back to home

 

Business and Human Rights: a resource website

 

  Health issues: 1 Sep. 2002 to present  

See also other materials on "Health issues"

NEW (recent additions to this section; top item is most recent addition)
63 Killed in China Coal Mine Blast, 23 Missing (Reuters, 14 May 2003)

OIL POLLUTION: IMO Seeks To Set Up New Compensation Fund - International Maritime Organization Secretary General William O'Neil yesterday called for ensuring that those affected by oil pollution around the world are fairly compensated for damages. (UN Wire, 13 May 2003)

Employers and Unions to fight HIV/AIDS together - The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) today issued a joint statement of commitment to join forces in the fight against HIV/AIDS...Work on HIV/AIDS will be built around the “ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work”. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 12 May 2003)

Leaders Urged to End Child Labour [Uganda] - The workshop was organised by the Federation of Uganda Employers and Rural Development Media Communications (RUDMEC). Mr Rwebembera urged religious and political leaders to advocate an end to hazardous child labour...RUDMEC executive officer, Hamidu Kizito, said the worst forms of child labour were in sugar plantations, brick-laying sites, commercial sex and homes. (Wossita Samuel, The Monitor [Uganda], 12 May 2003)

FOOD: WHO Meets With Industry Executives On Healthier Diets - The World Health Organization met last week with senior executives from the food industry to develop a global strategy to encourage healthier diets and increased physical activity in the fight against chronic diseases that result in 59 percent of the 56.5 million annual deaths worldwide. (UN Wire, 12 May 2003)

Firm heavily fined over roadworker's death [UK] - A6 accident was French-owned company's third fatality - Road contractor Lafarge was fined £175,000 on Wednesday after a worker was killed when hit by two cars on the A6 at Wilstead. (Bedford Today, 10 May 2003)

Thais mark 10th anniversary of world's worst factory fire -...History's worst factory fire claimed the lives of 189 mostly young and female workers 10 years ago...Hundreds more were injured. (William Barnes, Financial Times, 11 May 2003)

Smoke-free, statewide [Massachusetts, USA] - Boston extended its ban on restaurant smoking to bars less than a week ago, and already the pressure is on the Legislature to do what it has never mustered the gumption to do: ban smoking in workplaces statewide. (editorial, Boston Globe, 11 May 2003)

Drug firms accused of forgetting the poor - Health professionals meeting in Kenya yesterday accused large drug companies of abandoning research into "forgotten" diseases, which threaten tens of millions of the world's poor, because they were unprofitable. (AFP, 9 May 2003)

GM foods 'not harmful' - Britain's academy of science, the Royal Society, says there is no evidence that eating GM food is any more harmful than eating non-GM food. (Ivan Noble, BBC News, 8 May 2003)

Barclays Support West Africa Aids Foundation - Barclays Bank Ghana, has donated 275 million cedis to the West Africa Foundation a non - Governmental Organization (NGO) which offers free testing, counselling, caring and treatment of people living with HIV/ AIDS. (Accra Mail [Ghana], 2 May 2003)

Eskom Pledges R5m to Provide HIV Training to Medics [South Africa] -...The product of a collaboration between Eskom, the Foundation for Professional Development, the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society and the United States-based Development Communication Associates, the initiative focuses on training for health carers in rural communities and the public sector. (Cape Argus [South Africa], 1 May 2003)

Smoke screen [UK] - How the tobacco industry makes a packet - And thousands die from passive smoke at work - Medical experts and workers want legal controls on passive smoking at work. The tobacco and hospitality industries do not - and are using lies, junk science and deceit to back their case. (Hazards, May 2003)

Suit Says ChevronTexaco Dumped Poisons in Ecuador - A group of American lawyers representing more than 30,000 indigenous people in Ecuador filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the ChevronTexaco Corporation yesterday. The suit was filed in Ecuador on behalf of 88 plaintiffs in Lago Agrio, a small oil town in northern Ecuador, and asserts that during two decades of operation, from 1971 to 1992, ChevronTexaco dumped over four million gallons a day of toxic wastewater, contaminated with oil, heavy metals and carcinogens into open pits, estuaries and rivers. It also says the company left behind nearly 350 open waste pits that killed people and animals. (Abby Ellin, New York Times, 8 May 2003) 

S. African gold firm faces $7 billion suit - Workers at South Africa's second-largest gold mining company [Gold Fields] were tortured, enslaved and poisoned with uranium, according to a $7.4-billion lawsuit filed late on Tuesday in a New York court...In the suit, Mtwesi alleged he and others were "tortured, enslaved, subjected to unfair and discriminatory Slave or Forced Labor practices (and) exposed to toxic and dangerous chemicals, fumes, substances and radioactive materials." (Jeanne King, Reuters, 7 May 2003)

Disclosure vote on Dow meeting agenda [USA] -...If approved, the [shareholder] proposal would require the company to compile a report on dioxin-contaminated sites, submit plans to remediate the contamination and plans to phaseout dioxin-producing processes and products. Dow says it already supplies an abundance of information about dioxin and its plans and successes to reduce the toxin. (Kathie Marchlewski, Midland Daily News, 7 May 2003)

Unilever denies child labour link - Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant, has denied that its policies encourage child labour in India...The report, published by the India Committee of the Netherlands, said Unilever buys hybrid cotton seeds from farmers who pay children a handful of rupees to work long hours in hazardous conditions. (Simon Fraser, BBC News, 6 May 2003)

Use of Agent Orange -...Using the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act, he and other Vietnam veterans set out to collect as much material as possible on Agent Orange. "What we found was all these chemical companies - Dow, Monsanto, Hooker - knew about the effects of dioxin, from as far back as the 1950s," said Young. "They hid that from the U.S. government when they [the government] were looking for a herbicide." (Eddie Glenn, Tahlequah Daily Press, 5 May 2003)

Nationwide Kodak Protest Hits Albany [USA] - Around the country environmental groups are gathering outside stores that sell Kodak products...Those chemicals include dioxin and up to 64 other cancer causing emissions. Kodak has long been accused of polluting the air and water in Rochester where the company's main plant is located. And New York State consistently lists Kodak as the state's top individual polluter. (WTEN/ABC, 23 Apr. 2003)

