fraudulent marketing of cigarettes. A court filing by the US government claims the companies lied about the link with cancer and the addictiveness of cigarettes. (BBC News, 19 Mar. 2003)

Pakistani-American Workers to Share $1.11 Million in Harassment Settlement with Stockton Steel [subsidiary of Herrick Corp.] [USA] - Muslim Employees Ridiculed While Engaging In Prayer Obligations, EEOC Suit Says (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 19 Mar. 2003)

Muslim workers to receive $1.1 million discrimination settlement [USA] - Stockton Steel [subsidiary of Herrick Corp.] will pay $1.1 million to four Pakistani-American former employees who said they were harassed because of their ethnicity and Muslim faith, under a settlement announced Wednesday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (Deborah Kong, Associated Press, 19 Mar. 2003)

Strategic alliances and partnerships to tackle urban water problems - As delegates pour into Japan this week for the Third World Water Forum, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) – a long-standing advocate of public-private partnerships for delivering water to those without access to it – used today’s CEO Forum to announce the start of its new project on urban water. Co-chaired by Gérard Payen of Suez, France, the project will be supported by a broad cross section of business, including water users, water operators and the financial sector. Its vision is to find ways to deliver affordable and sustainable water supply and sanitation for 100% of the world’s urban and peri-urban populations. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 19 Mar. 2003)

Union leader Somboon reinstated!! Action still needed on Gina Form Bra factory [Thailand] - GAP has reacted quickly to the organisations filing the complaint, and a monitoring team has visited twice and has also held meetings with the Union and other Thai organisations...CCC is pleased that the Gap is investigating this case and it taking an active role...WRAP has not reacted to the Unions complaint nor to letters of other organizations...La Senza is reportedly threatening to cease placing production orders with Gina Form Bra Company. The union DOES NOT want the brand label companies to withdraw orders and the factory to close...Victoria’s Secret [owned by the Limited Brands], K-mart and Boutique Jacob did not react at all. (Clean Clothes Campaign, 19 Mar. 2003)

GLOBALIZATION: IMF Warns Liberalization Can Harm Poor Countries - A new International Monetary Fund report indicates that the IMF is becoming more cautious about advising poor countries to open up to foreign capital, the Financial Times reported yesterday. (UN Wire, 19 Mar. 2003)

IMF more cautious over poor countries - Financial globalisation may put poor countries at greater risk of slipping into crisis and should be treated with caution, according to a report from the International Monetary Fund. (Alan Beattie, Financial Times, 18 Mar. 2003)

Evidence 'suppressed' on benefits of smoking ban [UK] - Evidence of thousands of lives could be saved each year by outlawing smoking at work has been suppressed by the Government because it fears a ban will prove too expensive for bars, clubs and hotels, anti-smoking campaigners claimed yesterday. (Marie Woolf, Independent [UK], 19 Mar. 2003)

Smoking ban good for hospitality workers' health - union [New Zealand] - A smoking ban in bars, casinos and restaurants would protect hospitality industry workers from proven harm, their union said today. (NZPA, 19 Mar. 2003)

More Action On Hazardous Substances - “Many New Zealand workers suffer unnecessarily from the harmful effects of hazardous substances because their employers disregard minimum standards,” said the Council of Trade Unions health and safety co-ordinator Greg Lloyd, today. (New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, 19 Mar. 2003)

Metro 'betrayal' over Turkish union deal - Leading German retailer Metro has been accused of "betrayal" by global union UNI for undermining an agreement reached only a few weeks ago to end union busting in its Turkish cash and carry subsidiary. (Union Network International, 19 Mar. 2003)

Worker crushed to death [UK] - A lorry driver was crushed to death [at Cavendish Mill] when he was caught between a fork lift truck and quarrying equipment, police said. (BBC News, 19 Mar. 2003)

Firms insurance costs may rise [UK] - Employers should pay more to meet the cost of workplace injuries according to the TUC. At present the TUC claims that most of the £18bn cost of workplace injury and illness is paid for by the government and the victims. (BBC News, 19 Mar. 2003)

Sun Hit With Discrimination Suit [USA] - In a class action suit against Sun Microsystems Inc., a former Sun employee claims the company discriminated against him and other employees when it layed off about 2,500 workers in 2001. Former Sun software engineering manager Walter Kruz...claimed that Sun engaged in age and race discrimination when it fired him and others. (Jeff Moad, eWEEK, 19 Mar. 2003)

Michigan bars corn farmers from using herbicide [Balance Pro, manufactured by Bayer Crop Science] that critics say is linked to water pollution [USA] (Associated Press, 19 Mar. 2003)

UK votes to keep highly toxic pesticide - The highly toxic pesticide aldicarb will continue to be used on vegetables in the UK following a decision by European farm ministers yesterday. (Friends of the Earth, 19 Mar. 2003)

Cape-sponsored gender non-discrimination bill passes key Assembly committee [USA] - Bill Authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno Passes with Support of Community and Business Leaders - The California State Assembly's Labor & Employment Committee today passed a historic civil rights measure, sponsored by the California Alliance for Pride and Equality (CAPE), to prohibit housing and workplace discrimination based on gender characteristics [including transgender status] (California Alliance for Pride and Equality, 19 Mar. 2003)

CEOs Advocate Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability at Conference: The Forum for Corporate Conscience calls on CEOs and corporations to promote triple bottom line performance -...The leadership section advocates the adoption of the Global Reporting Initiative...The white paper, which was written by academics from the McColl Graduate School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte, points out that companies and investors do not necessarily sacrifice financial returns to advance triple bottom line performance. (KLD Research & Analytics, 19 Mar. 2003)

Ski resorts get creative to battle global warming [USA] - Ski resorts across the country are launching a new campaign to highlight the impact of global warming on winter recreation and the opportunities both resort operators and their guests have to start solving the problem. (GreenBiz.com, 19 Mar. 2003)

Fiji: No Trade Union Rights at Turtle Island Resort -...The IUF-affiliated National Union of Hospitality, Catering and Tourism Industries Employees (NUHCTIE) has repeatedly assisted resort employees seeking union representation, but each time Mr. Evanson has responded by firing union members. (IUF, International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations, 18 Mar. 2003)

Lawsuit alleging age discrimination against Supervalu headed to trial [USA] (Ann Merrill, Star Tribune, 18 Mar. 2003)

AARP, Virginia Law Firm Sue Capital One [USA] - The AARP has joined an age discrimination lawsuit filed in Virginia against Capital One Financial Corp. (AP, 16 Mar. 2003)

US Grant for Fight Against Aids At the Workplace [Mozambique] - The Mozambican government on Friday received a grant of around 900,000 dollars from the United States to support actions in workplaces against the spread of HIV/AIDS. (Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, 15 Mar. 2003)

Unocal adopts company-wide principles - Unocal Corporation has announced the adoption of new corporate principles covering fundamental rights, such as freedom from discrimination in employment, the elimination of child labour and freedom of association and collective bargaining. The move was welcomed by the Amalgamated Bank, which was one of the company's investors that had urged the company to take the step in a shareholder resolution that won 32.8 percent support at the company's AGM - at the time the largest ever such vote of support recorded for a human rights motion...Unocal has been the focus of criticism due to its business activities in Myanmar - particularly alleged complicity with the actions of security services who committed various human rights violations. (Business Respect newsletter No. 52, 15 Mar. 2003)

Burma: Why the Boycott Continues -...Some 300 transnational companies are active in Burma, in direct or indirect partnership with the military (the list is available on the ICFTU web site). The IUF campaigned persistently for PepsiCo and the French-based Accor hotel group to disinvest. We will be stepping up the pressure on British-American Tobacco (BAT), the last significant TNC in our sectors to profit from repression in Burma. (IUF - International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations, 14 Mar. 2003)

Use kid gloves in handling claims of discrimination or harassment [USA] - There are simple ways employers can more effectively cooperate with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission while creating a better environment for the resolution of employment issues. These guidelines will minimize both the risk of claims and potential liability should a claim be asserted. (Stephen W. Schueler, Winstead Sechrest & Minick PC, in Houston Business Journal, 14 Mar. 2003)

Fired ConAgra Worker Wins Race Case [USA] - A line supervisor at an Arkansas poultry processing plant has won a jury verdict of more than $14 million on claims that his firing after 32 years of employment was racially motivated. (Nick Upmeyer, National Law Journal, 26 Feb. 2003)

Items added to website on Wednesday 19 March 2003:

Taco's tomato pickers on slave wages [USA] - Dispute over poor pay by contractors highlights plight of immigrant workers - The American fast food giant Taco Bell has been buying tomatoes produced by slave and sweatshop labour, according to a group of Florida tomato pickers who held a 10-day hunger strike outside the company's headquarters. (Duncan Campbell, Guardian [UK], 17 Mar. 2003)

Lawbreaking continues at Point Blank [USA] - Bullet-proof vest maker continues to violate employees' rights, commit unfair labor practices, labor charges allege - On the eve of a possible war, an important defense contractor, Point Blank Body Armor [subsidiary of DHB Industries], has allegedly committed more than a dozen violations of national labor law, according to charges filed by UNITE union with the National Labor Relations Board late last week...The charges allege that Point Blank committed 15 violations of its employees’ rights by illegally terminating an employee for union support, subjecting employees to surveillance because of union activity, and retaliating against union supporters by denying them overtime – all in defiance of a recently issued injunction. (UNITE - Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees,17 Mar. 2003)

company website: Point Blank Body Armor

TECHNOLOGY: UNIFEM, Task Force Work To Increase Access For Women - The U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the U.N. Information and Technologies Task Force signed an agreement last week aimed at strengthening collaborative efforts to increase women's access to information and communication technologies. The agreement calls for the joint mobilization of resources to encourage countries, international organizations and the private sector to provide equal opportunities for women in employment, training and advancement in the technology sector. (UN Wire, 17 Mar. 2003)

UNIFEM and UN ICT Task Force Strengthen Joint Efforts to Increase Women’s Access to Information Technology - Launch of Digital Diaspora Initiative in Africa scheduled for May - An upcoming joint initiative will be the launch of the UNIFEM Digital Diaspora Initiative in Uganda...It seeks to undertake projects that empower women economically through capacity building in the use of ICTs, identifying business opportunities, creating business partnerships, and providing access to finance as well as building the knowledge-base on ICTs for poverty alleviation. (UNIFEM, 14 Mar. 2003)

Indian Company in Partnership to Produce Cheap Meningitis Vaccine for Developing World - Serum Institute of India Ltd. has agreed to be the first to produce a vaccine for a strain of meningitis that is epidemic in Africa and will do so for approximately $.40 per dose. According to The Wall Street Journal, the project will be funded by the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) a program established in 2001 with a $70 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to correct what supporters call a “market failure” in vaccines for the developing world. The vaccine for meningitis A was developed but never commercially produced by two major firms (Business for Social Responsibility summary of article in Wall Street Journal, 17 Mar. 2003)

Charges follow deaths at Pacific Steel [New Zealand] - Pacific Steel is to face prosecution over the deaths of two men at its Auckland site last year. (EPMU - New Zealand Amalgamated Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, 17 Mar. 2003)

Metro deceives UNI and ver.di, misuses Turkish trade union, threatens workers with dismissal if they don't join - Only two weeks after concluding an agreement with UNI Commerce and German affiliate ver.di, which was to restore the normal trade union rights of Turkey's commerce trade union Tez-Koop-Is, management had misused another union and was forcing workers to join it, under threat of dismissal. (Global Unions, 17 Mar. 2003)

Brazil Amazon jungle fires reach Indian reserve - Forest fires burning in Brazil's northern Amazon jungle have spread to the reserve of the Yanomami Indians, one of the world's last hunter-gatherer tribes, and the government urged farmers not to light more fires during the dry season. (Reuters, 17 Mar. 2003)

UK says aviation industry should pay pollution costs - Britain's aviation industry will have to pay for polluting the environment, and the estimated bill could more than triple to 4.8 billion pounds ($7.7 billion) a year by 2030, the government said. (Daniel Morrissey, Reuters, 17 Mar. 2003)

Food experts set guidelines to judge biotech risks - International food experts agreed on a framework last week for assessing the risks of biotech foods, establishing global guidelines that could help shape countries' food policies and influence trade disputes. (Tim Large, Reuters, 17 Mar. 2003)

EU wants to simplify limits on pesticide residues - The European Commission plans to set maximum residue levels for pesticides used by farmers across the 15-nation bloc, part of its programme to raise food safety standards for European consumers, it said. (Reuters, 17 Mar. 2003)

Breaking the 24/7 work habit - Setting limits in an age of instant access has meant a better quality of life for many -...Researchers found that those who had little latitude or control over the circumstances of their work were 43 percent more likely to die over five years and 50 percent more likely to die over a 10-year period than their peers with greater latitude. (Adam Stone, SunSpot/Baltimore Sun, 17 Mar. 2003)

Alcoa Honors 16 Suppliers of Recycled Beverage Containers - Alcoa’s Rigid Packaging Unit has recognized 16 companies with its UBC Supplier Quality Awards for shipments of outstanding quality used beverage containers (UBCs) in 2002. (GreenBiz.com, 17 Mar. 2003)

World Water Forum: March 16-23, 2003 Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka, Japan

Labour Dept campaign finds 700 alleged workers compensation violations [South Africa] - More than 700 workers in Gauteng reported to the Department of Labour on Saturday how they had received no compensation for injuries they suffered while at work and how some of them had been fired after they were injured. (South African Press Association, 16 Mar. 2003)

Gold Mines Could Face Gencor-Type Lawsuits [South Africa] - Spoor said far more workers had silicosis than asbestosis (Business Day [South Africa], 14 Mar. 2003)

{···español} La CIOSL acusa a 11 países clave de graves violaciones de derechos [derechos sindicales] [Colombia, Venezuela, Haití, Zimbabwe, República Democrática del Congo, China, República de Corea, Birmania, Belarús...] (Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, 14 marzo 2003)

{···français} La CISL dénonce de graves violations [violations des droits syndicaux] dans 11 pays clés [Colombie, Venezuela, Haïti, Zimbabwe, République démocratique du Congo, Chine, République de Corée, Birmanie, Biélorussie...] (Confédération internationale des syndicats libres, 14 mars 2003)

WATER: How To Supply All Populations Will Dominate Next Week's Forum - The question of how to get sufficient water to all the world's people will dominate the third World Water Forum, which begins Sunday in Kyoto, Japan...One of the most controversial topics participants will address is the question of whether water is a commodity or a basic human right. U.N. agencies and other international groups contend it is both, but the privatization of water companies has met with mixed success and has even created unrest, as when a revolt in Bolivia over Bechtel Corporation's doubling of water rates left seven people dead. (UN Wire, 14 Mar. 2003)

The launch of the UK Corporate Responsibility Index - Toby Kent reports from the launch of the BitC [Business in the Community] Corporate Responsibility Index, highlighting its main components and the major issues it raises. (Toby Kent, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 14 Mar. 2003)

Results of first Corporate Responsibility Index published [UK] - Business in the Community has released the results of its first annual Corporate Responsibility Index today. The index publicly benchmarks the responsible business practice of top companies in the UK...Companies in the top quintile are: 3M; AstraZeneca; Aviva; BAA; BP; BT Group; Carillion; Dow Chemical Company; ISIS; J Sainsbury; Marks & Spencer; mm02; National Grid Transco; Rio Tinto; Safeway; ScottishPower; Shell International; Tesco; Unilever; Waste Recycling Group; Co-operative Bank; Co-operative Insurance Society; Innogy Holdings; Lafarge Cement UK; Vivendi Water. (Business in the Community, 12 Mar. 2003)

Corporate Responsibility Index (Business in the Community)

2002 Index Results (Business in the Community)

New UK Index Rates Corporate Social Responsibility Performance (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 13 Mar. 2003)

Dow Chemical to Use Landfill Gas to Reduce Plant Emissions [USA] -...This use of landfill gas is expected to reduce emissions by more than 27 million pounds of carbon dioxide per year, the company says. (GreenBiz.com, 14 Mar. 2003)

Gana & Gwi Bushmen - Survival labelled 'terrorist' organisation [Botswana] - Survival has recently been labelled a 'terrorist' organisation by a senior figure in Debswana, De Beers's Botswana subsidiary...Mr Rafael Runco, Chairman of Survival International, said today, 'These remarks clearly show that, rather than addressing the huge international concern at the forced removal of the Bushmen, the Botswana government and Debswana are resorting to name-calling. The government ought to be allowing the Bushmen back on to their land, rather than criticising the messenger.' (Survival International, 13 Mar. 2003)

Indigenous Struggle in Ecuador Becomes a "Cause Beyond Control" - Transnational Oil Companies Free to Leave Amazon -...On March 4, 2003, the Ecuadorian newspaper Hoy reported that the Ministry of Environment has agreed to allow two transnational companies to cancel their oil concession contracts under the provision of force majeure. The force majeure they are referring to is the determined opposition of Kichwa, Shuar and Achuar people who live in the concession areas to ongoing activities by the companies, Burlington Resources of Texas and Compania General de Combustibles (CGC) of Argentina. The CGC concession is owned partly by ChevronTexaco, according to Platt's Oilgram News. (Kenny Bruno, EarthRights International, CorpWatch website, 13 Mar. 2003)

CHILD LABOR: ILO, Inter-American Development Bank Examine Strategies -...Most child laborers in Latin America work in agriculture, especially coffee growing, but urban areas are the scene of child labor and exploitation, including child prostitution (UN Wire, 13 Mar. 2003)

Women still find slow rise to power positions [Canada] - Hold only 14% of corporate officer jobs in Canada (Janet McFarland, Globe & Mail, 13 Mar. 2003)

ELECTRONICS: UNESCO Explores Recycling Outdated Equipment - UNESCO plans to host electronics specialists in Paris tomorrow and Saturday to discuss strategies for recycling outdated high-tech equipment by giving it to developing countries lacking technology...A survey of 20 European and U.S. global corporations found that more than 1 million personal computers will be decommissioned in the next three years. (UN Wire, 13 Mar. 2003)

UNESCO hosts meeting on recycling information technology equipment in developing countries -...Among those attending will be: Timothy Anderson (World Computer Exchange); Tony Roberts (Computer Aid International); Lyndall de Marco (The Digital Partnership); David Sogan (Digital Links International); and Chris Mullaney Sundlie (Microsoft Corporation). (UNESCO, 12 Mar. 2003)

Pension funds and SRI [UK] - Recent research suggests that even when current financial troubles have receded the onward march of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) may be much slower than many have predicted, writes Roger Cowe - Trustees seem to be suffering from a general state of depression about the ability of pension funds to influence companies’ social and environmental performance – and the likely financial benefits even if companies do improve. (Roger Cowe, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 13 Mar. 2003)

Staples joins Green Power Market Development Group -...Convened in 2000 by WRI, the Green Power Market Development Group is a unique commercial and industrial partnership dedicated to building corporate markets for green power, that is, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass and landfill gas. (World Resources Institute, 13 Mar. 2003)

Dow [Dow Chemical Company] joins Green Power Market Development Group (World Resources Institute, 13 Mar. 2003)

Kinko’s to Ban Suppliers from Purchasing Wood Products from Endangered Forests - Copy store chain Kinko’s Inc. has announced it will not purchase any paper or wood products derived from old-growth or endangered forests as part of a new corporate environmental policy. (Business for Social Responsibility summary of article in AFX Global Ethics Monitor, 12 Mar. 2003)

D.C. Developer Buys Green Power for 13 of Its Buildings [USA] - The Tower Companies, a Bethesda, Md.-based commercial and residential building developer, has announced the purchase of more than 24 million kilowatt hours of green power. (GreenBiz.com, 12 Mar. 2003)

Communities Give Shell 2-Week Ultimatum [Nigeria] - The leadership of two oil-rich communities in Delta State have handed down a two-week ultimatum to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to embark on infrastructural development of their areas or stop oil exploration activities...The two communities at a news conference addressed by Chief B.O. Asaboro on their behalf at Owevwe town hall alleged that the management of SPDC and its contracting firm, Dresser -and Nigeria Ltd. were using the soldiers to torment and harass the hamlets and law abiding villagers. (Sola Adebayo, Vanguard [Nigeria], 11 Mar. 2003)

company website: Shell Nigeria

Awá - Amazon nomads celebrate land victory - Triumph for Brazil’s last hunter-gatherers after 20-year Survival campaign - Brazil’s last hunter-gatherer Indian tribe face the future with more confidence this week, after the demarcation – mapping out and marking on the ground – of the Awá Indians’ land was completed. This legal recognition of their territory, ordered by a judge, was the main objective of a 20-year Survival campaign. Much of the Awá’s rainforest has been invaded by ranchers, loggers and settlers, who killed many Indians...The EU- and World Bank-funded Carajás industrial project was responsible for much of the devastation. (Survival International, 11 Mar. 2003)

Brazil Recognizes Land Rights of Amazon Hunter-Gatherers (Jim Lobe, OneWorld US, 12 Mar. 2003)

New EU deals with Africa still fishy - WWF - A new report released today by WWF shows that the new ‘cash for access’ deals signed by the EU to allow European boats to fish in African waters, while better than the previous ones, are still highly questionable...current deals are far from being environmentally, socially, or economically sustainable. (WWF, 11 Mar. 2003)

full report: Fisheries Agreements with Third Countries – Is the EU Moving towards Sustainable Development? (WWF, 11 Mar. 2003)

NEC Announces Environmental Management Vision for 2010 - NEC Corporation recently announced a new companywide environmental management vision, which aims to achieve zero CO2 emissions by fiscal year 2010. (GreenBiz.com, 10 Mar. 2003)

Largest Ever Seizure of Illegal Wood in UK - The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) today applauded the announcement by HM Customs of the largest seizure of illegal wood products ever seen in the UK, but stressed the need for new laws to tackle the flood of illegally sourced timber and wood products entering the country. (Environmental Investigation Agency, 27 Feb. 2003)

Jordan's Sweatshops: the Carrot or the Stick of US Policy? [report on working conditions in Jordan's Qualified Industrial Zones] -...more than 40 thousand workers, toiling in more than 60 factories producing solely for the US market [including Target, Wal-Mart and JC Penny] -...Jordanians own almost none of the factories. Most are owned and operated by entrepreneurs from China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Pakistan or the Philippines who import workers from over-seas...Factory owner Syed Adil Ali says his factory only contracts Sri Lankan girls. "They are very peace minded girls," he says. "I found some kind of problem with the boys. They made some kind of union, some kind of disturbance in the factory. So we prefer the girls." (Aaron Glantz, CorpWatch, 26 Feb. 2003)

Corporate Bill for Slavery - The federal class-action lawsuits [in USA]...seek corporate accountability for profits made from slavery, unspecified damages and the establishment of a fund for the healthcare, housing, education and economic development needs of African-Americans. They also want a full investigation of the financial underpinnings of slavery...On the other side of the lawsuits are seventeen powerful corporations. They include financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase and FleetBoston; insurance companies (e.g., Aetna and New York Life); railroads (Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and CSX); tobacco companies (R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson); and a textile manufacturer (WestPoint Stevens). (John S. Friedman, The Nation, 20 Feb. 2003)

Items added to website on Monday 17 March 2003:

W Papua mine paid $18.5m to military [West Papua/Indonesia] - Freeport Indonesia has been forced to reveal it paid more than $US11million ($18.5 million) to the Indonesian army over the past two years for security at its operations in strife-torn West Papua. It is the first time the mining giant has admitted the full extent of the military's involvement in the controversial gold and copper mine..."Transnational corporations operating in countries with repressive governments, ethnic conflict, weak rule of law, endemic corruption or poor labour and environmental standards face serious risks to their reputation and share value if they are seen to be responsible for, or complicit in, human rights violations," the shareholders' resolution reads [US shareholders in the parent company Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.]...A spokesman for Rio Tinto, which owns 16 per cent of the parent company Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc, said that management of the Indonesian mine was the responsibility of Freeport, and it was inappropriate for a minority shareholder to comment. (Sian Powell, The Australian, 15 Mar. 2003)

TNI chief admits to perks from Freeport [Indonesia/West Papua] - Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Soetarto said on Friday some 600 troops stationed at the Freeport mine in Papua to protect the company's assets receive daily allowances and lunches from the United States-based company....Endriartono was commenting on a news report that TNI received US$5.6 million from the American-based company to protect its employees...The giant mining company has been operating in the country since the late 1960s, but its presence in Papua has become increasingly controversial of late, with critics linking it to human rights abuses and graft. (Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta Post, 15 Mar. 2003)

Black workers to receive £45m asbestos settlement [South Africa] - Thousands of black South African workers suffering from asbestos-related diseases yesterday secured multi-million pound compensation deals from two leading mining companies, after six years of legal wrangling in London and Johannesburg. British company Cape has agreed to pay £7.5m in compensation to 7,500 workers, and Gencor, a South African company which took over many Cape operations in 1979, has agreed to set up a trust fund for its workers, worth 448 million rand (£37.5m). Gencor will pay an additional £3.21m to the Cape claimants, who were also exposed to Gencor's operations. (David Black, Guardian, 14 Mar. 2003)

SA mineworkers win asbestos payout -...the largest settlement in the country's history. [South Africa] (BBC News, 14 Mar. 2003)

Asbestos deal won't bring back the dead [South Africa] - Various organisations said on Thursday nothing would reverse the loss of life and damage suffered by victims of asbestos-related diseases but they welcomed the settlement agreements with Cape plc and Gencor with a mixture of anger and relief. (South African Press Association, in Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 14 Mar. 2003)

ICFTU targets 11 key countries for grave violations - Violations of trade union and other human rights in 11 countries [including Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, China, South Korea, Burma, Belarus] as well as the issue of globalisation and its impact on respect for human rights will be on the ICFTU’s agenda for this year’s 59th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 14 Mar. 2003)

BP faces record fine for spoiling Los Angeles air [USA] - BP is facing a record $320m (£200m) pollution fine and allegations that the oil company submitted false documentation to air quality control regulators (Terry Macalister, Guardian [UK], 14 Mar. 2003)

California air agency sues BP for $319 mln over tanks (Reuters, 14 Mar. 2003)

BP accused of violations in California - California environmental officials have, in a $319m lawsuit, accused BP, the world's second biggest energy company, of violating air pollution rules and lying in reports to regulators. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is also probing alleged violations by ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco, but has yet to decide whether to file suit because it has not finished its investigations (Carola Hoyos & Sheila McNulty, Financial Times, 13 Mar. 2003)

NEWS from the USWA [United Steelworkers of America]: Labor Network Challenges Rio Tinto plc to Live Up to Its Self-Proclaimed Image of `Corporate Responsibility' - Leaders of the Rio Tinto Global Network -- a coalition of labor unions representing thousands of union members around the globe who work for the London/Melbourne-based multinational mining and minerals conglomerate Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RTP) -- called on the company today to abandon its worldwide de-unionization efforts and to live up to its often-stated image of being a "responsible" global corporation. (United Steelworkers of America, 14 Mar. 2003)

company website: Rio Tinto

Government consults on the environmental cost of aviation [UK] - The Government today published a discussion paper on how economic measures could be used to encourage the aviation industry to take more account of its environmental impact. (Friends of the Earth, 14 Mar. 2003)

