Business and Human Rights: a resource website |
Aircraft/airline companies |
See also sections of this website entitled:
Company policy statements referring to human rights:
British Airways: "Code of Conduct"
Statements by business people about human rights and business:
Websites:
British Airways Code of Conduct
Lufthansa-unbalanced.org: An independent website about the treatment of Lufthansa's catering and food processing employees in the United States [includes sections on "Sexual Assault & Harassment", "Worker Exploitation", "Health & Safety Violations", "Labor Disputes"] (HERE - Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union and AFL-CIO)
Sustainable Mobility 2030 project (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)
2003:
Pratt & Whitney faces tumor lawsuit [USA] - A lawsuit will be filed against Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and its parent, United Technologies Corp., alleging the companies were responsible for the death or disability of employees due to brain tumors. (Ann DeMatteo, New Haven Register, 5 Apr. 2003)
Firms urged to help control Aids [Thailand] - Incentives suggested for businesses - International organisations urged the business sector yesterday to make the HIV/Aids epidemic one of the ``bottom line issues'' at the workplace. A one-day study programme, entitled ``Thailand CEO study mission on HIV/Aids'', was organised by Thailand Business Coalition on Aids (TBCA) to brief top management people about the HIV/Aids epidemic's impact on businesses and their employees. It was attended by more than 25 CEOs and senior managers of leading firms in Thailand including Unocal, Nike, Siam Commercial Bank, Thai Airways International and the Tourism Authority of Thailand. (Preeyanat Phanayanggoor, Bangkok Post, 5 Apr. 2003)
UK says aviation industry should pay pollution costs - Britain's aviation industry will have to pay for polluting the environment, and the estimated bill could more than triple to 4.8 billion pounds ($7.7 billion) a year by 2030, the government said. (Daniel Morrissey, Reuters, 17 Mar. 2003)
Flight attendants lose travel vouchers won in discrimination suit [USA] - Flight attendants who fought Trans World Airlines for almost 20 years over its policy of grounding pregnant employees won't get the free travel they were promised to settle the discrimination case in 1995. A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that American Airlines, which bought bankrupt TWA in 2001, does not have to honor the flight vouchers (David B. Caruso, Associated Press, 14 Mar. 2003)
The launch of the UK Corporate Responsibility Index - Toby Kent reports from the launch of the BitC [Business in the Community] Corporate Responsibility Index, highlighting its main components and the major issues it raises. (Toby Kent, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 14 Mar. 2003)
Government consults on the environmental cost of aviation [UK] - The Government today published a discussion paper on how economic measures could be used to encourage the aviation industry to take more account of its environmental impact. (Friends of the Earth, 14 Mar. 2003)
JAL plans to pluck mothers from the sky - Japan Airlines' (JAL) labor union is up in arms after the airline decided to cut the number of flight attendants excused from night duties because they have pre-school children. (Mainichi Shimbun [Japan], 3 Mar. 2003)
EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] Settles Sexual Harassment Suit for $2.3 Million Against SH&E [New York-based airline consulting firm Simat, Helliesen & Eichner] and Reed Telepublishing (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 26 Feb. 2003)
Business Travel; Offsetting Environmental Damage by Planes (Harry Rijnen, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2003)
Firm sued over wells it tainted: San Martin residents worry about health [USA] - Five San Martin homeowners filed a class-action lawsuit Friday against Olin Corp., the giant aerospace and ammunition manufacturer whose highway-flare operation in Morgan Hill contaminated their drinking water wells with a chemical used in rocket fuels. (Frank Sweeney, San Jose Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2003)
Woman wins case vs. Olympia Aviation; said was sexually harassed by Tigers players [USA] - A former flight attendant who said she was sexually harassed by Tigers players scored a $200,000 verdict Thursday in federal court in Detroit. (David Ashenfelter, Detroit Free Press, 14 Feb. 2003)
Tanks & Toxics, Planes and Pollution The Ecology of a Military Build-Up [USA] -...Environmental contamination from defense hardware manufacturing dots the U.S. landscape...Communities around defense plants that increase production in the new military boom will face more emissions of pollutants...which especially could affect the health of sensitive populations [refers to Nuclear Metals Inc., Rocketdyne (now a subsidiary of Boeing and formerly operated by Rockwell International), Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, Vought Aircraft; also refers to lawsuits] (William Kelly, editor and publisher of California Environment Report, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2003)