No Sell-Out on Trade in the Human Rights Commission -...The human rights impact of international trade was a recurrent theme during the 2003 [United Nations] Human Rights Commission.  And the level of discussion reflected the willingness and ability of many in the human rights community and the trade policy world to seek mutually-beneficial solutions when trade liberalization risks adversely impacting on human rights. (Caroline Dommen, Director of 3D Associates, April 2003)

Gold Fields faces $7bn uranium exposure suit - Lawyers acting on behalf of more than 500 former employees of Gold Fields, South Africa's second largest gold producer, will file a suit on Monday in New York seeking damages of up to $7bn. (Nicol Degli Innocenti, Financial Times, 4 May 2003)

Private railways in Japan launch total smoking bans - Private railways in eastern Japan removed designated smoking areas and enforced total smoking bans at stations Thursday as a health promotion law cracking down on passive smoking came into effect. (Mainichi Shimbun [Japan], 1 May 2003)

GUATEMALA: Child Labor Rate Triples In Eight Years, New Report Says -...Guatemala has the highest number of child laborers in the Central American region, with 62.8 percent of its child laborers working in agricultural activities...many of the children are also employed in dangerous activities, such as mining or making fireworks. (UN Wire, 30 Apr. 2003)

Staff 'bullied' to save on costs [Australia] - Management at Pan Pharmaceuticals bullied workers to skimp on cleaning and use potentially unsafe ingredients, employees have claimed. (Caitlin Fitzsimmons, Herald Sun [Australia], 30 Apr. 2003)

2003: Safety and Health Culture in a Globalized World - According to ILO estimates, each year two million men and women die from work-related diseases and accidents - a death toll averaging some 5,000 workers a day. (International Labour Organization, 28 Apr. 2003)

Congress plans to aid gun makers [USA] -...Congressional Republicans have renewed their efforts to pass a bill that will grant gun companies immunity from prosecution in the courts...The legislation seeks to prevent victims of handgun violence from suing gun makers for not adding safety features to guns and for making their distribution too easy. (Steve Schifferes, BBC News, 4 Apr. 2003)

Groups File Claim Against BP and Pipeline Partners in 5 Countries: "Green" Company Violating International Norms in Controversial Caspian Oil Pipeline - As political and business leaders gather in Paris for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Forum 2003, environmental organizations today submitted complaints to the British, French, German, Italian, and US governments charging that BP and its consortium partners [SOCAR (Azerbaijan), Unocal, ConocoPhillips, (US) Statoil (Norway), TPAO (Turkey), ENI (Italy), TotalFinaElf (France), Itochu, Inpex (Japan), and Delta Hess (joint US-Saudi)] in the proposed Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline are breaching the OECD's "Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises." (Friends of the Earth, 29 Apr. 2003)

End of a killer chemical - Making Cambodia a safer place with an endosulfan ban - Environmentalists welcome the timely ban of endosulfan in Cambodia. The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) today applauds the Royal Government of Cambodia's decision to ban the chemical. Endosulfan is a highly dangerous pesticide, which has caused dozens of accidental deaths in Colombia, Cuba, the USA, Benin, India, Malaysia, Sudan, the Philippines and, most recently, South Africa. (Environmental Justice Foundation, 29 Apr. 2003)

'Chocolate for footballs' scheme criticised [UK] - Cadbury has been criticised for a promotional scheme that encourages children to eat large amounts of chocolate in exchange for sports gear. (BBC News, 29 Apr. 2003)

Programme to Fight HIV-Positive Discrimination [Angola] - Angola's Minister of Public Administration and Social Security, Pitra Neto, on Monday arrived here [Cabinda] to launch a programme to fight discrimination against Hiv-positive people at workplaces. (Angola Press Agency, 28 Apr. 2003)

Price of Aids drugs cut by half - GlaxoSmithKline, the biggest manufacturer of Aids drugs in the world, has halved the price of its leading Aids drug in poor countries. The move comes after intense pressure on the pharmaceutical industry from health activists, investors and charities around the world. (BBC News, 28 Apr. 2003)

Dying for drugs - A hard-hitting investigation into the global power of the world's most profitable business - the pharmaceutical industry...In Africa the team sees how one of the world's biggest drug companies [Pfizer] experimented on children without their parents' knowledge or consent. In Canada they reveal how a drug company [Apotex] attempted to silence a leading academic who had doubts about their drug. In South Korea cameras follow the attempts of desperately ill patients to make a leading drug company [Novartis] sell them the drugs they need to save their lives at an affordable price. And in Honduras the team uncovers the brutal consequences of drug companies' pricing policies. (Channel 4 television [UK], 27 Apr. 2003)

1 Sep. 2002 to present:

2003:

63 Killed in China Coal Mine Blast, 23 Missing (Reuters, 14 May 2003)

OIL POLLUTION: IMO Seeks To Set Up New Compensation Fund - International Maritime Organization Secretary General William O'Neil yesterday called for ensuring that those affected by oil pollution around the world are fairly compensated for damages. (UN Wire, 13 May 2003)

Upcoming Event: Global Compact Policy Dialogue on HIV/AIDS, 12-13 May Geneva 2003 (U.N. Global Compact)

Employers and Unions to fight HIV/AIDS together - The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) today issued a joint statement of commitment to join forces in the fight against HIV/AIDS...Work on HIV/AIDS will be built around the “ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work”. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 12 May 2003)

Leaders Urged to End Child Labour [Uganda] - The workshop was organised by the Federation of Uganda Employers and Rural Development Media Communications (RUDMEC). Mr Rwebembera urged religious and political leaders to advocate an end to hazardous child labour...RUDMEC executive officer, Hamidu Kizito, said the worst forms of child labour were in sugar plantations, brick-laying sites, commercial sex and homes. (Wossita Samuel, The Monitor [Uganda], 12 May 2003)

FOOD: WHO Meets With Industry Executives On Healthier Diets - The World Health Organization met last week with senior executives from the food industry to develop a global strategy to encourage healthier diets and increased physical activity in the fight against chronic diseases that result in 59 percent of the 56.5 million annual deaths worldwide. (UN Wire, 12 May 2003)

Thais mark 10th anniversary of world's worst factory fire -...History's worst factory fire claimed the lives of 189 mostly young and female workers 10 years ago...Hundreds more were injured. (William Barnes, Financial Times, 11 May 2003)

