Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 12.17.05

[David Shove (shove001]

            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     12.17.05

1. Stolen elections     12.17 4pm
2. Solstice concert     12.17 7:30pm

3. Pallmeyer/hope       12.18 9:30am
4. Sensible vigil       12.18 12noon
5. Solstice/Coldwater   12.18 2pm
6. Haiti film           12.18 2pm
7. IMPACT holiday party 12.18 3pm
8. KFAI/Indian Uprising 12.18 4pm
9. McCarthy/Irish wake  12.18 5pm
10. Solstice vigil      12.18 5:30pm

11. Eminent domain scam 12.19 6pm
12. AI Augustana        12.19 7pm

13. Robert Bly/film     12.20 6:30pm
14. Iraq/planning       12.20 6:30pm

15. Jan 2006: Cuba/Venz study group starts
16. Hugo Chavez wins UNESCO Jose Marti Award
17. The 14 'most wanted' corporate human rights violators of 2005

--------1 of 17--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Stolen elections/AM950 12.17 4pm

Harvey Wasserman, Freepress.org [ http://www.freepress.org ] senior
editor, appears this week on "Ring of Fire" on Air America Radio.  Robert
F. Kennedy Jr. interviews Harvey about How the GOP Stole the 2004 Election
and is Rigging 2008.

"Ring of Fire", co-hosted by Mike Papantonio, airs Saturday 4-6pm and
re-airs Sunday 2-4pm, on AM950.

Harvey Wasserman, Senior Editor, The Free Press
http://freepress.org
How the GOP stole America's 2004 election and is rigging 2008, by
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman/: $12
The "Woodward & Bernstein of the 2004 Election"

A Special Investigative Report Revealing Massive Voter Theft, Fraud and
Illegalities in Ohio's Presidential Balloting/

The theft of the 2004 election has been catalogued, footnoted and
thoroughly documented in more than 180 bullet points compiled by the
Ohio-based investigative reporters in their shocking new compendium. The
special digest may serve as the touchstone for all future coverage of the
2004 campaign and vote count in the lead-up to 2008.

For more information about Dr. Fitrakis, view his bio
<http://www.freepress.org/columns.php?strFunc=display&strAuthor=3> in the
Columns section of this website.

For more information about Mr. Wasserman, view his bio
<http://www.freepress.org/columns.php?strFunc=display&strAuthor=7> in the
Columns section of this website.


--------2 of 17--------

From: Sue Ann <mart1408 [at] umn.edu>
From: Sara Thomsen [mailto:commonplacemusic [at] hotmail.com]
Subject: Solstice concert 12.17 7:30pm

Sara's music is beautiful and often political.  In anti-war groups she
is best known for her song about Iraq ("prove to me America that you're
aware, prove to me American that you care . . .").

For a night of beautiful music and a non-traditional holiday concert,
join Sara and friends in the
4th Annual Winter Solstice Concert
Sara Thomsen with special guest Paula Pedersen

7:30, Saturday, December 17
At Judson Memorial Baptist Church
4101 Harriet Ave. S., Minneapolis
$10 suggested


--------3 of 17--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Pallmeyer/hope 12.18 9:30am

Sunday, 12/18, 9:30 to 10:30 am, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer speaks on "Hope, a
force more powerful; a challenge to the violence-of-god tradition," All
Saints Lutheran Church (educ forum), 15915 Excelsior Blvd (at Woodland Rd),
Minnetonka.  FFI: Eileen Anderson, 952-934-6260.


--------4 of 17--------

From: skarx001 <skarx001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Sensible vigil 12.18 12noon

The sensible people for peace hold weekly peace vigils at the intersection
of Snelling and Summit in StPaul, Sunday between noon and 1pm. (This is
across from the Mac campus.) We provide signs protesting current gov.
foreign and domestic policy. We would appreciate others joining our
vigil/protest.


--------5 of 17--------

From: wamm <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Solstice/Coldwater 12.18 2pm

Celebrate Winter Solstice at Coldwater Spring
Sunday December 18, 2pm.

Coldwater Spring is located south of Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. From
Highway 55/Hiwatha Avenue, turn east at 54th Street, take an immediate
right (south) and follow the frontage road for a half mile past the pay
parking meters, through the fence gates and past the aqua brick building
where you can park.

Coldwater was a traditional gathering place for upper Mississippi
indigenous nations who came together for "great religious, spiritual
events." Twin Cities Reclaiming Community will lead a ceremony honoring
this last sacred spring in the Twin Cities and Earth Tones, a 17-member a
cappella group, will sing. Bring a gift for the spring-sage, tobacco,
flowers, or a good-sized rock or interesting piece of wood to add to the
labyrinth. Firewood will be needed. Folding chairs and thermoses of hot
beverages are welcome. Bring a container to collect spring water. Dress
for being outside. Children are welcome. Please leave pets at home. Free.

FFI: <www.friendsofcoldwater.org> or <info [at] coldwater.org>. Sponsored by:
Friends of Coldwater and Twin Cities Reclaiming. Endorsed by: WAMM.


--------6 of 17--------

From: Rebecca Cramer <biego001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Haiti film 12.18 2pm

Kevin Pina's recent film "Haiti: The Untold Story" will be shown at MayDay
books on Sun Dec 18, at 2pm.

Members of the Haiti Justice Commmittee will be there to lead a discussion
afterwords. Free-will offering for the Haiti Information Project. Come see
this film. See what the UN "Peacekeeping" Mission is doing in Haiti and
WHY! 


--------7 of 17--------

From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: IMPACT holiday party 12.18 3pm

First Annual IMPACT Holiday Party
"People's Sing Out for Democracy, Party and Open Stage"
THIS SUNDAY, Dec 18, 3-6pm
Mapps Coffee & Tea
1810 Riverside Ave
(West Bank, near UofM)

A time for all kindred spirits to come together, mingle and laugh!  Great
company. Conscious shopping. Free food. Inspiring music.

Join us for a sing-along, an open stage and refreshments.  IMPACT invites
you to bring instruments, songs, poems, skits or whatever relating to the
theme of people v. corporate power or something promoting radical
democracy.  Some friends of IMPACT are bringing a songbook called "Rise Up
Singing".

At the party, you can also do some holiday shopping that contributes to a
better world. We'll have:

* A table of gifts from 10,000 Villages
* DVDs ("The Corporation" and "Wal-mart, the High Cost of Low Price")
* WILPF Peace Jewelry

Who is IMPACT?

IMPACT (Ideas to Mobilize People Against Corporate Tyranny) is a
grassroots group of concerned citizens whose purpose is to raise awareness
about the impact of corporations on our society, promote sustainable
lifestyles and mobilize ourselves and our communities to take cooperative
action.  We believe another world is possible, a world where people and
the earth are more valued than profits.

