Investor Pressure Moves Toyota Affiliate to Divest from Joint Venture with Burmese Regime
Trillium Asset Management, along with Domini Social Investments and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, issued a press release today commending Toyota Motors for influencing their affiliate Toyota Tsusho (TTC) on the divestment of their ownership stake in Myanmar Suzuki Motor. The vehicle assembly plant was jointly controlled by the Burmese military regime. Trillium has been in dialogue with Toyota since 2007 on this issue. Click here to read the press release. Click here to read a news article from Reuters. …
Toyota Backpedals on Burma
If the Prius left you with a warm and fuzzy feeling for Toyota, you’re not alone. Noting that Toyota “has been a leader in both developing and promoting hybrid power-trains, the new industry standard, and is well advanced in overall R&D programs for future vehicle types,” the corporate responsibility research firm Innovest chose the company as the sole automotive representative in its top 100 most sustainable global companies in August 2007. We’re in agreement that Toyota deserves accolades for implementing sustainable business strategies that have led to the successful launch of hybrid fuel technology. But – and you sensed this …
Support the Burma Freedom Act in Congress
Background Last November, the International Labor Organization (ILO) called on all of its members – which include governments, labor unions, and employers – to review their relationship with Burma to ensure that they are not contributing to forced labor in Burma. This is the first time in its history that the ILO has taken such an extraordinary step. This is largely because the scale of forced labor in Burma is horrifying and widespread. Several U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives have co-sponsored new legislation in Congress – the Burma Freedom Act – to help stop forced labor in Burma. Since the …
Support the Massachusetts Free Burma Bill
For Massachusetts Residents Background and Update Sponsored by state rep. Byron Rushing, the new Massachusetts Free Burma Bill (H.2252) would effectively bar the Massachusetts state pension funds from investing in companies that do business in Burma. The bill is modeled after similar South Africa divestment laws that were enacted during the anti-apartheid campaign. It is believed that this kind of divestment bill would withstand constitutional challenge in federal court. The Free Burma Bill (H.2252) has been referred to the Committee on Public Service, whose co-chairs are Rep. Brian Dempsey of Haverhill and Sen. Brian Joyce of Milton. (For the bill …
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