Smoke-free, statewide [Massachusetts, USA] - Boston extended its ban on restaurant smoking to bars less than a week ago, and already the pressure is on the Legislature to do what it has never mustered the gumption to do: ban smoking in workplaces statewide. (editorial, Boston Globe, 11 May 2003)

Firm heavily fined over roadworker's death [UK] - A6 accident was French-owned company's third fatality - Road contractor Lafarge was fined £175,000 on Wednesday after a worker was killed when hit by two cars on the A6 at Wilstead. (Bedford Today, 10 May 2003)

Drug firms accused of forgetting the poor - Health professionals meeting in Kenya yesterday accused large drug companies of abandoning research into "forgotten" diseases, which threaten tens of millions of the world's poor, because they were unprofitable. (AFP, 9 May 2003)

GM foods 'not harmful' - Britain's academy of science, the Royal Society, says there is no evidence that eating GM food is any more harmful than eating non-GM food. (Ivan Noble, BBC News, 8 May 2003)

Suit Says ChevronTexaco Dumped Poisons in Ecuador - A group of American lawyers representing more than 30,000 indigenous people in Ecuador filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the ChevronTexaco Corporation yesterday. The suit was filed in Ecuador on behalf of 88 plaintiffs in Lago Agrio, a small oil town in northern Ecuador, and asserts that during two decades of operation, from 1971 to 1992, ChevronTexaco dumped over four million gallons a day of toxic wastewater, contaminated with oil, heavy metals and carcinogens into open pits, estuaries and rivers. It also says the company left behind nearly 350 open waste pits that killed people and animals. (Abby Ellin, New York Times, 8 May 2003) 

S. African gold firm faces $7 billion suit - Workers at South Africa's second-largest gold mining company [Gold Fields] were tortured, enslaved and poisoned with uranium, according to a $7.4-billion lawsuit filed late on Tuesday in a New York court...In the suit, Mtwesi alleged he and others were "tortured, enslaved, subjected to unfair and discriminatory Slave or Forced Labor practices (and) exposed to toxic and dangerous chemicals, fumes, substances and radioactive materials." (Jeanne King, Reuters, 7 May 2003)

Disclosure vote on Dow meeting agenda [USA] -...If approved, the [shareholder] proposal would require the company to compile a report on dioxin-contaminated sites, submit plans to remediate the contamination and plans to phaseout dioxin-producing processes and products. Dow says it already supplies an abundance of information about dioxin and its plans and successes to reduce the toxin. (Kathie Marchlewski, Midland Daily News, 7 May 2003)

Unilever denies child labour link - Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant, has denied that its policies encourage child labour in India...The report, published by the India Committee of the Netherlands, said Unilever buys hybrid cotton seeds from farmers who pay children a handful of rupees to work long hours in hazardous conditions. (Simon Fraser, BBC News, 6 May 2003)

Use of Agent Orange -...Using the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act, he and other Vietnam veterans set out to collect as much material as possible on Agent Orange. "What we found was all these chemical companies - Dow, Monsanto, Hooker - knew about the effects of dioxin, from as far back as the 1950s," said Young. "They hid that from the U.S. government when they [the government] were looking for a herbicide." (Eddie Glenn, Tahlequah Daily Press, 5 May 2003)

Gold Fields faces $7bn uranium exposure suit - Lawyers acting on behalf of more than 500 former employees of Gold Fields, South Africa's second largest gold producer, will file a suit on Monday in New York seeking damages of up to $7bn. (Nicol Degli Innocenti, Financial Times, 4 May 2003)

Barclays Support West Africa Aids Foundation - Barclays Bank Ghana, has donated 275 million cedis to the West Africa Foundation a non - Governmental Organization (NGO) which offers free testing, counselling, caring and treatment of people living with HIV/ AIDS. (Accra Mail [Ghana], 2 May 2003)

Eskom Pledges R5m to Provide HIV Training to Medics [South Africa] -...The product of a collaboration between Eskom, the Foundation for Professional Development, the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society and the United States-based Development Communication Associates, the initiative focuses on training for health carers in rural communities and the public sector. (Cape Argus [South Africa], 1 May 2003)

Private railways in Japan launch total smoking bans - Private railways in eastern Japan removed designated smoking areas and enforced total smoking bans at stations Thursday as a health promotion law cracking down on passive smoking came into effect. (Mainichi Shimbun [Japan], 1 May 2003)

Smoke screen [UK] - How the tobacco industry makes a packet - And thousands die from passive smoke at work - Medical experts and workers want legal controls on passive smoking at work. The tobacco and hospitality industries do not - and are using lies, junk science and deceit to back their case. (Hazards, May 2003)

GUATEMALA: Child Labor Rate Triples In Eight Years, New Report Says -...Guatemala has the highest number of child laborers in the Central American region, with 62.8 percent of its child laborers working in agricultural activities...many of the children are also employed in dangerous activities, such as mining or making fireworks. (UN Wire, 30 Apr. 2003)

Staff 'bullied' to save on costs [Australia] - Management at Pan Pharmaceuticals bullied workers to skimp on cleaning and use potentially unsafe ingredients, employees have claimed. (Caitlin Fitzsimmons, Herald Sun [Australia], 30 Apr. 2003)

Groups File Claim Against BP and Pipeline Partners in 5 Countries: "Green" Company Violating International Norms in Controversial Caspian Oil Pipeline - As political and business leaders gather in Paris for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Forum 2003, environmental organizations today submitted complaints to the British, French, German, Italian, and US governments charging that BP and its consortium partners [SOCAR (Azerbaijan), Unocal, ConocoPhillips, (US) Statoil (Norway), TPAO (Turkey), ENI (Italy), TotalFinaElf (France), Itochu, Inpex (Japan), and Delta Hess (joint US-Saudi)] in the proposed Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline are breaching the OECD's "Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises." (Friends of the Earth, 29 Apr. 2003)

End of a killer chemical - Making Cambodia a safer place with an endosulfan ban - Environmentalists welcome the timely ban of endosulfan in Cambodia. The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) today applauds the Royal Government of Cambodia's decision to ban the chemical. Endosulfan is a highly dangerous pesticide, which has caused dozens of accidental deaths in Colombia, Cuba, the USA, Benin, India, Malaysia, Sudan, the Philippines and, most recently, South Africa. (Environmental Justice Foundation, 29 Apr. 2003)