World Bank to call for more dams - More dams must be built in developing countries to meet future demands for water and electricity, the World Bank will tell an international water conference starting on Sunday in Kyoto, Japan. Although new dam projects must be socially and environmentally acceptable, the need for more hydropower must be accepted, Ian Johnston, the World Bank vice-president for sustainable development, told the Financial Times. (John Mason and Vanessa Houlder, Financial Times, 14 Mar. 2003)

Workforce: Watch yourself at work [USA] - A total of 8,786 work fatalities were reported in 2001 [in USA], including those related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks...The construction industry, with fatalities at their highest level since the fatality census was first conducted in 1992, continued to report the largest number of fatal work injuries of any industry...Statistics aside, McWane Inc., an Alabama-based sewer and water pipe manufacturer, is often cited among policy makers and media as one of the worst examples of workplace safety. Since 1995, nine McWane employees have died in workplace accidents...Since 1995, over 4,500 McWane employees have suffered workplace injuries. (T.K. Maloy, UPI, 14 Mar. 2003)

Alberta picks companies to provide "green" power [Canada] - Alberta chose two firms this week [Canadian Hydro Developers and Enmax Corp] to power its courthouses, prisons and other public buildings with renewable electricity, a move the western Canadian province said puts it on track to meet 90 percent of its needs with "green" energy by 2005. (Reuters, 14 Mar. 2003)

Tea gardens' labourers in distress [Bangladesh] - Thousands of people engaged as labourers in the tea gardens of Sylhet region have been leading a sub-human existence for years together. These ill-fated people are deprived of basic rights-- food, clothing, shelter, education and healthcare-- some tea labourers told this correspondent with an air of utter despondency. (Independent [Bangladesh], 13 Mar. 2003)

"I Feel Disgusted" [USA] - Alleged death threats and sexual abuse of immigrants at a North Haven factory [Chef Solutions factory that makes and freezes dough for bread baked at, among other places, Subway and Shaw's] -...Alexander says the sexual harassment stopped in 2001, after six years, when she and her sisters hired a lawyer...the workers have taken their complaint national, distributing leaflets at the ticket counters of Lufthansa airlines, the factory's parent company. [includes excerpts from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Chef Solutions' North Haven factory; also refers to a racial discrimination complaint against the same company] (Paul Bass, New Haven Advocate, 13 Mar. 2003)

Nursing Homes to Get Safety Guidelines [USA] - Nursing homes are the first industry to get government guidelines that suggest ways to reduce workplace injuries, replacing the legal requirements Congress rolled back two years ago after businesses complained they were too burdensome and costly. (Leigh Strope, AP, 13 Mar. 2003)

“Caregivers hope the guidelines will be followed, but hope is all they can do.” [USA] - OSHA's new ergonomics guidelines recommend that employers take action to prevent injuries that affect thousands of nursing home workers and residents each year. But the voluntary guidelines will not do enough to protect workers and residents from injury. Nursing home work is so crippling that safety guidelines need to be mandatory - not voluntary. (Service Employees International Union, 13 Mar. 2003)

Bankwatch: Baku-Ceyhan pipeline in Turkey poorly planned - The CEE Bankwatch Network today released a report critical of an environmental and social impact assessment (EIA) of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. Bankwatch's report, a quality analysis of the EIA for the pipeline's Turkish section, criticises the BTC company -- led by BP (formerly British Petroleum) -- for inadequately assessing the effects of the planned pipeline. (CEE Bankwatch Network, 12 March 2003)

Chinese workers denied permission to protest over jailed leaders - Police have rejected a request by workers in China's northeast to hold a 1,000-strong protest to mark the anniversary of the arrests of two of their leaders and to demand their release, sources said Wednesday. (Agence France-Presse, 12 Mar. 2003)

Green groups challenge US EPA on manure controls [USA] - The Bush administration needs to rewrite its rules for controlling manure runoff from the largest U.S. cattle, hog and poultry farms, three environmental groups said in announcing a lawsuit to overturn the rules. (Reuters, 12 Mar. 2003)

Freeing the Child Slaves of Volta Lake [Ghana] - Just over a year ago, IOM [International Organization for Migration] became involved in the issue of child trafficking for labour exploitation in Ghana [in fishing communities]. (Dr Ernest Taylor, International Organization for Migration - Ghana, 11 Mar. 2003)

Listing rules to go green [UK] - Company listings requirements should be overhauled to include environmental, social and ethical information, according to new research published today by Claros Consulting and Friends of the Earth...Information disclosure is at the heart of listing and the report concludes that this must include providing information to investors on the social, environmental and ethical risks to a company. (Friends of the Earth, 10 Mar. 2003)

full report: Open Disclosure: Sustainability and the listings regime (Claros Consulting and Friends of the Earth, Feb. 2003)

IOM Calls for an End to Violence Against Migrant Women and the Trafficking of Women and Children into Sexual Bondage (International Organization for Migration, 7 Mar. 2003)

Good Practice Guide on Domestic Violence and the Workplace Launched [UK] - Opportunity Now in partnership with Women’s Aid (the national charity working to end domestic violence against women and children) have produced The Good Practice Guide for Employers on ‘Domestic Violence and the Workplace’. (Business in the Community, 7 Mar. 2003)

UnumProvident announces corporate mentoring programme for disabled people [UK] - Leading disability insurer, UnumProvident is calling on UK companies to join in a new and exciting volunteering mentor programme, developed in conjunction with RADAR (the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation) and supported by Business in the Community (BITC), to help disabled people overcome barriers to finding work. (Business in the Community, 3 Mar. 2003)

Sale of Fairtrade products doubles [UK] - Sales of goods that promise a better deal for farmers in developing countries have more than doubled in three years, it was announced at the weekend...Sainsbury's now sells around 1 million Fairtrade bananas a week, and has own-brand coffee, tea, and chocolate that carry the Fairtrade certification mark. Last November the Co-op supermarket chain announced it was switching all its own-brand chocolate to Fairtrade. (David Brown, Guardian [UK], 3 Mar. 2003)

report: Development Disasters: Japanese-Funded Dam Projects in Asia - This report features case studies of six exisiting or proposed dam projects funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). JBIC-funded dam projects in Asia have been fraught with problems, which have led to serious and unmitigated social, environmental and economic impacts, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. [refers to dam projects in Indonesia (Koto Panjang Dam: refers to lawsuit by local people in Indonesia against Tokyo Electric Power Services Co., JBIC & Japanese govt.), Philippines (San Roque Multipurpose Project: refers to San Roque Power Corp., consisting of Marubeni, Kansai Electric & Sithe Energies), Thailand, China, Malaysia] (Rivers Watch East and Southeast Asia, International Rivers Network and Friends of the Earth, Mar. 2003)

briefing kit: Dammed rivers, damned lies: What the water establishment doesn’t want you to know - Over 45,000 large dams have been built to meet the world’s water, energy and flood management needs. However, dams have failed to live up to expectations and have devastated communities and ecosystems. This briefing kit exposes the myths behind large dams and promotes equitable and sustainable solutions for meeting the world’s needs. [also available in Japanese] (Friends of the Earth Japan and International Rivers Network, 28 Feb. 2003)

Yorkshire businesses get stark warning on climate change [UK] - An environmental conference held at York Racecourse today gave Yorkshire businesses a stark warning. Businesses were told to act now or face the affects of climate change and further tough legislation. (Business in the Community, 12 Feb. 2003)

52 Bishops Call For Reform of Arms Export Laws [UK] - In a letter to The Times today, 52 UK bishops called on the Government to commit to reform of the Arms Export Control Act. They are adding their voices to Oxfam’s campaign to stop British arms reaching vulnerable developing countries and conflict zones. (Oxfam GB, 5 Feb. 2003)

Kraft criticised over coffee policy [UK] - A Gloucestershire company is being accused of making excessive profits at the expense of farmers in the developing world. The charity Oxfam says Cheltenham-based Kraft Foods is making billions in profits around the world, particularly from its coffee products, while farmers are facing bankruptcy. (BBC News, 4 Feb. 2003)

Regulating weapons deals: The case for European Controls on arms brokers (Oxfam, Feb. 2003)

{···français} La réglementation des ventes d'armes: Plaidoyer pour un contrôle européen des marchands d'armes (Oxfam, février 2003)

Corporate Complicity From Nuremberg to Rangoon: An Examination of Forced Labor Cases and Their Impact on the Liability of Multinational Corporations - Abstract: The article looks at nature and degree of complicity that gives rise to liability on the part of multinational corporations (MNCs) that operate in countries with repressive regimes. Specifically, it examines lawsuits in United States against these MNCs for violations of public international law under the federal Alien Torts Claim Act (ATCA). It also views the historical origins of corporate complicity, and examines the outcomes of British and American war crimes tribunal set up after the Second World War. Further, the article compares and contrasts these historical cases with the recent case brought in the federal district court against Unocal Corporation for alleged use of force labor in its pipeline project in Burma. (Professor Anita Ramasastry, University of Washington School of Law, in Berkeley Journal of International Law, vol. 20 no. 1, 2002)

Enforcing international humanitarian law: Catching the accomplices - Literally within days of the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the end of the Rome Conference in July 1998 the Financial Times...published an article warning "commercial lawyers" that the treaty's accomplice liability provision "could create international criminal liability for employees, officers and directors of corporations"...The Financial Times was therefore quite right to warn business executives that a new world was dawning with the adoption of the Rome Statute. (William A. Schabas, Professor of Human Rights Law at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, in International Review of the Red Cross No.42, 29 June 2001)

Unocal: "Unocal Code of Conduct: Business Ethics - Human Rights, Labor and Community Issues"

Toolkit: Human Rights - Overview (Business in the Community)

Human Rights - Why bother? (Business in the Community)

Human Rights - How do I start? (Business in the Community)

Items added to website on Friday 14 March 2003:

Reps Order Shell to Pay Ijaw $1.5b Compensation [Nigeria] -...the House of Representatives has ordered Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigeria Limited to pay the sum of US$1.5 billion to Ijaw Aborigines of Bayelsa State as compensation for the untold hardship and environmental devastation it has brought the Ijaws since 1956. The House of Representatives issued this directive to Shell (SPDC) following the recommendation of a-four-man advisory legal panel which it set up to consider the petition filed by Ijaw Aborigines against Shell. (Lemmy Ughegbe, Vanguard [Nigeria], 12 Mar. 2003)

MYANMAR: Forced Labor Continues, ILO Representative Says (UN Wire, 12 Mar. 2003)

CLIMATE CHANGE: Report Indicates Companies Ignore Warming Threat - Investment advisers Innovest said last week that the financial sector is not taking climate change seriously enough, even though global warming poses one of the most tangible risks to companies' financial performance. (UN Wire, 12 Mar. 2003)

Pollution agency seeks $319 million from BP Arco [USA] - The South Coast Air Quality Management District filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking more than $319 million in damages from BP Arco for alleged violations of emissions standards. (Associated Press, 12 Mar. 2003)

Lion Oil Reaches Clear Air Settlement With Government [USA] - The U.S. Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday said they had reached a comprehensive Clean Air Act settlement with Lion Oil Co. to reduce harmful air emissions from the company’s El Dorado refinery by 1,380 tons per year. (Arkansas Business, 12 Mar. 2003)

Shell chief delivers global warming warning to Bush in his own back yard - Shell chairman Sir Philip Watts risks stirring up a controversy in America today when he calls for global warming sceptics to get off the fence and accept that action needs to be taken "before it is too late". (Terry Macalister, Guardian [UK], 12 Mar. 2003)

Talisman completes Sudan sale - Talisman Energy Inc. said Wednesday it has completed the sale of its oil interests in Sudan...Critics including human rights groups and churches said revenues from the Sudan project helped finance the country's civil war, which began in 1983 and has left more than two million people dead through fighting and famine. Talisman has always maintained that its presence promoted peace and development in the east African country. (Canadian Press, 12 Mar. 2003)

Wells Fargo waffles on Holocaust fund - Wells Fargo & Co. reversed itself Tuesday and said it will contribute $267,000 to a war-reparations fund being created under a settlement last year between Belgium's Jewish community and its banking industry..."We sincerely apologize to the Jewish community and deeply regret any misunderstanding that our original decision may have caused," Kovacevich said. "We abhor the crimes of the Holocaust because it represents the worst form of discrimination and violation of basic human rights."...Of the 22 banks named in the $59 million settlement, Wells had been the only one to refuse to pay its assessment, arguing that it shouldn't be held responsible for the wartime actions of a Belgian bank to which it had only a tenuous connection. (Press Democrat, 12 Mar. 2003)

Wells Fargo does an about face; will pay Belgian Holocaust survivors (AP, 12 Mar. 2003)

{···français} Notation sociale - Vigeo en ordre de marche, le capital constitué - Vigeo, l'agence de notation sociale et environnementale, annonce mercredi qu'elle est désormais opérationnelle et qu'elle a bouclé son tour de table. (Reuters, 12 mars 2003)

{···français} Entretien avec Nicole Notat, PDG de Vigeo (Le Monde, 12 mars 2003)

Home health care exec hit with $1 million verdict in sex discrimination case [USA] - A federal jury in Minneapolis has awarded a former Mallinckrodt Inc. executive $1 million in lost wages and punitive damages in a sex discrimination lawsuit in which she alleged the company paid her less than her male counterparts but gave her heavier workloads...Mallinckrodt, a subsidiary of Tyco International, manufactures and markets home health care products. (Sherri Cruz, Star Tribune [Minneapolis-St. Paul], 12 Mar. 2003)

Japanese court tosses forced labor suit - A court on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit by a group of Chinese who sought compensation from the Japanese government and 10 companies for allegedly using them as slave laborers during World War II...All but one of the 10 companies being sued - Hazama Corp., Furukawa Co., Tekken Corp., Nishimatsu Construction, Ube Industries, Dowa Mining, Nittetsu Mining, Mitsubishi Materials Corp., Tobishima and Japan Energy Corp. - are publicly listed. (Kenji Hall, Associated Press, 11 Mar. 2003)

Court throws out Chinese wartime slave labor claim - A claim for compensation from the Japanese government and 10 companies filed by 42 Chinese people who said they were submitted to forced labor during World War II was Tuesday rejected by the Tokyo District Court. (Mainichi Shimbun, 11 Mar. 2003)

Brazil unleashes anti-slavery initiative - Brazil unleashed Tuesday a new initiative that would combat the use of slave labor by landowners in the nation's vast rural areas. The federal government is seeking to pass legislation as part of its National Plan for the Eradication of Slave Labor, which includes penalties of up to four years imprisonment for landowners convicted of using what is commonly known as "debt slavery." (United Press International, 11 Mar. 2003)

AFRICA: Agriculture Companies Back Technology Sharing Plan To Boost Food - Agriculture giants Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta and Dow have agreed to share technology free with African scientists in a bid to spur food production in Africa, the Washington Post reports. (UN Wire, 11 Mar. 2003)

To Feed Hungry Africans, Firms Plant Seeds of Science - Four of the world's largest agricultural companies have agreed to share their technology free with African scientists in a broad new attempt to increase food production on that continent (Justin Gillis, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2003)

CHEMICALS: U.N. Panel Calls For Further Controls On Asbestos, Pesticides - A panel set up under the Rotterdam Convention on hazardous chemicals called yesterday for tougher trade controls on all forms of asbestos, several deadly pesticides and two highly toxic lead fuel additives. (UN Wire, 11 Mar. 2003)

Rent-A-Center loses another harassment case [USA] - A Kansas City, Kan., jury on Friday awarded more than $1.2 million in damages to a former employee of Rent-A-Center Inc. in a sexual harassment case. (Dan Margolies, Kansas City Star, 11 Mar. 2003)

FORESTS: FAO Calls For Fundamental Policy Change In Africa - The Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report released today that forests in Africa will continue to disappear, causing damage to local environments and disrupting delicate ecosystems, unless fundamental policy changes are made. (UN Wire, 11 Mar. 2003)

TOBACCO: U.S. Newspaper, Columnist Criticize Washington Over Treaty - The New York Times on Saturday called on U.S. President George W. Bush's administration to sign on to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control...Syndicated columnist Derrick Jackson called U.S. resistance to the treaty a "singularly obvious" attempt at "sabotage" and pointed to political funds the tobacco industry gave in the most recent U.S. elections..."Philip Morris, the world's biggest exporter of cigarettes, alone paid $3.4 million to buy influence, with 80 percent of its contributions going to Republicans or the Republican Party" (UN Wire, 10 Mar. 2003)

Time for serious action on vehicle pollution [New Zealand] -...It is estimated that at least 500 people in New Zealand die prematurely each year due to the effects of vehicle pollution, mainly in the form of carbon monoxide and carbon particulates from diesel vehicles. (Motor Industry Association, 10 Mar. 2003)

EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] sues McDonald's restaurant for disability bias against employee with facial disfigurement -...The suit says that McDonald's discriminated against Samantha Robichaud when it denied her the opportunity for promotion to a management position and constructively discharged her due to a cosmetic disfigurement known as Sturge Weber Syndrome. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 7 Mar. 2003)

AT&T Research to Pay $75,000 in Bias Case - AT&T Research Laboratories is to pay $75,000 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a 50-year-old man denied a job in favor of an applicant almost half his age. (AP, 7 Mar. 2003)

OECD principles should stick to corporate governance - Business wants the OECD's principles of corporate governance to play a vital role in how companies are run - but opposes efforts to weigh them down with non-governance requirements...Some countries are already calling for the inclusion of human rights; labour rights and the environment in the principles - issues that business maintains are best dealt with in other bodies. (International Chamber of Commerce, 14 Feb. 2003)

The Military-Industrial-Think Tank Complex: Corporate Think Tanks and the Doctrine of Aggressive Militarism [USA] - Each major element of the Bush administration's national security strategy -- from the doctrines of preemptive strikes and "regime change" in Iraq, to its aggressive nuclear posture and commitment to deploying a Star Wars-style missile defense system -- was developed and refined before the Bush administration took office, at corporate-backed conservative think tanks like the Center for Security Policy, the National Institute for Public Policy and the Project for a New American Century...Unilateralist ideologues formerly affiliated with these think tanks, along with the 32 major administration appointees who are former executives with, consultants for, or significant shareholders of top defense contractors, are driving U.S. foreign and military policy. (William Hartung and Michelle Ciarrocca, World Policy Institute’s Arms Trade Resource Center, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2003)

Tanks & Toxics, Planes and Pollution The Ecology of a Military Build-Up [USA] -...Environmental contamination from defense hardware manufacturing dots the U.S. landscape...Communities around defense plants that increase production in the new military boom will face more emissions of pollutants...which especially could affect the health of sensitive populations [refers to Nuclear Metals Inc., Rocketdyne (now a subsidiary of Boeing and formerly operated by Rockwell International), Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, Vought Aircraft; also refers to lawsuits] (William Kelly, editor and publisher of California Environment Report, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2003)

Total Business Awareness: The Corporate Contracting Behind John Poindexter’s Total Information Awareness Program [USA] - The Total Information Awareness System, the controversial Pentagon research program that aims to gather and analyze a vast array of information on people in the United States, has hired at least eight private companies to work on the effort...The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which oversees the Total Information Awareness System (TIA), awarded 13 contracts to Booz Allen & Hamilton amounting to more than $23 million. Lockheed Martin Corporation had 23 contracts worth $27 million. The Schafer Corporation had nine contracts totaling $15 million. Other prominent contractors involved in the TIA program include SRS Technologies, Adroit Systems, CACI Dynamic Systems, Syntek Technologies and ASI Systems International...Grassley [Senator Charles E. Grassley] questioned the parameters and scope of TIA, how Poindexter was selected to head it, and what protections are in place to ensure civil liberties are not violated...Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-California, says that she plans to introduce legislation to address any threats to privacy rights that TIA poses.. (Adam Mayle and Alex Knott, Center for Public Integrity, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2003)

Meanwhile, At Home: Oil’s Threat To U.S. Waters -...Floating rustbuckets like the Liberian-registered Prestige are just one of many threats the oil business poses to U.S. waterways. (David Helvarg, founder of Ocean Awareness Project, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2003)

Pesticide Justice - Dow Chemical, Shell Oil Company and Standard Fruit (Dole Food Company in the U.S.), must pay $490 million in compensation to 583 banana workers injured by Nemagon, an extremely toxic soil fumigant that has sterilized thousands of Central American banana workers, a Nicaraguan judge ruled in December 2002. (Amy Ling and Martha Olson Jarocki, Pesticide Action Network North America, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2003)

Enviros Temperature Rising - Amid growing anger among environmentalists over the record and intentions of President George Bush, three major U.S. environmental groups announced in December that they are suing his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to curb global warming. The lawsuit by the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) charges the EPA with violating the 1977 Clean Air Act by failing to limit air pollution caused by automobiles that "may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare." (Jim Lobe, Third World Network Features/Inter Press Service, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2003)

Items added to website on Wednesday 12 March 2003:

Five dead in China chemical plant blast (ABC Radio Australia News, 11 Mar. 2003)

Internationally-recognised core labour standards in Canada - Canada has ratified only five of the eight core labour standards...Canada has ratified both the ILO’s core conventions on discrimination. While the law is generally in compliance with those conventions, in practice women continue to receive much lower remuneration than men. Disabled people and aboriginal peoples are greatly under-represented in the work force. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 11 Mar. 2003)

{···français} Les normes fondamentales du travail internationalement reconnues au Canada - Le Canada a seulement ratifié cinq des huit normes fondamentales du travail...Le Canada a ratifié les deux conventions fondamentales de l'OIT sur la discrimination. Si, d'une manière générale, sa législation se conforme à leur texte, dans la pratique, la rémunération des femmes reste très inférieure à celle des hommes. Les personnes handicapées et les peuples autochtones sont nettement sous-représentés dans la population active. (Confédération internationale des syndicats libres, 11 mars 2003)

Beware secret cameras in the loo [UK] - Employers are resorting to controversial methods to spy on staff. But how far does the law allow workers' privacy rights to be infringed? (Clare Dyer, Guardian [UK], 11 Mar. 2003)

Private sector need to do more environmental reporting [Malaysia] - The private sector still needs more awareness on doing environmental reporting as part of corporate governance and transparency. Of the thousands of companies in Malaysia, only 40 did some form of corporate environmental report in 2001. Recent trends, however, revealed slow but gradual progress. (Deborah Loh, New Straits Times, 10 Mar. 2003)

LAHORE: Women workers stage rally [Pakistan] - Women workers staged a rally on Nisbet Road on Sunday to press for an end to gender discrimination in employment and at the workplace. (Dawn [Pakistan], 10 Mar. 2003)

Mining Fatalities Unacceptably High [South Africa] - Some improvement in the safety record, but this has not been substantive - At the end of January Gold Fields, SA's second biggest gold producer, said four of its miners had died in a fire at the company's Driefontein mine. Last month AngloGold reported that two of its miners had died at its Great Noligwa mine in a rock slide. Fatalities in the gold industry still make up more than double that recorded in any other area of the mining industry. (Julie Bain, Business Day [South Africa], 10 Mar. 2003)

Factory fined RM20,000 for discharging effluents [Malaysia] - An electronics factory here was today fined RM20,000 by the Sessions Court for discharging effluents above the permissable levels into Sungai Melaka. (A. Hafiz Yatim, New Straits Times, 10 Mar. 2003)

Charter for voluntary pollution control [India] - The Ministry of Environment and Forests and industrial sector are all set to enter into a partnership on voluntary pollution control by releasing a charter on Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection in New Delhi on March 13...The 17 major polluting industries identified for preparatory approach towards pollution control are: cement, aluminium, thermal power plants, oil refineries, pesticides, iron and steel, pulp and paper, copper and zinc, distilleries, sugar, petrochemicals, dye and dye intermediates, caustic soda, pharmaceuticals, tanneries and fertilizer industry. (The Hindu, 10 Mar. 2003)

Asbestos Case Ruling Sides With Workers [USA] - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that some workers who were exposed to cancer-causing asbestos can win money damages in court even though they do not yet have cancer and may never get it...The fear of developing cancer is grounds enough to collect for workers who already have asbestosis, a separate asbestos-related ailment, and can document their health fears, a 5-member majority of the court found. (Associated Press, 10 Mar. 2003)

Employers 'wide open' to discrimination claims [UK] - UK employers are leaving themselves wide open to discrimination claims according to the Work Foundation. The survey of business recruitment practices found that firms were failing to monitor racial and sexual diversity amongst jobseekers...It is illegal for employers to discriminate against applicants on the basis of sex, disability or race. It will soon become illegal to discriminate on grounds of age, sexual orientation and religion. (BBC News, 10 Mar. 2003)

Moral call on maternity leave [Papua New Guinea] - A unionist who wrote the provisions on paid maternity leave now enjoyed in the public service called on employers to grant this to all women on maternity leave. (Post-Courier [Papua New Guinea], 10 Mar. 2003)

Toyota settles US Clean Air Act suit for $34 mln [USA] - Toyota Motor Corp has pledged to improve anti-pollution controls on old, publicly owned buses that were not made by Toyota as part of a $34 million package to settle a Clear Air Act lawsuit, the U.S. Justice Department said..."With this bus retrofit action, our nation's school children will be breathing less of the small particles that can cause lung and respiratory damage," said EPA Administrator Christine Whitman. (Deborah Charles, Reuters, 10 Mar. 2003)

Heavy fines loom for pollution cover-ups [state of Western Australia] - New laws aimed at people and businesses who do not report contaminated sites will be debated in the Legislative Assembly this week. (Steve Butler, West Australian, 10 Mar. 2003)

Uranium plant workers exposed to harmful metal [USA] - Forty-four workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant have tested positive for exposure to a metal that can cause long-term lung problems...The U.S. Enrichment Corp. leases the plant from the Energy Department to separate beneficial uranium and process it into fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. (Louisville Courier-Journal, 9 Mar. 2003)

MPs call for corporate killing law [UK] - MPs from the UK’s three main political parties will be pressing the case for a new law against corporate killing, promised in Labour’s 2001 General Election Manifesto, at a meeting in the House of Commons today (Tuesday). (Trades Union Congress, 7 Mar. 2003)

Scientists blame industry for unchecked pollution [India] - Addressing a conference on 'Impact of emerging pollutants on health, environment & agriculture,' he [Dr AP Mitra, honorary scientist of eminence, National Physical Laboratory] said the industry should adopt environmental norms as practiced in developed countries and strictly adhere to environmental safety standards to improve the situation. (Press Trust of India, 7 Mar. 2003)

WOMEN'S DAY: Annan Calls Gender Equality Vital To Development; More Marking International Women's Day, March 8, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and ranking officials from a host of U.N. agencies linked gender equality to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, saying social gains for women translated into improved societies. (UN Wire, 7 Mar. 2003)