IMPACT is sponsoring monthly forums on corporate power issues on the third
Sunday of each month, currently at Mapps Coffee & Tea (1810 Riverside Ave)
starting at 3pm.

FFI: Karen Redleaf, 651-644-1487.


--------8 of 17--------

From: Chris Spotted Eagle <chris [at] spottedeagle.org>
Subject: KFAI/Indian Uprising 12.18 4pm

KFAI's Indian Uprising for December 18th, 2005

Part Two: THE NEWEST INDIANS [continued] by Jack Hitt, The New York Time
Magazine, August 21, 2005.  More and more people are claiming to have
discovered their indigenous ancestries.  But what, exactly, makes someone
a Native American?

A lot of Indians haven't looked ''Indian'' for quite a while, especially
in the eastern half of the country, where there is a longer history of
contact with Europeans. That fact might not have been the source of much
anxiety in the past, but in the post-Civil Rights era, the connotations of
the word ''white'' began to shift at the same time that the cultural
conversation progressed from the plight of ''Negroes'' to the civil rights
of ''blacks.'' Suddenly ''white'' acquired a whiff of racism. This
association may well account for the rise of more respectable ethnic
descriptions like ''Irish-American'' or ''Norwegian-American,'' terms that
neatly leapfrog your identity from Old World to New without any hint of
the Civil War in between. According to the work of Ruth Frankenberg and
other scholars, some white people associate whiteness with ''mayonnaise''
and ''paleness'' and ''spiritual emptiness.'' So whatever is happening in
Indian Country is being aggravated by an unexpected ethnic pressure next
door: people who could be considered white but who can legitimately (or
illegitimately) find an Indian ancestor now prefer to fashion their claim
of identity around a different description of self. And in a nation
defined by ethnic anxiety, what greater salve is there than to become a
member of the one people who have been here all along?

The reaction from lifelong Indians runs the gamut. It is easy to find
Native Americans who denounce many of these new Indians as members of the
wannabe tribe. But it is also easy to find Indians like Clem Iron Wing, an
elder among the Sioux, who sees this flood of new ethnic claims as
magnificent, a surge of Indians ''trying to come home.'' Those Indians who
ridicule Iron Wing's lax sense of tribal membership have retrofitted the
old genocidal system of blood quantum -- measuring racial purity by blood
-- into the new standard for real Indianness, a choice rich with paradox.
The Native American scholar C. Matthew Snipp has written that the
relationship between Native Americans and the agency that issues the
C.D.I.B. [Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood] card is ''not too
different than the relationship that exists for championship collies and
the American Kennel Club.''
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/magazine/21NATIVE.html.
NATIVE AMERICAN JOKES AND HUMOR, http://home.att.net/~native-jokes/

* * * *
Indian Uprising is a one-half hour Public & Cultural Affairs radio program
for, by, and about Indigenous people & all their relations, broadcast each
Sunday at 4:00 p.m. over KFAI 90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM St. Paul.
Current programs are archived online after broadcast at www.kfai.org, for
two weeks.  Click Program Archives and scroll to Indian Uprising.


--------9 of 17--------

From: lhowell [at] visi.com
Subject: McCarthy/Irish wake 12.18 5pm

An Irish wake to honor the life of the late Eugene McCarthy will be held
at Kieran's Irish Pub on Sunday December 18 beginning at 5pm. The writer
Bill Holm and many others will gather to remember. It's free for all.

For more zoom to <http://www.kierans.com/> or call 612.339.4499.

A favorite spot of McCarthy's, Kieran's Irish Pub is located at 330 Second
Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  


--------10 of 17--------

From: wamm <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Solstice vigil 12.18 5:30pm

Third Annual Winter Solstice Peace Vigil

Sunday, December 18, 5:30 to 7pm. Intersection of Snelling Avenue and
Summit Avenue, St. Paul.

Light a candle for peace on the darkest night of the year! Bring a candle
and join neighbors from throughout the Twin Cities to quietly witness for
peaceful solutions to world problems. Financial donations will be accepted
to benefit the Center for Victims of Torture.

After the vigil, warm up and socialize at Coffee News Café (1662 Grand
Avenue). Sponsored by: Merriam Park Neighbors for Peace. Endorsed by:
WAMM. FFI: Call 651-641-7592 or email <info [at] mppeace.org>.


--------11 of 17--------

From: Amy Ihlan <amyihlan [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Eminent domain scam 12.19 6pm [ed head]

The Roseville City council will vote on a resolution authorizing use of
eminent domain in Twin Lakes on Monday, December 19.  I will send another
e-mail with more details over the weekend.

[More in the continuing saga of an out-of-control misdeveloper-intoxicated
arrogant council 3 of 5. -ed]


--------12 of 17--------

From: Gabe Ormsby <gabeo [at] bitstream.net>
Subject: AI Augustana 12.19 7pm

Augustana Homes Seniors AI Group meets on Monday, December 19th, from
7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the party room of the 1020 Building, 1020 E 17th
Street, Minneapolis. For more information contact Ardes Johnson at
612/378-1166 or johns779 [at] tc.umn.edu.


--------13 of 17--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Robert Bly/film 12.20 6:30pm

Dec 20 (Tue 6:30-8:30pm at Mad Hatter's Tea House, 943 W 7th St St. Paul)
FILM about Robert Bly, "A Man Writes to a Part of Himself".  The film
features a choice sample of Bly's poetry, mixed with conversations and
scenes from his family farm in northern Minnesota.  Bring Mr. Bly's
poetry along to read.  Donations appreciated for program and treats FFI
651-227-3228


--------14 of 17--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Iraq/planning 12.20 6:30pm

Tuesday, 12/20, 6:30 pm, planning meeting (flyers, agenda, press releases,
etc.) for Rep. Sabo Town Hall on Iraq, with Faith Kidder, Fireroast Mountain
Coffee Shop, 38th St and 37th Ave, Mpls.  FFI: faith [at] plethora.net, or call
612-760-2512.


--------15 of 17--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: JAN 2006: Cuba/Venz Study Group Starts

CUBA AND VENEZUELA FILM AND DISCUSSION GROUP

BE PROACTIVE: LEARN TRUTH AND REALITY TO STOP WARS

The third set of Cuba/Venezuela film and discussion groups will start in
January. One group will meet at Arise Bookstore, 2441 Lyndale Ave S,
Minneapolis, Sundays, 6;00 PM. Another group will meet in St. Paul (six
blocks N of Macalester College), Wednesdays, 7:00 PM, Contact
joanmdm [at] comcast.net or 651-451-4081 to register.