'Chocolate for footballs' scheme criticised [UK] - Cadbury has been criticised for a promotional scheme that encourages children to eat large amounts of chocolate in exchange for sports gear. (BBC News, 29 Apr. 2003)

2003: Safety and Health Culture in a Globalized World - According to ILO estimates, each year two million men and women die from work-related diseases and accidents - a death toll averaging some 5,000 workers a day. (International Labour Organization, 28 Apr. 2003)

Programme to Fight HIV-Positive Discrimination [Angola] - Angola's Minister of Public Administration and Social Security, Pitra Neto, on Monday arrived here [Cabinda] to launch a programme to fight discrimination against Hiv-positive people at workplaces. (Angola Press Agency, 28 Apr. 2003)

Price of Aids drugs cut by half - GlaxoSmithKline, the biggest manufacturer of Aids drugs in the world, has halved the price of its leading Aids drug in poor countries. The move comes after intense pressure on the pharmaceutical industry from health activists, investors and charities around the world. (BBC News, 28 Apr. 2003)

Dying for drugs - A hard-hitting investigation into the global power of the world's most profitable business - the pharmaceutical industry...In Africa the team sees how one of the world's biggest drug companies [Pfizer] experimented on children without their parents' knowledge or consent. In Canada they reveal how a drug company [Apotex] attempted to silence a leading academic who had doubts about their drug. In South Korea cameras follow the attempts of desperately ill patients to make a leading drug company [Novartis] sell them the drugs they need to save their lives at an affordable price. And in Honduras the team uncovers the brutal consequences of drug companies' pricing policies. (Channel 4 television [UK], 27 Apr. 2003)

Shell meetings hit by protests over pay, ethics -...Environmental group Friends of the Earth Netherlands urged Royal Dutch Petroleum to have an independent investigation into the quality of its oil pipelines in the South African city of Durban. Friends of the Earth activist Paul de Clerck said millions of litres of gasoline had leaked from the pipelines in a series of incidents over the past two years...Royal Dutch Petroleum president Jeroen van der Veer acknowledged there had been oil leaks and Shell Chairman Watts urged communities which felt they had suffered health problems due to Shell pipelines to get in touch with the group. (Sudip Kar-Gupta and Otti Thomas, Reuters, 25 Apr. 2003)

Religious Shareholders to Challenge PepsiCo To Report Effect of AIDS in Africa Operations - Coalition's Resolution Asks Company for Report on Business Impact of AIDS - Concerned PepsiCo shareholders today announced their sponsorship of a proxy resolution asking the soft drink industry giant to report on how it plans to deal with the business and employee impact of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. (MMA, 24 Apr. 2003)

Nationwide Kodak Protest Hits Albany [USA] - Around the country environmental groups are gathering outside stores that sell Kodak products...Those chemicals include dioxin and up to 64 other cancer causing emissions. Kodak has long been accused of polluting the air and water in Rochester where the company's main plant is located. And New York State consistently lists Kodak as the state's top individual polluter. (WTEN/ABC, 23 Apr. 2003)

Shell faces international protest at AGM - Oil giant Shell is still putting short-term profit before people and the environment, despite its public commitment to a "green" future, according to a shocking new report launched today to coincide with the company's London AGM.  Failing the challenge: The Other Shell Report...contains first hand testimonies from communities living next door to Shell in the US, the Philippines, South Africa, Nigeria, Argentina and China and catalogues the environmental damage, the health problems and the impacts of accident these communities face.  But the report also shows how inadequate current UK company law is in protecting local people and the environment from UK companies who profit at the expense of people's health and the natural world. (Friends of the Earth, 23 Apr. 2003)

Drug industry debates duty to society -...To what extent should pharmaceutical companies be accountable for including minorities in their studies of new medicines? What issues should be considered in balancing the enforcement of patents and the availability of life-saving drugs? These questions and more arose at the opening day of a conference examining the "Grand Bargain" between society and the drug industry (Lewis Krauskopf, NorthJersey.com, 22 Apr. 2003)

Merck board approves spinoff of Medco business -...shareholders [at Merck's annual meeting] rejected two proposals that raised moral issues: A Wisconsin-based religious group...said the board should develop "ethical criteria" on extending patents for prescription drugs. The group argued that generic drugs "expand access to needed treatments," and that making small changes to keep a patented drug under protection brings higher costs to consumers and discourages innovation. The board said the company will defend its patents but "will not pursue baseless legal or other remedies designed merely to delay the entry of generic medicines." (Jeffrey Gold, Associated Press, 22 Apr. 2003)

WHO: Sugar Association Seeks Withdrawal Of Diet Report - The Sugar Association, a U.S. industry group, has told World Health Organization Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland in a letter that unless the WHO cancels the planned launch tomorrow of a report on diet and health, it will lobby the U.S. Congress to cut WHO funding, the London Guardian reported yesterday...Under new WHO guidelines contained in the report, sugar should account for no more than 10 percent of people's dietary intake. The association has said the figure should be 25 percent. (UN Wire, 22 Apr. 2003)

Kader Factory Fire [Thailand] - Union heads to pursue case in court - `Workplace-safety awareness still low' - Union leaders want to pursue a court case on the Kader doll factory fire in Nakhon Pathom that killed 188 workers 10 years ago, to make sure the victims get justice. (Penchan Charoensuthiphan, Bangkok Post, 21 Apr. 2003)

Investors barrack Rio Tinto bosses -...Rio Tinto was barracked by small shareholders and special interest groups at an annual meeting that marked a bad-tempered send-off for chairman Sir Robert...The mining group was attacked over pension issues, alleged safety problems in Utah and for not making provisions for a number of legal cases being taken out against it..."The government must change company law to ensure the directors of irresponsible companies like Rio Tinto are made fully liable and accountable for their destructive impact overseas," said Friends of the Earth campaigner Ed Matthew. (Terry Macalister, Guardian [UK], 18 Apr. 2003)

Corporate Accountability Activists Denounce Virginia’s Granting of Corporate Charter to Licensed to Kill - Incorporation of Tobacco Company Demonstrates Need for States to Place People Before Profits - Corporate accountability activists are denouncing the decision by the Commonwealth of Virginia to incorporate a new company, Licensed to Kill, Inc. (www.licensedtokill.biz). As stated in its articles of incorporation, the company’s purpose is “the manufacture and marketing of tobacco products in a way that kills over 400,000 Americans and 4.5 million other persons worldwide.” (Infact, 17 Apr. 2003)