'Affected workers will be compensated' [India] - The Pondicherry Health Minister, E. Valsaraj said here today steps would be taken to provide compensation to workers of a privately managed glass container manufacturing unit at Thondamanatham, now undergoing treatment in a hospital here [for silicosis disease allegedly caused by pollution during the production process in the unit]. (S. Nadarajan, The Hindu, 7 Mar. 2003)

2 Wall St. Firings Said to Be Linked to Harassment [USA] - J. P. Morgan Chase has dismissed two investment bankers, one of whom was a managing director, after a fellow banker complained that they had sexually accosted a woman who worked with them, current and former employees at the company said this week. (Patrick McGeehan, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2003)

Latin America And Caribbean Countries Make Progress In Gender Equality But Continue To Limit Participation Of Women In The Labor Market (World Bank, 5 Mar. 2003)

full report: Challenges and opportunities for gender equality in Latin American and the Caribbean (Maria Elena Ruiz Abril, World Bank, 2003)

{···español} América Latina y el Caribe avanza en equidad pero sigue limitando participación de la mujer en mercado laboral (Banco Mundial, 5 marzo 2003)

{···español} Desafíos y oportunidades para la equidad de género en América Latina y el Caribe (María Elena Ruiz Abril, Banco Mundial, 2003)

{···português} América Latina e Caribe avançam na área da equidade mas participação da mulher no mercado de trabalho continua limitada (Banco Mundial, 5 marzo 2003)

Effects of Oil and Gas Development Are Accumulating On Northern Alaska's Environment and Native Cultures - The environmental effects of oil and gas exploration and production on Alaska's North Slope have been accumulating for more than three decades, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. Efforts by the oil industry and regulatory agencies have reduced many environmental effects, but have not eliminated them. The committee that wrote the congressionally mandated report also said that the social and economic effects have been large, and both positive and negative. (National Academies' National Research Council, 5 Mar. 2003)

INDIA: Banks, UNEP Launch Solar Power Initiative - The U.N. Environment Program and two of India's largest banks [Syndicate Bank and Canara Bank] yesterday launched a $7.6 million solar power initiative aimed at helping 18,000 households in southern India conserve energy and emit fewer pollutants...UNEP backed the project along with the United Nations Foundation and the Shell Foundation. (UN Wire, 5 Mar. 2003)

Gold Discovered Beneath Ghana's Forest Reserves - Dozens of bulldozers and excavators belonging to five multinational mining companies operating in Ghana [Chirano Goldmines Ltd., Satellite Goldfields Ltd., Nevsun/AGC, Birim/AGC, and Newmont Ghana Ltd.] are poised to tear apart thousands of hectares of forest reserves in the Ashanti, Western and Eastern Regions of the country, if the government gives them approval to haul out what they describe as rich deposits of gold beneath the forests...The environmentalists fear that when the rains come, water laced with deadly cyanide will run off the tailings or waste from the mining activities into these rivers. (Mike Anane, Environment News Service, 4 Mar. 2003)

Amco Residents to Be Resettled [Zambia] - The Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines-Investment Holdings will resettle residents of Amco township near Mindolo Shaft in Kitwe because they are living in a caving area. (Times of Zambia, 4 Mar. 2003)

Black clergy set boycott over alleged financing discrimination [USA] - Black clergy members from numerous states have set a March 15 boycott date against DaimlerChrysler AG unless the automaker addresses allegations of racial discrimination. The unnamed coalition claimed 240 ministers from 14 states met at a Baptist church in Harvey to protest alleged credit practices denying loans to minorities, said Sean Howard, a spokesman for the group. Consumers claiming discrimination have filed a lawsuit against the company's financing arm, DaimlerChrysler Services.. (Associated Press, 3 Mar. 2003)

Environmental Groups Sue EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] for Weakening Clean Air Act - Charge Bush administration’s new source review changes illegal - The Bush administration’s changes to a key provision of the Clean Air Act is illegal and will dramatically increase air pollution, threatening the health of millions of Americans, according to a lawsuit filed today by Earthjustice on behalf of a coalition of environmental and public health groups. (Earthjustice, 28 Feb. 2003)

AGC accused of human rights violation [Ghana] - The Ashanti Goldfields Company is reportedly doing well but at what cost? Wassa Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) says their rights are being violated. Below is the recently released report of a fact finding [includes reports of killings and pollution] (Public Agenda [Ghana], 24 Feb. 2003)

New Canaan writer exposes the worst of Wall Street [USA] - Susan Antilla may not describe herself as tough, but she doesn't object to the characterization. After all, it takes a lot of fortitude to investigate gender discrimination and sexual harassment on Wall Street, then write a book that names names and clearly details the offenses. (Eileen Byrnes, Hartford Courant, 23 Feb. 2003)

Book Chronicles Gender Discrimination on Wall Street - A new book details several women's efforts to fight sexual harassment and gender discrimination on Wall Street. Tales from the Boom-Boom Room: Wall Street vs. Women tells the story of a whistleblower who tried to hold Wall Street accountable for its treatment of women. (NPR, 20 Feb. 2003)

Sex and the Street - book review of Tales from the Boom-Boom Room: Wall Street vs. Women by Susan Antilla (Heather Timmons, Business Week, 25 Nov. 2002)

NIGERIA: Fresh spill reported in Ogoniland - An explosion at an abandoned oil well belonging to oil transnational giant Shell, has created a major oil spill in the Ogoni ethnic minority area of Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta, local rights activists said on Thursday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, 21 Feb. 2003)

Accor hotel group vows to protect children - International hotel group Accor has signed a code of conduct to protect children from sexual exploitation in travel and tourism. Accor has signed up to the ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) code. Western tour operators have joined previously, but Accor is the first big hotel group to do so. (Nondhanada Intarakomalyasut, Bangkok Post, 20 Feb. 2003)

New report charts NAFTA environmental record - In anticipation of the 10th anniversary of the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on 17 December 1992, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) released today a report detailing some of the effects of NAFTA on the environment. (North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 15 Dec. 2002)

full report: Free Trade and the Environment: The Picture Becomes Clearer (North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 2002)

{···español} Nuevo informe sobre la trayectoria ambiental del TLCAN (Comisión para la Cooperación Ambiental de América del Norte, 15 diciembre 2002)

{···español} Libre comercio y medio ambiente: la imagen se aclara (Comisión para la Cooperación Ambiental de América del Norte, 2002)

{···français} Un nouveau rapport présente des données environnementales dans le contexte de l'ALÉNA (Commission de coopération environnementale de l'Amérique du Nord, 15 décembre 2002)

{···français} Libre-échange et environnement : un tableau plus précis de la situation (Commission de coopération environnementale de l'Amérique du Nord, 2002)

Items added to website on Monday 10 March 2003:

debate: "Corporate Responsibility in a Globalizing World: Walking the Talk?" Wednesday 12 March 2003, New York City (Berrett-Koehler, Greenleaf Publishing, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 12 Mar. 2003)

Triboard plant releases pollutants, says report [New Zealand] - A health impact report on emissions from the Kaitaia triboard plant run by Japanese-owned Juken Nissho has identified pollutants being released into the air by the two mills in the area. (Tony Gee, New Zealand Herald, 10 Mar. 2003)

China to Issue White Paper on Environmental Protection in Tibet (People's Daily, 9 Mar. 2003)

Migrant rights urged [China] - Chinese lawmakers called on Friday for legislation to protect the nation's huge number of rural migrant workers...On Wednesday, Premier Zhu Rongji pledged to protect the legitimate rights and interests of farmer-labourers holding temporary or permanent jobs in cities. (China Daily, 8 Mar. 2003)

Int'l Women's Day today [Bangladesh] - Members of the National Garment Workers Federation stand in a human chain blindfolded at Muktangan in Dhaka yesterday to protest repression on women at work. (Daily Star [Bangladesh], 8 Mar. 2003)

Doosan chief faces probe over labor feud [South Korea] -...Sources at the Ministry of Labor said yesterday that Park Yong-sung, chairman of Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, has been asked to appear before a Labor Ministry tribunal by March 13 to face questioning over his alleged involvement in the Doosan company's unfair anti-labor activities. (Yoo Cheong-mo, Korea Herald, 8 Mar. 2003)

Thousands of lone parents in poverty trap [UK] - Union leaders last night called for more family-friendly policies in the workplace to help the North's soaring number of lone parents escape the poverty trap. (Alison Dargie, The Journal [UK], 8 Mar. 2003)

Activists targeting UI deal with Coke [USA] - The University of Illinois' exclusive beverage contract with Coca-Cola is under scrutiny from activists who say Coke bottling plants in Colombia have links to anti-union violence. (Julie Wurth, News-Gazette, 7 Mar. 2003)

$100-million lawsuit questions Bayer's handling of recalled cholesterol drug - A $100-million US lawsuit unfolding in a Texas courtroom has yielded e-mails and internal documents suggesting Bayer Corp. disregarded disturbing research on the cholesterol drug Baycol before pulling it off the market because of dozens of deaths. (Lynn Brezosky, Canadian Press, 7 Mar. 2003)

United States Settles Clean Air Act Case Against Toyota - The Department of Justice and the Environment Protection Agency finalized a settlement of the government's lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corporation for Clean Air Act violations involving 2.2 million vehicles manufactured between 1996 and 1998. Under the settlement, Toyota will spend $20 million on a supplemental environmental project to retrofit up to 3,000 public diesel fleet vehicles to make them run cleaner and extend the emission control system warranty on affected vehicles. In addition, Toyota will accelerate its compliance with certain new emission control requirements, and pay a $500,000 civil penalty. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 7 Mar. 2003)

EU proposes criminal penalties for sea polluters - Ships that pollute the ocean by flushing out their tanks at sea would be subject to criminal sanctions, including jail sentences those responsible, under a draft law proposed this week by the European Commission. (Reuters, 7 Mar. 2003)

{···français} Bruxelles propose des sanctions pénales pour les "pollueurs des mers" (Le Monde, 5 mars 2003)

Tara Whelan - Coroner's Inquest Outcome [UK] - Tara Whelan was a BT Customer Service Engineer...tragically she was involved in an accident in Trowbridge, Wiltshire on Friday 25th May 2001, whilst working on a BT pole...The Jury wanted an investigation to establish whether there was a case for Corporate Responsibility for Tara's death. On this issue the Coroner ruled that as the CPS had already ruled on a prosecution for Corporate Manslaughter not being possible, he was unable to take forward this recommendation...At the close of the inquest, CWU [Communication Workers Union] approached BT's Head of Health and Safety to request an immediate review of their procedures. (CWU News, 7 Mar. 2003)

T&G helps women to stay safe at work [UK] - The Transport and General Workers’ Union will be helping women to stay safe at work with the launch of a new health and safety guide to coincide with International Women’s Day (Saturday 8th March 2003). The practical guide identifies workplace hazards and provides advice on how employers and employees can overcome them. (Transport & General Workers’ Union, 7 Mar. 2003)

Staples’ Ink-Jet Recycling Program To Support Oklahoma Education [USA] (GreenBiz.com, 7 Mar. 2003)

Ethical Supply Chain Management - the story so far - Some of the standards focus on core labour and human rights issues (e.g. Ethical Trading Initiative or SA8000), while others are beginning to tackle wider issues such as terms of trading and criteria for smallholders...Companies are beginning to “green” their supply chain by working on environmental initiatives with their suppliers. [refers to McDonald’s, Cosmair (a subsidiary of L'Oreal), Ford]. (Julian Roche, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 6 Mar. 2003)

Global Meeting of Coca-Cola Workers: Delegates Vow To Continue Fight for Worker Rights -...Participants heard reports of union rights violations in Colombia where union representatives had been arbitrarily fired following the signing of a collective agreement at the Coca-Cola bottler in Carepa, Urabá. Participants also heard about repeated union busting in Pakistan and, in response to an attack on fundamental union rights by the local bottler at the Moscow Coca-Cola plant, participants adopted a solidarity resolution in support of the IUF’s affiliate in Russia and its members at Coca-Cola...The second day’s discussion included presentations by David Schilling of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and John Wilson of the Christian Brothers Investment Services who described their efforts to use shareholder pressure to push Coca Cola to respect human rights throughout the company’s system. (IUF - International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations, 6 Mar. 2003)

Africa's aid plan seeks healthy growth -...The task of tackling diseases of poverty is huge, matched only by the lack of research into them. Pharmaceutical firms have developed 1,700 medicines approved for clinical use in the last 15 years. Yet only 11 were targeted at tropical diseases. (Adam Lusekelo, BBC News, 6 Mar. 2003)

BURMA: Tobacco Giant under Pressure for Joint Venture - Ahead of its mid-April annual general meeting, British American Tobacco (BAT) is facing increasing pressure from human rights groups in Asia and elsewhere to withdraw from a joint-venture partnership with the Burmese (Myanmar) military regime. (Bob Burton, Inter Press Service, 5 Mar. 2003)

{···français} Une nouvelle étude confirme le lien entre la pollution et la mortalité à Paris - L'observatoire régional de la santé (ORS) d'Ile-de-France a publié, lundi 3 mars, une étude confirmant un lien direct entre la pollution atmosphérique, principalement issue des transports, et la mortalité ou la morbidité des habitants qui la supportent. (Benoît Hopquin, Le Monde, 4 mars 2003)

{···français} Une société de cosmétiques [Biophase] condamnée pour discrimination [France] - Six mois de prison avec sursis pour avoir "trié" personnel et clientèle -..."Les clientes arabes et africaines étaient refusées."..."C'est une sanction historique", a commenté son [l'association SOS-Racisme] vice-président, Samuel Thomas. "Les plus lourdes peines prononcées étaient de trois mois de prison avec sursis. Ce jugement est un encouragement pour tous les salariés qui dénoncent les ordres et agissements discriminatoires provenant de leur direction." (Jean-Pierre Tenoux, Le Monde, 8 février 2003)

Working Group on Environmental Justice (Harvard University)

Items added to website on Friday 7 March 2003:

Shanghai - Workshop on Labor Practices and CSR - Shanghai, China, March 19-20, 2003 - This workshop will provide participants with an opportunity to learn effective ways to: build better factory management systems, and strengthen compliance with codes of conduct and legal requirements on issues including: wages, and working hours; health and safety; child labor; forced labor; and other labor issues. (Business for Social Responsibility)

Women's struggle is never won? [Thailand] - Why is it that we rarely hear anything from our national labour unions on how to redress gender inequality in the workplace? Is it because these unions are male-dominated, even though women make up half of the workforce and a full 70% of workers in the export industry?...Although work-related injury and illness are constantly on the rise, there is no independent agency to take up the workers' cause. The victims are primarily women who work in the manufacturing and export industries. (commentary by Sanitsuda Ekachai, Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post, 6 Mar. 2003)

Logging threatens Cambodian tragedy - UN - Cambodia's tropical rain forests are being systematically destroyed by logging companies, which threaten to unleash fresh tragedy on the war-scarred country, a top United Nations envoy said...critics say much of the current activity appears to flout environmental and social regulations and rides roughshod over the rights and interests of the thousands of impoverished people who depend on the forests for their livelihoods. (Reuters, 6 Mar. 2003)

Talisman promises Sudanese sale - Talisman has promised that the $758m sale of its Sudanese oil project to India will go ahead, despite months of delays. The sale to India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) would end stinging criticism of the company by human rights groups, who claim the Sudanese government uses the oil revenues to buy arms to fight a civil war...On Monday Swedish oil exploration company Lundin Petroleum said it would consider reducing its investments in Sudan, but ruled out a total withdrawal like Talisman. (BBC News, 5 Mar. 2003)

Women demand end to discrimination at work [Thailand] (Penchan Charoensuthiphan, Bangkok Post, 5 Mar. 2003)

Allstate Lawsuit Could Be Largest Age Discrimination Case [USA] - Twenty-nine employees at U.S. insurer Allstate Corp. are seeking class-action status for an age discrimination lawsuit alleging the company targeted older workers when it phased out its Neighborhood Office Agents (Business for Social Responsibility summary of 2 Mar. 2003 New York Times article, 5 Mar. 2003)

Waste management company to pay nearly $200,000 for disability discrimination - Qualified Employee with Crohn's Disease Fired Unlawfully, EEOC Suit Says - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a $194,000 settlement of an employment discrimination lawsuit filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) on behalf of a qualified former employee with Crohn's disease who was terminated by Browning-Ferris, Inc., a waste management company. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 5 Mar. 2003)

US EPA proposes cancer guidelines for children - Infants and toddlers have 10 times the risk of cancer from hazardous chemicals than adults do, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said this week in its first guidelines that define the greater risks that children face...Chemicals also can affect babies more. They include vinyl chloride - a gas used in making PVC or polyvinyl chloride - diethylnitrosamine - found in tobacco smoke - and the insecticide DDT. (Maggie Fox, Reuters, 5 Mar. 2003)

New Loans Finance Solar Power Development in India - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today launched a major new $7.6 million initiative with two of India's largest banking groups [Syndicate Bank and Canara Bank] to offer 18,000 southern Indian households low cost financing for solar generated electricity. (Environment News Service, 4 Mar. 2003)

Working through 'the change' [UK] - Almost every woman passes through the menopause, but very few employers know how to deal with the issue - it's often treated as an embarrassing, hidden illness, rather than a normal part of human life. It wasn't long ago that pregnancy was treated exactly the same, but now many employers have policies about pregnancy, and although problems still remain, we can do the same for the menopause. (Trades Union Congress, 4 Mar. 2003)

Damned if you do… - Social responsibility is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to some companies, says Stephen W. Stanton -...Should McDonald’s be commended for making warm meals both convenient and affordable for even the poorest people in many nations? Alternatively, should the golden arches be torn down for making the United States among the fattest nations in the world, triggering heart disease, diabetes and premature deaths of many Americans?...Ben & Jerry’s is often cited as the model of socially responsible management...However, unlike McDonald’s, Ben & Jerry’s does not make food products with any redeeming nutritional value (Stephen W. Stanton, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 4 Mar. 2003)

JAL plans to pluck mothers from the sky - Japan Airlines' (JAL) labor union is up in arms after the airline decided to cut the number of flight attendants excused from night duties because they have pre-school children. (Mainichi Shimbun [Japan], 3 Mar. 2003)

Confusion Greets KP [Kimberley Process certification scheme] Startup (Other Facets: News and views on the international effort to end conflict diamonds, #9, pg. 1, Mar. 2003)

{···français} Démarrage du PK [Processus de Kimberley]: la confusion est au rendez-vous (Autres facettes: Informations et opinions sur l'effort international pour éliminer les diamants de guerre, #9, mars 2003)

World Diamond Council Releases Kimberley Guide -...The guide describes the Kimberley process agreement and spells out long-awaited details of the industry's proposed chain of warranties. (Other Facets: News and views on the international effort to end conflict diamonds, #9, pg. 2, Mar. 2003)

{···français} Le World Diamond Council publie un guide de Kimberley (Autres facettes: Informations et opinions sur l'effort international pour éliminer les diamants de guerre, #9, mars 2003)

Diamond Peace Alliance Inaugurated in Sierra Leone -...The objective of the Peace Alliance, which has been developed over the past two years by USAID in consultation with NGOs and the private sector, is 'to help ensure that the Sierra Leone diamond industry contributes positively to peace and prosperity through increasing benefits to the people of Kono from the diamond industry and by helping the government to improve its ability to manage diamonds.' (Other Facets: News and views on the international effort to end conflict diamonds, #9, pg. 3, Mar. 2003)

{···français} Inauguration de la Diamond Peace Alliance en Sierra Leone (Autres facettes: Informations et opinions sur l'effort international pour éliminer les diamants de guerre, #9, mars 2003)

UN Envoy Stunned by Magnitude of Child Slavery [Sierra Leone] - ''I cannot believe that in this day and age, so many children could be forced to slave away in the mines earning next to nothing; this is appalling,'' says UN Under Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, who is visiting the war scarred West African country. (Lansana Fofana, Inter Press Service, 28 Feb. 2003)

DaimlerChrysler widens HIV drive [South Africa] - Car maker DaimlerChrysler SA said yesterday that it would extend its existing treatment programme to employees made redundant as well as to their dependants. (Business Day [South Africa], 28 Feb. 2003)

Ethics Organization Launched to Enhance Global Corporate Citizenship - International Center for Corporate Accountability Inaugurated - Will Create and Monitor Corporate Codes of Conduct -...ICCA will absorb the activities currently performed by MIMCO [Independent Monitoring Council that was created by Mattel, Inc. in 1997 in affiliation with Zicklin School of Business] and expand on them to encourage and assist other multinational corporations to create, implement and arrange independent monitoring of codes of conduct. (International Center for Corporate Accountability, 28 Feb. 2003)

Lagos Pupils Get Nutritional Supplement [Nigeria] - Lagos State Goverment, in conjunction with UNESCO and the West African Milk Company (WAMCO), embarked on the programme...The programme is designed to provide milk twice a week. (Yemi Akinsuyi, This Day [Nigeria], 28 Feb. 2003)

EOC says Britain needs modern equality law - Britain needs modern and consistent equality law that reflects how society has changed over the last 30 years, Julie Mellor, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) said today..."Today women play a far more important role in the workplace and in public life and men take on more family and caring responsibilities. Gay and lesbian people are increasingly visible in all walks of life, and as life expectancy increases older people can expect to lead active lives for longer. However, inequality and prejudice haven't gone away. Single parents, pensioners and the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities are still among the poorest groups, and women in these groups are even poorer than men." (Equal Opportunities Commission [UK], 28 Feb. 2003)

Latest mine explosion at Muchonggou coal mine compounds appalling loss of life in China’s coal mining industry - In the afternoon of 24 February 2003, a huge explosion rocked the Muchonggou coal mine in Shuicheng County, Guizhou province, killing up to 40 miners and injuring scores more (China Labour Bulletin, 26 Feb. 2003)

Beverly Hilton Hotel to pay $220,000 to Group of Job Applicants in Age Bias Case (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 26 Feb. 2003)

EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] Settles Sexual Harassment Suit for $2.3 Million Against SH&E [New York-based airline consulting firm Simat, Helliesen & Eichner] and Reed Telepublishing (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 26 Feb. 2003)

Electronics Recyclers Pledge: “No Export, No Dumping, No Prisons” - Sixteen private electronics recycling firms representing 22 facilities throughout North America have pledged to uphold rigorous environmental and social criteria for the dismantling and recycling of e-wastes. (GreenBiz.com, 25 Feb. 2003)

15 computer recyclers to sign take-back deal [USA] -...Fifteen electronics recyclers in North America -- including the largest in Texas and the Southwest, Resource Concepts of Carrollton -- are expected to sign a pledge today promising to not send electronic waste to landfills or incinerators or allow it to be exported...The environmental campaign also targets Dell, the Austin-based manufacturer that is the largest producer of personal computers, in an effort to get the company to take back its old equipment. (Neil Strassman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Feb. 2003)

China Serves as Dump Site for Computers - Unsafe Recycling Practice Grows Despite Import Ban -...The real costs are being borne by the people on the receiving end of the "e-waste." In towns along China's coast as well as in India and Pakistan, adults and children work for about $1.20 a day in unregulated and unsafe conditions. As rivers and soils absorb a mounting influx of carcinogens and other toxins, people are suffering high incidences of birth defects, infant mortality, tuberculosis and blood diseases, as well as particularly severe respiratory problems, according to recent reports by the state-controlled Guangdong Radio and the Beijing Youth newspaper. (Peter S. Goodman, Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2003)

Scandal of Toxic Waste Exports to Developing Nations Continues - A coalition of NGOs are calling on Thailand to ban the import of all toxic wastes into Thai territory, following the discovery that the country is becoming a target for international toxic waste traders. Last March it was revealed that hazardous waste from the wealthy West was being sent to less well-off nations such as China, India and Pakistan. Basel Action Network (BAN) and the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition revealed that poor workers in China were being employed to break apart obsolete computers, coming into contact with toxic substances from lead-laden cathode ray tubes to soldered circuit boards. (Edie, 21 Feb. 2003)

Central Kalahari Game Reserve carved up for diamonds [Botswana] - Government maps show diamonds rush on 'Bushmen's' ancestral land - Maps from the Botswana Government's own Department of Geological Survey show a massive increase in diamonds exploration concessions on the ancestral land of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen and Bakgalagadi, just months after the government evicted them from the region. (Survival International, 20 Feb. 2003)

EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] and Pinnacle Nissan [a Scottsdale, Arizona-based automobile dealership] Settle National Origin and Religious Harassment Lawsuit -...the EEOC alleged that six former employees of Pinnacle Nissan were subjected to a hostile working environment on the basis of national origin, Middle Eastern and Hispanic, and one former employee was subjected to a hostile work environment because of his religion, Jewish. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 19 Feb. 2003)

Deaf Job Applicant to Receive $75,000 for Disability Bias in EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] Settlement with Holiday Inn-Northglenn - Company to Also Conduct Comprehensive Training as Part of Consent Decree (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 18 Feb. 2003)

A Toxic Legacy on the Mexican Border - Abandoned U.S.-Owned Smelter in Tijuana Blamed for Birth Defects, Health Ailments (Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2003)

Amerada Hess Corporation: "Corporate Social Responsibility policy" [refers explicitly to Universal Declaration of Human Rights]

Items added to website on Wednesday 5 March 2003:

New report shows negative impacts, threats of water privatization - A new report to be released on the eve of the Third World Water Forum shows that water privatization has had negative impacts on communities in many countries and threatens to affect an increasing number of people in 2003 [refers to Suez (France), Vivendi Universal (France), Thames Water (UK but part of German RWE), Betchel (USA)] (Friends of the Earth, 3 Mar. 2003)

International Right to Know Campaign Promotes Disclosure of Global Corporate Impacts - In a recent report, the International Right to Know Campaign outlines the benefits of corporate disclosure of global environmental and social policies and practices...The McDonald's (MCD) case study illustrates the use of child labor in China to produce its Happy Meal toys, the Nike (NKE) case study focuses on labor rights abuses in Indonesia, and the Unocal (UCL) case study discusses human rights abuses in its use of security forces in Burma. The ExxonMobil (XOM) case study alone illustrates several of the environmental as well as human rights abuses that the IRTK guidelines are meant to expose. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 27 Feb. 2003)

Banned pesticides poisoning millions - Millions of farmers in the developing world are being poisoned by pesticides that are banned in Europe, environmental campaigners claimed yesterday. A report by the Environmental Justice Foundation found that the use of organophosphates and organochlorines in crop spraying in Asia, Africa and South America was exposing poorly paid workers to a far higher risk of developing cancers. (Matthew Beard, Independent [UK], 27 Feb. 2003)

Electronics Cos. Focus on Eco-Friendly Goods -...Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics (LGE) are developing environmentally friendly lead-free solder handsets, targeting production in 2005...U.S. cell phone maker Motorola has already developed a new type of handset composed of lead-free solder, recycled plastic and which comes with an energy-efficient charger...leading Japanese electronics, including Hitachi and Toshiba, have already stopped using CFC in their freezers, not only for domestic market, but also for that overseas markets. (Seo Jee-yeon, Korea Times, 27 Feb. 2003)