Each group is limited to 10 people and will last approximately 8 weeks.

NO fundraising, no donation, no request for money, no tests, no project.

If you choose to purchase a video or book, that is your choice but is not
required.

For people who support Cuba and/or who honestly want to learn more about
the country. Not a bash Fidel nor bash Cuba group.

There is no religious focus nor political party focus in this group.

The structure of these meetings is:

1. Watch a video on Cuban/Venezuelan issues such as: Estela Bravo's Fidel:
The Untold Story, Mission Against Terror: Case of the Five, Bloqueo on the
US blockade against Cuba, Free to Fly on the travel ban, Septiembres Y Mas
regarding US history of terrorism against Cuba, Bloodletting film compares
Cuba to US Healthcare, Oliver Stone's Comandante and Looking for Fidel,
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, The Bolivarian Revolution: Enter the
Oil Workers and Aleida Guevara (Che's daughter) interview with Chavez. 2.
Discussion of the video. 3.  Updates on current US/Cuba issues. Articles
from progressive groups 4.  Reference to Issac Saney's excellent book,
Cuba: A Revolution in Motion.

Why now? May of 2004, Bush had Colin Powell draw up "The Commission for
Assistance to a Free Cuba," which is a brutal Iraqi-style invasion plan of
Cuba. The US has told Cuba to use Iraq as an example of what is planned
for Cuba. This would affect the 20,000 Cuban doctors in Venezuela. It is
time to be proactive. Educating ourselves after a country is bombed is not
proactive.

Why Now? Also, in April of 2005, the Cuban-Exile arch-terrorist, Posada
Carriles illegally entered the US and asked for asylum. The US security
system did not arrest him until he staged an interview. Venezuela, where
Posada escaped from jail in 1985, has asked that Posada be extradited to
Venezuela. The US is refusing to do this. Essentially, the US is harboring
a terrorist. This case is a extraordinary challenge to Bush's claim that
US is leading the war against terrorism.

Why Now? The Cuban Five. The US 11th Circuit Appellate Court voted to
overturn the Five's Miami trial decision. However, the US government
appealed and now the Five remain unjustly detained in five different
federal prisons from the west to the east coast.. The wives of two have
not been allowed visas to visit their husbands for over five years. The
Cuban Five are Cuba. They are anti-terrorists who infiltrated the Cuban
American Exile Terrorists groups in Miami, so they could warn Cuba about
future terrorist plans against Cuba. They did not seek nor obtain any
classified information. We must free the Five.

Why Now? Recently PBS showed the false propaganda "documentary" (sic)
Fidel Castro by Cuban Exile Adriana Bosch. People need to ask themselves
WHY did PBS show this particularly negative film and WHY does not PBS show
Estela Bravos's Fidel: The Untold Story. Why were both of Oliver Stone's
films, Comandante and Looking for Fidel, either fully censored or allowed
only briefly on HBO.


--------16 of 17--------

Hugo Chavez wins UNESCO Jose Marti Award

UNESCO bestows 2005
José Martí International Award on HUGO CHAVEZ

PARIS, Dec. 14 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías is the recipient
of UNESCO 2005 José Martí International Award, granted by a jury made up
of outstanding international individuals, according to an announcement
issued today by that organization in this capital.

The José Martí Award was created in 1994 by the UNESCO Executive Council
in tribute to Cuba's national hero and founding father of its
independence. According to its guidelines, it is "aimed at promoting and
rewarding a particularly meritorious activity that, according to the
ideals and spirit of José Martí and embodying the vocation of sovereignty
and independence struggle of a nation, has contributed anywhere in the
world to the unity and integration of the nations of Latin America and the
Caribbean, and to the preservation of the region's identity, cultural
traditions and historical values."

This is the fourth time that UNESCO has bestowed this international award,
which was previously granted to Dominican historian Celsa Albert Bautista
(1995);  Ecuadorian painter Oswaldo Guayasamín (1999) and Mexican
sociologist Pablo González Casanova (2003).

According to the announcement, President Chávez's candidacy for such an
important prize and recognition was backed by several Latin American
governments, and approved unanimously by the members of the prestigious
international jury that decided to grant it to him.


--------17 of 17--------

[These mega corporations are tools of and front groups for the world's
ruling classes. These corporations show how the ruling classes regard
everyone else.  -ed]

From: rachel [at] rachel.org
The 14 'Most Wanted' Corporate Human Rights Violators of 2005
  The 14 "most wanted" corporate human rights abusers of 2005 are
  Caterpillar, Chevron, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, Dyncorp, Ford Motor,
  KBR (a Halliburton subsidiary), Lockheed Martin, Monsanto, Nestle,
  Altria Group (Philip Morris), Pfizer, SLDE (a French water company),
  and Wal-Mart.

From: Global Exchange, Dec. 10, 2005
THE 14 'MOST WANTED' CORPORATE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS OF 2005
By Global Exchange

INTRODUCTION

Corporations carry out some of the most horrific human rights abuses of
modern times, but it is increasingly difficult to hold them to account.
Economic globalization and the rise of transnational corporate power have
created a favorable climate for corporate human rights abusers, which are
governed principally by the codes of supply and demand and show genuine
loyalty only to their stockholders.

Though it isn't easy, we can check the power of corporations - and
citizens around the world are stepping up to do it. Global Exchange
developed this list of some of the world's worst corporate abusers to
illustrate that on issues as diverse as assassination, torture,
kidnapping, environmental degradation, abusing public funds, violently
repressing political rights, releasing toxins into pristine environments,
destroying homes, discrimination, and causing widespread health problems,
familiar companies like Dow Chemical, Coca Cola, Caterpillar, Lockheed,
Philip Morris, and Wal-Mart play a big role. Now we need you to take
action!

Several of the companies below are being sued under the Alien Tort Claims
Act, a law that allows citizens of any nationality to sue in US federal
courts for violations of international rights or treaties. When
corporations act like criminals, we have the right and the power to stop
them, holding leaders and multinational corporations alike to the accords
they have signed. Around the world - in Venezuela, Argentina, India, and
right here in the United States - citizens are stepping up to create
democracy and hold corporations accountable to international law.

This list of "MOST WANTED" corporate criminals gives you information about
the abusive behavior of this year's top fourteen worst corporations, tells
you who is responsible, and how to connect with and support people who are
doing something about it. The more you know, the less these corporations
can continue their abuses out of public eyesight: so share this
information with your friends, get on the phone with the CEOs themselves,
and exercise your rights as a citizen and consumer today.