Air Pollution May Damage Brain, Heart - Studies suggest it can cause Alzheimer's-like lesions, heart problems (Leonard Lee, HealthScoutNews, 16 Apr. 2003)

Low Levels of Lead Damage Children - It can reduce IQ, delay puberty, new research says...The main exposure to lead [in USA] now occurs in housing built before 1950, where paints with high levels of lead are more common. (Ed Edelson, HealthScoutNews, 16 Apr. 2003)

EPA steps up study of Teflon chemical risk to humans [USA] - An unregulated chemical used in furniture, carpet and Teflon could be a serious health risk to the public, prompting the Environmental Protection Agency this week to launch an in-depth assessment to determine its safety. (Reuters, 16 Apr. 2003) 

U.S. proposes rules to cut diesel pollution - The Bush Administration proposed new rules Tuesday that aim to drastically reduce diesel pollution generated by farm and industrial equipment over the next decade. (Todd Zwillich, Reuters, 15 Apr. 2003)

Seven activists win top environmental prize (Michael Kahn, Reuters, 15 Apr. 2003)

Total launches review of corporate ethics - TotalFinaElf has launched an independent review of its safety and ethical standards as it attempts to shed its controversial image. The French oil group has come under fire from a mixture of non-governmental organisations, safety regulators and some shareholders because of its links with regimes in Iran, Iraq and Libya, as well as its accident record...Mr Cordier [Jean-Pierre Cordier, head of Total's ethics committee] said that Total had no plans to abandon any of its more sensitive operations. Of Burma, its most controversial, he said: "We could pull out, but what would happen? Would it improve the situation?" (Carola Hoyos, Financial Times, 14 Apr. 2003)

Queensland workers call for end to delays over smokefree pubs and clubs [Australia] - Union, health groups urge expo delegates to protect staff from dangers of second hand smoke (Australian Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union, 13 Apr. 2003)

Thirteen dead in Chinese mine blaze - Thirteen miners and rescue workers were killed after a fire ripped through a coal mine in China's northern Hebei province...Chinese mines have an appalling safety record, and the number of mining deaths last year reached 14,924, according to the work safety bureau. (AFP, 12 Apr. 2003)

Employers pay the price for poor health and safety [UK] - Over the last ten years employers [in UK] who have shown scant regard for the health and safety of their workers have wasted £3 billion meeting the cost of accidents at work and paying people made ill by their jobs (Trades Union Congress, 12 Apr. 2003)

EPA to investigate claim that DuPont withheld study of Teflon-related chemical [USA] - An environmental advocacy group asked the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday to investigate whether chemical maker DuPont Co. withheld an internal study that showed health risks from an unregulated chemical used to make Teflon. (John Heilprin, Associated Press, 11 Apr. 2003)

7th Worker Dies from Injuries in Corbin Explosion [USA] - A seventh worker has died from burns suffered in an explosion at a manufacturing plant at Corbin [CTA Acoustics, Inc.]. (AP, 11 Apr. 2003)

Firm fined $14,000 over death [New Zealand] - An Auckland company [Orthotic Centre (New Zealand) Ltd, which supplies artificial limbs and other devices] was fined $14,000 yesterday after an employee was strangled to death when his tie became tangled in a grinding and milling machine. (New Zealand Herald, 11 Apr. 2003)

Michael Smith reports on Tata's army of worker-volunteers, who produce social capital as well as profits [India] -...The Tata group, one of India's largest private sector conglomerates (involving about 80 companies), is renowned worldwide for its commitment to social welfare...Housing for employees, company-run hospitals and schools, and rural development projects such road building, tree planting and well digging are all part of the Tata package...But now Tata's social ethos is under threat because of the forces of globalisation...The company has also sought the help of the Confederation of Indian Industries, in creating a network of like-minded companies that maintain community initiatives. They include Thermax and Forbes Marshall engineering in Pune and TVS, the scooters and automotive giant based in Bangalore. (Michael Smith, Guardian [UK], 10 Apr. 2003)

Environmentalists set sights on Sasol - A website has been established to keep an eye on the environmental impact South African oil and chemicals group Sasol's operations has on communities in South Africa and the US. (Justin Brown, Sunday Times [South Africa], 10 Apr. 2003)

Aventis Donates Cell Line to NIH for SARS [USA] - Aventis said it donated a cell line to the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help isolate and reproduce the coronavirus, suspected of causing SARS. (Reuters, 10 Apr. 2003)

Ex-Railroad Workers File Asbestos Lawsuits [USA] - The papers describe five men who faced the end of their lives with bodies ridden with cancer. They had difficulty breathing because of damaged lungs, some developed dementia, and others were in constant pain from damaged nervous systems. Now four survivors face a similar future. Nine lawsuits filed Tuesday in 3rd District Court allege that Union Pacific Railroad Company is to blame. (Rhina Guidos, Salt Lake Tribune, 9 Apr. 2003)

Passive smoking at work: the global pressure mounts - Over the last few years, the pressure has been mounting around the world for controls on passive smoking in the workplace, often led by trade unions. (Rory O’Neill and Owen Tudor, Risks, 9 Apr. 2003)

Passive smoking at work kills three people every day [UK] (Trades Union Congress, 8 Apr. 2003)

People's Congress Urges Land, Food Without Poisons - Agricultural workers and their families are being poisoned, rural lands, forests, oceans and waters are devastated, biodiversity is being destroyed, and food is unfit for human consumption. With these words, 140 participants from 17 countries at the First Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific Congress in Manila last week warned the world that industrial agriculture as conducted by transnational corporations is undermining the resources needed to sustain food production. (Environment News Service, 7 Apr. 2003)

Director arrested for Brazilian disaster - Brazilian authorities Monday arrested an administrative director of the paper and pulp company [Felix Santana of the Cataguases Paper and Pulp Co.] blamed for a recent chemical spill, considered by some to be the worst environmental catastrophe in the country's history. (Carmen Gentile, UPI, 7 Apr. 2003)