ExxonMobil Receives 23 Shareowner Resolutions on Issues Ranging from Climate Change to Corporate Governance -...The social resolutions filed with ExxonMobil ask the company to implement a sexual orientation nondiscrimination policy, review and implement human rights standards, affirm political nonpartisanship, and report on the impact of AIDS on operations. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 26 Feb. 2003)

Leading Furniture Manufacturer Gets Green Certification - Leading furniture manufacturer and designer Knoll Inc. recently received Forest Stewardship Council chain-of-custody certification for three of its manufacturing plants. (GreenBiz.com, 26 Feb. 2003)

SRI Issues Will Impact Companies' Financial Performance, UK Pension Fund Trustees Say - A recent survey finds that pension fund trustees in the United Kingdom view socially responsible investing (SRI) issues as linked to companies' future financial performance. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 25 Feb. 2003)

Pension Fund Activism on Social & Environmental Issues to Increase [UK]: New report reveals increasing importance of social and environmental performance to pension fund trustees -...In the survey of over 100 member nominated trustees' of pension funds, less than one in ten believes that companies are providing enough social and environmental information for investment decisions to be analysed. The survey found that trustees believe that social and environmental issues will have a substantial impact on the financial performance of companies over the next five to ten years. (Just Pensions, 24 Jan. 2003)

full report: Will UK Pension Funds Become More Responsible? A Survey of Member Nominated Trustees (Chris Gribben & Leon Olsen, Ashridge Centre for Business & Society, Just Pensions, Trades Union Congress, 22 Jan. 2003)

Investor Dollars Versus Workers' Rights [Kenya] - Recent strikes by Export Processing Zones employees have raised questions about the Government's stand on labour interests against the need to attract foreign investment. The workers' revolt in the Export Processing Zone transfixed the nation and raised a pertinent issue: Should investor privilege compromise workers' rights?...Their complaints about poor pay and "inhuman" working conditions were peppered with accusations of racism and sexual harassment. (Ken Opala, Nation [Kenya], 21 Feb. 2003)

World Corporations Put Environmentalists Under Fire Worldwide - Amnesty International Campaigns for Corporate Accountability on Human Rights - In a new report released today, Amnesty International charges that corporate interests are inflicting a devastating worldwide toll on human rights and the environment. The report, Environmentalists Under Fire, cites the US for failing to use its influence to protect environmental defenders around the world, and highlights cases in Russia, Ecuador, Mexico, Indonesia, India, Chad and Cameroon...While environmental defenders can only appeal to the US government to live up to its rhetoric on rights, the corporations cited in the report - ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, Occidental Petroleum and Freeport-McMoRan - have considerable ability to influence the US Government, having collectively made more than $2.8 million in campaign contributions during the 2002 election cycle. (Amnesty International USA, 20 Feb. 2003)

full report: Environmentalists Under Fire: Six Urgent Cases of Human Rights Abuses (Amnesty International USA, Feb. 2003)

Corporates Take Toll on Rights and Environment, Says Amnesty (Jim Lobe, OneWorld US, 21 Feb. 2003)

Scrapping Mining Dependence [This study, chapter 6 in Worldwatch Institute’s annual report State of the World 2003, assesses the impacts of global mining activities, and presents alternative ways in which the world can meet its demand for minerals. Many major mining companies are referred to in the text] -...Mines have uprooted tens of thousands of people from their homelands and have exposed many more to toxic chemicals and pollution. And mining is the world's most deadly occupation: on average 40 mine workers are killed on the job each day, and many more are injured. (Payal Sampat, Senior Fellow with the Worldwatch Institute and International Campaign Director at the Mineral Policy Center, 7 Feb. 2003)

Government [UK] orders an inquiry into pesticide links to Parkinson's Disease - A study into links between pesticides and Parkinson's disease is to be commissioned to examine fears that chemicals used by gardeners and farmers can bring on the degenerative neurological illness. (Marie Woolf and Charles Arthur, Independent [UK], 17 May 2002)

Business and Human Rights: Policy commitments and disclosure in the extractive sector [A comparison of policies and practices on human rights issues from seven multinational extractive companies: BG, BP, BHP Billiton, BOC, Premier Oil, Rio Tinto, Shell] (Lucy Amis & Dave Prescott, International Business Leaders Forum, Apr. 2002)

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing - Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) is a federal-wide program that encourages and assists Executive agencies in the purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

Extractive Industries Review: The Extractive Industries Review was launched by the World Bank Group to discuss its future role in the extractive industries with concerned stakeholders

Items added to website on Monday 3 March 2003:

Cruise liners leave marine pollution in their wake -...Huge new liners that can carry up to 3,000 passengers are regularly discharging thousands of gallons of sewage, oily water, chemicals and rubbish into the sea. (Jeremy Watson, Scotsman, 2 Mar. 2003)

Protesters starve for tomato workers [USA] - A group of protesters gathered outside Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine this week as part of a weeklong hunger strike demanding better wages and working conditions for tomato workers in Florida. (Youmi Chun, Daily Bruin [UCLA], 1 Mar. 2003)

Misery of rag-trade slaves in America's Pacific outpost - Workers in Samoan sweatshop beaten and starved [refers to factory in American Samoa that made clothes for Sears and JC Penney] (David Fickling, Guardian [UK], 1 Mar. 2003)

Biotech crops Become Common on American Farms Despite Health Concerns - The U.S. government this week approved a new strain of genetically altered corn that promises to reduce the amount of chemical insecticide farmers spray...Despite concerns among critics about possible health or environmental impacts, biotech crops have become common on American farms. (Steve Baragona, Voice of America, 1 Mar. 2003)

Beyond philanthropy - Roger Cowe looks at attempts by major corporations to tie social opportunities into the very core of product and market development [refers to Lattice work with young offenders & school truancy; Centrica recruitment of disabled workers; BG Group funding a geosciences course at Univ. of West Indies; EdF providing solar energy in Mali; Hewlett-Packard project in Sao Paolo to bridge digital divide; National grid Transco work with young offenders; Deutsche Bank’s experiments with micro-credit; HSBC’s development of Islamic mortgage products; work by Barclays and LloydsTSB on diversity; Unilever “small pack” initiative that makes detergents affordable to the poor, and its role in creating the Marine Stewardship Council; Procter & Gamble developing products which meet social needs] (Roger Cowe, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 28 Feb. 2003)

HIV/AIDS II: WHO, UNICEF Praise Drug Makers' Cooperation Pledge - The World Health Organization and UNICEF yesterday welcomed a pledge by the International Generic Pharmaceutical Alliance and makers of anti-retroviral HIV/AIDS drugs to collaborate with the United Nations on increasing low-cost access to such drugs in poor countries. (UN Wire, 27 Feb. 2003)

Rural education can cut pesticide deaths - report - Agrochemical giants must make amends for pesticide-caused deaths by funding rural education in the developing world and phasing out their most dangerous chemicals, an environmental group [Environmental Justice Foundation] said yesterday...Leading biotech companies contend that their investment in new technologies is reducing the damage done by pesticides. (Reuters, 27 Feb. 2003)

full report: What's your poison? Health threats posed by pesticides in developing countries. [page 21 of report lists recommendations to the Agrochemical Industry] (Environmental Justice Foundation, 2003)

Multinational corporations: Balancing trick - [book review of Empires of Profit: Commerce, Conquest and Corporate Responsibility, by Daniel Litvin] -...a similar pattern emerges time and again: ill-prepared central managers, local officers facing unexpected difficulties on the ground, political pressures at home and abroad, all resulting in a catalogue of unintended and sometimes tragic consequences. [refers to case studies in the book, including United Fruit Company in Central America in the 1950s, Nike in Asia in the 1980s & 1990s] (Clive Crook, Economist, 27 Feb. 2003)

Greed, megalomania, conspiracy and coups - David Litvin gives an insider's view of multinationals in Empires of Profit [refers to case studies in the book, including Shell in Nigeria] (Christopher Hope, Guardian [UK], 1 Feb. 2003)

Empires of Profit: Commerce, Conquest and Corporate Responsibility -...Daniel Litvin traces the clashes of culture and unexpected social problems encountered by a series of powerful companies past and present. (Texere)

Peru Pipeline Endangering Lives of Indigenous People, Say Groups - Funding should be withheld from the sponsors of a gas pipeline project in the Peruvian Amazon, whose imported workers are seriously threatening the health and well-being of previously isolated indigenous people living in the area, according to six environmental and watchdog groups. The groups, which include Rainforest Action Network, Environmental Defense, and Friends of the Earth International, maintained that the sponsors of the US$1.4 billion Camisea Gas Project, Pluspetrol of Argentina and Texas-based Hunt Oil, were "forcibly contacting groups living in voluntary isolation" in violation of internationally recognized rights of indigenous peoples. (Jim Lobe, OneWorld US, 26 Feb. 2003)

VIETNAM: Government, ILO. Launch Project To Combat Child Labor (UN Wire, 26 Feb. 2003)

Retail therapy - Awareness of how and where goods are produced has soared - and so has the fair trade movement -...Now there are more than 100 products, ranging from tea, coffee and bananas to sugar, wine, honey, fruits, juices, snacks and biscuits, chilli peppers and meat. Coming next are fair trade clothes and textiles, and fair trade footballs...To go truly mainstream, though, fair trade must occupy more than a remote shelf in a supermarket. There are the first signs that that is happening as the Co-op and Safeway supermarkets start their own fair trade lines. (John Vidal, Guardian [UK], 26 Feb. 2003)

State [of California] toxic control agency fines Rialto firm $2.5 million [USA] - Nearly $2.5 million in fines have been levied against a Rialto hazardous waste facility [Denova Environmental Inc.] where thousands of pounds of unstable explosives were stored, the state Department of Toxic Substance Control announced Wednesday. (Associated Press, 26 Feb. 2003)

The Global Compact: origins, achievements, challenges - In an invitation article, Georg Kell provides an overview of the UN Global Compact’s activities to date and where it is headed in 2003 (Georg Kell, Executive Head of the Global Compact Office, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 25 Feb. 2003)

EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] report details how toxics harm kids' health - Additional risks to California children are listed - A new federal report on children's exposure to environmental contaminants blames air pollutants, mercury, lead, pesticides and solvents for damaging health and causing birth defects. (Jane Kay, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Feb. 2003)

Groups Launch Effort to Clean Up Shrimp Industry - Intensive farming of shrimp, also known as prawns, to meet the growing demands of global consumers has led to human rights abuses and ecological destruction in parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, according to an international environmental group which last week kicked off a campaign to raise awareness about the trade. (Andrew Wasley, Red Pepper, 24 Feb. 2003)

News release: Oceans at risk - The real cost of a prawn sandwich - A new report launched today reveals the real cost of a prawn sandwich. 'Squandering the Seas', exposes the massive waste and destruction behind prawn (also called shrimp) trawling. (Environmental Justice Foundation, 19 Feb. 2003)

Report: Squandering the Seas - How shrimp trawling is threatening ecological integrity and food security around the world. (Environmental Justice Foundation, 2003)

Spotlight interview with Jaffa Mummy (South Africa – COSATU) [refers to issue of HIV/AIDS discrimination in workplace] (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 21 Feb. 2003)

French President Meets With Businesses on Global Compact - French President Jacques Chirac met with leaders of French companies in Paris on 19 February to discuss the Global Compact. The business leaders shared with the President examples of good corporate practices and partnership projects. These examples included an initiative to fight malaria in Africa, access to water in urban areas, voluntary initiatives to advance environmental management as well as other corporate practices in support of the Global Compact. (U.N. Global Compact, 19 Feb. 2003)

{···français} Message du Secrétaire Général aux chefs d'entreprises français réunis pour un petit déjeuner de travail dans le cadre de la promotion du Pacte mondial (Nations Unies, 19 février 2003)

BP gas field 'ravaged the rainforest' - The oil giant's green credentials take yet another battering as its subsidiary is sued in the US courts - In a court action launched in the US state of Delaware earlier this month, BP has been accused of despoiling a 70,000- acre area of largely virgin Argentinian rainforest earmarked for a "sustainable" hardwood harvesting project. (Severin Carrell, Independent [UK], 16 Feb. 2003)

An Appeal to Action on HIV/AIDS - In the context of HIV/AIDS as a major threat to global development, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, the Head of UNAIDS, and the Director General of the ILO sent a joint letter to the CEOs of companies participating in the Global Compact...The Global Compact, the ILO and UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) will join forces in 2003 to mobilize businesses, encourage increased action to fight HIV/AIDS in the workplace, and combat stigmatisation of people in the workforce living with the disease. ..The letter encourages businesses worldwide to adopt and fully implement the ILO Code of practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. (U.N. Global Compact, 14 Feb. 2003)

Items added to website on Wednesday 26 February 2003:

Erin Brockovich firm to sue over Beverly Hills oil -...a lawsuit against the city of Beverly Hills and three oil companies for allegedly ignoring cancer-causing toxic gases leaking from oil wells on the Beverly Hills High School grounds. Masry told Reuters the lawsuit would be filed within a month in Los Angeles Superior Court against the city, the school district and Occidental Petroleum Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp. and privately held Venoco Inc. of Carpinteria, California, on behalf of more than 80 cancer patients who are former students, teachers or school employees. (Gina Keating, Reuters, 25 Feb. 2003)

Workers demonstrate against US fast-food giant - Activists in the United States are launching a mass demonstration against US fast-food giant Taco Bell on 24 February, protesting its tolerance of labour exploitation by its suppliers...Taco Bell uses tomatoes "produced in what can only be described as sweatshop conditions", the Coalition says...Anti-Slavery International supports the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' call for a boycott of Taco Bell. (Anti-Slavery International, 24 Feb. 2003)

Bayer shares fall as Baycol woes mount - Shares in Bayer AG fell five percent on Monday after a U.S. newspaper reported that senior company executives knew of the risks associated with its Baycol cholesterol drug long before it was recalled. (Sitaraman Shankar, Reuters, 24 Feb. 2003)

Capitalism Must Develop More of a Conscience -...Business has to work hand in hand with governments and civil society in employing its capabilities and its know-how in the fight against poverty, AIDS and all the other issues on the global agenda that undermine the dignity of life and threaten our very existence. (Klaus Schwab, President of World Economic Forum, in Newsweek, 24 Feb. 2003)

Ministry focuses on workers’ rights [Fiji] - “Every working person has the right and should be able to enjoy a working environment free from all forms of harassment and discrimination whether on the basis of ethnicity, nationality or social origin, religion, political affiliation, gender or any other form of personal identity,” he [Labour Minister Kenneth Zinck] said. Mr Zinck pointed out it was the responsibility of all employers to ensure there was an internal policy on sexual harassment in the workplace. (Daily Post [Fiji], 23 Feb. 2003)

Analysis: Dow Chemical and Bhopal – the continuing debate on responsibility - Dow Chemical is coming under renewed pressure in 2003 over the long-running issue of the Bhopal accident in 1984. Dale Crofts examines the situation (Dale Crofts, Research Fellow at the Centre for Organisation Reputation and Relationships at Henley Management College UK, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 22 Feb. 2003)

US factory boss guilty of 'slavery' - The owner of a clothes factory in American Samoa [Kil Soo Lee, who owned the Daweoosa Samoa company which made clothes for the JC Penney chain as well as other retailers before it closed] has been convicted [in U.S. court] of what prosecutors called "modern-day slavery"...he was accused of ordering beatings for disobedient employees, starving workers or threatening them with deportation if they complained. (BBC News, 22 Feb. 2003)

Man found guilty of running sweatshop - The American Samoan factory's owner abused hundreds of workers (Debra Barayuga, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 22 Feb. 2003)

Factory fined for refusing access to inspector [Australia] - An Adelaide paint manufacturer has been fined $4500 after being found guilty of abusing and barring access to a workplace inspector attempting to measure solvent fumes. (David Eccles, Advertiser [Australia], 22 Feb. 2003)

Nigerian Oil Spill Is a Threat to Environment, Say Activists - An abandoned Shell oil well exploded in southeast Nigeria, and activists said the spill had contaminated farms and streams. (Dulue Mbachu, Associated Press, 21 Feb. 2003)

Book Review: Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights - In the Kasky v. Nike case...Nike's claim to free speech rights is predicated on an 1886 Supreme Court case that established "corporate personhood" and extended citizens' rights to corporations. However, the [U.S.] Supreme Court justices' 1886 decision did not, in fact, establish corporate personhood, according to author Thom Hartmann. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 21 Feb. 2003)

EU Laws on E-Waste Clear the Way for Similar Laws in U.S. -..."The enactment of these laws is a critical first step in the transition to extended producer responsibility as an important new code of conduct for the global electronics industry," said Ted Smith, executive director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and coordinator of the national Computer TakeBack Campaign. (GreenBiz.com, 21 Feb. 2003)

Chinese Toy Manufacturer Labor Standards Found Lacking - New report highlights structural obstacles to toy manufacturer implementation of labor codes of conduct. Nongovernment organizations in Hong Kong released fresh research this week regarding labor issues in southern China's toy manufacturing industry. The research revealed structural flaws in the toy industry that prevent compliance with the voluntary codes of conduct that name brand companies are advocating. Toy manufacturers in China's southern provinces supply almost 70 percent of the world's toys, including products for major U.S. brand name companies such as Mattel, Hasbro, Disney, and fast-food giant McDonald's. (Paddy Manning, SocialFunds.com, 20 Feb. 2003)

Plastics industry loses out -...When chemicals companies Solvay and EVC decided to sue us in 1997, they were following in a long corporate tradition of using money and the courts to silence critics...Solvay and EVC were suing over our campaign to prevent poisonous PVC plastic being used in children's toys...In Italy the two companies sued us for damage to their image, reputation and for illegal claims. They also maintained "production of PVC and PVC products do not harm the environment". However the judge threw out all claims of the industry and ordered the companies to pay the legal costs. (Greenpeace, 20 Feb. 2003)

Bush Administration Hides Reports on Mercury Risks While Simultaneously Weakening Mercury Protections - The Sierra Club today called on the Bush Administration to immediately release a long-delayed report on the health risks children face from toxic mercury spewing from coal power plants. (Sierra Club, 20 Feb. 2003)

TVs, PC monitors should be recycled, says L.A. official - A proposal that would require electronics retailers to set up recycling for discarded televisions and computer monitors, the first proposed law of its kind in the United States, has been introduced by a Los Angeles city official. (Reuters, 19 Feb. 2003)

Analysis: Premier Oil and Burma – who are the real winners? Alex Blyth looks at the story of Premier Oil and its controversial corporate responsibility programme in Burma (Alex Blyth, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 18 Feb. 2003)

Indictment Text Shows China's Political Use of Subversion - The text of the indictment of Chinese labor activists Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang illustrates how China continues to use the elastic crime of "subversion" as a weapon against leaders of movements that criticize the state (Human Rights Watch, 14 Feb. 2003)

Automakers, Calif. Spar Over Emissions - Automakers and California Spar Over State's Vehicle Emission Rules...A coalition of 12 automakers, including General Motors, Ford Motor and DaimlerChrysler, is fighting the rules. (Associated Press, 13 Feb. 2003)

Bulgaria's President joins businesses to introduce Global Compact - More than 250 CEOs, managers and representatives of the business community participated in a forum to introduce the UN's Global Compact in Bulgaria's capital of Sofia last week. (U.N. Development Programme, 6 Feb. 2003)

New study [entitled "Making Global Trade Work for People"] explores ways that trade can maximize development - A new book launched at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York last week presents an independent reassessment of the current system of global trade and looks at ways that it can be improved to contribute more effectively to human development. (U.N. Development Programme, 5 Feb. 2003)

Poland's leading oil company joins public-private partnership - PKN ORLEN, the largest oil company in Poland, has forged a pioneering partnership with the city of Plock, where it is based, and UNDP to promote corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. (U.N. Development Programme, 4 Feb. 2003)

AFT [American Federation of Teachers] resolution on democracy and trade union rights in China and Hong Kong -...RESOLVED, the AFT reiterates its July 2000 convention resolution on human rights in China that commits our union to continue "to monitor and protest violations of human and workers' rights in China" and "to continue to work with the Hong Kong Democratic Teachers Union and other organizations that are committed to the principles of free and democratic trade unions." (American Federation of Teachers, 27 Jan. 2003)

Deconstructing Engagement: Corporate Self-Regulation in Conflict Zones - Implications for Human Rights and Canadian Public Policy [includes sections on: case study of Talisman Energy in Sudan, "Talisman Energy's Corporate Social Responsibility Reports and Verification by PricewaterhouseCoopers", the liability of corporations under international law, "Domestic Disclosure and Corporate Laws", "Litigation", "Consumer and Investor Campaigns", codes of conduct, social reporting, verification/monitoring, "Emerging State Duty to Regulate the Extraterritorial Activities of Corporations"] (Georgette Gagnon, Audrey Macklin, Penelope Simons, A Strategic Joint Initiative of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Law Commission of Canada, Jan. 2003)

Workplace Safety - asbestos campaign (Australian Workers Union)

Items added to website on Saturday 22 February 2003:

"Human Rights and Corporate Accountability" (speech by Mary Robinson, Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, at The Fund for Peace - Human Rights and Business Roundtable, 19 Feb. 2003)

"Human Rights and Ethical Globalization" -...On this occasion my intention is to consider how, by using the language and tools of international human rights, we can shape a more ethical globalization...there is increasing recognition that if fundamental rights are to be implemented it is essential to ensure that obligations fall where power is exercised, whether it is in the local village, the corporate board room or in the international meeting rooms of the WTO, the World Bank or the IMF...discussion is only now beginning on the fundamental question of how to ensure equitable access to life saving drugs...I hope, through my new work, to engage the major pharmaceutical companies in addressing these issues from a human rights perspective. (lecture by Mary Robinson, Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, at Stanford University, 12 Feb. 2003)

Ethical Globalization Initiative: A Human-Rights Based Approach to Globalization (directed by Mary Robinson, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights)

Items added to website on Friday 21 February 2003:

About six per cent of men's deaths involve occupational factors [Finland] (Trade Union News from Finland, 20 Feb. 2003)

CSL ship ignored safety code: Damning report into near fatality of guest worker on former Australian vessel - A man suffered life-threatening injuries due to crew fatigue and a failure to comply with safe work practices, according to a damning report into an accident on the CSL Pacific [registered in Bahamas] (Maritime Union of Australia, 20 Feb. 2003)

Central America Deal Must Boost Labour Rights - Report - A proposed trade agreement [CAFTA] between the United States and five Central American nations could further worsen labour and environmental conditions in the region if Washington does not use its clout to press for greater workers' rights there, says a leading U.S. think tank [Carnegie Endowment for International Peace] (Emad Mekay, Inter Press Service, 19 Feb. 2003)

Two New Papers on Central American Trade Negotiations Propose Solutions That Promote Workers' Rights, Environmental Protection, Trade (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 14 Feb. 2003)

full report by Sandra Polaski: Central America and the U.S. Face Challenge-and Chance for Historic Breakthrough-on Workers' Rights (Sandra Polaski, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Feb. 2003)

{···español} América Central y los EE.UU. enfrentan un desafío - y la oportunidad de un gran adelanto - en los derechos de los trabajadores (Sandra Polaski, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, febrero 2003)

full report by John Audley: Opportunities and Challenges to Advance Environmental Protection in the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Negotiations (John Audley, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Feb. 2003)

{···español} Oportunidades y problemas de la protección avanzada del medio ambiente en las negociaciones sobre el libre comercio entre EE.UU. y América Central (John Audley, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, febrero 2003)

Climate change set to impact global markets - report - Global warming is set to have a big impact on financial markets as investors revalue companies based on their exposure to climate change risk, according to a report published. Businesses could face huge extra costs from increasingly frequent natural disasters and from new legislation aimed at reducing emissions of global warming gases, the report by the Carbon Disclosure Project says. (Simon Johnson, Reuters, 19 Feb. 2003)

First Global Survey to Query Business Leaders on Greenhouse Gas Emissions warns investors: Ignoring Climate Change Poses Big Financial Risk (Carbon Disclosure Project, 17 Feb. 2003)

full report: Carbon Finance and the Global Equity Markets - On 31st May 2002, 35 institutional investors representing assets in excess of US $4.5 trillion wrote to the Chairmen of the FT500 Global Index companies. They asked the companies for investment relevant information relating to greenhouse gas mitigation. This report presents an analysis of the responses. (Carbon Disclosure Project, Feb. 2003)

ENVIRONMENT: Saving Climate is Saving Money (Sanjay Suri, Inter Press Service, 17 Feb. 2003)

SPORTS: U.N. Meeting Ends With Call To Fight Poverty, Prevent Conflict - A three-day U.N. meeting on sports and development ended yesterday at Switzerland's Magglingen federal sports center with sports federations, athletes and U.N. and other agencies calling on countries and sports institutions to use sports to help fight poverty and prevent conflict. (UN Wire, 19 Feb. 2003)

TOBACCO: WHO Asks Film, Fashion Industries To Stop Glamorizing Smoking - The World Health Organization yesterday called on the film and fashion industries to stop glamorizing smoking, urging the industries in a statement to "stop being used as vehicles of death and disease." (UN Wire, 19 Feb. 2003)

Club Owner May Face Charges in Tramplings [Chicago, USA] - The owner of a nightclub where 21 people died in a stampede down a narrow stairway could face fines and more than a year in jail for criminal contempt of court, officials say...Twenty-one people were killed and more than 50 injured early Monday after a security guard used pepper spray to break up a fight that erupted in the second-floor nightclub known as E2. (Mike Robinson, Associated Press, 19 Feb. 2003)

New occupational safety law in force [Finland]: Greater responsibility to employers for preventing accidents at work (Trade Union News from Finland, 19 Feb. 2003)

Sex-harass suit filed against dealership: Similar complaint settled 2 years ago [USA] - A former salesman is suing Burt Chevrolet claiming that he was sexually harassed by a manager at the dealership and denied promotions because he refused to lie about it. (Mark P. Couch and Louis Aguilar, Denver Post, 19 Feb. 2003)

Suit: Hooters changing room had peepholes [USA] - A 25-year-old Northfield woman filed a federal sexual harassment lawsuit Tuesday against Hooters in Chicago, alleging that top management did little to prevent male employees from viewing the women's changing area through peepholes in the wall. (Curtis Lawrence, Chicago Sun-Times, 19 Feb. 2003)

CAMBODIA: World Bank Links Aid To Independent Environmental Monitoring - If Cambodia refuses to continue independent monitoring of its forestry management, it could lose a $20 million World Bank aid package, World Bank Cambodia head Ian Porter has said in comments published in Sunday's Washington Post. The statement follows Cambodian threats to cancel an agreement with environmental monitors from Global Witness. (UN Wire, 18 Feb. 2003)

TOBACCO: WHO Begins Final Talks On Control Treaty (UN Wire, 18 Feb. 2003)

Workers rights deal for Metro in Turkey - An agreement on workers' rights covering multinational retailer Metro's cash and carry operations in Turkey has been reached by the global union federation UNI. The deal follows three years of disputes over trade union rights in Metro cash and carry outlets in Turkey. The agreement - negotiated at company head offices in Dusselfdorf - provides for a no-discrimination clause to cover union members. (Union Network International, 17 Feb. 2003)

100,000 Petition Botswana to Protect Bushmen -...They and their advocates claim that the government--one of the wealthiest in Africa due to Botswana's small population and its huge diamond industry--wants to remove the Bushmen to increase tourism to the Reserve and exploit recently discovered diamond fields. (Jim Lobe, OneWorld US, 16 Feb. 2003)

Activists Cast Valentines Spotlight on "Conflict Diamond" - A new campaign to be launched Friday, Valentine's Day, aims to persuade consumers in the United States not to buy diamonds mined in African war zones and to urge U.S. lawmakers to quickly pass legislation barring the import of "conflict diamonds." (Alison Raphael, OneWorld US, 14 Feb. 2003)

PepsiCo in India – leading the “cola race to the bottom”? Growing union repression and intense pressure from management on the remaining unionised Pepsi bottling plants is the clear picture that emerges from a recent IUF study of PepsiCo bottling operation in India. Incidents at PepsiCo plants in India include police being invited in by the company management to physically beat up unionised workers and constant threats of dismissal when workers start the process of organizing a union in the many plants where unions currently do not exist or where they want to exercise bargaining rights where they do. (IUF - International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations, 14 Feb. 2003)

company website: PepsiCo

Woman wins case vs. Olympia Aviation; said was sexually harassed by Tigers players [USA] - A former flight attendant who said she was sexually harassed by Tigers players scored a $200,000 verdict Thursday in federal court in Detroit. (David Ashenfelter, Detroit Free Press, 14 Feb. 2003)

Judge decides major punitive damages issue in favor of EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] in Dial sexual harassment suit - Trial Set for April 28 in Biggest Sex Harassment Suit Since Landmark Mitsubishi Case (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 13 Feb. 2003)

Griffin Pipe Products to pay $100,000, and implement revamped promotion procedures [USA] - Settlement Benefits African-Americans Denied Promotion to Salaried Positions - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the resolution of its employment discrimination lawsuit against Griffin Pipe Products Company, a subsidiary of Amstead Industries, Inc (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 13 Feb. 2003)

Diarrhoea vaccine on fast track for poor nations -...The PATH project will work with vaccine manufacturers and developing country governments to finance clinical trials in developing countries and accelerate the vaccine's availability to those children who need it the most. (Natasha McDowell, SciDev.Net, 12 Feb. 2003)

SOMALIA: Fishermen accuse foreigners of depleting coastal waters - Large foreign ships are harassing and intimidating Somali fishermen around the southern coastal towns of Marka and Barawe, according to local fishermen. (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, 12 Feb. 2003)

Consumers call on the World Health Organisation NOT to seek industry funding for its food standards work (Consumers International, 11 Feb. 2003)

Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule -...Based on methodical assessment of evidence from these cases—China, Cuba, Singapore, Vietnam, Burma, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt—the study contends that the Internet is not necessarily a threat to authoritarian regimes. (Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor C. Boas, Jan. 2003)

UN Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC) - [From 1977 to 1993 the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC) undertook a vigorous research programme on transnational corporations, worked on policy responses to South African investment, environment, and corporate standards, and advised developing and transition countries on foreign direct investment matters. In 1993 UNCTC was disbanded. Now a group of former UNCTC staff are creating a website to make more accessible the reports and studies prepared by the Center.]

