Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporations Told Actions More Important than Words

Australian social researcher Hugh Mackay has little time for companies that try to use corporate social responsibility as a PR and marketing tool. "Nothing diminishes virtue like trying to draw other people’s attention to it. You’re a good corporate citizen? Get on with it, then, don’t brag about it," he said in a speech launching a fundraising campaign for a non-profit disability group.

No

Is Fair Trade Coffee a Quick Corporate Fix?

Writing in the newsletter of the Minneapolis-based Wedge Co-op, Rodney North warns that the token use of fair trade certification can "prematurely undermine the public pressure for real change." North points to a web-based survey by U.K.-based Baby Milk Action, which asked supporters what they thought of the fair trade certification of Nestlé's Partners Blend coffee.

No

Playing FTSE with Social Responsibility

"Nearly a fifth of the UK's top public companies are still failing to deliver comprehensive reports detailing the economic, environmental and social impact of their business," reports Andy Favell for The Independent. Analyses have found corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports from 18 of the British companies on the FTSE 100 Index to be inadequate.

No

You Don't Deserve Labor Rights Today

After its protests "forced Taco Bell to pay tomato pickers a penny more per pound," the Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) started "pressuring McDonald's for a similar agreement." Instead, McDonald's joined the "Socially Accountable Farm Employer (SAFE) voluntary certification program." Launched in November 2005, SAFE is run by board members of the industry group Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association and

No

Socially Responsible Union Busting

The global mining giant Rio Tinto is lobbying the Australian government to amend draft legislation to ensure individual common law agreements with its workers override collectively bargained labor awards and certified agreements.

No

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