CATERPILLAR

CEO: James Owens
Contact the Corporation: Caterpillar Inc.
100 NE Adams St.
Peoria, IL 61629
Phone: 309-675-1000
Fax: 309-675-1182

Human Rights Abuses: contracting with known violators of human rights,
enabling house demolition, supplying equipment that kills Palestinian
civilians and American peace activists

For years, the Caterpillar Company has provided Israel with the bulldozers
used to destroy Palestinian homes. Despite worldwide condemnation,
Caterpillar has refused to end their corporate participation house
demolition by cutting off sales of specially modified D9 and D10
bulldozers to the Israeli military.

Israel seeks to portray the destruction of homes as necessary to its
self-defense, but nothing could be further from the truth. As the Israeli
Committee Against Home Demolitions has rigorously documented, house
destruction is part of Israel's intention to turn the annexation of East
Jerusalem and other occupied areas into a concrete fact (
www.icahd.org/eng/).

In a letter to Caterpillar CEO James Owens The Office of the UN High
Commissioner on Human Rights said: "allowing the delivery of your...
bulldozers to the Israeli army... in the certain knowledge that they are
being used for such action, might involve complicity or acceptance on the
part of your company to actual and potential violations of human
rights..."

Peace activist Rachel Corrie was killed by a Caterpillar, D-9, military
bulldozer in 2003. She was run over while attempting to block the
destruction a family's home in Gaza. Her family filed suit against
Caterpillar in March 2005 charging that Caterpillar knowingly sold
machines used to violate human rights. Since Rachel's death at least three
more Palestinians have been killed in their homes by Israeli bulldozer
demolitions.

Who's working on it:
** Amnesty International
** Jewish Voice for Peace
** Human Rights Watch
** US Campaign to End Israeli Occupation

CHEVRON

Chairman and CEO: David O'Reilly
Contact the Corporation: Chevron Corp.
6001 Bollinger Canyon Rd.
San Ramon, CA 94583

Human Rights Abuses: environmental destruction, health violations, and
violent killings

The petrochemical company Chevron is guilty of some of the worst
environmental and human rights abuses in the world. From 1964 to 1992,
Texaco (which transferred operations to Chevron after being bought out in
2001) unleashed a toxic "Rainforest Chernobyl" in Ecuador by leaving over
600 unlined oil pits in pristine northern Amazon rainforest and dumping 18
billion gallons of toxic production water into rivers used for bathing
water. The toxic crude oil and formation water seeped into the subsoil,
contaminating surrounding freshwater and farmland. As a result, local
communities have suffered severe health effects, including cancer, skin
lesions, birth defects, and spontaneous abortions. Indigenous communities
have been dispossessed of their lands, and millions of hectares of
rainforest have been destroyed to make way for the company's pipelines and
oil wells.

Chevron is also responsible for the violent repression of peaceful
opposition to oil extraction. In Nigeria, Chevron has hired private
military personnel to open fire on peaceful protestors who oppose oil
extraction in the Niger Delta. In 1998, two indigenous Ilaje activists
were killed by Nigerian military officers flown in by the company while
protesting at an oil platform in Ondo state. In 1999, two people from Opia
village were killed by military personnel paid by Chevron, after
soliciting a meeting to complain about the company's harmful effects on
local fishing. And in 2005, Nigerian soldiers fired upon protestors at
Escravos oil terminal, leaving one protestor dead.

Additionally Chevron is responsible for widespread health problems in
Richmond, California, where one of Chevron's largest refineries is
located. Processing 350,000 barrels of oil a day, the Richmond refinery
produces oil flares and toxic waste in the Richmond area. As a result,
local residents suffer from high rates of lupus, skin rashes, rheumatic
fever, liver problems, kidney problems, tumors, cancer, asthma, and eye
problems.

The Unocal Corporation, which recently became a subsidiary of Chevron, is
an oil and gas company based in California with operations around the
world. In December 2004, the company settled a lawsuit filed by 15 Burmese
villagers, in which the villagers alleged Unocal's complicity in a range
of human rights violations in Burma, including rape, summary execution,
torture, forced labor and forced migration. Chevron Corporation earns $155
billion dollars in yearly profits.

Who's working on it:
** Accion Ecologica
** Amazon Watch
** Amazon Defense Front
** Amnesty International
** Earth Rights International
** Human Rights Watch
** International Labor Rights Fund
** Oil Change International
** Oil Watch International
** Richmond Greens

COCA-COLA

President and CEO: Herbert A. Allen
Contact the Corporation: Allen & Co. Inc
711 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Phone. (212) 832-8000

Human Rights Abuses: violent killings, kidnap and torture, water
privatization, health violations, and discriminatory practices

Coca-Cola Company is perhaps the most widely recognized corporate symbol
on the planet. The company also leads in the abuse of workers' rights,
assassinations, water privatization, and worker discrimination. Between
1989 and 2002, eight union leaders from Coca- Cola bottling plants in
Colombia were killed after protesting the company's labor practices.
Hundreds of other Coca-Cola workers who have joined or considered joining
the Colombian union SINALTRAINAL have been kidnapped, tortured, and
detained by paramilitaries who are hired to intimidate workers to prevent
them from unionizing. In Turkey, 14 Coca-Cola truck drivers and their
families were beaten severely by Turkish police hired by the company,
while protesting a layoff of 1,000 workers from a local bottling plant in
2005.

In India, Coca-Cola destroys local agriculture by privatizing the
country's water resources. In Plachimada, Kerala, Coca-Cola extracted 1.5
million liters of deep well water, which they bottled and sold under the
names Dasani and BonAqua. The groundwater was severely depleted, affecting
thousands of communities with water shortages and destroying agricultural
activity. As a result, the remaining water became contaminated with high
chloride and bacteria levels, leading to scabs, eye problems, and stomach
aches in the local population. Water shortages have occurred in Varanasi,
Thane, and Tamil Nadu as well. The company is also guilty of reselling its
plants' industrial waste to farmers as fertilizers, despite its containing
hazardous lead and cadmium.

Coca-Cola is one of the most discriminatory employers in the world. In the
year 2000, 2,000 African-American employees in the U.S. sued the company
for race-based disparities in pay and promotions. In Mexico, Coca-Cola
FEMSA, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Latin America, fired a senior
bottling manager for being gay. Finally, by regularly denying health
insurance to employees and their families, Coca Cola has failed to help
stop the spread of AIDS in Africa. The company is one of the continent's
largest private employers, yet only partially covers expensive medicines,
while not covering generic medicines at all.

