MAKING WAVES! Walmart: End factory deathtraps in Bangladesh
Background:
In November, a fire tore through the Tazreen garment factory, a Walmart supplier in Bangladesh. Emergency exits were locked from the outside, and managers told workers to return to their sewing machines as smoke filled the factory. 112 workers were killed. Weeks later, the New York Times revealed that Walmart executives had been aware of the dangers in their Bangladeshi factories, but had blocked a program to improve fire safety.
Partners: The International Labor Right Forum, United Students Against Sweatshops, Corporate Action Network, Change To Win, and Jobs with Justice.
What we want: We want Walmart to sign onto the Bangladeshi Fire Safety Agreement, an independently monitored program which requires global retailers to provide funds for improved fire safety in their Bangladeshi suppliers.
Current status: Over 110,000 of us signed a petition calling on Walmart to strengthen fire safety in the factories it buys from worldwide, and we delivered the petition during a rally at Walmart's lobbying headquarters. Walmart has claimed that it toughened rules governing its Bangladeshi suppliers, but these reforms are meaningless without independent monitoring funding for basic safety measures. So now we're raising the stakes by collectively donating $20,000 to bring both a Bangladeshi labor activist, and a survivor of the deadly Tazreen factory fire to confront Walmart executives.
Read More: The original petition | Shareable graphic | Fundraiser | Petition delivery photos
Press coverage: Huffington Post
GETTING OUR VOICE HEARD! ANZ: Stop the loan to Whitehaven Coal
Background: A new mine in NSW would destroy up to 2,000 hectares of the Leard State Forest, home to koalas and other vulnerable species. The mine would also generate tremendous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions -- and it has come out that the mega-project is being financed by ANZ Bank. This is a direct violation of the bank's pledge to uphold the Equator Principles and not fund environmentally or socially destructive projects.
Partner: Australian Youth Climate Coalition
What we want: We called on ANZ to cancel the loan for the coal mine.
Current status: Nearly 10,000 of us signed a petition to ANZ bank, and we delivered your petition signatures to bank officials. We'll be in touch with ways to keep the pressure up on ANZ going forward.
Read More: The original petition
MARKED PROGRESS! Pepsi: Speak out against the Uganda Kill the Gays bill
Background:
Ugandan legislators are considering legislation that would institute the death penalty for gays and lesbians, and allies in Uganda felt that if multinational companies spoke out publicly against the bill, it would sway Members of Parliament (MPs) on the fence to vote against it. Pepsi has a history of supporting equality and has a massive presence in Uganda.
Partners: Ugandan Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law and Health GAP
What we want: We asked Pepsi to publicly oppose the bill and communicate its opposition to MPs in the Ugandan Parliament.
Current status: Over 116,000 signatures were delivered to Pepsi HQ in December, and, we took out an ad in Advertising Age, an industry publication, to get Pepsi's attention. Just this week, Pepsi's VP of Global Policy and Government Affairs met with Kaytee, our Campaign Manager. He heard our concerns, and agreed to continue watching the situation closely, and ensure Pepsi uses its voice effectively to stop passage of the bill. To that end, we are putting Pepsi executives in touch with LGBTI groups in Uganda so they can coordinate opposition on the ground.
As far as the bill itself, thankfully it did not pass before the Ugandan Parliament disbanded for Christmas. But allies in Uganda warn that there is a good chance the bill will be considered when Parliament reconvenes next week, so we will stay in touch with allies in Uganda and make sure Pepsi keeps its word to help stop this horrible law.
Read More: Original petition | Our ad in Advertising Age
Press Coverage: Huffington Post | All Africa | Queerty | Dan Savage
PUSHING BACK! Tell Mount Franklin to get out of the way of recycling in Australia
Background: Mount Franklin and its parent company Coca-Cola are standing in the way of increased recycling in Australia by running a misleading public and political campaign to scare state, territory, and federal environment ministers out of approving the proposed national "container deposit scheme".
Partner: Boomerang Alliance
What we want: We demanded that Coca-Cola stop fighting efforts to establish a container deposit scheme.
Current status: Over 11,000 Australians signed our petition to Coca-Cola, and we're gearing up for a social media campaign to further highlight the discrepancy between Mount Franklin's eco-image and its parent company's environmentally destructive policies.
Read More: The original petition
VICTORY! Pfizer, leave the Heartland Institute!
Background: The Heartland Institute has long been a right-wing front group for corporate climate change apologists and tobacco companies looking to overturn against nicotine regulation. Early last year, the Heartland Institute unveiled its most outrageous campaign yet when it compared advocates of carbon regulation to terrorists and serial killers. Shortly after the backlash began, and thanks to the work of SumOfUs.org and Forecast the Facts, Heartland lost over half its funding, but Pfizer, a major donor, stubbornly remained.
Partner: Forecast the Facts, 350
What we want: We wanted Pfizer to join over twenty other groups in fleeing the Heartland Institute.
Current status: Victory! In November, Pfizer announced that it had decided not to renew its annual funding for the Heartland Institute, depriving the group of a major source of income. Thanks to your work, the Heartland Institute has been so defunded and demoralized that it was forced to cancel its annual climate denial conference.
Read More: The original petition
VICTORY! No child labor at Whole Foods
(US only)
Background: Whole Foods, America’s largest organic retailer, likes to brag about its efforts to popularize fair trade goods. But Whole Foods shelves were partially stocked with cheap chocolate produced by forced child labor.
Partners: The Teamsters and the International Labor Rights Forum
What we want: We wanted Whole Foods to commit to only selling certified fair trade chocolate, since only independent supply chain certification can guarantee that chocolate is free of child slavery, which runs rampant in the cocoa industry. Additionally, we wanted Whole Foods to stop doing business with companies that continue to profit from child slavery in the chocolate industry.
Current status: Whole Foods agreed to create a certification process to help chocolate producers monitor and control their supply chain. Whole Foods will challenge suppliers to improve working conditions in their fields, by creating quality-based ratings system. This system will help encourage any companies that sell to Whole Foods to remove child labor from their supply chains.
Read More: The original petition
VICTORY! FCC: Regulate prison phone rates
(US only)
Background: A small handful of telecom companies with monopoly contracts can impose exorbitant phone costs -- upwards of $1 a minute -- on prisoners and their families. Most states do not regulate rates, since they frequently receive kickbacks from highly profitable phone operators. These rates exploit vulnerable people, including the 2.7 million children with an incarcerated parent, and, by cutting them off from their families, increase the rate convicts will commit another crime upon release.
Partners: The Prison Policy Institute and the Center for Media Justice
What we want: We want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect incarcerated people and their families from exploitation by regulating interstate phone call rates.
Current status: After circulating the petition to our list, we received over 36,000 signatures and more than 2,000 original comments to the FCC. On the day we delivered the comments, the FCC announced that it would be issuing new rules to lower long distance rates for prisoners.
Read More: The original petition | Petition delivery
Press coverage: Afro
Onwards!
As you can tell, we’ve been busy! But we wouldn’t have it any other way. We are excited to build a movement together, and we’re honored that you’re a part of it. We want to keep up our momentum and make sure that corporations are taking our voices into consideration. As we are still a tiny organization, we make sure that your donation does the most it can to help better our world. Please consider becoming a donor in order to help our movement grow!
We are truly independent -- we don't take a dime from corporations or governments. That allows us to run campaigns like the ones we've described today. But that also means we depend on members like you to keep us going. Any donation that you can make not only improves our ability to campaign for corporate accountability, but also energizes us, knowing that you are invested in what the SumOfUs can do. Thank you so much for being one of us.
Thanks for reading, and for continuing to support our growing movement for corporate accountability.