China's Workers Risk Limbs in Export Drive -...Yongkang, which means "eternal health" in Chinese, is also the dismemberment capital of China. At least once a day someone like Mr. Wang is rushed to one of the dozen clinics that specialize in treating hand, arm and finger injuries, according to local government statistics. Unofficial estimates run as high as 2,500 such accidents here each year....The reality, all over China, is that workplace casualties have become endemic. (Joseph Kahn, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2003)

Lethal factory blaze in China - At least 21 people have been killed in a fire at a food-processing factory [Qingdao Chia Tai company] in China's eastern province of Shandong. (BBC News, 7 Apr. 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)

Bosses 'must not be untouchable' [UK] - The widow of a shipyard worker killed doing the job he loved yesterday backed calls for negligent company bosses to go to prison. (James Reed, The Journal [UK], 5 Apr. 2003)

Congress plans to aid gun makers [USA] -...Congressional Republicans have renewed their efforts to pass a bill that will grant gun companies immunity from prosecution in the courts...The legislation seeks to prevent victims of handgun violence from suing gun makers for not adding safety features to guns and for making their distribution too easy. (Steve Schifferes, BBC News, 4 Apr. 2003)

A detailed European action plan will soon be unveiled to deal with the growing problem of illness and disease caused by environmental pollution. Special focus will be given to children who are most vulnerable to environmental hazards. (Welcomeurope, 4 Apr. 2003)

Brazil fights spread of toxic spill from factory - Brazil battled yesterday to prevent the spread of toxins from reservoirs at a pulp and paper factory in southeastern Minas Gerais state and environmental groups said it was the country's worst industrial accident. (Reuters, 4 Apr. 2003)

Jury rules Solutia owes $3.6M to Alabama plaintiffs [USA] - Solutia must pay more than $3.6 million to six people whose property was damaged by Solutia's production of PCBs, an Alabama jury ruled Friday...More than a year ago, the jury found Solutia, then Monsanto, liable for knowingly contaminating Alabama homes and bodies with PCBs, known carcinogens. More than 3,500 residents of Anniston had sued both companies. (St. Louis Business Journal, 4 Apr. 2003)

NY sues Dow unit over pesticide advertising [USA] - New York's state attorney this week said he plans to sue a unit of of Dow Chemical Co. for allegedly breaching a 1994 agreement against false advertising of a pesticide. (Reuters, 4 Apr. 2003)

Environmental Expert Warns: Toxic Waste, Fumes Endanger Tema [Ghana] - Mr. Lambert Faabeluon, the Senior Programme officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned that Tema would be in a big catastrophe if the chemical deposits into the Chemu lagoon is not well-tackled. He stated that the heavy toxic and chemical deposits from the companies in the heavy industrial area of Tema, over the years, have caused destruction to the Chemu lagoon (Richard Attenkah, Ghanaian Chronicle, 4 Apr. 2003)

Gas explosion at Fushun’s Mengjiagou coalmine kills 25 miners [China] -A victim’s wife is beaten and hospitalized by company security guards for asking about compensation (China Labour Bulletin, 3 Apr. 2003)

Court Orders OSHA [U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration] to Protect Workers From Dangerous Lung Carcinogen [USA] - Federal Appeals Court Tells Government to Write Rule About Hexavalent Chromium; Order Is Culmination of Suit Brought by Public Citizen and PACE (Public Citizen, 3 Apr. 2003)

Global cancer rates could increase by 50% to 15 million by 2020 -...Tobacco consumption remains the most important avoidable cancer risk. In the 20th century, approximately 100 million people died world-wide from tobacco-associated diseases (cancer, chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke). Half of regular smokers are killed by the habit. (World Health Organization, 3 Apr. 2003)

Spotlight Interview – IFJ General Secretary Aidan White - The deaths of journalists and media workers during the Iraq conflict has highlighted the issue of safety for workers in this sector during conflicts. Aidan White, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, sets out his organisation's policies and activities on this question (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 2 Apr. 2003)

Business is On Its Own With HIV/Aids: Labour Specialists [South Africa] - The entire private sector must create plans similar to that of the mining industry to combat HIV/Aids because the government has not totally committed itself to fight the pandemic, labour consultants said on Wednesday...Last year, mining houses AngloGold, De Beers, Harmony and Anglo Platinum committed themselves to create programmes that seek to reduce the impact of HIV/Aids to their workforce. De Beers and AngloGold went further, and declared that they would start HIV/Aids treatment programmes for all their employees. (South African Press Association, 2 Apr. 2003)

Caustic Soda Spills Down Two Brazilian Rivers - A chemical spill at a wood pulping factory at Cataguazes in Minas Gerais state has affected the water supply of seven cities in Minas Gerais and the neighboring state of Rio de Janeiro. (Environment News Service, 2 Apr. 2003)

Tobacco companies sue state, saying ads ``vilify'' industry [USA] - Two of the nation's largest tobacco companies are suing California, alleging the state's anti-smoking TV ads unfairly "vilify" the tobacco industry..The lawsuit, filed late Tuesday in a Sacramento federal court by tobacco companies R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard, alleges the state's ads unfairly influence potential jurors who may be asked to rule on tobacco-related lawsuits. (Jessica Brice, Associated Press, 2 Apr. 2003)

Consumer Health Advocates Warn Against Osteoporosis Drug - Forteo May Lead to Bone Cancer in Humans, Risk Outweighs Benefit - Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has recommended that patients not take teriparatide, a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2002 for treatment of osteoporosis. Teriparatide, marketed by Eli Lilly under the name Forteo, has led to bone cancer in laboratory animals, a risk that far outweighs the drug’s benefit. (Public Citizen, 1 Apr. 2003)

Europe's New Chemicals Plan Requires Market Authorization - European Commission proposals for the central feature of a revised EU chemicals policy - a strict market authorization procedure for chemicals of very high concern - will include persistent and bioaccumulative substances, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom said Monday...Wallstrom said, "In the future, the chemicals industry will be responsible for generating and providing the necessary information about their own products in line with corporate responsibility." (Environment News Service, 1 Apr. 2003)

Gold Fields to extend anti-retroviral programme [South Africa] - Gold mining group Gold Fields Limited (GFI) intends extending its existing Wellness Management Programme to include Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) as a treatment option for all employees living with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Gold Fields previously provided Antiretroviral Therapy on a limited basis to prevent mother to child transmission (MTCT), and as post exposure prophylaxis to rape victims and employees with occupational exposure to HIV. (Business Day [South Africa], 1 Apr. 2003)

