Candidates include ADM, Blackwater, Countrywide, Mattel, Nestlé,
Toyota, Wal-Mart and Wendy's
March 20, 2008
BOSTON — This year's election is all about the issues — global warming, war-profiteering, predatory lending — or at least that is the case in the annual Corporate Hall of Shame. Today online polls open at www.stopcorprateabuse.org for people to vote for the most abusive corporations of the year.
This year's nominees made headlines for breaking the law, influencing elected officials, undermining democratic decision-making and outright endangering the environment and public health. They include Blackwater Worldwide, ADM, Countrywide, Wal-Mart, Mattel, Nestlé, Toyota, and Wendy's.
The Hall is a creation of Corporate Accountability International, a membership organization that has worked to protect people from irresponsible and dangerous corporations for the last 30 years.
“Make no mistake, we believe all of the nominees deserve this infamous dishonor, but we look forward to seeing which corporations the voting public selects as the worst of the worst,” said Kelle Louaillier, executive director of Corporate Accountability International. “The ballot box is a way to call politicians to task. The Hall is now a way of calling corporations to account for major abuses of the public interest.”
Last year, more than 20,000 votes were cast to induct ExxonMobil, Haliburton and Wal-Mart. Other past inductees include Philip Morris/Altria, Columbia/HCA and waste disposal giant Waste Management.
The Corporate Hall of Shame has kept continuous pressure on inducted corporations to curb their abuses. In 2006, Waste Management worked its way out of the Corporate Hall of Shame by drastically reducing its national lobbying and political expenditures.
Corporate Accountability International expects record turn-out this election season before polls close on July 4th. The new inductees will be announced later that month.
This year's nominees include:
Ø ADM (Archer Daniels Midland), for helping make Indonesia the world's third worst contributor to global warming through its clearing of endangered forests and wildlife habitat for palm oil plantations.
Ø Blackwater Worldwide, for killing unarmed Iraqi civilians, hiring paramilitaries trained under military dictatorships, and using its close political and financial ties with the Bush Administration to secure lucrative contracts.
Ø Countrywide, for predatory mortgage lending to elderly and non-English-speaking borrowers, and for gouging minority borrowers with discriminatory rates and fees.
Ø Mattel, for producing tens of millions of lead-contaminated children's toys, and aggressively lobbying against bans on other highly toxic chemicals
Ø Nestlé, for numerous labor violations — including child exploitation — contributing to the obesity epidemic, and threatening community water supplies with its bottled water brands.
Ø Toyota, for aggressively lobbying against increased fuel economy standards and state measures to reduce global warming gas emissions while hypocritically spending millions to advertise its environmental “leadership” and popular Prius hybrids.
Ø Wal-Mart, for displacing local businesses, failing to cover employees under the corporation's health plan, and opposing legislation that would increase homeland security.
Ø Wendy's, for its contribution to the growing childhood obesity and diabetes epidemics, and for refusing to meet nutritional labeling regulations.
Voters are also encouraged to write-in candidates and submit commentary.
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The Corporate Hall of Shame is a project of Corporate Accountability International and its allies that allows people to vote online for the most abusive corporations of the year.
The Hall will continue to expose the abuses of inducted corporations until these abuses are addressed.
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