Human Rights – Page 2 – Trillium Asset Management

FedEx’s Association with Washington, DC NFL Team Controversy – 2014

May 12, 2014

WHEREAS: This past year marked a major turning point in debate over the National Football League’s Washington D.C. franchise team name – “Redskins”. FedEx has naming rights to team’s stadium – FedExField. “Redskins” remains a dehumanizing word characterizing people by skin color and is a racial slur with hateful and offensive connotations. Proponents believe FedEx should drop or distance ties to the team, logos and/or stadium sponsorship until the franchise abandons its degrading name. Virtually every major national American Indian organization has publicly denounced use of Indian – and Native – related images, names and symbols disparaging or offending American …

FedEx – Develop & Adopt Human Rights Policies (2012)

July 19, 2011

WHEREAS Expectations of the global community are growing, such that companies must have policies to promote and protect human rights within their areas of activity and sphere of influence to help promote and protect a company’s reputation as a good corporate citizen. Corporations operating in countries with civil conflict, weak rule of law, endemic corruption, poor labor and environmental standards face serious risks to reputation and shareholder value when they are seen as responsible for, or complicit in, human rights violations. FedEx, in its Annual Report 2010, states: “…our company is built around a singular vision: to make it possible …

Verizon – Internet Censorship (2009)

February 25, 2009

WHEREAS The Internet is becoming the defining infrastructure of our economy and society in the 21st century. Its potential to open markets for commerce, venues for cultural expression and modalities of civic engagement is without historic parallel. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are gatekeepers to this infrastructure: providing access, managing traffic, insuring communication, and forging rules that shape, enable and limit the public’s Internet use. As such, ISPs have a weighty responsibility in devising network management practices. ISPs must give far-ranging thought to how these practices serve to promote–or inhibit–the public’s participation in the economy and in civil society. Of fundamental …

Nucor Corp. – Modern Slavery Report (2009)

February 25, 2009

WHEREAS Bloomberg Markets Magazine reported in a cover story that “Nucor Corp., the second-largest U.S. steel company, buys pig iron made with charcoal produced by slaves.” The article reported that certain entities in Nucor’s supply chain were identified by Brazilian labor officials as using slaves and also discussed the use of illegal logging in charcoal camps. (The Secret World of Modern Slavery, by Michael Smith and David Voreacos, Bloomberg Markets, December 2006) The US State Department reports: Brazil is “a source country for men trafficked internally for forced labor.” The report noted that “A lack of government resources and dedicated …

Enbridge – Free Prior & Informed Consent (2009)

February 17, 2009

WHEREAS The company’s proposed $4.5 billion Northern Gateway Project (Gateway) in Western Canada takes place in areas where comprehensive aboriginal territory claims have not been settled – i.e. where aboriginal groups have not signed Treaties or otherwise ceded their title. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that exercising power in a manner that negatively impacts ecosystems may extinguish aboriginal title by destroying their relationship to the land and thus incite legal action from First Nations to halt resource development activities. Delgamuukw v. British Columbia Furthermore, lands held pursuant to aboriginal title have an ‘inescapable economic component’ which affirms …

Nucor – Report on Modern Slavery

January 24, 2008

WHEREAS Bloomberg Markets Magazine reported in a cover story that “Nucor Corp., the second-largest U.S. steel company, buys pig iron made with charcoal produced by slaves.” The article reported that these suppliers were identified by Brazilian labor officials as using slaves and also discussed the use of illegal logging in charcoal camps. (The Secret World of Modern Slavery, by Michael Smith and David Voreacos, Bloomberg Markets, December 2006) The US State Department reports: Brazil “is a source and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of … forced labor” and the government’s efforts to address this …

Morgan Stanley – Human Rights/Investment Portfolio (2008)

January 3, 2008

WHEREAS The issue of human rights increasingly impacts investors and companies alike. Company reputations are affected by both direct and indirect involvement in human rights violations. Operating in countries with clear patterns of these violations, such as Sudan and Burma, may heighten reputational and financial risk. Furthermore, companies can face similar risks when they or their suppliers are found to be using forced labor or discriminating against employees, among other abuses. Proponents believe that institutional investors, including asset management firms such as Morgan Stanley, bear fiduciary and moral responsibilities as owners of stock in companies that may be connected to …

Merrill Lynch – Human Rights/Investment Portfolio (2008)

January 3, 2008

WHEREAS The issue of Human Rights increasingly impacts investors and companies alike. Company reputations are affected by both direct and indirect involvement in human rights violations. Operating in countries with clear patterns of these violations, such as Sudan and Burma, may heighten reputational and financial risk. Furthermore, companies can face similar risks when they or their suppliers are found to be using forced labor or discriminating against employees, among other abuses. Proponents believe that institutional investors, including asset management firms such as Merrill Lynch & Co., bear fiduciary and moral responsibilities as owners of stock in companies that may be …

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.- Human Rights/Investment Portfolio (2008)

January 3, 2008

WHEREAS The issue of Human Rights increasingly impacts investors and companies alike. Company reputations are affected by both direct and indirect involvement in human rights violations. Operating in countries with clear patterns of these violations, such as Sudan and Burma, may heighten reputational and financial risk. Furthermore, companies can face similar risks when they or their suppliers are found to be using forced labor, discriminating against employees, or committing other such abuses. Proponents believe that institutional investors, including asset management firms such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., bear fiduciary and moral responsibilities as owners of stock in companies that may …