No Sell-Out on Trade in the Human Rights Commission -...The human rights impact of international trade was a recurrent theme during the 2003 [United Nations] Human Rights Commission.  And the level of discussion reflected the willingness and ability of many in the human rights community and the trade policy world to seek mutually-beneficial solutions when trade liberalization risks adversely impacting on human rights. (Caroline Dommen, Director of 3D Associates, April 2003)

{···français} Accès aux médicaments du Sida: le docteur Gunther chez Mme Adjobi [Côte d'Ivoire] - Le docteur Gunther Faber, vice-président pour l'Afrique subsaharienne et l'Afrique du Sud des laboratoires Glaxosmithkline, principal fournisseur mondial des antirétroviraux (ARV), arrive à Abidjan aujourd'hui pour un séjour de trois jours...cette visite est porteuse d'espoir pour les malades du sida quant à l'accessibilité aux antirétroviraux. Ces produits restent toujours relativement chers pour les pays africains, malgré l'initiative d'accès aux ARV entamée l'année dernière par les principaux laboratoires exerçant dans ce domaine en direction des pays africains. (Elvis Kodjo, Fraternité Matin [Côte d'Ivoire], 31 mars 2003)

Hindustan Lever Will Export Mercury Waste to USA [India] - Pollution control authorities in the southern Indian state of Tamilnadu have ordered Hindustan Lever Limited, a subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever, to export to the United States 286 tons of waste contaminated with mercury from its controversial thermometer factory in Kodaikanal, now closed. The company has been directed to decontaminate the site and its surroundings to global standards. (Nityanand Jayaraman, Environment News Service, 31 Mar. 2003)

State AIDS Drug Assistance Programs [ADAPs], NASTAD Negotiate Lower Price for Fuzeon With Roche [USA] -...The meetings...brought together ADAP representatives from California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Texas...with representatives from Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Gilead Sciences and Bristol-Myers Squibb...Roche was the only company to come to a "satisfactory agreement" with the ADAPs...Five other drug companies have decided to continue negotiations, which are expected to conclude by late next month. (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 31 Mar. 2003)

Pharmaceuticals held to ransom? - Twelve of Europe's biggest investors have united in an attempt to challenge multinational drugs firms to improve access to medicines in poor countries, but, asks Jim Gough, will it change anything? -...According to Olivia Lankester, a senior analyst at Isis, eight leading pharmaceutical companies were alerted before the release of the investors' statement of good practice, and 'many of them' said they would welcome the initiative...GSK [GlaxoSmithKline] chief executive Jean-Pierre Garnier insists the company's policies, initiatives and commitments are already consistent with the investors' proposed framework. He believes GSK is the only company undertaking research and development into the prevention and treatment of the World Health Organisation's top priority diseases in the developing world, HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria...Nathan Ford, MSF's [Médecins Sans Frontières'] access to medicines adviser, says: 'I'm completely unconvinced that the industry is responding anything like adequately enough"...The Scottish arm of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry...said access to drugs can be limited by weaknesses among the governments of poor nations.  A spokeswoman said: 'Everybody concentrates on the patents -- but that is not the major issue. (Sunday Herald [Scotland], 30 Mar. 2003)

Silicosis deaths in Pondicherry [India] - Silicosis strikes glass factory workers, most of them women, in Pondicherry. Seven people are dead and more may be dying. But the government and the factory management tout technicalities in the face of the workers' suffering. (Asha Krishnakumar, Frontline [India], 29 Mar.-11 Apr. 2003)

Bhopal Gas Victims to File Appeal in US Court - Victims of the world's worst-ever industrial disaster said Friday they would continue their fight for compensation despite a United States court's March 20 dismissal of their claim for damages in a protracted law suit against American multinational Union Carbide. (OneWorld South Asia, 28 Mar. 2003)

Drug wars: Patents, profits and poor countries - Deadlock sets in as pharmaceutical interests conflict (Manila Times, 27 Mar. 2003)

China mine blast death toll rises to 62 - state TV (Reuters, 27 Mar. 2003) 

Meridian stock hit by opposition to Argentine mine - Shares of Meridian Gold Inc. fell hard this week after the company said residents near its Esquel Mine project in Argentina had voted against the project because of concerns it will damage their water sources. (Reuters, 26 Mar. 2003)

The Dangers to Doha: The Risks of Failure in the Trade Round - The following is an address by Clare Short, MP, Britain's Secretary of State for International Development, to the Royal Institute of International Affairs...Today I want to talk to you about an urgent issue: the dangers to the Doha Trade Round and the imperative of acting now to secure a successful outcome of the Round. I want to spell out why this matters so much to developing countries. (Clare Short, UK Secretary of State for International Development, 25 Mar. 2003)

HIV/AIDS Could Cause Major Economic Crisis in 'Emerging Markets'; Some Companies Providing Prevention, Treatment to Workforce - Not only is the HIV/AIDS pandemic a "humanitarian disaster," but the disease could also cause an "economic crisis" in "emerging markets" such as South Africa, China and the former Soviet Union...A number of banks, including Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank, have said that HIV/AIDS statistics will have to be included in financial forecasting, stock selection, asset allocation and risk underwriting. [refers to Gold Fields and Anglo American] (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 25 Mar. 2003)

Investors pressure drug firms on pricing - Multinationals urged to allow developing countries to sidestep patents on life-saving treatments - Drug companies were given a stark warning yesterday that blocking access to life-saving drugs at affordable prices by poor countries could undermine public confidence in them and damage the value of their shares in the long term. The unprecedented pressure on the multinationals comes from major City institutions with investments of more than £600bn and backed by well-known names such as Jupiter, Schroders and Legal and General Investment Management. (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 25 Mar. 2003)

Miners fleeing escaping gas forced down into mine shaft shortly before massive explosion kills at least 57 of them [China] (China Labour Bulletin, 25 Mar. 2003)

