Labor

Anglo American PLC

Phil Mattera — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 21:48:06 -0400

Company Snapshot:

Anglo American is one of the world’s largest mining companies, with operations in some 45 countries. The company had its origins in the gold and diamond mines of apartheid South Africa, and after the Second World War it expanded and diversified to the point that it controlled large portions of that country’s economy. It later sold off its non-mining businesses, moved its headquarters to London, and spun off its gold mining operations into the company now called AngloGold Ashanti.

Anglo American

Phil Mattera — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:16:33 -0400

Review:

This report was commissioned by groups in Alaska concerned about the Pebble copper/gold mining project in which Anglo American is involved. The report looks at Anglo American's track record elsewhere in the world in terms of environmental impact, worker safety and human rights issues regarding the displacement of subsistence farmers. The main countries covered are South Africa, Ghana, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Mali and the United States (Nevada). The report is extensively documented, with more than 100 endnotes.

Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction

Noel Colina — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:31:57 -0400

Company Snapshot:

Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction was the first ship building company in Korea, established in 1937 at Youngdo, Pusan as "Chosun Heavy Industry Co., Ltd.", according to their website. The company builds everything from hospitals to apartment buildings through its construction segment and patrol boats to oil tankers through its shipbuilding segment.

General Electric

liamk — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:29:05 -0400

Review:

GE is closing light bulb manufacturing plants in Ohio and moving contracts to joint ventures in China. GE claims it cannot afford to produce CFLs in the US. Policy Matters Ohio argues conditions in China violate the GE Code of Conduct. Report discusses how conditions violate Chinese labor law. There is also concern over workers' health as they are dealing with dangerous levels of Mercury. Although the lightbulbs may be energy-efficient, that does not mean they are environmentally friendly.

Burger King

liamk — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:07:29 -0400

Review:

Burger King had hired Diplomatic Tactical Services to spy on the groups. After the story was picked up by Florida newspapers, the New York Times, and The Nation, Burger King released a statement saying it had fired vice president Steven Grover and spokesman Keva Silversmith for comments they had made about the activists online. They also claimed to have stopped using DTS because of violations to the Burger King Code of Conduct.

Dole Food

Ian Elwood — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:53:11 -0400

Company Snapshot:

Dole Food Company, Inc. is the world's largest producer of fruits and vegetables such as bananas and pineapples, and also produces cut flowers and nuts. Dole has a history of operating plantations in the US and across the globe, often creating poor working conditions and unsafe environmental conditions such as pesticide use, soil erosion and deforestation.

Nokia

crocodyl — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:07:53 -0400

Company Snapshot:

Nokia, based in Helsinki, Finland, is a global leader in telecommunications and the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer. While it maintains several manufacturing units in Europe and the US, Nokia is shifting some of its production to Southeast Asia, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe in order to keep production costs low and margins and profits high.

Wal-Mart

bgaffney — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:33:46 -0400

Review:

Excerpt: "This is a report of a Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) labor rights assessment of Lianglong Socks Co. Ltd (hereafter “Lianglong”), a hosiery factory in Zhuji City, People’s Republic of China. Zhuji City is located in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang and is a major center of hosiery production. Lianglong is a producer of hosiery for RJ McCarthy, a supplier of Catholic school uniforms for a number of Catholic District School Boards in Ontario, Canada. The factory also reportedly produces for Wal-Mart.1 According to factory management, Lianglong employs roughly 200 workers.

Stanley Inc.

Phil Mattera — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:51:24 -0400

Company Snapshot:

Stanley Inc. (also known by the name of its subsidiary Stanley Associates) is a rising star among providers of information technology and business process outsourcing services to the U.S. federal government, particularly the Department of Defense, from which it gets about two-thirds of its revenues. The rest comes from civilian agencies ranging from the Department of Justice to the Library of Congress. At the end of its last fiscal year, the company had a contract backlog worth about $975 million.

Sodexho Alliance

Bodhi Harnish — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:39:41 -0400

Company Snapshot:

'''Sodexo''' (Sodexho Alliance prior to 23 January 2008, Euronext: SW) is a French multinational corporation and one of the largest food services and facilities management companies in the world. It is present in 29,000 sites within eighty countries, earning revenue in 2007 of €13.385 million. Sodexo has two major lines of business: food and facility management services, and service vouchers and cards.