2002:
Gulfstream Aerospace to pay $2.1 million for age bias in EEOC settlement - Commission Alleges Class of Older Workers Targeted for Layoffs at Georgia Facility (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 11 Dec. 2002)
EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] settles disability discrimination suit against aerospace giant Honeywell for $100,000 (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 22 Nov. 2002)
CLIMATE CHANGE: Group Warns Of Greenhouse Emissions From Airplanes - Environ warned yesterday that air travel produces large amounts of the greenhouse gases that scientists believe cause global warming. (UN Wire, 9 Oct. 2002)
Corporate Responsibility: Myth or Reality? [includes references to initiatives by Bell Helicopter, Bank of America, Wal-Mart, Caterpillar, ITT Industries, John Deere, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Sun Microsystems, Daimler-Chrysler] (Otto J. Reich, U.S. Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Remarks to the Inter-American Development Bank Conference on Corporate Social Governance, 23 Sep. 2002)
Environmental Fiduciary: The Case for Incorporating Environmental Factors into Investment Management Policies - In this report, we show that fiduciaries who manage funds for institutional investors such as pension funds, foundations and charitable trusts should incorporate environmental factors into their portfolio management policies. [includes reference to DuPont, ST Microelectronics, IBM, Baxter Intl, Smithfield Foods, US Liquids, Weyerhauser, Georgia Pacific, ChevronTexaco, Marathon Oil, Deutsche Telekom, Nestle, Southern California Gas, ITT, Textron, Corning, Whole Foods, Hains Celestial] (Susannah Blake Goodman, Jonas Kron & Tim Little, The Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, 21 Aug. 2002)
US judge directs United Airlines to hire, reimburse deaf mechanic - Five years of anger and frustration ended yesterday for a deaf airline mechanic when a federal judge ruled that United Airlines had papered over its discrimination with a flurry of sham reasons not to hire him. (Thanassis Cambanis, Boston Globe, 8 Aug. 2002)
BMI accused of anti-union ploy [UK] - BMI British Midland has been accused of squeezing out militant members of the cabin staff through a restructuring which will abolish a senior rank on each short-haul flight. (Andrew Clark, Guardian [UK], 8 July 2002)
The Climate Neutral Challenge - Global warming, until recently the lonely province of tree-huggers and wonks, is fast becoming a mainstream issue – and one, as some executives are learning, with profit potential...In the U.S., one can now book hotel rooms and flights and buy products – from household cleaning solutions to carpets – that are certified as having no net climate impact. (Katherine Ellison, on Business for Social Responsibility website, 1 July 2002)
Cheap air travel adding to global warming woes -...A study by the eco-group Friends of the Earth found that one return London-Miami flight generates as much carbon dioxide as the average British motorist produces in a year...To slow the rise in air travel, environmentalists recommend a levy on jet fuel. (Sujata Rao, Reuters, 27 June 2002)
Age-bias claims up 23% over two years [USA]: It is the fastest-growing category of discrimination cases. Complaints tend to rise as layoffs increase. - On June 6, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Philadelphia office filed a lawsuit against Honeywell, seeking class-action status. (Jane M. Von Bergen, Philadelphia Inquirer, 17 June 2002)
Virgin Airlines Settles Case, Allowing Time Off for Religion [USA] - Virgin Atlantic Airlines has agreed to a settlement of a religious freedom case that will require the carrier to allow an employee time off from work for religious observances (Robin Pogrebin, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2002)
World summit firm gets more donors, needs more cash: Organisers of a world development summit to be held in Johannesburg later this year said yesterday it had secured more money from local firms but still lacked a third of funds needed to meet its budget...State-owned firms Eskom, the South African Post Office and South African Airways said yesterday they had each contributed five million rand, along with mining giant Anglo American and construction company Murray & Roberts. The country's biggest bank Standard Bank and number two cellphone operator MTN have already contributed. (Reuters, 3 Apr. 2002)
Companies in Conflict Situations: Mineral Extraction in the Democratic Republic of Congo [refers to H.C. Stark of Germany (a subsidiary of Bayer AG), Ulba of Kazakhstan, and Cabot Corporation of the United States; French companies Safmarine, SDV-Transintra, Martinair; OSLEG, a company owned by Zimbabwe's army; Zimbabwean investor John Bredenkamp's Tremalt Ltd] (Oxford Analytica, prepared for International Business Leaders Forum and TimeFORTUNE, Apr. 2002)