Who's working on it:
** Coke Watch
** Corp Watch
** India Resource Center
** Killer Coke
** Polaris Institute
** Public Citizen
** Students Against Sweatshops
** USLEAP

DOW CHEMICAL

CEO: Andrew N. Liveris
Contact the Corporation: Dow Chemical Co.
2030 Dow Center
Midland, MI 48674

Human rights abuses: creation of chemical weapons, marketing poisonous
chemicals, illegal dumping of toxins into populated areas, environmental
destruction, health problems, death

Dow Chemical has been destroying lives and poisoning the planet for
decades. The company is best known for the ravages and health disaster for
millions of Vietnamese and U.S. Veterans caused by its lethal Vietnam War
defoliant, Agent Orange. Dow's "invent first, ask questions later"
standard of business led the multinational company to develop and perfect
Napalm, a brutal chemical weapon that burned many innocents to death in
Vietnam and other wars. In 1988, Dow provided pesticides to Saddam Hussein
despite warnings that they could be used to produce chemical weapons.

In 2001, Dow inherited the toxic legacy of the worst peacetime chemical
disaster in history when it acquired Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and
its outstanding liabilities in Bhopal, India. As the Students for Bhopal
website recounts, "On December 3rd, 1984, thousands of people in Bhopal,
India were gassed to death after a catastrophic chemical leak at a UCC
pesticide plant. More than 150,000 people were left severely disabled-of
whom 22,000 have since died of their injuries-in a disaster now widely
acknowledged as the world's worst ever."

Dow refuses to address its liabilities in Bhopal or even admit its
existence, continuing in Union Carbide's tradition of profiting from
extreme corporate irresponsibility. In India, Dow's subsidiary faces
manslaughter charges and is considered a fugitive from justice for a
pending criminal case related to the 1984 xhemical explosion. Dow and
UCC's lack of accountability in the disaster continue to affect the lives
in Bhopal to this day.

World wide, Dow is involved in human rights abuses: environmental
destruction, water and ground contamination, health violations, chemical
poisoning, and chemical warfare. Dow Chemical's impact is felt globally
from their Midland, Michigan headquarters to Plymouth New Zealand. In
Midland, Dow has been producing chlorinated chemicals and burning and
burying its waste including chemicals that make up Agent Orange. In
Plymouth, New Zealand, 500,000 gallons of Agent Orange were produced and
thousands of tons of dioxin-laced waste was dumped in agricultural fields.
Dow's toxic legacies of human rights abuses traverse to agricultural
fields in Central America where Dow exported EPA-banned pesticide DBCP for
use on banana and pineapple crops. As a result, thousands of banana
workers were exposed to DBCP and became sterile. In retail markets across
the world Dow's dangerous chemicals are present as common household
solvents, plastics, paints and pharmaceuticals.

Who's working on it:
** Dow Accountability Network
** Vietnam Relief and Responsibility Campaign
** Fund for Reconciliation and Development
** The Vietnam Dioxin Collective
** International Campaign for Justice In Bhopal
** Students For Bhopal o Amnesty International-USA
** Greenpeace International
** Ecology Center
** Tittabawassee River Watch
** Beyond Pesticides

DYNCORP

The Corporation: DynCorp (owned by CSC) CEO: Van Honeycutt
Contact the corporation: DynCorp/CSC
2100 East Grand Avenue
El Segundo, CA 90245 USA
Phone: 310.615.0311

Human rights abuses: causing health problems, environmental devastation
and death; endangering lives; physically abusing individuals; sex
trafficking

Private security contractors have become the fastest-growing sector of the
global economy during the last decade - a $100-billion-a-year, nearly
unregulated industry. DynCorp, one of the providers of these mercenary
services, demonstrates the industry's power and potential to abuse human
rights. While guarding Afghani statesmen and African oil fields, training
Iraqi police forces, eradicating Colombian coca plants, and protecting
business interests in hurricane-devastated New Orleans, these hired guns
bolster the security of governments and organizations at the expense of
many people's human rights.

DynCorp's fumigation of coca crops along the Colombian-Ecuadorian border
led Ecuadorian peasants to sue DynCorp in 2001. Plaintiffs argued that
DynCorp knew - or should have known - that the herbicides were highly
toxic, and should therefore be held accountable for health problems and
death among local people and widespread environmental damage to their
subsistence agriculture. A Colombian newsweekly called DynCorp - which
also sprays herbicides in Peru and Bolivia - "lawless Rambos."

DynCorp's questionable actions in Haiti include its training of the
national police force after the first coup against President Aristide,
paving the way for (Tonton Macaoutes) to return to power.

In 2001, a mechanic with DynCorp blew the whistle on DynCorp employees in
Bosnia for rape and trading girls as young as 12 into sex slavery.
According to a lawsuit filed by the mechanic, "employees and supervisors
were engaging in perverse, illegal and inhumane behavior [and] were
purchasing illegal weapons, women, [and] forged passports." The mechanic
observed DynCorp employees buying and selling women and bragging about the
ages and talents of their female slaves. DynCorp fired the whistleblower,
who later claimed that "DynCorp is just as immoral and elite as possible,
and any rule they can break they do." The company transferred the
employees accused of sex trading out of the country, eventually firing
some. None were prosecuted.

Who's working on it:
** CorpWatch
** International Labor Rights Fund and the Law Offices of Cristobal
Bonifaz are handling the Ecuadorians' suit, with help from EarthRights
International, Amazon Alliance, and Friends of the Earth.

FORD MOTOR COMPANY

CEO: William Clay Ford, Jr.
Contact the Corporation: Ford Motor Company
P.O. Box 685
Dearborn, MI 48126-0685
Email: wford [at] ford.com

Human rights violations: environmental degradation, climate change,
fueling wars for oil

The US automobile industry is fueling America's addiction to oil.
Automobiles are the single largest consumer of oil in the US, a country
that constitutes less than five percent of the world's population but
consumes 25 percent of its oil. The US addiction to oil is linked with a
host of human rights and environmental problems, including human rights
abuses in countries such as Nigeria, Ecuador, Sudan, South Africa and
Indonesia. The US oil addiction has prompted the US government to cozy up
to human rights violating governments such as that of Saudi Arabia. It has
pushed indigenous people off their land and destroyed hundreds of
thousands of acres of rainforests, which are home to half the planet and
animal species on the planet. It has fueled wars for oil, such as the war
in Iraq, which has so far caused the deaths of more than 2,100 US troops
and an estimated 27,000 to 100,000 Iraqis. It has polluted cities,
endangering the health of millions of people who live in high-ozone
communities and leading to hundreds of thousands of cases of childhood
asthma. And, by being a major contributor to global warming, has increased
the likelihood of extreme weather events like Hurricane Katrina, which
killed at least 1,289 people.

