10 Companies Vying for 2013 Corporate Hall of Shame: What’s Your Pick for the Worst Offender?
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December 17, 2013
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Monsanto is a tough act to
follow. When it comes to despised companies, it's set the bar pretty
high. Last year the company claimed the top prize in Corporate
Accountability International’s Corporate Hall of Shame.
That may have had something to do with Monsanto evangelizing toxic
chemicals, bullying small farmers and steamrolling GMO right-to-know
legislation.
Corporate Accountability International
has spent decades working to hold law-flouting companies accountable
for their environmental, health and human rights abuses. The
organization has taken on the tobacco lobby, water privatization and
junk food behemoths that target children with relentless advertising. In
1992 they launched their Corporate Hall of Shame. Recent winners
include Monsanto in both 2012 and 2010 and Koch Industries in 2011. In
2007 and 2008 they picked three winners: Exxon, Halliburton and Wal-Mart
(2007) and Blackwater, Archer Daniels Midland, and Wal-Mart (2008).
"Of
note, in the 1990s and early 2000s, Corporate Accountability
International used the Hall of Shame to not only identify corporate
abuse but also launch campaigns to successfully challenge those
corporations' behaviors," said Corporate Accountability International's
Kara Kaufman. "For instance, Waste Management significantly reduced lobbying and campaign contributions after
grassroots efforts following the corporation's induction into the Hall
of Shame in 1996. In 1998, Columbia/HCA was inducted into the Hall of
Shame, prompting a three-year campaign to challenge its practice of
taking over nonprofit and community-owned hospitals, dumping patients
without insurance, and using its political clout to get away with these
abuses. In 2000, Columbia/HCA altered its policies and practices to limit its political role, dramatically reducing its lobbying force and halting its election contributions."
Below are CAI’s top 10 picks for 2013. Cast your vote for the worst offender here.
1. Walmart
It’s
been tough year for Walmart, what with tens of thousands of people
protesting against the corporation at 1,500 events on Black Friday. But
it’s been an even worse year for its workers who have had to risk arrest
and their jobs for engaging in civil disobedience to expose Walmart’s
low wages and dehumanizing corporate culture.
“By
pioneering tactics to cut labor costs and avert labor organizing, and
instigating imitation among suppliers, subcontractors, competitors and
admirers across industries, Walmart is hastening a transformation in
U.S. work, toward an ever-more-present future in which workers—whether
fast food cashiers or adjunct professors—lack living wages, workplace
democracy, job security or even legal recognition as employees,” wrote Josh Eidelson.
2. ExxonMobil
The
oil giant has a big mess to clean up after its Pegasus pipeline gushed a
minimum of 5,000 barrels of heavy crude from the Canadian tar sands all
over a Mayflower, Arkansas neighborhood in March. Nine months later the
community is still reeling.
“Nearly half of them have put their houses up for sale in search of a fresh start they never wanted,” wrote
Sam Eifling and Zahra Hirji for Inside Climate News about the affected
residents. “Some people were forced to sell because oil settled in their
homes' foundations, where removing it is nearly impossible. Others
chose to leave because of fears about potential health effects and the
marketability of their properties. Those who are staying aren't
necessarily doing so by choice: Many don't have enough equity to afford a
down payment on a new home in another suburb, according to local real
estate brokers.”
3. Koch Industries
Where
to begin? The Koch brothers have spent nearly $50 million funding
climate deniers and blocking action on climate change according to a
report by Greenpeace. And the privately held company operates in a
shroud of secrecy.
“Few Americans have
likely heard of Koch, even though it operates crude oil refineries and
pipelines across North America and owns such well-known consumer brands
as Dixie cups, Brawny and Quilted Northern paper products, Stainmaster
carpet, CoolMax and Lycra,” wrote
Brendan DeMelle on Huffington Post. “Koch Industries has bankrolled
Americans for Prosperity to the tune of over $5 million since 2005.
AFP—known primarily for its role in organizing the Tea Party movement in
the U.S.—brought notorious climate denier Lord Christopher Monckton to
the Copenhagen climate summit as its guest speaker.”
4. Proctor and Gamble
P&G
makes cosmetics, personal care products and cleaning products. It's
been lambasted for failing to remove ingredients from products that may
cause cancer or reproductive harm, although it did consent earlier this
year to removing the carcinogen 1,4 dioxane from Tide and other laundry detergents. Was the baby step big enough?
5. Bank of America
Bank
of America has ignited protests across social movements for its role in
the housing crisis and shady foreclosures. BoA also helps to bankroll
the dirty coal industry, aiding in the funding of mountaintop removal
mining and the construction of new coal-burning power plants. “Bank of
America and Citi pumped a combined $263 billion into fossil fuel
companies since 2010,” wrote Todd Zimmer about the growing divestment campaign hitting college campuses that is becoming a major headache for BoA.
6. Coca-Cola
In the name of protecting its Dasani bottled water brand, Coca-Cola has been accused of obstructing efforts
by national parks to replace bottled water with reusable bottles and
water refilling stations (known in the old days as water fountains). I
guess its rationale is that the Grand Canyon would surely seem more of
an iconic American attraction if it was filled with plastic bottles
courtesy of Coca-Cola.
7. DuPont
Last
November when California voters went to the polls, a ballot initiative
to require the labeling of genetically modified foods was narrowly
defeated. Some of the thanks for that goes to DuPont. The corporate
contingency against labeling had some big money. DuPont joined forces
with Monsanto and the American Grocery Manufactures Association (a trade
group representing big food and beverage companies) to fund the
opposition. Thanks for nothing!
8. Halliburton
The military contractor has been doing its best to weaken regulations protecting drinking water in states like North Carolina,
paving the way for more hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) of oil and
gas. Halliburton pioneered the practice and helped it get exemption from
the Clean Water Act and other federal regulations thanks to friends
(Dick Cheney) in high places.
9. Nestle
Is
the right to clean water a basic human right? Not when you're like
Nestle and are in the business of making money off of it. Nestle has
earned the ire of numerous communities when the company has tried to
cash in on communities' water resource.
10. Monsanto
What do you think -- can the multinational pull off a win two years in a row?
To weigh in on this list and find out how you can get involved, click on over to Corporate Accountability International's Corporate Hall of Shamebefore the polls close on December 31.
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