Big Companies: Bad Guys

October 3, 2024

Just in time for the UN Summit, the International Trade Union Confederation is calling out large corporations. The Guardian reports, “Amazon, Tesla, and Meta Among World’s Top Companies Undermining Democracy—Report.” Writer Michael Sainato tells us:

“Some of the world’s largest companies have been accused of undermining democracy across the world by financially backing far-right political movements, funding and exacerbating the climate crisis, and violating trade union rights and human rights in a report published on Monday by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Amazon, Tesla, Meta, ExxonMobil, Blackstone, Vanguard and Glencore are the corporations included in the report. The companies’ lobbying arms are attempting to shape global policy at the United Nations Summit of the Future in New York City on 22 and 23 September.”

The write-up shares a few of the report’s key criticisms. It denounces Amazon, for example, for practices from union busting and low wages to sky-high carbon emissions and tax evasion. Tesla, the ITUC charges, commits human rights violations while its majority shareholder Elon Musk loudly rails against democracy itself. And, the report continues, not only has Meta severely amplified far-right propaganda and groups around the world, it actively lobbies against data privacy laws. See the write-up for more examples.

The article concludes by telling us a little about the International Trade Union Confederation:

“The ITUC includes labor group affiliates from 169 nations and territories around the world representing 191 million workers, including the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US, and the Trades Union Congress in the UK. With 4 billion people around the world set to participate in elections in 2024, the federation is pushing for an international binding treaty being worked on by the Open-ended intergovernmental working group to hold transnational corporations accountable under international human rights laws.”

Holding transnational corporations accountable—is that even possible? We shall see.

Cynthia Murrell, October 3, 2024

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Business strategy, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.