Among automakers, Ford Motor Company is the worst. Every year since 1999,
the US Environmental Protection Agency has ranked Ford cars, trucks and
SUVs as having the worst overall fuel economy of any American automaker.
Ford's current car and truck fleet has a lower average fuel efficiency
than the original Ford Model-T.

Ford is also in last place when it comes to vehicle greenhouse gas
emissions. According to a recent report by the Union of Concerned
Scientists, Ford has "the absolute worst heat-trapping gas emissions
performance of all the Big Six automakers." In fact, if Ford were a
country, it would be the 10th largest global warming polluter worldwide,
behind Italy.

Amazingly, despite the company's recent greenwashing PR campaign, its
record has actually worsened. According to Ford's own sustainability
report, between 2003 and 2004, the company's US fleet-wide fuel economy
decreased and its CO2 emissions went up. Ford is also lobbying to prevent
the U.S. and state governments from improving the situation: the company
has lobbied against lawmakers' efforts to increase fuel economy standards
at the national level and is also involved in a lawsuit against
California's fuel economy standards.

Who's working on it:
** Bluewater Action Network
** Energy Action
** Jumpstart Ford, a coalition of Global Exchange, Rainforest Action
Network and the Ruckus Society

KBR (KELLOGG, BROWN, AND ROOT): A SUBSIDIARY OF HALLIBURTON
CORPORATION

President and CEO: CEO Andrew Lane
Contact the Corporation: KBR
601 Jefferson Street
Houston, TX 77002
Phone. (713) 753-2000

Human rights violations: Overcharging and providing unnecessary services
on taxpayer's dollar, bribery, exploiting third country nationals

KBR is a private company that provides military support services.
Notorious for its questionable bookkeeping, dishonest billing practices
with US taxpayer dollars, and no-bid contracts, KBR has violated human
rights on the U.S. dollar.

KBR's dubious accounting in Iraq came to light in December 2003 when
Pentagon auditors questioned possible overcharges for imported gasoline.
Former employees have testified about KBR's billing for $100 laundry bags
and $45 cases of soda, failing to provide simple mechanical parts such as
oil filters, feeding soldiers outdated rations, and charging for meals
never served. In June 2005, a previously secret Pentagon audit criticized
$1.4 billion in "questioned" and "unsupported" expenditures.

However, given KBR's history, this is no surprise. In 2002 the company
paid $2 million to settle a Justice Department lawsuit that accused KBR of
inflating contract prices at Fort Ord, California. In 2000, the GAO
scrutinized KBR for overcharging and providing unnecessary services in the
Balkans. Bribes to local officials (such as in Nigeria) or subcontractors
also appear to be part of KBR's modus operandi.

Many third-country national (TCN) laborers have been hired by KBR to
"rebuild" Iraq. Generally hailing from impoverished Asian countries, they
have unexpectedly become part of the largest civilian workforce ever hired
in support of a U.S. war.

An intricate network of subcontractors who recruit and employ most TCNs
lowers the prime contractors' costs and hinders any oversight by contract
auditors. The laborers often take out usurious loans to pay a finder's fee
for the overseas jobs. Once abroad, the workers find themselves with few
protections and uncertain legal status. TCNs often sleep in crowded
trailers and wait outside in scorching heat to eat "slop." Many lack
adequate medical care and put in hard labor seven days a week, 10 hours or
more a day. Few receive proper workplace safety equipment or adequate
protection from incoming mortars and rockets.

KBR is now accused of perpetuating the same system in areas destroyed or
damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Reports have surfaced about KBR's
subcontractors exploiting TCN's (this time, Latinos), many of whom are
unpaid, unfed, living in squalid conditions and suffering from untreated
ailments.

Who's working on it:
** Corpwatch
** Center for Corporate Policy
** Halliburton Watch
** Houston Global Awareness

LOCKHEED MARTIN

CEO: Robert Stevens
Contact the corporation: Lockheed Martin Corp
6801 Rockledge Dr
Bethesda, MD 20817
Phone: (301) 897-6000

Human Rights Abuses: War profiteering, warmongering

Lockheed Martin is the world's largest military contractor. In 2003, the
year of the Iraq invasion, the company held $21.9 billion in Pentagon
contracts. Providing satellites, planes, missiles, and other lethal high
tech items to the Pentagon keeps the profits rolling in. Since 2000, the
year Bush was elected, the company's stock value has tripled.

A large company like Lockheed Martin has the ability to shape it's the
business environment, and marketing war is very beneficial to the bottom
line. As the Center for Corporate Policy (www.corporatepolicy.org) notes,
it is no coincidence that Lockheed VP Bruce Jackson - who helped draft
the Republican foreign policy platform in 2000 - is a key player at the
Project for a New American Century, the intellectual incubator of the Iraq
war.

Lockheed Martin is not the only defense contractor that goes behind the
scenes to influence public policy, but it is one of the worst. Stephen J.
Hadley, who now has Condoleeza Rice's old job as Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs, was formerly a partner in a big
DC law firm representing Lockheed Martin. He is only one of the
beneficiaries of the so-called revolving door between the military
industries and the "civilian" national security apparatus. These war
profiteers - the makers of the Trident missile; aircraft like the F-16
Fighting Falcon and the F/A-22 and the C-130 Hercules, as well as high
tech space based military components like the DSCS-3 satellite - have a
profound and illegitimate influence our country's international policy
decisions.

Who's working on it:
** Brandywine Peace Community
** Center for Corporate Policy
** War Resisters League

MONSANTO

CEO: Hugh Grant
Contact the Corporation: c/o Kathleen Klepfer, Chief of Staff for Hugh
Grant
800 North Lindbergh Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63167
Phone:(314) 694-1000
Fax: (314) 694-8394
kathleen.lee.klepfer [at] monsanto.com

Human Rights Abuses: Displacement, health violations, and child labor

Monsanto is, by far, the largest producer of genetically engineered
seeds in the world, dominating 70% to 100% of the market for crops
such as soy, cotton, wheat, and corn. The company is also one of the
most egregious abusers of the human rights of food sovereignty, access
to land, and health.

Monsanto promotes mono-culture - the practice of covering large
swaths of land with a single crop. This practice pushes out
subsistence farms and destroys arable land by drastically decreasing
soil and water quality for years, draining soil of key nutrients. The
company also undercuts food prices by flooding countries like Mexico,
India, and Brazil with cheap, genetically modified foods, resulting in
the displacement of millions of farm workers, who are forced to
migrate to cities or work as landless peasants or share croppers.