Prison Blues; Starbucks, Nike, others profit from inmate labor [at U.S. prisons] - A partial list of companies that have worked within the prison system, directly employed prison workers, or contracted with companies that employ prison workers, either currently or in the past: Allstate, Best Western, Dell Computer, Eddie Bauer, Hawaiian Tropical Products, J. C. Penney, Kmart, Kwalu Inc., Konica, Lockhart Technologies, McDonald's, Merrill Lynch, Microjet, Microsoft, New York, New York Hotel and Casino, Nike, No Fear Inc., Omega Pacific, Parke-Davis, Planet Hollywood, Prison Blues (jeans), Shearson Lehman, Starbucks, Target, TWA, Victoria's Secret, Union Bay, Upjohn, Washington Marketing Group (Erica Barnett, In These Times, 4 Mar. 2002)
Boeing sued by female workers claiming gender discrimination [USA]: The Boeing Co. was sued in three states Wednesday by female employees who claim the company denied them pay, promotions and other workplace benefits based on their gender. (Bloomberg News, 17 Jan. 2002)
2001:
Airplane Cabin Air May Be Unhealthy (Cat Lazaroff, Environment News Service, 11 Dec. 2001)
Attendants: Flying isn't safe enough [USA] - Despite the increased security put into place after Sept. 11, a union representing flight attendants says air travel is not yet safe enough for airline passengers and crews..."Flight attendants pass through every airport in the country every day, and we're noticing that enormous lapses in security continue," AFA [Association of Flight Attendants] President Pat Friend said (Jim McKay, Post-Gazette [Pittsburgh, USA], 13 Nov. 2001)
Man barred from flight sues airline - Pakistani says it was discrimination [USA]: A Pakistani who works at a technology company in Mill Valley [California] filed a discrimination suit yesterday against United Airlines after the airline refused to let him board a flight at San Francisco International Airport last month. (Harriet Chiang, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Oct. 2001)
Heathrow residents in court win over night flights: Airports across Europe could be forced to reduce night flights after a landmark ruling on Tuesday that the UK government had violated the human rights of residents living near London's Heathrow airport. The government failed to strike a fair balance between the competing interests of the community - the economic benefits from night-time flights - and those of individuals, the European Court of Human Rights said. The level of noise allowed by UK regulations at Heathrow unfairly breached residents' rights to respect for their private and family life and home. (Jean Eaglesham and Mark Odell, Financial Times, 2 Oct. 2001)
New 'green' plane is threat to ozone layer: Earth's ozone layer, which is only just beginning to recover from the ravages of recent decades, faces a devastating new danger from a new generation of "environmentally friendly" aircraft, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. The threat comes from Boeing's new "sonic cruiser" passenger planes, which fly at a higher altitude than conventional jets: about 45,000 feet. (Geoffrey Lean, Independent [UK], 26 Aug. 2001)
EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] files lawsuit against Emery Worldwide Airlines for discrimination against African-American employees: Alleges Persistent, Facility-wide Racial Harassment, Biased Treatment and Retaliation (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 3 July 2001)
Thai Government, Airline Urged To Fight Sex Tourism (UN Wire, 3 July 2001)
EU chief slams Boeing over gas-guzzling new jet (Robin Pomeroy, Reuters, 25 June 2001)
EEOC [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] settles bias suit for $2.6 million against TWA: Class of Female Workers Subjected to Sexual Harassment and Retaliation at Kennedy Airport (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 24 May 2001)
Colombia: Private Firms Take on U.S. Military Role in Drug War (Juan O. Tamayo, Miami Herald, 22 May 2001)
Cut-throat transport is killing workers and the environment (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 27 Apr. 2001)
Delta faces racial discrimination suit [USA] (Atlanta Business Chronicle, 11 Jan. 2001)
2000:
Council on Economic Priorities Names the Industry Leaders for the Year 2000 [Campaign for Cleaner Corporations] (Council on Economic Priorities, 2000)
1999:
relevant sections of Business and Human Rights in a Time of Change (Christopher Avery, Nov. 1999):
New race-bias issue: the workplace climate - Case of black airline mechanic in Los Angeles follows lead of sex-harassment law. Following in the legal footsteps left by sexual-harassment cases, a new kind of lawsuit is emerging to combat racial prejudice on the job. As of yet, racial-harassment suits - which focus on workplace climate - are a tiny part of the overall caseload. But they are growing in number and are giving minorities a new recourse that some experts say will help eradicate more overt forms of racism. (Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 17 Aug. 1999)