Human Rights – Page 3 – Trillium Asset Management

Uncovering Slavery in Steel

January 30, 2008

How far up a supply chain should a company be held accountable? In Carajas in Brazil’s eastern Amazon region, work is scarce and poverty and lawlessness are widespread. Opportunistic hacienda owners lure the desperate and unemployed to distant charcoal camps with promises of work, wages and shelter. Once at the camp, the owners levy illegal charges on the workers for transportation, equipment, lodging and food. Mario Osava, reporting for Inter Press Service last July described the debt as “pretext to keep laborers on the camp under threat and often under armed guard.” Deep in debt, workers succumb to involuntary servitude, …

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 …

Chevron – Global Environmental Standards Report (2008)

January 23, 2008

WHEREAS The Chevron Business and Ethics Code places the highest priority on the safety of its staff, community members and the environment where it operates. Corporate Policy 530 “commits Chevron to comply with the spirit and letter of all environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, regardless of the degree of enforcement.” Our company operates in 180 countries, including Africa, Asia and Latin America nations where environmental regimes may be less protective of human health and the environment than in North American and European countries where Chevron operates. CEO David O’Reilly has recognized the importance of our company’s relationships with …

Trillium Files Resolutions on Sudan Genocide

January 9, 2008

Trillium Asset Management Corporation Files Resolutions on the Sudan Genocide In December 2007, Trillium Asset Management Corporation (“Trillium”), working in coalition with human rights organizations and other socially responsible investment firms, filed shareholder resolutions with major banks and financial firms with the goal of engaging Wall Street to push Sudan to end the violence in Darfur and accept full deployment of U.N. peacekeepers. Trillium filed resolutions at JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. These Wall Street powerhouses are among the largest shareholders in the “Big 4” petroleum companies doing business in Sudan, whose royalties to the government have financed …

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 …

Make General Electric a Landmine-Free Zone!

November 19, 2007

If you have stock in GE, be sure to vote in support of our proposal. Look for your proxy ballot in the mail starting in March. (If you don’t usually receive corporate ballots, the company may be sending them to your broker or investment manager, and you will have to instruct them to vote for this proposal or send you the ballot.) Send an e-mail or letter directly to GE in support of the proposal. Sample text: Mr. Jack Welch Chairman and CEO General Electric Company 3135 Easton Turnpike Fairfield, CT 06431Dear Mr. Welch:Each year, 22,000 people are killed …