Monsanto is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate,
marketed as "Roundup." Roundup is sold to small farmers as a pesticide,
yet harms crops in the long run as the toxins accumulate in the soil.
Plants eventually become infertile, forcing farmers to purchase
genetically modified Roundup Ready Seed, a seed that resists the
herbicide. This creates a cycle of dependency on Monsanto for both the
weed killer and the only seed that can resist it. Both products are
patented, and sold at inflated prices.

Roundup Ultra, a version of the pesticide that is unavailable on the
commercial market, is regularly employed in fumigation of areas of illicit
crop production. However, as it destroys fields of drug plants, it also
destroys subsistence crops like banana, palm heart, and coffee. Exposure
to the pesticide is documented to cause cancers, skin disorders,
spontaneous abortions, premature births, and damage to the
gastrointestinal and nervous systems.

According to the India Committee of the Netherlands and the International
Labor Rights Fund, Monsanto also employs child labor. In India, an
estimated 12,375 children work in cottonseed production for farmers paid
by Indian and multinational seed companies, including Monsanto. A number
of children have died or became seriously ill due to exposure to
pesticides.

Monsanto's yearly profits are $5.4 billion.

Who's working on it:
** Food First
** GM Watch
** GRAIN
** India Resource Center
** Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
** Landless Workers' Movement
** Organic Consumers' Association
** Via Campesina

NESTLE USA

CEO: Joe Weller
Contact the Corporation: Nestle USA
800 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91203
Phone: 818-549-6000
Fax: 818-549-6952

Human Rights Violations: Abusive child labor, repression of worker rights,
aggressive marketing of harmful products, violation of national health and
environmental laws

There's a secret in the chocolate industry, and once people find out about
it, their chocolate doesn't taste as sweet any more: Much of the chocolate
eaten all over the world is made of cocoa beans that have been harvested
by illegal child labor, including child slave labor.

The problem of illegal and forced child labor is rampant in the chocolate
industry, because more than forty percent of the world's cocoa supply
comes from the Ivory Coast, a country that the US State Department
estimates had approximately 109,000 child laborers working in hazardous
conditions on cocoa farms in what's been described as the worst form of
child labor. In 2001, Save the Children Canada reported that 15,000
children between 9 and 12 years old, many from impoverished Mali, had been
tricked or sold into slavery on West African cocoa farms, many for just
$30 each. Just this summer, the International Labor Rights Fund and a
Birmingham law firm filed a class-action lawsuit against Nestle and
several of its suppliers on behalf of former child slaves.

Nestle is the target of this lawsuit and is singled out by corporate
campaigners, because it is the third largest buyer of cocoa from the Ivory
Coast, has processing, storage and export facilities there, and is well
aware of the tragically unjust labor practices taking place on the farms
with which it continues to do business. Nestle and other chocolate
manufacturers agreed to end the use of abusive and forced child labor on
cocoa farms by July 1, 2005, but they failed to do so.

Nestle is also notorious for its aggressive marketing of infant formula in
poor countries the 1980s, which may have led to the deaths of countless
children who did not receive the nutrients that would have been present in
breast milk. Because of this practice, Nestle is still one of the most
boycotted corporations in the world, and its infant formula is still
controversial. In Italy in 2005, police seized more than two million
liters of Nestle infant formula that was contaminated with the chemical
isopropylthioxanthone (ITX), a component in the packaging's ink. It turned
out the company knew about the contamination for months, but did not
recall the formula.

Additionally, violations of labor rights are reported from Nestle
factories in numerous countries. In Colombia, Nestle replaced the entire
factory staff with lower-wage workers and did not renew the collective
employment contract. In Cabuyao Laguna, Philippines, a 3- year strike
against Nestle was partially precipitated by Nestle's refusal to include
the retirement benefits of the workers in the collective bargaining
agreement, despite the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of the workers. The
company has brutally attempted to break the strike; this year, two
unionists, including prominent labor leader Diosdado Fortuna, have been
murdered.

Who's working on it:
** Global Exchange
** International Baby Milk Action
** International Labor Rights Fund

PHILIP MORRIS USA and PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL (a.k.a. the Altria
Group Inc.)

Chairman and CEO: Louis C. Camilleri
Contact the Corporation: Philip Morris USA
Consumer Response Center
P.O. Box 26603
Richmond, Virginia 23261
www.philipmorrisusa.com
Email form:
www.philipmorrisusa.com/en/contact_us/contact_us_by_email.asp?a
ction=init
Philip Morris International
Consumer Service
Case Postale 1171
1001 Lausanne, Switzerland
www.philipmorrisinternational.com

Human Rights Abuse: aggressively marketing lethal products

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco is the second major
cause of preventable death in the world. Nearly five million lives per
year are claimed by the tobacco industry, whose products results in
premature death for half the people who use them. Among tobacco companies,
Philip Morris is notorious. Now called Altria, it is the world's largest
and most profitable cigarette corporation and maker of Marlboro, Virginia
Slims, Parliament, Basic and many other brands of cigarettes. Philip
Morris is also a leader in pushing smoking with young people around the
world. Philip Morris has consistently misled consumers about the dangers
of its products. Documents uncovered in a lawsuit filed against the
tobacco industry by the state of Minnesota showed that Philip Morris and
other leading tobacco corporations knew very well of the dangers of
tobacco products and the addictiveness of nicotine, yet they continued to
deny these realities in public until the internal company documents were
brought to light. To this day, Philip Morris deceives consumers about the
harm of its products by offering light, mild and low-tar cigarettes that
give consumers the illusion that these brands are "healthier" than
traditional cigarettes. Philip Morris has actively targeted the world's
youth by researching smoking patterns and attitudes and targeting youth as
potential customers. Marlboro cigarettes are the top brand for youth in
the United States. Although the company says it doesn't want kids to
smoke, it spends millions of dollars every day marketing and promoting
cigarettes to youth. Overseas, it has even hired underage Marlboro girls
to distribute free cigarettes to other children and sponsored concerts
where cigarettes were handed out to minors.

As anti-tobacco campaigns and government regulations are slowing tobacco
use in Western countries, Philip Morris has aggressively moved into
developing country markets, where smoking and smoking-related deaths are
on the rise. According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health,
tobacco's killing fields are shifting to the developing world and Eastern
Europe, where most of the world's smokers now live. Preliminary numbers
released by the World Health Organization predict global deaths due to
smoking-related illnesses will nearly double by 2020, with more than
three-quarters of those deaths in the developing world. Meanwhile, Philip
Morris' profits continue to grow. In the third quarter of 2005 alone,
Altria's net revenue was $25 billion, up from 2004 in large part due to
the high performance of Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International.