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce: “Education on Rails” [Brazil] -...By transforming the railway stations and passenger cars into “live” education environments, a variety of programs are being offered to the public. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

Volkswagen: street children project -...The project, begun in September 1999 in partnership with the children's rights organization terre des homes, aims to supply continuous, long-term financial support for street children projects that are run by local institutions and initiatives near Volkswagen sites around the world (Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and Germany). (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

Unilever: Cleaning up the Brantas River [Indonesia] - The Brantas River project and Unilever Indonesia’s Village Adoption Program are engaging local communities in cleaning up polluted waterways where they reside, allowing them a healthier environment in which to live and new income generating possibilities. This partnership program, involving local government organizations and NGOs, has led to a new model for rehabilitating rivers that the company is seeking to replicate with other businesses and river communities throughout Indonesia. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

DuPont Cyrel Partners with Handicapped Workshops - The DuPont iTechnologies site in Parlin, New Jersey, recently launched a product recovery program that provides local jobs for disabled individuals and also helps the environment. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

Aventis: Partnerships for Health -...Aventis teamed up with WHO and other groups to ensure that the products needed to tackle such epidemics reach those in need. Partnerships include the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, and the recently formed partnership to tackle African Sleeping Sickness. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

The China Energy Technology Program: "A partnership for assessing a complete energy system" - The China Energy Technology Program, devised by ABB and the Alliance for Global Sustainability, is an extensive partnership program that brings together a diversity of participants to assess the relative costs and environmental performance of different strategies for meeting power demands in China. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

Thai Business Council: Green Label Scheme -...The TBCSD [Thailand Business Council for Sustainable Development] initiated a Green Label Scheme soon after it was established. This provides an environmental certification for products that are shown to have minimum detrimental impact on the environment, compared to other products serving the same functions. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

Western Power: the Greening Challenge [Australia] -...The partnership is an effort by Western Power, Landcare (a non-profit agency addressing land care issues) and state government officials to help stop soil degradation issues. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

Rio Tinto: conservation partnership with Earthwatch (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

BP Solar: Municipal Solar Project - Phillipines - BP Solar has been supplying equipment and systems to rural development projects for over 15 years as part of the company’s commercial business. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

Case studies: This new on-line case study collection showcases some of the best business actions for sustainable development from all over the globe. These case studies illustrate how companies work independently or with various stakeholders to integrate the challenge of sustainable development into their business activity. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

Case studies [list of all case studies] (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

Items added to website on Monday 17 February 2003:

Business and Human Rights in Practice: Build your understanding of the relationship between human rights and business. This workshop explores the practical business application of international human rights standards. Next dates: 12th-14th March 2003 and 30th April 2003 (New Academy of Business)

UN Looks for Action Against Child Labor [Russia] - The head of a UN [ILO] program to eliminate child labor said Friday that Russia is moving in the right direction, but actions would speak louder than words and pacts...The ILO estimates that about 50,000 children younger than 14 are working in Moscow, while 16,000 are working in St. Petersburg (Oksana Yablokova, Moscow Times, 17 Feb. 2003)

EU to debate pesticide ban on highly toxic aldicarb (Reuters, 17 Feb. 2003)

EU under attack over plan to legalise paraquat - Environmentalists, insisting that paraquat is highly toxic for humans and animals, slammed EU proposals to legalise the controversial herbicide across the bloc although it is banned in several member states. (Jeremy Smith, Reuters, 17 Feb. 2003)

Wal-Mart Faces Lawsuit Over Sex Discrimination - An ambitious discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest employer, accuses it of favoring men over women in promotions and pay. The plaintiffs' lawyers want the lawsuit to include all 700,000 women who worked at Wal-Mart from 1996 to 2001, which would make it by far the largest employment discrimination class action in American history. (Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2003)

Farm labor transit is now more safe [California, USA] - Fatalities involving farm labor vans were nonexistent in 2002, a first in the state since 1992. (Kara Machado, Hanford Sentinel, 16 Feb. 2003)

Manpower boss posts bail in probe of Bulgarian worker abuse [Israel] -...Bulgarian construction workers have filed 25 complaints of abuse with police against Tzarfati and his staff. Immigration police are investigating the claims of physical and verbal abuse by the six managers - three Israelis and three Bulgarians, who deny the accusations. (Ruth Sinai, Haaretz [Israel], 15 Feb. 2003)

Refinery pollution report a shock: [San Francisco] Bay Area plants belching 30% more gases than realized [USA] -..."I was astounded to see how much pollution was being released from the flares," said Contra Costa Health Director Wendel Brunner, who has expressed serious concern about their impact on public health. (Jason B. Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Feb. 2003)

Firm sued over wells it tainted: San Martin residents worry about health [USA] - Five San Martin homeowners filed a class-action lawsuit Friday against Olin Corp., the giant aerospace and ammunition manufacturer whose highway-flare operation in Morgan Hill contaminated their drinking water wells with a chemical used in rocket fuels. (Frank Sweeney, San Jose Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2003)

The unromantic side of red roses from Ecuador -...large growers here have been accused of misusing a toxic mixture of pesticides, fungicides and fumigants to grow and export unblemished pest-free flowers...Doctors and scientists who have worked in the region say serious health problems have resulted for many of the industry's 50,000 workers, more than 70 percent of them women...studies that the International Labor Organization published in 1999 and the Catholic University issued in Ecuador last year showed that women in the flower industry had more miscarriages than average in the region and that more than 60 percent of all workers suffered headaches, nausea, blurred vision or fatigue. (Ginger Thompson, New York Times, in International Herald Tribune, 14 Feb. 2003)

Lawsuits target drug pricing: Companies' discounts to doctors under scrutiny - New York state filed a lawsuit against two major pharmaceutical companies Thursday in a case that accuses them essentially of paying doctors and pharmacists to choose the companies' drugs over competing medicines...The lawsuits charge that the companies - GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Pharmacia Corp. - gave discounts to doctors and pharmacies that bought their drugs. A third drugmaker, Aventis, has been notified that it may also be sued...Regulators are also concerned that cancer doctors may have a financial incentive to recommend inappropriate or unnecessary chemotherapy because they are able to profit from prescribing particular drugs. (Reed Abelson and Jonathan D. Glater, New York Times, in International Herald Tribune, 14 Feb. 2003)

Exxon CEO backs mandatory emissions reports - Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Lee Raymond said this week companies should be required to report carbon emissions before any rules are created to target cuts in gases blamed for global warming. (Reuters, 13 Feb. 2003)

Alternative Organising and the ACFTU [China] -...Although it remains as subservient as ever to the policies of the CCP, there is no doubt that the ACFTU has developed and the organisation certainly recognises that it has to become a more effective organisation if it is to survive...But more interesting and potentially far more important have been workers' attempts over the last year to organise either independently or with various degrees of autonomy. (John Chen, China Labour Bulletin, 13 Feb. 2003)

China Takes Up Cause of Migrant Workers - The plight of those unfortunate laborers found its way into the pages of tightly controlled state newspapers during the run-up to China's biggest holiday, the Lunar New Year. This year, some newspapers and Web sites have gone a small step further, not just reporting on the drastic measures desperate migrants have taken, but also even addressing protests that are tolerated in moderation, but still taboo. (John Ruwitch, Reuters, 12 Feb. 2003)

NAMIBIA: Herero claims could go to court in US in March or April - The Hereros accuse Germany and two companies [Deutsche Bank and Woermann Line (now known as SAFmarine)] of forming a "brutal alliance" to exterminate over 65 000 Hereros between 1904 and 1907. (Southern Africa Documentation and Cooperation Centre, 22 Jan. 2003)

Report: Gender & Codes - If You Want to Help Us Then Start Listening to Us! From Factories and Plantations in Central America, Women Speak out about Corporate Responsibility -...for this study we focus on women workers in Nicaragua, in two sectors - clothing factories and banana plantations...Across Central America women workers have organised, calling on companies to address their concerns, including health and safety, discrimination, sexual harassment, low salaries, long working hours, freedom of association and right to collective bargaining, especially given weak enforcement of national and international labour legislation. (Marina Prieto and Jem Bendell, New Academy of Business, Dec. 2002)

Seminar: Transnational Business and Human Rights - Ewing, Schrage - This course examines the impact on transnational business practices of international conventions and U.S. human rights laws and of public pressure for compliance with the standards they promote. (Columbia Law School, 2002-2003)

Who's Mixing Your Drugs? Bad medicine [USA]: Pharmacy mix-ups a recipe for misery - Some drugstores operate with very little oversight -...Thousands of neighborhood pharmacies across the country make hundreds of compounded products. Yet there is little oversight by either federal or state regulators to ensure that drugs made by compounders are safe or effective...The case of Doc's Pharmacy illustrates how doctors, as well as their patients, are unaware of the risks inherent in pharmacy compounding. The contaminated drug ultimately killed three patients and hospitalized 10 others. It shattered lives, prompted one suicide and has spawned a series of lawsuits. (Erin Hallissy, Sabin Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 June 2002)

Items added to website on Wednesday 12 February 2003:

Air travel to knock emissions off target [UK] - The government is unlikely to deliver on its pledges to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, with pollution from air travel threatening to undo progress by industry and other sectors, according to a team of government advisors. (Reuters, 12 Feb. 2003)

Workers at Fiji-owned cannery below poverty - Over 700 workers at Fiji’s state-owned tuna cannery are reported to be living below the poverty line and working in draconian conditions. (Radio New Zealand International, 12 Feb. 2003)

Wal-Mart takes hits on worker treatment [USA] -...At the pinnacle of its success, the company is fending off critics who say Wal-Mart discriminates against women, underpays workers and uses illegal tactics to kill unionization efforts....Roughly 40 lawsuits have been filed by employees who say they were forced to work overtime for no pay. The company is facing a sexual discrimination lawsuit in California that could become the largest such case in history. (Stephanie Armour, USA Today, 11 Feb. 2003)

DRUGS: WTO Members Allow One Week To Reach Deal For Poor Countries - World Trade Organization member countries yesterday in Geneva gave negotiators one more week to reach a deal on providing inexpensive drugs to poor countries after the United States said it needed more time to consider new proposals (UN Wire, 11 Feb. 2002)

US pressed to allow cheap drugs for poor countries (Larry Elliott, Guardian [UK], 11 Feb. 2003)

Social & environmental impact of Coal India projects [India]: IBRD urged to act fast on inspection report - The Chotanagpur Adivasi Sewa Samiti (CASS), along with other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), has addressed a sign-on letter to the World Bank board, which is scheduled to review in late February its inspection panel's report on two World Bank-supported Coal India projects in eastern and central India, urging the directors "to take seriously and act rigorously" on the report which has commented adversely on the projects' social and environmental impact. (Pratap Ravindran, Business Line, 11 Feb. 2003)

Labour Dept Conducts Inspection Blitz in the Free State [South Africa] - Labour department inspectors in the Free State yesterday issued 14 contravention notices, one improvement notice and the recommended prosecution of at least one employer. (Mantshele Wa Ga Tau, BuaNews [South Africa], 11 Feb. 2003)

Clampdown on child labour [South Africa] - The department of labour is investigating claims that children as young as nine are being employed on a farm in the Leeuwehoek district in the Western Cape. (South African Press Association, 11 Feb. 2003)

Forest Certification Gains Strength in North America (Forest Certification Watch, 11 Feb. 2003)

UK Paper Companies Supporting Indonesian Rainforest Destruction - Investigations by Friends of the Earth have revealed that UK paper merchants are still buying paper from Indonesian companies responsible for rainforest destruction, illegal logging and human rights abuses [says paper merchant David John is buying paper from Asia Pulp & Paper; Ovenden Papers of Epping, Rosefox of Preston, Frederick Johnson of Enfield and the South Wales Paper Company are buying from Indonesian paper manufacturer APRIL]...James McNaughton, one of the UK's biggest paper merchant groups, recently announced its decision to stop buying Indonesian paper until it can be independently proven that it comes from a non-destructive source. Friends of the Earth is calling on all paper merchants to do the same. (Friends of the Earth, 10 Feb. 2003)

Processing the export zones - "Legal restrictions on trade union rights in a few export processing zone operating countries, the lack of enforcement of labor legislation and the absence of workers' organizations representation were among the factors noted as undermining the ability of zones to upgrade skills, improve working conditions and productivity and thereby to become more dynamic and internationally competitive platforms," it [ILO] said. (Sam Vaknin, Senior Business Correspondent, UPI, 10 Feb. 2003)

Women Respond Positively to HIV/Aids Workplace Programme - Labour Commissioner Kambuto [Malawi] (Mallick Mnela, Chronicle Newspaper [Malawi], 10 Feb. 2003)

ChevronTexaco Gives Away Greenhouse Gas Management System to Industry Source - ChevronTexaco Corp. has made its proprietary system for estimating and managing greenhouse gas emissions and energy utilization data available free of charge to the worldwide energy industry. (GreenBiz.com, 10 Feb. 2002)

ENSR Lauded for Using IT to Enhance Environmental Projects - ENSR International, a Massachusetts-based environmental services firm, has been awarded the Environmental Business Journal 2002 Merit Award for Information Technology. EBJ singled out ENSR for its extensive use of "extranets" to provide clients and project teams with global, 24-hour availability to environmental project resources to improve efficiency and performance while reducing costs. (GreenBiz.com, 7 Feb. 2003)

Battle against air pollution [Bangalore, India] - Vehicular pollution constitutes over 70 per cent of the total pollution in Bangalore. And getting polluting vehicles off city roads has never been easy. But armed with its ambitious 36-point action plan to tackle pollution, the state transport department claims that it is making slow but steady progress in bringing down pollution levels. (Times of India, 6 Feb. 2003)

But is it any more than a box-ticking exercise? Campaigner and writer Marc Lopatin questions whether developed nations are ready to pay more to improve standards -...Companies that outsource production are not exactly benevolent agents of sustainable development brimming with enthusiasm for respecting labour rights and environmental protection...Is it surprising then that some Southern-based NGOs regard CSR as a hollow project to deflect attention from unfair trade rules and bullying on the part of inward investors? (Marc Lopatin, Observer [UK], 2 Feb. 2003)

Can't say fairer than that - Once a minority cause, Fairtrade is now becoming mainstream, writes Simon Caulkin [refers to Nestlé, Cafédirect, Co-op supermarket] (Simon Caulkin, Observer [UK], 2 Feb. 2003)

Work deaths soar as Labour dithers [UK] - Tony Blair's Opposition pledged tougher laws on corporate killing, writes David Bergman. Yet nothing has been done since he gained power and another 2,000 people have died (Observer [UK], 2 Feb. 2003)

Website will give a global voice to Brazil's landless workers - Brazil's landless rural workers will find a new global voice with the launch of a website dedicated to the expression of their culture, plight and projects. (University of Nottingham [UK], 13 Jan. 2003)

The Buck Stops Where? - Managing the Boundaries of Business Engagement in Global Development Challenges (Robert Davies & Jane Nelson, International Business Leaders Forum, Jan. 2003)

Implementation Of A Worldwide Initiative For An Independent, Ethical Manufacturing Auditing Process - The International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI) announces today the start of the implementation of a worldwide initiative for an independent, ethical manufacturing auditing process that will be implemented by toy manufacturers representing more than 95% of toys sold worldwide. (International Council of Toy Industries, 18 Dec. 2002)

The industry needs a ruling in favor of truth, not Nike [case in U.S. court regarding Nike's denial of labour abuses at its supplier factories in Asia] - Sad is the professional society that doesn't recognize a gift when it sees it. Yet that is precisely what happened when the PRSA [Public Relations Society of America] and other industry groups filed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court to overturn the decision and permit corporations to play loose with their facts...let's hope the Supreme Court doesn't take a step back and sanction misleading statements and half-truths. (Jeff Seideman, president of the Boston Chapter of the PRSA, in PR Week, 16 Dec. 2002)

Items added to website on Monday 10 February 2003:

China's gestures of reform leave workers in chains -...Without freedom of association, no amount of tampering with the current legal system will make much difference. (Jasper Becker, International Herald Tribune, 8 Feb. 2003)

Colombia: ICFTU challenges President on the rise in anti-union violence - ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder has asked the President of Colombia to take action to protect human and trade union rights and to bring those who violate them to justice. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 7 Feb. 2003)

{···español} Colombia: la CIOSL interpela al Presidente sobre la agravación de la violencia antisindical (Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, 7 febrero 2003)

{···français} Colombie : la CISL interpelle le Président sur l’aggravation des violences antisyndicales (Confédération internationale des syndicats libres, 7 février 2003)

An inhuman bondage [regarding Human Rights Watch report: "Small Change: Bonded Child Labor in India's Silk Industry"] (Ashwin Mahesh, rediff.com, 7 Feb. 2003)

EU aims to improve greenhouse gas monitoring system (Reuters, 7 Feb. 2003)

CLIMATE CHANGE: U.S. Industries Plan Voluntary Emissions Cuts (UN Wire, 7 Feb. 2003)

Radisson Prince Charles Hotel loses harassment case - A former banquet worker has won a judgment of more than $200,000 against the Radisson Prince Charles Hotel and Suites. [USA] (Al Greenwood, Fayetteville Observer, 7 Feb. 2003)

Construction employer to face manslaughter charges over death of worker on a London construction site [UK] (London Hazards Centre, 7 Feb. 2003)

More tributes to tragic factory woman [UK] -...Lorriane Waspe, 40 of Valley Lane, Great Finborough, died when she was in collision with a piece of heavy machinery at the British Sugar Factory, in Bury St Edmunds on Wednesday. (Evening Star [UK], 7 Feb. 2003)

World Trade Body Ignores Union Appeals Over El Salvador's Treatment of Workers - The World Trade Organization praised El Salvador Wednesday for taking steps to open up its economy, but ignored a damning report from a global grouping of trade unions that accuses the country of dismissing workers' rights, particularly in export processing zones (Marty Logan, OneWorld US, 6 Feb. 2003)

Sweat-Free School Purchasing Resolutions: a New Trend? [USA] -...The school board [Minneapolis Board of Education] voted unanimously to develop a "sweat-free" policy for the purchase of all athletic equipment and apparel...The Los Angeles Unified School District unanimously passed a similar resolution in January, which followed on the heels of a sweat-free measure passed by the City Council in October 2002. Twenty separate school districts within the state of New York have implemented sweat-free purchasing policies within the last year and a half, and the New York City Council passed a resolution in 2001 mandating that the city develop a sweatshop free policy for the purchase of all city uniforms. (Ben Plimpton, CorpWatch, 6 Feb. 2003)

GE acts to prove PCB case [USA] - Company commissions studies to disprove harm to river that could be cited in damage claims - Anticipating a multimillion-dollar state and federal lawsuit for damages caused by the PCBs it discharged into the Hudson River, the General Electric Co. is continuing what some consider a series of pre-emptive studies to disprove scientific evidence that could be used against the company. (Erin Duggan, Times Union [USA], 6 Feb. 2003)

Activists Shut Down Salvadoran Consulates - Demanding that the Salvadoran government stop violating internationally recognized labor rights, groups of human rights, labor, anti-globalization, and international solidarity activists are simultaneously occupying the Salvadoran Consulates in New York and San Francisco. (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, 6 Feb. 2003)

£40,000 fine for death of worker [UK] - A demolition firm [London-based Brown and Mason] was yesterday fined £40,000 for the death of one of its workers at Blyth Power Station. (Graeme Whitfield, The Journal [UK], 6 Feb. 2003)

Multinationals Ride Wave of Water Privatization, Investigation Finds -...The report, which is being released in 10 parts between now and February 14, follows a year-long investigation by the Center's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which focused on corporate activities in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia, Colombia, Asia, and Europe. It documents how privatization has cut off millions of people from safe water supplies, resulting, for example, in South Africa's worst ever cholera outbreak, which killed nearly 300 people and infected more than 250,000. [article refers to France's Suez and Vivendi Environnement; Thames Water, owned by Germany's RWE AG; Saur of France; United Utilities of England; United States firm Bechtel] (Marty Logan, OneWorld US, 4 Feb. 2003)

SOUTH AFRICA - Metered to Death: How a Water Experiment Caused Riots and a Cholera Epidemic - The biggest problem in this country ravaged by AIDS, tuberculosis and malnourishment, is water. Few can afford it. But with World Bank blessing, the government is trying to end water subsidies, forcing millions of South Africans to seek their water from polluted rivers and lakes. The result: one of the largest outbreaks of cholera. (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Centre for Public Integrity, 5 Feb. 2003)

Swiss Aid Group Keeps Watchful Eye on Chad Pipeline -...human rights groups say it is already having a negative impact on ordinary people...Human rights groups have criticised the project, saying it is damaging water supplies and depriving farmers of their land...Ron Royal, the general manager of Esso Chad, says the criticisms are unjustified [refers to Exxon Mobil, Petronas and Chevron] (NZZ, 4 Feb. 2003)

Oil giants get slick with bid for new image - All the soft-focused ads in the world cannot detract from the fact that the major oil firms don't do enough, writes Faisal Islam [refers to BP and Exxon] (Faisal Islam, Observer [UK], 2 Feb. 2003)

Cut greenhouse gas emissions, investors tell Petro-Canada -...Ethical Funds Inc. and Real Assets Investment Management have jointly filed the resolution to be distributed to all Petro-Canada shareholders in the company's management proxy circular and voted on at the 2003 annual general meeting. (Ethical Funds Inc., 12 Dec. 2002)

Earth-Info.Net

Items added to website on Friday 7 February 2003:

El Salvador: Violations of Labour Standards Rife, says new ICFTU Report - ...the ICFTU has condemned El Salvador's failure to protect basic trade union rights in the country's Export Processing Zones...One of the many major allegations of the report was the unsafe working conditions workers face ...Gender discrimination is also widespread...The report also mentions the fact that indigenous people in El Salvador face discrimination in employment...Child labour is also widespread in much of the rural and unregulated urban economies (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 5 Feb. 2003)

Internationally recognised core labour standards in El Salvador (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 4 Feb. 2003)

{···español} El Salvador: Proliferan las violaciones de las normas laborales, dice un reciente informe de la CIOSL (Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, 5 febrero 2003)

{···français} El Salvador: les violations des normes du travail sont courantes, affirme un rapport de la CISL (Confédération internationale des syndicats libres, 6 février 2003)

After workers unionize, Puma cuts and runs from Mexico - ..."When the customers do audits of the factory, the company forces us to lie."...Matamoros Garment is a factory that produces uniforms for restaurants and hospitals in the United States under the Angelica label, and sports apparel for the German corporation Puma. (Campaign for Labor Rights, 5 Feb. 2003)

Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to Speak at The Fund for Peace Vice Presidents Luncheon -...on February 19th at the Ritz Carlton in Washington, D.C. Mary Robinson, Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, will deliver a lecture entitled “Human Rights and Corporate Accountability.” (Fund for Peace, 5 Feb. 2003)

Tobacco: WHO Urges Higher Taxes, Advertising Controls In Poor States (UN Wire, 5 Feb. 2003)

UNEP: Agency Seeks More Appealing Environmental Message - UNEP praised KIA for a British campaign urging people to use cars on long trips only and European detergent makers for their Wash-Right campaign calling on people to wash clothes at low temperatures (UN Wire, 5 Feb. 2003)

UNEP: Agency Says Mercury Pollution Rising In Poor Countries - Coal-fired power stations and waste incinerators in developing countries are to blame for the majority of the world's new mercury contamination (UN Wire, 5 Feb. 2003)

Wal-Mart labor manager works to keep employees from unions [USA] - The slightest discussion of a union among Wal-Mart employees requires managers to jump into action to discourage the activity, company officials told a judge with a federal labor agency Tuesday. But some employees at a store in Aiken have complained they were harassed and interrogated when they talked of organizing a union in the summer of 2001. (Pamela Hamilton, Associated Press, 4 Feb. 2003)