Who's working on it:
** Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
** Essential Action
** Framework Convention Alliance
** World Health Organization

PFIZER

CEO: William Steere
Contact the Company: Pfizer
235 East 42nd Street
NY, NY 10017-5755
Phone: 212-573-1000 (switchboard)
Fax: 212-573-7851
Jim Brigaitis, Team Leader Diflucan
Phone: 212-573-7789
Fax: 212-573-3253

Human Rights Abuse: The denial of universal access to HIV/AIDS medicines

Pfizer is the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, representing
11% of the world market, and earning more than $4 billion dollars in
profit per year in the world's most profitable industry. It is also one of
the worst abusers of the human right of universal access to HIV/AIDS
medicine.

In addition to Viagra, Zoloft, Zithromax, and Norvasc Pfizer produces the
anti-retroviral drug fluconazole under the name Diflucan, and sells it at
prices that poor people with AIDS cannot afford. The company refuses to
grant generic licenses of fluconazole to governments in countries like
Brazil, South Africa, or Dominican Republic, where patients are forced to
pay $20 per weekly pill, though the average national wage is only $120 per
month.

Instead of helping eradicate the world's worst pandemic in history, Pfizer
chooses to follow World Trade Organization intellectual property rules and
refuses to grant governments licenses to make generic, accessible AIDS
drugs available to their citizens.

Pfizer also values shareholder profits over safety standards. In Europe in
2005, it withdrew from scientific studies of a new class of AIDS drugs
called CCR5 inhibitors, choosing instead to rush its own untested CCR5
inhibitor onto the European market without full information about the
drug's side effects..

Who's working on it:
** ACTUP: New York, Philadelphia, Paris
** Consumer Project on Technology
** Doctors Without Borders
** Generics Now
** Health GAP
** Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
** Treatment Action Campaign

SUEZ-LYONNAISE DES EAUX (SLDE)

CEO: Mr. Gerard Mestrallet
Contact the Corporation: Suez
16, rue de la Ville-l 'Eveque
75383 PARIS Cedex 08
France
Phone: +33 1 40 06 64 00
gerard.mestrallet [at] suez.com

Human rights abuse: Water privatization

The privatization of water has had a disastrous impact on the human right
to clean water, and the French company Suez is the worst perpetrator of
this abuse. The company's billions of dollars in profit come at the
expense of poor people living in countries where thousands lack access to
potable water, and, because of private water contracts, are also facing
skyrocketing water prices.

Suez goes by many names around the world - Ondeo, SITA, and others - to
mask its worldwide net of controversial activities. But no sleight of hand
can hide the fact that Suez, which is one of the largest water companies
in the world, has been a leader in turning the human right to water into
an unaffordable luxury. According to Public Citizen, Suez has raised water
rates, cut off the water of people unable to pay, refused to extend
services to poverty-stricken neighborhoods, and then threatened legal
action when contracts are terminated.

For example, in Manila, Philippines, after seven years of water
privatization under a Suez company (Maynilad Water) contract, studies
showed that water rates increased in some neighborhoods by 400 to 700
percent. These studies also showed that the negligence of the company
resulted in cholera and gastroenteritis outbreaks that killed six people
and severely sickened 725 in Manila's Tondo district.

In Argentina, Suez mixed companies have refused to make promised
investments in the water infrastructure, which has resulted in serious
water pollution problems. They also charge high consumer rates and cut off
water access for citizens unable to pay, leaving those most in need
without access to a life-sustaining natural resource.

In Bolivia, a Suez company (Aguas de Illimani) left 200,000 people without
access to water and caused a revolt when it tried to charge between $335
and $445 to connect a private home to the water supply. Countless people
were unable to afford this charge in a country whose yearly per capita GDP
is $915.

Unfortunately, the IMF and World Bank are playing a key role in pushing
water privatization all over the world. Many countries have been required
to open up their water supply to private companies as a condition for
receiving IMF loans, and the World Bank has approved millions of dollars
in loans for the privatization of water systems.

Who's working on it:
** Corporate Accountability International
** Food and Water Watch
** Stop Suez

WAL-MART

CEO: Lee Scott
Contact the Corporation: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
702 Southwest 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716
Tel. (479) 273-4000
Email corporate headquarters:
walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=221

Human Rights Abuses: worker rights violations, labor discrimination, union
busting

Wal-Mart is the biggest corporation in the world. It owns 5,100 stores
worldwide and employs 1.3 million workers in the United States and 400,000
abroad, as well as a millions more in the factories of its suppliers.
Because of the company's enormity, its business model has a huge influence
on workers and businesses around the world; so far Wal- Mart has used that
influence to ruthlessly drive down costs as a means of making profit,
violating a vast array of human rights and labor rights along the way.

Many people have heard of the way that Wal-Mart steamrolls its way into
every possible town, destroying local supermarkets and countless small
businesses. We have also heard about Wal-Mart's long track record of
worker abuse, from forced overtime to sex discrimination to illegal child
labor to relentless union busting. Wal-Mart also notoriously fails to
provide health insurance to over half of its employees, who are then left
to rely on themselves or taxpayers, who provide for a portion of their
healthcare needs through government Medicaid.

Less well known is the fact that Wal-Mart maintains its low price level by
allowing substandard labor conditions at the overseas factories producing
most of its goods. The company continually demands lower prices from its
suppliers, who, in turn, make more outrageous and abusive demands on their
workers in order to meet Wal-Mart's requirements. In September 2005, the
International Labor Rights Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of Wal-Mart
supplier sweatshop workers in China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nicaragua and
Swaziland. The workers were denied minimum wages, forced to work overtime
without compensation, and were denied legally mandated health care. Other
worker rights violations that have been found in foreign factories that
produce goods for Wal-Mart include locked bathrooms, starvation wages,
pregnancy tests, denial of access to health care, and workers being fired
and blacklisted if they try to defend their rights.

Additionally, nearly 70% of Wal-Mart's goods are made in factories in
China, a country where garment workers are often kept under 24-hour-a- day
surveillance and can be fired for even discussing factory conditions. The
Chinese government does not allow independent human rights groups to
exist, and all attempts to form independent unions have been crushed.
Wal-Mart refuses to reveal its Chinese contractors and will not allow
independent, unannounced inspections of its contractors' facilities.

Who's working on it:
** Wal-Mart Watch
** ACORN
** Business Ethics International
** Sierra Club
** Wake-Up Wal-Mart
** International Labor Rights Fund
** United Students Against Sweatshops


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   - David Shove             shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu
   rhymes with clove         Progressive Calendar
                     over 2225 subscribers as of 12.19.02
              please send all messages in plain text no attachments