Toxic Chemical Study Sounds Warning for Children - The most extensive study of the toxic chemicals to which Americans are exposed has found encouraging evidence that levels of lead, pesticides and tobacco related chemicals have declined over the past decade. But the report, released last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, offered worrying evidence that children are more exposed than adults to a range of toxic chemicals. (J.R. Pegg, Environment News Service, 4 Feb. 2003)

Flawed anti-smoking laws endanger workers' health [Australia] - Inadequate anti-smoking legislation is threatening the health of thousands of Queensland workers and urgently needs to be amended, Queensland Council of Unions Assistant Secretary Chris Barrett said today. (Queensland Council of Unions, 28 Jan. 2003)

UNEP Greener Driving: UNEP runs this campaign jointly with several sponsors from the automotive industry [BMW, Ford, Michelin, Renault, DVR] to promote sustainable mobility and explain this Greener Driving style. (U.N. Environment Programme)

End the trade in conflict diamonds (One Sky: The Canadian Institute for Sustainable Living)

New Internationalist magazine

Corporate influence (New Internationalist magazine, July 2002)

Corporate influence / Strategies (New Internationalist magazine)

Items added to website on Wednesday 5 February 2003:

Ivax submits inhaler that doesn't deplete ozone - Ivax Corp. said this week it submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking approval for a new asthma inhaler that uses the common treatment albuterol but does not deplete the ozone layer like most devices. (Reuters, 5 Feb. 2003)

Asbestos Claimants Accept Gencor Offer [South Africa] - Lawyers representing asbestos victims approved a settlement offer from Gencor yesterday...Part of the R460m settlement offer would be set aside for claims against Cape plc (Chantelle Benjamin, Business Day [South Africa], 4 Feb. 2003)

UN Lists Top World Air Polluters -...The report released yesterday at the United Nations Environmental Programme headquarters, Nairobi, warns that mercury poisoning could increase if pollution from power stations is not curbed. (Jeff Otieno, The Nation [Kenya], 4 Feb. 2003)

Banana workers get day in court - For two decades, the workers say, their efforts to win compensation for the damage done by DBCP [a pesticide] - including sterility, cancer, and birth defects in children - have been frustrated by the legal tactics of American chemical and fruit companies. But now they are getting their day in court...A ruling by a federal judge in New Orleans has opened the way for a lawsuit brought by 3,000 Central American banana workers seeking millions in damages, the first time one of these cases would be tried in the United States. (David Gonzalez, Trinidad Express [Trinidad & Tobago], 3 Feb. 2003)

Littlewoods shuns ethical trade [UK] - Christian Aid is profoundly disappointed by the decision of Littlewoods, the high street clothing retailer, to leave the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), a voluntary code of conduct set up to help improve labour standards in poor countries. (Christian Aid, 3 Feb. 2003)

New pollution treaty improves right-to-know - A new international law improving the public’s right to know about levels of pollutants and their sources was finalised late yesterday after a final four-day round of negotiations at the UN in Geneva. The treaty involves countries from Europe, Central Asia and Canada, but not the United States who dropped out last year. (Friends of the Earth, 31 Jan. 2003)

Environment and the poor: Focused action, greater attention needed -...There are inextricable, multidimensional and complex linkages between increasing poverty and environmental degradation. (Dr. A. Atiq Rahman, Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and Coordinator of Global Forum on Environment and Poverty (GFEP), in Independent [Bangladesh], 30 Jan. 2003)

Statement of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Regarding EEOC V. RD's Drive-In - the employer instituted a rule attempting to censor their [4 employees] ability to speak their native Navajo language, even though use of the Navajo language allowed many employees to perform their work more efficiently. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 21 Jan. 2003)

Target Corp. to pay $95,000, implement training for failure to accommodate disabled worker [USA] (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 15 Jan. 2003)

'BABIES R US' to pay $205,000, implement training due to same-sex harassment of male employee -...The initial suit, filed on March 6, 2002, alleged that throughout his employment Mr. Vasquez was the target of unwelcome and derogatory comments as well as behavior that mocked him because he did not conform to societal stereotypes of how a male should appear or behave. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 15 Jan. 2003)

"Participating in Governance: the Social Responsibility of Companies and NGOs" -...This is a big challenge to traditional thinking about the right and proper roles of governments, companies and NGOs and to their competencies in performing them. It means accepting that the world and the power relationships between these key actors has changed. It means understanding that companies and NGOs, whether they or anyone else like it or not and whether they do so actively or passively, are participating in governance. (Chris Marsden, Chair of Amnesty International (UK) Business Group, Jan. 2003 [this article will appear in Spring 2003 edition of New Academy Review])

Lawyer: U.S. Firms Ordered to Pay $490M - A Nicaraguan judge has ordered three U.S. companies to pay $490 million to 583 banana workers allegedly affected by the use of the pesticide Nemagon, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said Saturday. The alleged victims sued Dow Chemical, Shell Oil Co. and Standard Fruit Co. in 1998 for using Nemagon in the banana fields of western Nicaragua - despite the fact that the chemical had been banned for causing health problems. (Associated Press, 14 Dec. 2002)

Items added to website on Monday 3 February 2003:

Manistee firm studies effluent: Paper mill gets year to review options for polluted wastewater [USA] - Packaging Corp. of America officials say they'll attempt to address community concerns over wastewater discharge into Lake Michigan with improvements to the wood pulp manufacturing process. (Mike Tyree, Associated Press, 2 Feb. 2003)

RP-based center develops environment friendly shrimp production technology [Philippines] (Rudy A. Fernandez, Philippine Star, 2 Feb. 2003)

Balancing Trade Rules, the Environment and Sustainable Development -...AllAfrica's Akwe Amosu probed these issues with Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, the General Manager of the Environmental Protection Authority of Ethiopia. (AllAfrica.com, 1 Feb. 2003)

Ashulia: An environmental time bomb in the making [Bangladesh] - Dhaka continues to expand haphazardly as real estate developers are filling up the wetlands in and around the capital for construction. At least half a dozen small and large developers are engaged in filling up the vast low-lying lands around Ashulia...Water experts at the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre warn that filling up of this flood-flow zone will threaten the Uttara dam, thus entailing an environmental disaster by endangering the entire ecosystem of the area. [refers to threat of flooding to villages and city] (ASM Nurunnabi, Daily Star [Bangladesh], 1 Feb. 2003)

N.J. fighting Ohio polluters [USA] - The McGreevey administration announced Friday that it is dispatching a pair of deputy attorneys general to Ohio to help argue a federal case charging Ohio Edison Co. with polluting New Jersey's air and damaging the health of state residents. (Jack Kaskey, PressofAtlanticCity.com, 1 Feb. 2003)

Reebok and the Global Footwear Sweatshop [India] -...there were violations of Reebok’s “Human Rights Production Standards” across the board at their key subcontractor’s plant [in India]. And the evidence suggests that Reebok was aware of these violations but persisted for quite some time with the manufacture of its athletic shoes at this plant. (Bernard D’Mello, Monthly Review, Feb. 2003)

company website: Reebok: Our Business Practices

Belarus – ICFTU calls for EU GSP trade preference enquiry over trade union rights violations (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 31 Jan. 2003)

{···español} Bielorrusia: La CIOSL pide que se investiguen las violaciones de derechos sindicales en el marco del SPG europeo (Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, 31 enero 2003)

{···français} Biélorussie : la CISL demande une enquête sur les violations des droits syndicaux dans le cadre du SPG européen (Confédération internationale des syndicats libres, 31 janvier 2003)

Briefing on Belarus - In an 8-page briefing paper published today, the ICFTU exposes in detail the policy of repression of free trade unionism, as well as the efforts of the international trade union movement to protect the rights of Belarussian workers (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 31 Jan. 2003)

{···español} Dossier Bielorrusia (Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, 31 enero 2003)

{···français} Dossier: Biélorussie (Confédération internationale des syndicats libres, 31 janvier 2003)

Request for Investigation into Violation of Freedom of Association in Belarus under the procedures of the European Union GSP (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 27 Jan. 2003)

WHO to meet beverage company representatives to discuss health-related alcohol issues - World Health Organization (WHO) will host a meeting with selected alcohol beverage company representatives in Geneva on February 12, 2003 to exchange views on the impact of alcohol on global health. (World Health Organization, 31 Jan. 2003)

International standards for corporate responsibility [refers to UN Global Compact, ILO conventions, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, ISO 14000 Series, AccountAbility 1000, Global Reporting Initiative, Global Sullivan Principles, Social Accountability 8000] (Malcolm McIntosh, Ruth Thomas, Deborah Leipziger, and Gill Coleman, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 30 Jan. 2003)

Researchers Explore A New Toxic Pollution Site: People - “Body Burden” Studies Are Raising Health Concerns And Prompting Stronger Government Actions -...Subjects contained an average of 91 compounds, most of which did not exist 75 years ago. In total, the nine subjects carried 76 chemicals linked to cancer. Participants had a total of 48 PCBs, which were banned in the U.S. in 1976 but are used in other countries and persist in the environment for decades. (Environmental Working Group, 30 Jan. 2003)

BodyBurden: The Pollution in People - Executive Summary - What We Found -...Only the chemical companies know whether their products are dangerous and whether they are likely to contaminate people. As a first step toward a public understanding of the extent of the problem, the chemical industry must submit to the EPA and make public on the web, all information on human exposure to commercial chemicals, any and all studies relating to potential health risks, and comprehensive information on products that contain their chemicals. (a study led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, in collaboration with the Environmental Working Group and Commonweal, Jan. 2003)

The face of environmental contamination - [San Francisco] Bay Area residents participate in test of chemicals in their bodies (Jane Kay, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Feb. 2003)

Public Eye on Davos takes stock -...The Public Eye on Davos, in the spirit of transparency and open dialogue invited Phil Knight, CEO of Nike, and Lord Browne, CEO of BP, to share their views with civil society within the Public Eye. Both corporations have representatives attending the WEF, but they failed to attend the Public Eye. (Friends of the Earth, 28 Jan. 2003)

Anti-Child Labour Laws Are Toothless [South Africa] -...Anti-child labour lobbyists say that a lack of awareness about the Basic Conditions of Employment Act [BCEA] by police, employers and the public was contributing to the use of children under 15 years on commercial farms, the taxi industry, as well as the manufacturing and trading sectors. (African Eye News Service [South Africa], 28 Jan. 2003)

Analysis: BP and the Baku pipeline: Whose standards are high enough? - [regarding the BP-led consortium's Host Government Agreement with Turkey, Georgia & Azerbaijan, which grants the consortium exemption from national laws]...Environmental and human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth (FoE), are concerned the consortium will not be held legally or financially responsible for any environmental or social wrongdoings. (Jaime Eastham, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 27 Jan. 2003)

Beyond petroleum, or beyond the pale? BP left out in the cold -...one of the UK's leading ethical investment funds, Henderson Global Investors, announced it was selling millions of pounds of BP shares because it could no longer assure its investors of the company's commitment to worker safety and the environment in Alaska. (Andrew Gumbel and Marie Woolf, Independent [UK], 23 Jan. 2003)

World Legacy Awards Honor Ecotourism - Three tourism agencies were honored Wednesday with the first ever World Legacy Awards for their emphasis on environmental responsibility and respecting cultural heritage [Wilderness Safaris, for its work in South Africa; ATG Oxford, for its work in Italy; REST - the Responsible Ecological Social Tours Project, for its work in Thailand] (Cat Lazaroff, Environment News Service, 23 Jan. 2003)

Baby milk marketing 'breaks rules' - A study in the British Medical Journal says manufacturers of powdered baby milk substitutes are violating international codes when selling their product to West Africans...The researchers found the code had been violated by 40 products, many made by national and international manufacturers like Danone and Nestle. (Ania Lichtarowicz, BBC News, 17 Jan. 2003)

Monitoring compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in west Africa: multisite cross sectional survey in Togo and Burkina Faso -...Forty commercial breast milk substitutes violated the labelling standards of the code: 21 were manufactured by Danone, 11 by Nestlé, and eight by other national and international manufacturers. (Victor M Aguayo, Jay S Ross, Souleyman Kanon & Andre N Ouedraogo, in British Medical Journal, 18 Jan. 2003)

Monitoring the marketing of infant formula feeds: Manufacturers of breast milk substitutes violate the WHO code again (editorial, Tony Waterston and James Tumwine, in British Medical Journal, 18 Jan. 2003)

Baby formula firms query code misconduct claims (News International [Pakistan], 18 Jan. 2003)

Addressing the crisis in CSR reporting: Mallen Baker looks at potential improvements in corporate responsibility reporting -...Whilst the world is debating whether the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines are the best framework for what should be reported, few have yet commented on the fact that GRI reports are no better read than the rest. (Mallen Baker, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 17 Jan. 2003)

Camisea Oil & Gas Project in Peru -...The following memo details new information regarding recent impacts of Peru’s Camisea oil and gas project...Illnesses are now spreading among peoples living in voluntary isolation within the Nahua-Kugapakori Reserve. Observers have repeatedly warned that project operations within the Reserve and Pluspetrol’s policy of forced contact with isolated peoples pose a direct threat to the physical and cultural integrity of peoples living in voluntary isolation. (Amazon Watch, 14 Jan. 2003)

Medicine Access in Dispute - With the rich countries eager to renege on promises made at the November 2001 World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, developing countries in November rejected rich country proposals that public health advocates said would significantly limit poor countries' access to essential medicines. (Multinational Monitor, Dec. 2002)

Lydenberg article charts future of socially responsible investing - Domini Principal and KLD Founder Says SRI’s “Time Has Come” -...Steven D. Lydenberg...has published an article entitled, “Envisioning Socially Responsible Investing: A Model for 2006,” in the October issue of The Journal of Corporate Citizenship. The groundbreaking article identifies the trends that are shaping socially responsible investing (SRI) and argues that new organizations and initiatives must be created to satisfy a growing demand for SRI research, products and education. The article’s proposals include the creation of new, niche-market SRI research firms and the integration of SRI and corporate social responsibility (CSR) into business school curricula and financial analyst training. (Domini Social Investments, 1 Oct. 2002)

Summary of “Envisioning Socially Responsible Investing: A Model for 2006”

full article: “Envisioning Socially Responsible Investing: A Model for 2006” (Steven D. Lydenberg, Domini Social Investments, in Journal of Corporate Citizenship, autumn 2002)

Items added to website on Friday 31 January 2003:

Asbestos kills, judgment awaits [South Africa] - Herman Kubari is dead...He was the first of 1 600 applicants in a motion in the Johannesburg high court late last year to interdict Gencor, the investment holding company, from unbundling its stake in Impala Platinum and distributing the proceeds to shareholders until sufficient provision had been made for damages actions brought for asbestos-related diseases. (Ronnie Morris, Business Report [South Africa], 30 Jan. 2003)

New European Constitution May Erase Eco-Progress - Some of the European Union's greatest milestones in environmental policymaking could be at risk from attempts to draft a new constitution for the bloc (Environment News Service, 29 Jan. 2003)

Logging Pollution Damages North Coast Watersheds [USA] - Accelerated logging has polluted some 85 percent of the waters in California's North Coast region, uprooted protected redwoods and damaged private property, but state officials continue to permit logging companies to avoid complying with environmental regulations. California environmentalists are fighting back with lawsuits (Environment News Service, 29 Jan. 2003)

Rail Workers Mourn Second Death In Six Months [New Zealand] (EPMU - New Zealand Amalgamated Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, 29 Jan. 2003)

Building workers to demonstrate over safety in Dublin next week - Thousands of building workers are to stage a demonstration in Dublin next week to highlight concerns over safety standards. (Irish Times, 28 Jan. 2003)

Unions push their case in first book of worker rights [China] - China's labour federation says tripartite system set up nationwide aims to protect the weak, especially the migrant workforce - China's labour federation has released the country's first handbook on workers' rights that is long on achievement but silent on issues such as the right to strike and to form free unions that have been the focus of international scrutiny. (David Hsieh, Straits Times [Singapore], 27 Jan. 2003)

Does US Bank Harbour Equatorial Guinea’s Oil Millions in Secret Accounts? - Information published in today’s LA Times indicates that a massive US$300-500 million of Equatorial Guinea’s oil revenues may have been parked in a provincial Washington DC bank [Riggs Bank], under the control of President-for-life Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. (Global Witness, 21 Jan. 2003)

Oil Boom Enriches African Ruler - As vast offshore oil fields generate hundreds of millions of dollars for tiny Equatorial Guinea, there are few signs of the petroleum boom in the impoverished West African nation...the Guinean ambassador to the U.S. and other sources close to Obiang say the country's oil funds are held in an account at Riggs Bank in Washington. According to several of those sources and others familiar with the account, more than $300 million of the country's energy earnings has been deposited in the account by international oil companies active in Equatorial Guinea, including ExxonMobil Corp. and Amerada Hess Corp. (Ken Silverstein, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2003)

Items added to website on Wednesday 29 January 2003:

Grupo Mexico-owned Southern Peru Copper Corp. is behind schedule on its smelter modernization, part of a program to bring the company in compliance with Peru's environmental laws (Mary Powers, Reuters, 29 Jan. 2003)

DRUGS: WHO To Push WTO On Patents -...According to Brazilian Health Minister Humberto Costa, the WHO is planning to send a letter to the WTO calling for public health interests to be given priority over the interests of the pharmaceutical industry (UN Wire, 28 Jan. 2003)

{···português} OMS vai priorizar quebra de patentes (Jornal do Brasil, 28 janeiro 2003)

Labour inspection blitz unearths rot [South Africa] - Employers would no longer get away with flouting the law, labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana said yesterday. "It is unacceptable in a human rights-based democracy for workers to be killed or injured while at work because of their employers' refusal to ensure their safety as prescribed by the law," he said during an inspection blitz in Gauteng...At one of the sites, Nigel Textile Works on the East Rand, inspectors found working conditions to be appalling, and recommended the prosecution of the employers. (SAPA, 28 Jan. 2003)

Serious violations of basic trade union rights in the Turkish glass industry - All union activities in the Turkish glass industry were stopped by employers, leading Turkish Glassmaker Sisecam Group. (Turkey, Glass, Cement, Ceramic and Soil Industries Workers' Union, 28 Jan. 2003)

company website: Sisecam Group

Harmony to offer HIV/AIDS drugs [South Africa] - Harmony Gold Mining would offer its HIV-positive employees antiretroviral drugs and was looking at rolling out a "workable and sustainable" antiretroviral programme, it said yesterday. (Sherilee Bridge, Business Report [South Africa], 28 Jan. 2003)

Government plantations in violation of national labor laws [Indonesia] - Several state-owned palm oil plantations in North Sumatra have employed tens of thousands of workers for years below the minimum wage and without the social security programs. (Apriadi Gunawan and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta Post, 28 Jan. 2003)

MERCURY: Advocates Urge U.S. Not To Block Treaty Talks -...The UNEP group stressed a particular need to protect children, women of childbearing age, indigenous people, people dependent on fish and those who may be exposed at work. (UN Wire, 28 Jan. 2003)

CAMBODIA: Forestry Dispute Expected To Dominate Donor Meeting - Forestry was likely to dominate today's meeting of international donors to Cambodia following the country's announcement of a plan to cancel its monitoring agreement with the British environmental group Global Witness, the Phnom Penh Post reports. (UN Wire, 28 Jan. 2003)

Donors set for strong forestry stance [Cambodia] (Caroline Green & Robert Carmichael, Phnom Penh Post, 17-30 Jan. 2003)

Call for strategy to help sick workers [UK] - A national strategy to rehabilitate workers who have been injured or made ill at work is urgently needed, according to two leading business interest groups. (BBC News, 28 Jan. 2003)

Link Found Between Nitrates Well Water and Factory Farms [USA] - Studies From An Independent Scientific Organization Show Link Between Higher Contamination Of Well Water Near Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (Environmental News Network, 28 Jan. 2003)

Conservation Fund pursues environmental goals by working with businesses, speaking the language [USA] -...a complex multimillion dollar deal sealed between a conservation group, loggers, and Maryland state officials provides an example of an increasingly common form of cooperation between those two seemingly conflicting groups. (Associated Press, 28 Jan. 2003)

HIV/AIDS: WHO Welcomes Drug Makers' Patent Moves - The World Health Organization Friday welcomed new initiatives by several drug companies to license their patents to generic manufacturers for production of certain HIV/AIDS drugs. (UN Wire, 27 Jan. 2003)

UN health agency welcomes move by companies to licence some HIV/AIDS drugs (UN News Centre, 24 Jan. 2003)

Child labour shock for SA [South Africa] - About 36 percent of minors in South Africa are engaged in child labour, according to a fresh survey commissioned by the department of labour. (Mokgadi Pela, Business Report [South Africa], 27 Jan. 2003)

WATER: UNEP Urges Better Management As Global Supply Deteriorates -...UNEP warns of steep drops in the sizes of bodies of water, the deterioration of coral reefs and oxygen depletion in the seas, a problem the agency says is caused by industrial and agricultural runoff and could lead to fishery collapses and "dead zones" in such places as the Gulf of Mexico. (UN Wire, 27 Jan. 2003)

Labor rights group urges China to release detained worker - A U.S.-based labor monitoring group has urged China to release a man it says has been detained since June for trying to set up a workers' union. China Labor Watch, based in New York, said in a statement Saturday that it fears retired worker Di Tiangui is near death because of inadequate medical treatment while in prison. (Associated Press, 26 Jan. 2003)

Chinese dissident expelled to US -...A businessman and former government official, he [Fang Jue] is best known for a statement issued five years ago that called for direct elections at all levels of Chinese government, freedom of the press and independent trade unions. (BBC News, 25 Jan. 2003)

US companies hold back from Global Compact - Global union federation UNI today (January 24) warned that the failure of US companies to join the United Nations’ Global Compact will undermine efforts by the World Economic Forum to rebuild trust in big business. So far 700 companies worldwide have signed up to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s initiative to encourage more responsible corporate behaviour. But only 25 of these companies are from the United States - and only seven are major US ‘blue chip’ companies. (Global Unions, 24 Jan. 2003)

Globalization tops Social Forum agenda -...For Sergio Gomes, a metalworker from Sao Paulo, Brazil's industrial largest city, globalization "is the new name of colonization." "It means that industrial countries keep the clean industries, like electronics, and force developing countries to work with industries polluting the environment," he said. "They get the best, we are left the worst." (Harold Olmos, Associated Press, 24 Jan. 2003)

Big Brother Employers Outlawed [South Africa] - Companies that read their employees' e-mail or monitor their telephone conversations face fines of up to R2 million if they fail to get employee consent to do so. (ITWeb, 24 Jan. 2003)

WEF appeals for ethic rules - Critics of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which opened here on Thursday appealed to governments and big business to accept binding rules making them accountable...Klaus Schwab, the founder and president of the WEF, who normally espouses a pro-business line, joined the criticism...The NGOs said that voluntary codes were not enough to stop practices which created environmental, social or even financial damage. (South African Press Association, 23 Jan. 2003)

Alternative Davos opens with criticism of US -...The Public Eye on Davos – set up by NGOs to monitor the activities of the WEF and its participants – wants to see binding international rules introduced, requiring multinationals to sign up to agreed environmental and social standards. “The idea is to launch a convention on corporate accountability and responsibility,” Miriam Behrens of Pro-Natura, the Swiss arm of Friends of the Earth, told swissinfo. (swissinfo, 23 Jan. 2003)

United States Reaches Settlement with Koppers Industries To Settle Scores of Environmental Violations - Koppers Industries, Inc. agreed to pay the United States $2.9 million to resolve allegations of numerous violations of several environmental regulations at many of the company’s U.S. facilities [Koppers makes coke and coal tar, and engages in wood-preserving] (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 16 Jan. 2003)

Clean Farms, Clean Water: The Clean Farms Clean Water Campaign was created by a coalition of environmental and community groups to address the serious pollution problem caused by agriculture throughout California's Central Valley and across the state

The Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment

Items added to website on Monday 27 January 2003:

GLOBALIZE THIS! Respect for human rights. -...So we are not opposed to globalisation but we cannot accept a globalisation that dooms more than a billion people to lives of deprivation incompatible with basic human dignity. Why worry so much about expanding investment opportunities and so little about globalising respect for human rights? Why is all the attention on binding rules for trade disputes, and so little on international accountability in relation to states' human rights obligations?...For too long corporations operating globally have exploited weaknesses in national laws and have been party to human rights violations with impunity. International human rights law is part of the solution to corporate accountability and to the creation of a global regulatory framework that allows for a globalisation consistent with freedom and dignity. (speech by Paul Hoffman, Chair of Amnesty International, to World Social Forum, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 25 Jan. 2003)

A global right to know - A new report by a coalition of environmental, labor and human rights groups...argues for an international right to know...they want large companies that are traded on U.S. stock exchanges and have significant international operations to be required to disclose information that could affect the communities in which they operate...The idea of an international right to know is a creative new approach, and for the companies a not particularly burdensome one. (New York Times, in International Herald Tribune, 24 Jan. 2003)

Davos, Shell - Can industries be trusted? [South Africa] -...Shell's contradictory record in south Durban, South Africa, speaks volumes for its "commitment". Here Shell continues its usual practice of dumping pollution on communities due to poor operational systems, misrepresenting information to the public, withholding information from the public and suffering worker injuries...FoE [Friends of the Earth] South Africa raises concerns at the Public Eye on Davos about the reality that multi-nationals like Shell are not being held accountable for their environmental and human rights abuses in the South. (Friends of the Earth South Africa, 24 Jan. 2003)

company website: Shell in Southern Africa (Shell)

Protestors force way into EBRD over Baku-Ceyhan - Nine protestors demanding the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development halt funding for the controversial Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline in the Caspian [Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey] forced their way into the bank's London headquarters at midday (Reuters, 24 Jan. 2003)

Irene Khan's [Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan] Speech at the World Economic Forum, Davos -...We will now campaign for legal accountability of corporations for human rights under international law...Of course, companies tell us we should trust them, that their voluntary principles will do the trick. But in reality it took violence and unrest around oil pipelines and oil installations in Nigeria, Colombia and Indonesia to bring oil companies in the US, UK and now Norway and the Netherlands to endorse voluntary principles for the use of security forces in the extractive industry. It was fear of a consumer boycott and concerted effort by NGOs that led governments and industry to put in place the Kimberly process for international certification of diamonds so that conflict diamonds could be eradicated. Voluntary codes are important but Amnesty International is convinced that voluntarism alone is not enough. (Irene Khan, Secretary-General, Amnesty International, speech delivered to the World Economic Forum, Davos, 23 Jan. 2003)

Business and Human Rights: Towards legal accountability - Properly understood, international law in this area would complement - not replace - enforcement at national level. International human rights standards would provide a benchmark against which national legal systems could be assessed....the UN, governments and companies should support the work of the UN Sub-Commission (the expert body referred to above) to agree draft Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations. This text ought to be agreed in the near future...Amnesty International believes that the United Nations needs to put in place a mechanism that would allow for public scrutiny of companies' human rights performance. (David Petrasek, Senior Director of Policy, Amnesty International, speech delivered to "Public Eye on Davos" conference, 23 Jan. 2003)

Amnesty warns of Russian corruption - The human rights organisation, Amnesty International, is warning companies doing business in Russia to be on the alert for serious violations of human rights. Amnesty chose the setting of the World Economic Forum in Davos to launch a booklet called: "Doing Business in the Russian Federation: The Human Rights Approach". (Stephen Dalziel, BBC News, 23 Jan. 2003)

14 Organizations to Cut GHGs 4% by 2006 - Fourteen organizations, including several large corporations, have entered into a legally binding agreement to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 4 percent within the next four years. The 14 entities announced last week that they are forming the Chicago Climate Exchange...The 14 entities include American Electric Power; Baxter International Inc.; the city of Chicago; DuPont; Equity Office Properties Trust; Ford Motor Company; International Paper; Manitoba Hydro; MeadWestvaco Corporation; Motorola, Inc.; STMicroelectronics; Stora Enso North America; Temple-Inland Inc.; and Waste Management, Inc. (GreenBiz.com, 23 Jan. 2003)

Group accuses Doe Run of damage overseas - A coalition of environmental, labor and human-rights groups has singled out St. Louis-based mining company Doe Run in a report that documents alleged environmental and social abuses by American companies operating abroad...The report highlighted lead poisoning among children in La Oroya, Peru, where Doe Run operates a smelter. According to a government test, 99 percent of children tested had elevated lead levels. (Sara Shipley, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 Jan. 2003)

ICCR Proxy Resolutions Book Gauges Shareowner Action Climate -...the auto sector resolutions...ask General Motors and the Ford Motor Company to evaluate what new public policies would enable and assist the companies in achieving GHG emissions reductions...The utilities sector resolutions ask American Electric Power, Cinergy Corporation, Southern Company, and TXU Corporation to report on the potential economic benefits of committing to a substantial reduction in GHG emissions...Sr. Wolf also highlighted the resubmission of the renewable energy resolution at ExxonMobil...Finally, Sr. Wolf highlighted the increasing number of Canadian resolutions that are making their way into the Proxy Resolutions Book. Placer Dome (PDG) has received three separate resolutions, and the five top banks in the country have been asked to disclose their social and environmental risks. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 22 Jan. 2003)

EOC calls on UK plc to address the shocking shortage of women on the board [UK] - The shocking shortage of women non-executive directors shows that companies are still failing to capitalise on the talents of many women, Julie Mellor, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) said today. (Equal Opportunities Commission [UK], 20 Jan. 2003)

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has decided to embark on a formal investigation into sexual harassment of women employees in the Royal Mail business unit - the mail sorting offices and postmen and postwomen - of the Royal Mail Group plc [UK] (Equal Opportunities Commission [UK], 17 Jan. 2003)

Kuwait embraces women traders - The Kuwaiti stock exchange has created a special trading room for women, allowing them to participate directly in the market for the first time...the exchange is considering introducing female stockbrokers as a second step (BBC News, 14 Jan. 2003)

Dads do a third of childcare but don't get flexibility at work [UK] (Equal Opportunities Commission [UK], 13 Jan. 2003)

Earth on the market: Beyond the limits of sustainable growth - Despite all the hype, the UN-sponsored world summit on sustainable development in South Africa in August could not introduce any real constraints because they would have meant re-examining globalisation. So could sustainable development just be a pretext for maintaining a growth that must be, by nature, destructive to the environment? - ...Sustainable development has been diverted by business, which has equated it with sustainable growth (Sadruddin Aga Khan, Bellerive Foundation, Dec. 2002)

Rapid Appraisal of Child Labour in the Tobacco Industry: Case Studies in Two Ilocos Provinces [Philippines] - Philip Morris International and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) commissioned PARTNERS International to undertake a baseline study of child labour in selected tobacco growing areas of the Ilocos provinces (Partners International, Feb. 2002)

Bellerive Foundation

{···français} La Fondation de Bellerive

International Right to Know Act - Overview: The International Right to Know (IRTK) would require U.S. corporations and foreign multinationals that sell securities in the U.S. to disclose crucial information about their labor, environmental and human rights practices abroad to several U.S. agencies, which would publish this information on the Internet. (Lawyers Committee for Human Rights)

ECLT Foundation: Addressing the challenge of child labour in tobacco growing

Items added to website on Thursday 23 January 2003:

The Public Eye on Davos 2003 - International Conference - Davos/Switzerland, 23-27 January 2003 - NGO experts, academics and political representatives from the global North and South will provide a critical analysis of corporate-driven globalization and present alternatives towards more equitable and sustainable world economic policies. (Public Eye on Davos, International Conference, 23-27 Jan. 2003)

press release: Coalition Tells World Economic Forum: Building Trust Requires Disclosure - New Report Highlights U.S. Multinationals' Shameful Human Rights, Environmental and Labor Records - a coalition of environmental, development, labor and human rights groups today released a joint report entitled "International Right to Know: Empowering Communities Through Corporate Transparency." The report documents the irresponsible environmental, labor and human rights practices committed by ExxonMobil, Nike, McDonald's, Unocal, Doe Run, Freeport McMoRan and Newmont Mining. (AFL-CIO, Amnesty International USA, EarthRights International, Friends of the Earth-US, Global Exchange, Oxfam America, Sierra Club, Working Group on Community Right to Know, 22 Jan. 2003)

full report: International Right to Know: Empowering Communities Through Corporate Transparency (AFL-CIO, Amnesty International USA, EarthRights International, Friends of the Earth-US, Global Exchange, Oxfam America, Sierra Club, Working Group on Community Right to Know, Jan. 2003)

company websites:

Comment: A fair trade - On the eve of the World Economic Forum meeting, Salil Shetty, the head of ActionAid, explains how global security depends on building trust with the poor -...ActionAid believes that rich nations and corporations face growing insecurity unless they win more trust from people in poor countries through new measures to help to increase fairness and justice. (Salil Shetty, Director of ActionAid, in Guardian [UK], 22 Jan. 2003)

Kids as bonded slaves in Indian silk industry: Human Rights Watch - The Government of India stands accused of failing to protect the rights of hundreds of thousands of children who toil as virtual slaves in the country's silk industry. (Trevor Barnard, ANI, 22 Jan. 2003)

AFRICA: UNEP Cites Progress Toward Eliminating Leaded Fuel (UN Wire, 22 Jan. 2003)

Choosing a better world -...Yet what I believe is promising is the evidence of a growing consensus among those of us working in international agencies, and leaders in government, business and civil society, that we can begin to solve these problems only if we forge a new development path linking economic growth to social and environmental responsibility. Without social equity, economic growth cannot be sustainable. (James D Wolfensohn, President, World Bank, Inter Press Service, in Asia Times, 21 Jan. 2003)

Pressure Groups Target the Private Banks Behind Corporate Misdeeds - As the World Economic Forum meets to discuss how to restore trust in corporations, Friends of the Earth (FoE) and other leading environmental, human rights, development and labor groups will launch the Collevecchio Declaration on Financial Institutions and Sustainability as a challenge to big banks and investors (Friends of the Earth, 21 Jan. 2003)

RIGHTS-JAMAICA: Conference to Continue Fight for Reparations for Slavery -...Meanwhile the reparations movement has been building steam in Jamaica and throughout the world. Last October, more than 500 delegates meeting in Barbados created the Pan African Movement, which voted to launch lawsuits this year against former slave-trading nations, including Britain, Germany, Belgium and France. (Dionne Jackson Miller, Inter Press Service, 21 Jan. 2003)

New WBCSD web portal guides companies through the motions of SD reporting - Following the Johannesburg Summit call on the corporate sector for increased accountability, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is launching a web-based “reporting portal” to bolster companies’ efforts to report on their sustainable development activities. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 16 Jan. 2003)

The UN Global Compact and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development will cooperate more closely for a coherent approach to corporate social responsibility (World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 16 Jan. 2003)

Sierra Club Launches SRI Mutual Funds - The Sierra Club is harnessing its name recognition and expertise on corporate environmental performance with its launching of an SRI equity mutual fund and an SRI balanced mutual fund. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 15 Jan. 2003)

Lawsuits allege hazardous businesses unfairly placed in poor town [USA] -...With three large environmental lawsuits and a fourth likely on the way, the city of 80,000 [Camden, New Jersey] has become the main East Coast laboratory for the environmental justice movement, an assortment of activists, academics and lawyers who believe environmental hazards are placed unfairly in the places where the powerless live. (Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press, 15 Dec. 2002)

Items added to website on Tuesday 21 January 2003:

Will the World Bank Go Green? - Countries that rape the environment for high-growth development policies are starting to lose their appeal with global lending agencies after a decade of sustained pressure from the green lobby. (Alan Boyd, Asia Times, 21 Jan. 2003)

Brazil's "green" chief targets Petrobras polluter - Brazil's new Environment Minister Marina Silva says she wants to crack down on the country's record holder for environmental fines, state-owned oil giant Petrobras. (Frances Jones, Reuters, 21 Jan. 2003)

Women losing gender pay battle [UK] - The gap between men and women's pay widened in 2002, despite a number of initiatives aimed at greater equality. (BBC News, 20 Jan. 2003)

Indonesia military to fight illegal logging (Reuters, 20 Jan. 2003)

Investors want US utilities to disclose emissions - Shareholders at five of the largest U.S power utilities [American Electric Power, Southern Co., Cinergy Corp., Xcel Energy, TXU Corp.] filed global warming resolutions last week that would force the companies to disclose publicly the economic risks of air pollutants they emit. (Reuters, 20 Jan. 2003)

EU plans tougher sanctions against marine polluters (Reuters, 20 Jan. 2003)

WWF seek curbs on oil tankers cleaning at sea (Reuters, 20 Jan. 2003)

Dutch Company Perfects 'Green' Roasting of Coffee Beans - Peeze coffee roasters only use green energy generated from wind, water and solar sources, along with electricity generated from their own solar panel (Edie News, on Greenbiz.Com website, 20 Jan. 2003)

Job accidents increase, safety measures do not [Indonesia] - "The government lacks the personnel to implement laws on labor safety. There is only one official to oversee 700 companies while the ideal number is one for every 50 establishments"... (M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta Post, 17 Jan. 2003)

Workers all for meritocracy [Singapore] - Bosses should not be prejudiced against Muslims because a small group of Jemaah Islamiah members has been detained here under the Internal Security Act. That is the call from workers of different races and religions reacting to the recent White Paper on the JI arrests and the threat of terrorism. (Ahmad Osman, Straits Times, 17 Jan. 2003)

High court [state of Washington Supreme Court] upholds prison work program [USA] -...The case involves a company called MicroJet, which employs prisoners at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 17 Jan. 2003)

McDonald’s Opens World’s First HFC-Free Restaurant - McDonald’s Denmark has opened the world’s first HFC-free [hydrofluorocarbon-free] restaurant in Denmark as part of a new initiative to help reduce the potential effects of climate change on the environment. (GreenBiz.com, 17 Jan. 2003)

Sexual Harassment Cases Increase Sharply Last Yr [South Korea] (Yoo Dong-ho, Korea Times, 16 Jan. 2003)

Industrial death law [Australia] - Unions want the crime of industrial manslaughter recognised to help cut the number of workplace deaths in NSW. (Antony Field and AAP, in Illawarra Mercury [Australia], 16 Jan. 2003)

Billboard call for manslaughter law [New South Wales, Australia] - The CFMEU will join with other blue collar Unions today to launch four billboards calling for the introduction of industrial manslaughter legislation into state law. (LaborNET, Labor Council of New South Wales, 15 Jan. 2003)

Subversion trial opens for labor activists in northeast China (AFP, 15 Jan. 2003)

ICFTU says the Maldives is paradise for tourists, not workers -...the ICFTU has condemned "a glaring lack of protection for workers' rights" as well as the situation of child labour in the country (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 15 Jan. 2003)

Internationally recognised core labour standards in the Maldives - The Maldives is not a member of the ILO, and thus has not ratified any of the ILO’s core labour conventions...There are no trade unions in the Maldives...Discrimination against women persists in both law and practice...Child labour is widely reported, particularly in agriculture, fishing and small-scale commercial activities (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 15 Jan. 2003)

Indonesian Government Fails to Stop Illegal Logging - Corruption on the part of Indonesian police and government officials is to blame for continued illegal logging in Indonesia's national parks, a report released today in London by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Indonesian environmental organization Telapak charges. (Environment News Service, 14 Jan. 2003)

CHINA: ICFTU deeply concerned at subversion charges against worker rights activists (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 13 Jan. 2003)

{···español} CHINA: La CIOSL está profundamente preocupada por la acusación de subversión que pesa sobre militantes de derechos laborales (Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, 14 enero 2003)

{···français} CHINE: la CISL très préoccupée par les accusations de subversion retenues à l’encontre de militants des droits des travailleurs (Confédération internationale des syndicats libres, 14 janvier 2003)

Sweatshop Retailer of the Year announced -...the Hudson's Bay Company and Wal-Mart were declared joint winners of the award by the Toronto-based Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN). This is the third year MSN has presented awards to companies failing to address sweatshop abuses in their supply factories (Maquila Solidarity Network, 10 Jan. 2003)

Garment dispute settled - Labor Dept. to give S.F. workers arrears [USA] (George Raine, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Jan. 2003)

Hun Sen to Sue Global Witness for Defamation [Cambodia] -...Hun Sen accused the Global Witness of unjustly defaming his government when it released an "exaggerated" report alleging the use of excessive force by police in dispersing a group of anti-logging protesters. But on Friday, a group of 18 Cambodian nongovernmental organizations said the Global Witness report was correct and urged the government to reverse its plan to close down the watchdog's office. (Japan Today, 31 Dec. 2002)

Tactics of Chinese Government Frustrate Labor Organizers (Philip P. Pan, Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2002)

Court Orders Bush Administration Must Give Trade Documents to the Public - A U.S. District Court today ordered the Bush administration to make public documents by revealing U.S. and foreign government positions in trade negotiations with potential impacts on domestic public health, labor, and environmental laws. (Earthjustice, Public Citizen, FOE and CIEL, 19 Dec. 2002)

U.N. as Consultant to Oil Majors - In agreeing to manage the welfare projects of ChevronTexaco in Nigeria and Angola, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has enabled the U.S. majors to step back from the local competition for benefits generated by the oil industry and positioned itself for further sub-contracting work that had previously been a World Bank monopoly. (Africa Energy Intelligence, 4 Dec. 2002)

Items added to website on Thursday 16 January 2003:

Court rejects forced labor suits by Chinese [Japan] - The Kyoto District Court on Wednesday rejected a suit filed by former Chinese laborers and bereaved family members seeking compensation from a major stainless steel producer and the central government for forcibly bringing them to Japan and making them work in nickel mines in Kyoto Prefecture during World War II. (Kyodo News, 15 Jan. 2003)

Davos versus Porto Alegre, Round Three - Policy-makers world-wide have a real opportunity to start building a sustainable world by shifting the spotlight from corporate interests highlighted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, (January 23-28) to the priorities emphasized by civil society representatives meeting here during the same days for the third World Social Forum, according to Friends of the Earth International. (Friends of the Earth, 15 Jan. 2003)

Colour still marks US job market - People with white-sounding names stand a better chance of getting a job in the United States, a new survey has found. (BBC News, 15 Jan. 2003)

A 'white' name fares better, study says [USA] (Associated Press, 15 Jan. 2003)

TotalFinaElf weathers the storms [refers to complaint in a French court alleging the company used forced labor during pipeline construction in Burma] (Kim Housego, Associated Press, 14 Jan. 2003)

HRC co-files resolution urging ExxonMobil to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination - The Human Rights Campaign has joined the New York City Employees' Retirement System in filing a shareholder resolution calling on ExxonMobil to add sexual orientation to its written non-discrimination policy. (Wayne Besen, Human Right Campaign, 14 Jan. 2003)

Supreme Court to take up Nike and free speech [USA] - S.F. activist sued, saying firm lied about working conditions (Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Jan. 2003)

Supreme Court takes free speech vs. advertising case [USA] - The court will use the case brought against sporting apparel giant Nike to define the differences between corporate free speech and product advertising for companies accused of transgressions such as poor labor and environmental practices. (Josh Richman, Tri-Valley Herald, 11 Jan. 2003)

Sustainability reporting is setting the scene for the future of business management, report says -...Striking the balance is co-authored by three industry leaders: Bert Heemskerk, Chief Executive Officer, Rabobank Group, Pasquale Pistorio, President and Chief Executive Officer, STMicroelectronics, and Martin Scicluna, Managing Partner, Global Strategic Clients, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 6 Jan. 2003)

Congress assails use of prison labor [USA] - Congressmen on Thursday criticized a government-run corporation that uses prisoners to make products, saying it puts other Americans out of work. Federal Prison Industries Inc. makes 150 products, including office furniture, electronics and textiles, and its entire product line is sold exclusively to federal agencies. (Nedra Pickler, Associated Press, 22 Nov. 2002)

Court rejects S Koreans' claim over forced labor [Japan] - The Osaka High Court on Tuesday upheld a district court ruling rejecting a compensation claim filed by two South Korean men [against Nippon Steel] over their forced labor in Osaka during World War II. (Kyodo News, 20 Nov. 2002)

Items added to website on Monday 13 January 2003:

Miners missing after Chinese mine blast - An explosion in a Chinese coal mine has left at least 30 miners missing only a day after a blast in another mine killed eight workers (BBC News, 11 Jan. 2003)

Local companies negligent about workers' safety [Indonesia] - Leniency in the labor law and lack of enforcement of standard safety measures have put the lives of millions of workers at risk, particularly those working in hazard-prone work places, a labor activist said on Thursday. (M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta Post, 10 Jan. 2003)

Deaths on the Job, Slaps on the Wrist [Dangerous Business - Part Three] [USA] - McWane [McWane Inc., Alabama conglomerate that owns cast-iron foundries] is one of the most enduring violators of worker-safety and environmental laws...McWane has persisted largely unchecked by taking full advantage of a regulatory system that has often proven itself incapable of thwarting flagrant and continual safety and environmental violations by major corporations (David Barstow and Lowell Bergman, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2003)

Family's Profits, Wrung From Blood and Sweat [Dangerous Business - Part Two] (David Barstow and Lowell Bergman, New York Times, January 9, 2003)

At a Texas Foundry, an Indifference to Life [Dangerous Business - Part One]...Since 1995, at least 4,600 injuries have been recorded in McWane foundries, many hundreds of them serious ones, company documents show. Nine workers, including Mr. Hoskin, have been killed. (David Barstow and Lowell Bergman, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2003)

WHO: U.N. Agency Rejects Charges Of Food Industry Infiltration - The World Health Organization rejected allegations yesterday in the London Guardian that its policies on diet and nutrition were unduly influenced by the food industry, saying it welcomed open debate with all stakeholders and had strengthened its procedures against covert lobbying. (UN Wire, 10 Jan. 2003)

WHO 'infiltrated by food industry' - The food industry has infiltrated the World Health Organisation, just as the tobacco industry did...according to a confidential report obtained by the Guardian. (Sarah Boseley, Guardian, 9 Jan. 2003)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Worldwatch Institute Assesses Progress -...Although the institute offered dozens of examples of successful local initiatives to draw on, it said mobilizing governments, business, nongovernmental organizations and the public to support generalizing such action remains difficult. (Joe Fiorill, UN Wire, 10 Jan. 2003)

TOBACCO: Talks On Anti-Smoking Campaign Funding Set For February - The European Union will host a meeting Feb. 3-4 in Brussels to discuss how international donors can help developing countries finance anti-smoking campaigns. (UN Wire, 10 Jan. 2003)

WATER: IMF, World Bank Privatization Efforts Under Fire From Activists - The World Bank and International Monetary Fund's efforts to urge developing nations to turn their water utilities over to private companies has come under criticism from opponents who say water is a basic human need and should not be sold for profit (UN Wire, 9 Jan. 2003)

CLIMATE CHANGE: Commentator Calls For Action By Insurers - Insurers should stop seeking to deny global warming-related coverage and instead lobby for legislation to protect the environment and rate companies they insure according to their environmental records, according to a commentary in yesterday's International Herald Tribune. (UN Wire, 8 Jan. 2003)

Insurers should fight to protect the environment (Kalliope Gourntis of the insurance firm Generali, in International Herald Tribune, 7 Jan. 2003)

Wal-Mart's War on Workers: Frontline Report from Colorado, Texas and Florida - America's Biggest Corporation Turns Into Its Biggest Workplace Bully - Illegal Surveillance, Threats and Intimidation Marks Wal-Mart's Campaign to Suppress Worker Voices - Wal-Mart's claim that its "associates" don't want union representation rings hollow as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issues three new complaints against the retail giant. (UFCW - United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, 8 Jan. 2003)

press release: Indonesia: Paper Industry Threatens Human Rights - Indonesian police and company security forces are responsible for persistent human rights abuses against indigenous communities involved in the massive pulp and paper industry in Sumatra, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. (Human Rights Watch, 7 Jan. 2003)

full report: Without Remedy: Human Rights Abuse and Indonesia's Pulp and Paper Industry (Human Rights Watch, Jan. 2003)

Paper industry blamed for abuse - Indonesia's booming paper industry is responsible for widespread attacks on indigenous communities in Sumatra, a Human Rights Watch report has claimed. (Agence France-Presse, 7 Jan. 2003)

DISASTERS: U.N. Agency, Telecom Firm Help Poor Countries Manage Relief - Some of the world's least developed countries are set to get telecommunications equipment and other assistance to help manage disaster relief through a new partnership between the communications firm Inmarsat and the International Telecommunication Union (UN Wire, 7 Jan. 2003)

Business leaders grapple with HIV/AIDS in Republic of Congo - Business leaders in the Republic of the Congo are learning about HIV/AIDS, particularly the rights of workers living with the disease. In partnership with UNICONGO, the national business association, and under the patronage of First Lady Antoinette Sassou Nguesso, UNDP recently organized HIV/AIDS awareness workshops for such leaders in the country's two major cities (U.N. Development Programme, 7 Jan. 2003)

CHILD TRAFFICKING: Experts Examine Problem In Bangladesh, Asia -...The International Labor Organization estimates that there are 1 million children working in the sex industry throughout the region, mainly in Thailand, India, Taiwan and the Philippines. (UN Wire, 6 Jan. 2003)

Push to stop child trafficking [Bangladesh] - International experts are meeting in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, on Monday to look at ways to stop child trafficking and exploitation. (Alastair Lawson, BBC News, 6 Jan. 2003)

Forethought can fend off suits: Smart employers plan with such issues as harassment in mind [USA] (Charlotte Observer, 6 Jan. 2003)

Australia To Require Investment Firms to Disclose How They Take SRI into Account - A 2002 Australian law that requires all investment firms to disclose how they take socially responsible investment issues into consideration will take effect in March 2003. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 3 Jan. 2003)

Fuel Cell Vehicle Commercialization Ramping Up -...Honda and Toyota delivered the first customer-operated fuel cell automobiles to customers in California and Japan. (EarthVision Environmental News, 3 Jan. 2003)

EEOC sues Pickle Manufacturing Company for discrimination against workers from India [USA] - Low Wages, Mistreatment, Harsh Living Conditions Lead to Federal Suit on Behalf of Immigrants - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it has filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the John Pickle Company, alleging that the Tulsa-based oil industry parts manufacturer discriminated against a class of at least 52 workers on the basis of their race (Asian) and national origin (East Indian) (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2 Jan. 2003)

Brink's to pay $30,000 to Peoria area woman for failure to accommodate religious beliefs [USA] - EEOC Suit Said Pentecostal Employee Fired for Refusal to Wear Pants as Part of Uniform (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2 Jan. 2003)

NEC Pioneers "Green" Computer - NEC reverses the computer industry's foot-dragging on addressing environmental liabilities by introducing the PowerMate eco, the first eco-efficient computer. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 2 Jan. 2003)

CAMBODIA: World Bank Protests Threat To Expel NGO - The World Bank yesterday protested Cambodia's threat to expel British environmental watchdog Global Witness over an allegedly slanderous report by the group. (UN Wire, 31 Dec. 2002)

Wal-Mart to pay $220,000 for rejecting pregnant applicant, in EEOC settlement [USA] (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 23 Dec. 2002)

EEOC, SoBe, and PepsiCo settle sexual harassment suit for $1.79 million [USA] - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit for $1.79 million against Norwalk, Conn.- based South Beach Beverage Company, Inc. (SoBe), a division of PepsiCo, Inc. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 23 Dec. 2002)

Oregon Winery Nation's First To Earn LEED Certification - Sokol Blosser Winery has become the first winery in the U.S. to be awarded LEED 2.0 Silver Level Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (GreenBiz.com, 23 Dec. 2002)

BASF Wins Energy Conservation Award for Geismar Site Project - The American Chemistry Council has recognized BASF for a program that significantly reduces the amount of energy consumed in a steam system at its Geismar manufacturing site. (GreenBiz.com, 17 Dec. 2002)

Donnelley to pay $150,000 to paraplegic graphics technician for job bias [USA] - EEOC Consent Decree with Printing Giant Requires Anti-Discrimination Policy for Temporary Employees and Training (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 16 Dec. 2002)

Verizon Partners with State of New Jersey to Reduce GHG Emissions - Verizon will implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote increased energy efficiency as a result of a recent agreement signed with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. (GreenBiz.com, 16 Dec. 2002)

Gulfstream Aerospace to pay $2.1 million for age bias in EEOC settlement - Commission Alleges Class of Older Workers Targeted for Layoffs at Georgia Facility (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 11 Dec. 2002)

Items added to website on Monday 6 January 2003:

Forced labour in the Punjab agri sector [Pakistan] (A. Ercelawn and Sohnia Ali, Dawn [Pakistan], 6 Jan. 2003)

Men urged to strike over equal pay [UK] - Men are being urged to take strike action if employers do not pay their female counterparts an equal wage. (BBC News, 6 Jan. 2003)

Home Depot adopts new wood purchasing policy [USA] - Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. said it will only buy wood products from suppliers committed to environmentally friendly logging and lumber practices. (Karen Jacobs, Reuters, 6 Jan. 2003)

Workers counselled after death [UK] - Colleagues of a worker killed after an accident at a Corus tin plate plant are being offered counselling. (BBC News, 6 Jan. 2003)

Minimum wage rise [in Guangzhou, China] will benefit migrant workers (South China Morning Post, on website of Human Rights in China, 2 Jan. 2003)

Nine states sue Bush administration on clean-air rules - Nine Northeastern U.S. states sued the Bush administration over its decision to relax clean-air rules to help coal-fired power plants and other industrial facilities avoid costly pollution controls. (Chris Baltimore, Reuters, 2 Jan. 2003)

China labour leaders 'face death penalty' - Two labour leaders in China who took part in a big demonstration last year could face the death penalty, reports say. (BBC News, 1 Jan. 2003)

Xcel to bring Denver cleaner coal power plants (Reuters, 30 Dec. 2002)

“Our problems can be solved if we workers can exercise our rights” [China] - Released on bail on December 20, Liaoyang labour activist Wang Zhaoming talked about his convictions and his expectations of the international trade union community in his first-ever media interview with China Labour Bulletin on December 27. (China Labour Bulletin, 27 Dec. 2002)

W.R. Grace to take $20 million charge for lawsuit [USA] - Bankrupt chemical maker W.R. Grace & Co. (GRA.N) on Monday said it would take a $20 million charge in the fourth quarter to account for potential liabilities relating to a government lawsuit seeking recovery costs for environmental cleanup at Montana mining sites. (Reuters, 27 Dec. 2002)

Two of the Liaoyang Four Released on Bail [China] - Having been detained for nine months with no formal charges, Pang Qingxiang and Wang Zhaoming, two of the four arrested Liaoyang workers’ representatives, were released on bail pending trial on December 20, 2002. (China Labour Bulletin, 24 Dec. 2002)

The rise and rise of the Global Reporting Initiative: Mike Brownlie of the Global Reporting Intiative (GRI) traces progess towards sustainability reporting (Mike Brownlie, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002)

Engaging with stakeholders: Suzanne Stormer of Stakeholder Relations at Novo Nordisk, the global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Denmark, argues that the heart of a successful reporting process is stakeholder engagement (Suzanne Stormer, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002)

No trust without verification: Tracey A Swift, director of research at AccountAbility, argues that social reports must include external verification to be credible (Tracey A. Swift, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002)

Doing the rights thing: Matthew Grenier, an independent consultant, examines the current state of company reporting on human rights - When it comes to reporting human rights issues, however, the picture is even bleaker. (Matthew Grenier, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002)

Business and Human Rights in Practice course:..Business and Human Rights in Practice has been developed by the New Academy of Business in association with the AIUK Business Group. (Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002)

Campaign for corporate responsibility [UK]: On 12 June 2002, The Company Responsibilities Bill 2002 was launched by CORE, the corporate responsibility coalition (Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002)

The case for mandatory reporting: Deborah Doane, Head of corporate accountability at the New Economics Foundation, argues that social and environmental reporting must be mandatory (Deborah Doane, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002)

Mandatory sustainability reporting - France leads the way: Sarj Nahal, International Director at ARESE (the Social and Environmental Rating Agency), outlines new reporting requirements for French companies (Sarj Nahal, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002) [note: scroll down on the page to find this article]

European Parliament votes for regulation: Richard Howitt MEP, European Parliament rapporteur on corporate social responsibility, analyses the significance of a watershed vote by the European Parliament (Richard Howitt MEP, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002)

Corporate Citizenship and the Mining Industry: Defining and Implementing Human Rights Norms (Rory Sullivan and Peter Frankental, Amnesty International Business Group UK, in Journal of Corporate Citizenship Issue 7, autumn 2002)

Items added to website on Wednesday 18 December 2002:

press release: ASrIA releases first comprehensive report on labour standards in China -...The report presents the key issues and raises the fundamental dilemmas that fund managers who consider social and environmental factors as well as financial and operational factors in investment decisions may need to address when determining whether to invest in a company. (ASrIA - Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia, 17 Dec. 2002)

report: Labour Standards in China, The Business and Investment Challenge [refers to loopholes in local labour laws, difficulties in enforcing third party verification, influence of the All-China Confederation of Free Trade Unions] [summary can be downloaded from webpage] (Dr. Stephen Frost, ASrIA - Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia, Dec. 2002)

Jungle energy project sparks controversy in Peru - For Peru's government, a plan to pipe natural gas from the remote Camisea jungle brings hope of economic growth. But to environmentalists, the $2 billion project sounds a death knell for one of the world's last pristine jungles and the indigenous groups who live there. [refers to Pluspetrol, Hunt Oil, Techint, Tractebel, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux] (Missy Ryan, Reuters, 17 Dec. 2002)

Eight oil workers freed in Ecuador's Amazon - Eight workers for Argentine oil company CGC have been freed after being held for nine days by Ecuadorean Indians protesting the firm's exploration in the Amazon jungle (Reuters, 17 Dec. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Challenges to trade unions [Nigeria] -...the General Secretary of the NLC [Nigeria Labour Congress], Comrade John Odah, in his paper titled, "A module on AIDS and the Workplace," on how unionists should tackle the issue of HIV/AIDS, regretted that Trade Unions in Nigeria have done little or nothing to assist in the campaign against HIV/AIDS. (Chioma Obinna, Vanguard [Nigeria], 17 Dec. 2002)

Women Staff Sexually Harassed- ILO Report [Uganda] -...Sexual harassment of workers especially female workers was identified as one gender issue that needs urgent attention. It was recommended that legislation on sexual harassment be introduced and sensitisation programmes of employers, workers and the general public be initiated (The Monitor [Uganda], 16 Dec. 2002)

DRUGS: Access Must Not Harm World Trade, WTO Head Says - "...if we fail to protect the patents of entrepreneurs who channel billions of dollars into developing new drugs, our hopes of finding lifesaving medication for currently untreatable ailments will be dashed," he [WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi] said (UN Wire, 16 Dec. 2002)

Shareholders pressure US carmakers to come clean - A group of shareholders at car makers General Motors and Ford Motor Co are exerting new pressure on management to try and force the firms to cut vehicle gas emissions in the next 10 years. (Reuters, 16 Dec. 2002)

EYESIGHT: Deals Could Bring 10 Million Pairs Of "Adaptive Glasses" To Africa -...Silver [Oxford physics professor Joshua Silver] plans to sell up to 400,000 adaptive glasses in Ghana through his company, Adaptive Eyecare, in a deal with the WHO and World Bank. Another deal, for 9.3 million pairs for South Africa, is in the works. (UN Wire, 16 Dec. 2002)

OCEANS: General Assembly Adopts Resolutions On Marine Protection - The U.N. General Assembly yesterday concluded its debate on oceans and the law of the sea, adopting three resolutions on protecting the marine environment, harmful fishing practices and compliance of shipping vessels with conservation measures. (UN Wire, 13 Dec. 2002)

New mayor stands firm against Peru Tambogrande mine - The mayor-elect of the northern Peruvian town of Tambogrande said Wednesday residents remained opposed to a $405 million gold and copper mine planned by Canada's Manhattan Minerals Corp. that some locals fear will ruin a fertile farming valley. (Reuters, 13 Dec. 2002)

Manhattan CEO sees Tambogrande mine on line in 2004 - The fears of farmers that a gold and copper mine would ruin their livelihoods in the northern Peruvian town of Tambogrande should fade - once they get more facts from an environmental impact study presented this week, the head of Canada's Manhattan Minerals Corp. said. (Jude Webber, Reuters, 12 Dec. 2002)

IADB OK's loan for Enron backed pipeline in Bolivia - The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a controversial loan for a Bolivian company partly controlled by bankrupt U.S. energy giant Enron to build a gas pipeline through an environmentally sensitive forest. [refers to indigenous peoples; refers to Transredes, partly controlled by Enron & Royal Dutch/Shell]. (Anna Willard, Reuters, 13 Dec. 2002)

HAZARDOUS WASTE: Cell Phone Makers, Treaty Countries Join Forces - Basel Convention countries and 10 cellular telephone makers agreed yesterday to cooperate on seeking environmentally friendly ways of disposing of and recycling telephones...The companies that signed the agreement are LG, Mitsubishi, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Panasonic maker Matsushita, Motorola, NEC, Philips and Siemens. (UN Wire, 13 Dec. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: International Coalition On Anti-Retrovirals Launched - The World Health Organization, the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and dozens of other institutions today launched the International HIV Treatment Access Coalition to expand access to anti-retroviral drugs in poor and middle-income countries. (UN Wire, 12 Dec. 2002)

US study links chemical to sperm damage - Everyday exposure to a chemical ingredient [phthalates] used to preserve many cosmetics and fragrances may contribute to sperm damage in adult men, according to a study published. (Laura MacInnis, Reuters, 11 Dec. 2002)

Air pollution damages across generations - study - Air pollution from steel mills causes genetic damage that fathers can pass to the next generation, researchers in Canada reported. (Maggie Fox, Reuters, 11 Dec. 2002)

Court puts Exxon Valdez punitive damages at $4 bln [USA] (Reuters, 10 Dec. 2002)

Green groups sue US EPA over global warming - Three environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency in a bid to force it to combat global warming by limiting air pollution from U.S. automobiles. (Reuters, 9 Dec. 2002)

Comment: Government and corporate social responsibility – the democratic deficit -...Governments have a huge potential to influence corporate behaviour. Yet today it is government that has been the slowest to respond to a changed world. [refers to human rights, the need for more than voluntary initiatives] (Sir Geoffrey Chandler, Founder-Chair of Amnesty International UK Business Group and a former senior executive at Royal Dutch/Shell, in Ethical Corporation magazine, 6 Dec. 2002)

Global Compact Business Guide for Conflict Impact Assessment and Risk Management [includes sections on impact assessments for: human rights, humanitarian law, labour, environment] (U.N. Global Compact, June 2002)

Conflict Prevention and Revenue-Sharing Regimes: Prepared for the United Nations Global Compact Policy Dialogue: Business in Zones of Conflict [refers to mining industry; oil industry; World Bank; Shell; BP; Angola; Statoil; indigenous peoples; Western Mining Co., Normandy Mining; Rio Tinto; BHP-Billiton; Social investment projects: Freeport McMoRan in Irian Jaya, Placer Dome in Papua New Guinea, Newmont & Rio Tinto in Indonesia; Natural resource funds in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Norway, Alaska/USA, Chad-Cameroon pipeline - ExxonMobil - Petronas - Chevron, Nigeria] (Juliette Bennett, May 2002)

UN Global Compact Case Studies of Multistakeholder Partnership: Policy Dialogue on Business in Zones of Conflict (edited by Virginia Haufler, University of Maryland, Apr. 2002)

The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights [oil and mining industries] (Bennett Freeman, Council on Foreign Relations, Apr. 2002)

Conflict Prevention in Azerbaijan [refers to oil industry] (Nick Killick, International Alert, Apr. 2002)

Multi-stakeholder Initiatives in Zones of Conflict: The Academy for Peace and Development, Somaliland [refers to involvement of local business groups] (Scott Weber, WSP International, Apr. 2002)

Conflict and Hope in Northern Ireland [Counteract programme to combat sectarian harassment & discrimination in workplace] (Billy Robinson, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, with International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, Apr. 2002)

Croatia and Post-Conflict Reconstruction [Roots of Peace & Mines to Vines programmes: companies in USA involved in raising money for landmine removal in Croatia - refers to California wine companies, Autodesk, North Face, Digitas Advertising Agency] (Heidi Kuhn, Roots of Peace, Apr. 2002)

Conflict Prevention - The Global Compact (GC) policy dialogue on "The Role of the Private Sector in Zones of Conflict" has provided a dynamic forum where representatives from companies, NGOs and trade unions identify key issues and concrete actions pertaining to the role of the private sector in these areas. (U.N. Global Compact)

Items added to website on Monday 16 December 2002:

No Sweat on Campus - Growing number of Canadian Universities reject sweatshop gear (Canadian Labour Congress, 13 Dec. 2002)

Press release - Pilot project of the Clean Clothes Campaign (Switzerland): Findings of the follow up visits to the Indian suppliers - The Pilot project on independent monitoring set up in 2000 by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and by Migros, Switcher and Veillon to monitor compliance with the Code of Conduct has issued its first report. (Clean Clothes Campaign Switzerland, 12 Dec. 2002)

{···français} Communiqué de presse - Conditions de travail: Resultats des contrôles de fabriques textiles in Inde - Le projet-pilote de contrôle indépendant créé en 2000 par la campagne Clean Clothes (CCC) et par Migros, Switcher et Veillon pour vérifier le respect du Code de Conduite publie son premier rapport. (campagne Clean Clothes [Suisse], 12 décembre 2002)

Pilot project on independent monitoring: Summary report on the follow-up visit to Avpani (supplier to Migros) (Clean Clothes Campaign Switzerland, Dec. 2002)

{···français} Résumé du rapport de contrôle indépendant du fournisseur indien de Migros (campagne Clean Clothes [Suisse], décembre 2002)

Pilot project on independent monitoring: Summary report on the follow-up visit to Patiala (supplier to Switcher) (Clean Clothes Campaign Switzerland, Dec. 2002)

{···français} Résumé du rapport de contrôle indépendant du fournisseur indien de Switcher (campagne Clean Clothes [Suisse], décembre 2002)

Pilot project on independent monitoring: Summary report on the follow-up visit to Bijapur (supplier to Veillon) (Clean Clothes Campaign Switzerland, Dec. 2002)

{···français} Résumé du rapport de contrôle indépendant du fournisseur indien de Veillon (campagne Clean Clothes [Suisse], décembre 2002)

10 December- International Human Rights Day: 151 trade unionists murdered in Colombia this year (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 10 Dec. 2002)

{···español} En Colombia fueron asesinados este año 151 sindicalistas (Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, 10 diciembre 2002)

{···français} 151 syndicalistes ont été assassinés cette année en Colombie (Confédération internationale des syndicats libres, 10 décembre 2002)

ICFTU welcomes the imminent entry into force of the UN Charter on Migrant Workers (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 10 Dec. 2002)

{···español} La CIOSL aplaude la entrada inminente en vigencia de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre los migrantes (Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, 10 diciembre 2002)

{···français} La CISL applaudit l’entrée imminente en vigueur de la Convention des Nations unies sur les migrants (Confédération internationale des syndicats libres, 10 décembre 2002)

Boycott Coke to press for action on HIV - CUPE is joining an international coalition of activists in a boycott of all Coca-Cola products. The action is aimed at getting the company to pay for HIV drugs and treatment for workers in Africa living with HIV among the 100,000 people who bottle and distribute Coke – not just the company’s so-called ’direct workforce’ of 1500 people. (CUPE - Canadian Union of Public Employees, 10 Dec. 2002)

27 Coal Miners Killed and Families Held in Isolation in Jilin Province [China] (China Labour Bulletin,10 Dec. 2002)

No Problems Here: Success, Complacency & Suspicion in the Indian Diamond Industry - Occasional Paper of the Diamonds and Human Security Project, examining the Indian diamond industry, the world's major cutting and polishing centre. While the report finds no direct evidence of conflict diamonds in India, the Indian diamond industry - like others - must ensure that effective international mechanisms are implemented to stop the trade in conflict diamonds. (Vinod Kuriyan, Canadian NGO Partnership Africa Canada, 9 Dec. 2002)

{···français} Ici? Jamais de la vie. Succès, suffisance et suspicion au sein de l'industrie indienne du diamant (Partenariat Afrique Canada, 9 décembre 2002)

Morgan Stanley and the New Class War - Morgan Stanley, the US-based investment banking giant, has issued a declaration of war on organized labour. In a recent "research note" to investors, Morgan Stanley US equity strategist Steve Galbraith advised them to "look for the union label…and run the other way." (IUF - International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations, 6 Dec. 2002)

Ethical Funds Inc. [Canada] supports Oxfam's Coffee Rescue Plan: Investors ally with Oxfam to help coffee farmers - Ethical Funds Inc. today announced its support for the Coffee Rescue Plan proposed by the international development organization Oxfam, and other humanitarian and environmental organizations. (Ethical Funds, Inc., 4 Dec. 2002)

Defining Global Business Principles: Towards a new role for investors in promoting international corporate responsibility [refers to human rights, labour issues, environmental issues; includes sections entitled "Globalisation and coporate responsibility", "Global ethical principles", "The Global Business Principles Project"] (Dr. Craig Mackenzie, Head of Investor Responsibility, Insight Investment, Nov. 2002)

Environmental Fiduciary: The Case for Incorporating Environmental Factors into Investment Management Policies - In this report, we show that fiduciaries who manage funds for institutional investors such as pension funds, foundations and charitable trusts should incorporate environmental factors into their portfolio management policies. [includes reference to DuPont, ST Microelectronics, IBM, Baxter Intl, Smithfield Foods, US Liquids, Weyerhauser, Georgia Pacific, ChevronTexaco, Marathon Oil, Deutsche Telekom, Nestle, Southern California Gas, ITT, Textron, Corning, Whole Foods, Hains Celestial] (Susannah Blake Goodman, Jonas Kron & Tim Little, The Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, 21 Aug. 2002)

SEC [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission] Urged to Strengthen Rules Governing Corporate Disclosure of Environmental Risks - The Rose Foundation is petitioning the SEC to require more comprehensive disclosure of environmental liabilities, allowing investors to assess the potential effect on shareowner value. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 21 Aug. 2002)

Project for Energy, Labor and the Environment: Renewable Energy Provides a Clean, Secure and Reliable Energy Future (The Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment)

Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment

Items added to website on Tuesday 10 December 2002:

How Green Is BP? -...he [Lord John Browne, group chief executive of BP] has shown the ambition to redefine the very nature of Big Oil: pushing BP to confront global warming, candidly acknowledge the company's mistakes (environmental penalties against the company appear on its Web site), enter into dialogue with environmental groups, hire people with strong environmental ethics and opinions...But to persuade the public that BP is no rapacious multinational, that it is instead an organization thinking first and foremost of the public good, may not come so easily as long as BP remains an oil company, deriving the vast majority of its profits from the black stuff that -- from drilling rig to oil tanker to refinery to gas station -- scars the earth, pollutes the air and eventually warms the planet. (Darcy Frey, New York Times, 8 Dec. 2002)

Safe, secure drinking water is a human right: UN - For the first time United Nations Committee has declared formally that "safe and secure drinking water is a human right". (The Times of India, 7 Dec. 2002)

Lingering relics of the apartheid era will be shafted [South Africa] - South Africa's migrant labour system and single-sex hostels are among the few remaining relics of the apartheid era...The socioeconomic focus of the mining charter forces mining companies to tackle employee living conditions head on by making it a condition of awarding or renewing licences under the new regime. (Sherilee Bridge, Business Report [South Africa], 6 Dec. 2002)

Farmers complying with inspections [South Africa] - Only a few South African farmers are preventing labour department inspectors from accessing their farms...He [Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana] emphasised that the government would ensure that all farmers implemented and were compliant with the relevant labour legislation. (Business Day [South Africa], 6 Dec. 2002)

Labour officials denied access to farms - Cosatu [South Africa] - Labour inspections on most farms were often difficult to carry out as farmers denied government officials access to their properties, the inquiry into human rights violations on farming communities heard on Wednesday. (Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 4 Dec. 2002)

Safety should not be a barrier to disabled workers [UK] - Workplace health and safety risks should never be used as an excuse for not employing disabled people...Despite the legal protection of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, measures designed to protect staff from harm are often wrongly used in a way that discriminates against disabled people and excludes them from the workplace. (Trades Union Congress, 6 Dec. 2002)

Company convicted after worker is left paralysed [New Zealand] - Company convicted after worker is left paralysed -...Brian Ross Contractors Ltd was fined on a number of charges under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. (Occupational Safety And Health, 6 Dec. 2002)

Panel votes to ban perc: Dry cleaners target of action [USA] - Southern California air-quality officials voted on Friday to impose the nation's first ban of the most commonly used dry cleaning solvent due to health concerns. (Los Angeles Daily News, 6 Dec. 2002)

Regulators to Phase Out Toxic Chemical [USA] (Laura Wides, Associated Press, 6 Dec. 2002)

Preventing Harassment at Holiday Parties [USA] - With the holiday season arriving, companies should be aware of the increasing number of lawsuits alleging incidents of sexual harassment at holiday parties, according to employment lawyers. (HR Daily News, 6 Dec. 2002)

Global Funds Tell Union Carbide To Settle Bhopal Gas Leak Claims - A group of international investor funds which includes Trillium Asset Management, Domini Social Investments and the Calvert Group (together managing a combined asset value of $13 billion) have advised Union Carbide to settle claims of economic, health and environmental liabilities of over $500 million (Rs 2,500 crore) stemming out of the Bhopal gas leak...A letter has been sent jointly by a group of funds to the Dow Chemical Company, which took over Union Carbide in 2001 along with all its assets and liabilities. (Ajay Jain, Financial Express [India], 5 Dec. 2002)

Negligence caused Bhopal disaster: Report - Negligence by Union Carbide and not sabotage was responsible for the Bhopal gas disaster, the British journal New Scientist said on Thursday basing its conclusion on documents just released in the United States. (Times of India, 5 Dec. 2002)

Activists to petition UM [University of Montana] to end Coca-Cola contract [USA] - University of Montana students and community members will ask UM officials Thursday to end the school’s exclusive contract with Coca-Cola. The request is the result of Coca-Cola workers and union leaders being killed in Colombia, according to a release from three human rights organizations. (Donna Syvertson, The Missoulian [USA], 5 Dec. 2002)

UN Global Compact: Jessica Mathews replies to NGO inquiry - On October 19, 2002, an informal coalition of various NGOs expressed their concerns about the Global Compact in a letter to Jessica Mathews, President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a member of the Global Compact Advisory Council. (Jessica Mathews, 3 Dec. 2002)

Letter to Jessica Mathews from NGOs expressing concerns about UN Global Compact (Coalition of NGOs, 19 Oct. 2002)

From Doha to Cancún: the Hypocrisy behind Western Compassion (Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium, message to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

A World without Frontiers (Aung San Suu Kyi, message to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Free trade can be a very powerful engine for growth and sustainable development (Donald J. Johnston, Secretary-General of the OECD, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

The Principle of Reciprocity (Dr. Aminata Dramane Traoré, Director of the Centre du Amadou Hampâté BA, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Making the World Trading System Work for All Countries (Govindasamy Rajasekaran, Secretary-General of the Malaysian Trade Union Congress, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Sustainability and Leadership (Rémi Parmentier, Political Director of Greenpeace International, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Why Cancún Matters (Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

What Are the Most Urgent Questions to be Resolved for the South to Achieve a Genuine Development Agenda (Chee Yoke Ling, Deputy-Director of Third World Network, Malaysia, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Europe: Development is the Goal, Trade is the Instrument (Pascal Lamy Member of the European Commission, responsible for Trade, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Water: Is the cup half full or half empty? Depends on who owns the cup. -...Water is not a commodity. It is a basic human right. (Blaine Townsend, Trillium Asset Management, 25 Nov. 2002)

Global Compact Publishes List of Participating Companies - In an effort to increase transparency and the public accountability of companies, the Global Compact Office is now publishing the names of all companies that have submitted letters of intent to Secretary-General Kofi Annan pledging their support for the Global Compact and its nine principles. (UN Global Compact, 20 Nov. 2002)

Community Lauds Shell's Development Projects [Nigeria] - For complementing governments' development efforts, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has received encomiums from Egwa community in Delta state...Assessing Shell's performance in Egwa, the community's chairman, Benson Lawei, said: "...In the past few years, SPDC has really reached out to us." (Vanguard [Nigeria], 11 Nov. 2002)

PR Flacks Beware: GRI Guidelines Call for the Full Story in Corporate Reports - A growing number of companies are supplementing their annual financial reports with yearly reports on their corporate citizenship. To try to promote the accuracy, comparability, and integrity of these reports, a new non-profit organization, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), has brought together a broad range of groups from around the world to agree to a common reporting framework. (Steve Lippman, Trillium Asset Management, 1 Nov. 2002)

Former U.N. official urges an 'ethical globalization' - One of the most important questions facing the world today is "how do we build an ethical globalization which bridges the current divides between north and south, rich and poor, secular and religious?" said Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former United Nations high commissioner on human rights (Yale Bulletin & Calendar, 18 Oct. 2002)

Oxfam response to EC working document on Tiered Pricing -...Tiered Pricing is not enough [regarding access to medicines] (Oxfam, 26 Sep. 2002)

Outgoing UN Human Rights Chief Launches 'Ethical Globalization Initiative' - On her last day as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson said Tuesday she plans to head up a new 15-month project she calls the "Ethical Globalization Initiative." (Jim Burns, CNSNews, 11 Sep. 2002)

Corporate Human Rights Obligations: In Search of Accountability -...the author arrives at the conclusion that corporate human rights obligations can indeed be derived from international human rights law. (Nicola Jägers, Utrecht University, Intersentia Publishers, 2002)

Humanising Globalisation: a Role for Human Rights (Mary Robinson, UN HIgh Commissioner for Human Rights, speech to International Conference on Globalisation, 30 Oct. 2001)

Globalisation and Interdependence (former U.S. President William J. Clinton, speech to International Conference on Globalisation, 30 Oct. 2001)

Clusters of Crisis - A Planetary Contract (Susan George, Associate Director of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam, speech to International Conference on Globalisation, 30 Oct. 2001)

Most People Cannot Participate (Herando De Soto, President of ILD - Institute for Liberty and Democracy, Peru, speech to International Conference on Globalisation, 30 Oct. 2001)

Present Problems and Future Shape of the WTO and the Multilateral Trading System (Chee Yoke Ling, Legal Advisor to the Third World Network, speech to International Conference on Globalisation, 30 Oct. 2001)

The Paradox of Poverty and Corporate Globalisation [refers to Shell's environmental and human rights impact on Ogoni community in Nigeria] (Owens Wiwa, Executive Director of AFRIDA - African Environmental and Human Development Agency and brother of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, speech to International Conference on Globalisation, 30 Oct. 2001)

It's Not the Trade; It's the Trade-Offs (Naomi Klein, speech to International Conference on Globalisation, 30 Oct. 2001)

The Way Forward (Noreena Hertz, speech to International Conference on Globalisation, 30 Oct. 2001)

Items added to website on Friday 6 December 2002:

Greenpeace slams Canadian gold project in Romania - Greenpeace urged Romania this week to pull the plug on a controversial Canadian gold mining project in the Carpathians which it said would seriously damage the environment...As part of the project, it [Gabriel Resources, a Canadian company] plans to relocate the 900 families of Rosia Montana, a poor mining town 500 km (310 miles) west of Bucharest, and has promised them money and new homes. (Adrian Dascalu, Reuters, 6 Dec. 2002)

Mandela launches new South African AIDS drug campaign -...The programme will seek to negotiate cheaper drug prices from big pharmaceutical firms. (Andrew Quinn, Reuters, 6 Dec. 2002)

Green Mountain, lung group team up for wind power - Texas-based power generator Green Mountain Energy Co. and the American Lung Association of Texas said this week they had joined forces to educate Texans about renewable, wind-generated power. (Reuters, 6 Dec. 2002)

Honda least-polluting automaker in US - survey - Honda produces the least-polluting vehicle fleet in the U.S. market, while DaimlerChrysler is at the bottom of the list of automakers selling environmentally friendly cars, according to a survey from the Union of Concerned Scientists. (Tom Doggett, Reuters, 6 Dec. 2002)

PERU: $5 Million IDB Loan To Fund Monitoring Of Natural Gas Project - The Inter-American Development Bank said yesterday it has approved a $5 million loan to Peru to strengthen hydrocarbon safeguards, particularly in relation to the country's Camisea natural gas project. The loan is meant to help Peru monitor the Camisea plan's impact and other social and environmental measures...Preventative health care for native communities is also planned. (UN Wire, 5 Dec. 2002)