Inter-American Development Bank President Iglesias Admits Serious Flaws in Camisea Gas Project [Peru]: Still No Commitment to Loan -...The meeting between NGOs and Iglesias came after the recent release of a memorandum documenting alarming deaths inside a legally recognized reserve for isolated and uncontacted indigenous peoples, where part of the project is located. [companies involved in Camisea Gas Project include: Pluspetrol (Argentina), Hunt Oil (U.S.), SK Corporation (South Korea), Techint, Tecgas (a division of Techint), Sonatrach (Algiers), Grana y Montero SA (Peru), Tractebel (Belgium)] (Friends of the Earth, 24 Mar. 2003)

Drug giants 'next tobacco' warning - The pharmaceutical industry risks becoming the "new tobacco" unless it cleans up its act in developing countries, an influential group of investors has warned. The global drugs industry must do more to help poor countries facing health crises, according to investors from the US and continental Europe. (BBC News, 24 Mar. 2003)

United by Free Trade -...Meanwhile, the U.S. position on loosening patent rules on drugs for very poor developing countries is also in need of reexamination. It is unacceptable that millions of victims of AIDS, tuberculosis and other epidemics cannot afford the drugs that could cure them because the American drug industry keeps the prices too high. Talks on this issue collapsed last December, and although U.S. negotiators have agreed not to pursue poor countries that manufacture generic versions of critical drugs, the onus is still on the United States to make sure the drugs are genuinely and easily available where they need to be. (editorial, Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2003)

50 Bodies Found in Chinese Mine Blast -...China's mining industry is one of the world's deadliest. More than 5,000 deaths were reported last year in coal mines. Many accidents were blamed on a lack of fire and ventilation equipment in small, often illegally run mines. (AP, 24 Mar. 2003)

Company sued for flouting job laws [Bahrain] - A Bahrain company which employed 32 expatriate workers illegally has been taken to court, as part of a government campaign to enforce labour laws...More labour inspectors have been recruited and inspections stepped up, said Labour and Social Affairs Ministry labour inspection head Shaikh Ali bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa..."As it is a human rights issue, we shall study the cases of illegal workers with the embassies concerned, as well as the human rights organisations." Shaikh Ali said his inspectors would also visit labour camps to ensure that the workers' accommodation meets the necessary safety and hygiene conditions. (Soman Baby, Gulf Daily News [Bahrain], 24 Mar. 2003)

Migrant workers seek state protection [Florida, USA] - With the support of House Majority Leader Marco Rubio, R-Miami, along with a coalition of black and Hispanic legislators, migrant workers and their advocates are pushing for a state law that would require employers to better train and inform workers to protect them from the pesticides many think are making them sick. (Diana Marrero, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2003)

Philip Morris ordered to pay $10.1 billion in ``light'' cigarette suit [USA] - A judge ordered Philip Morris USA on Friday to pay $10.1 billion for misleading smokers into believing its "light" cigarettes are less harmful than regular labels. (AP, in San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Mar. 2003)

Tanzania orders destruction of toxic transformers - The Tanzanian parliament has ordered the removal of electrical equipment containing highly toxic polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) from Dar es Salaam International Airport. The order reflects growing concern about the alleged 'dumping' of harmful or outdated products by industrialised countries in Tanzania. The equipment, consisting of 12 transformers, was installed in the airport in 1984 by the French company, Bouygues, that built the airport...some members of parliament have alleged that Bouygues knew that the transformers were prohibited at the time that they installed them, and are considering filing for compensation. (Deodatus Balile, SciDev.Net, 19 Mar. 2003)

Working conditions: Results of the monitoring of Chinese garments suppliers - The pilot project on independent monitoring set up by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and by Migros, Switcher and Veillon makes today public the reports on its follow-up visits to Chinese suppliers of these three Swiss companies (Press release of the Clean Clothes Campaign in Switzerland and the companies Migros, Switcher and Veillon, 19 Mar. 2003)

US seeks $289bn in tobacco claim - The US Justice Department is suing the world's leading tobacco companies for $289bn (£184.5bn) of their profits for the alleged fraudulent marketing of cigarettes. A court filing by the US government claims the companies lied about the link with cancer and the addictiveness of cigarettes. (BBC News, 19 Mar. 2003)

Evidence 'suppressed' on benefits of smoking ban [UK] - Evidence of thousands of lives could be saved each year by outlawing smoking at work has been suppressed by the Government because it fears a ban will prove too expensive for bars, clubs and hotels, anti-smoking campaigners claimed yesterday. (Marie Woolf, Independent [UK], 19 Mar. 2003)

Smoking ban good for hospitality workers' health - union [New Zealand] - A smoking ban in bars, casinos and restaurants would protect hospitality industry workers from proven harm, their union said today. (NZPA, 19 Mar. 2003)

More Action On Hazardous Substances - “Many New Zealand workers suffer unnecessarily from the harmful effects of hazardous substances because their employers disregard minimum standards,” said the Council of Trade Unions health and safety co-ordinator Greg Lloyd, today. (New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, 19 Mar. 2003)

Worker crushed to death [UK] - A lorry driver was crushed to death [at Cavendish Mill] when he was caught between a fork lift truck and quarrying equipment, police said. (BBC News, 19 Mar. 2003)

Firms insurance costs may rise [UK] - Employers should pay more to meet the cost of workplace injuries according to the TUC. At present the TUC claims that most of the £18bn cost of workplace injury and illness is paid for by the government and the victims. (BBC News, 19 Mar. 2003)

Michigan bars corn farmers from using herbicide [Balance Pro, manufactured by Bayer Crop Science] that critics say is linked to water pollution [USA] (Associated Press, 19 Mar. 2003)

UK votes to keep highly toxic pesticide - The highly toxic pesticide aldicarb will continue to be used on vegetables in the UK following a decision by European farm ministers yesterday. (Friends of the Earth, 19 Mar. 2003)

USA: Judge Tosses Bhopal Lawsuit - A federal judge threw out a lawsuit Tuesday that sought damages for those living near the deadly 1984 gas leak that killed thousands in Bhopal, India, saying Union Carbide Corp. had done enough and that too much time had passed. (Larry Neumeister, Associated Press, 18 Mar. 2003)

Victims of industry poisons demand better medical care [Thailand] - All talk, no action, protesters claim (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, Bangkok Post, 18 Mar. 2003)

External Monitor Gives Chiquita SA8000 Certification for Costa Rica Banana Farms - Chiquita Brands International Inc. said that Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI), an external auditing organization, has certified that Chiquita’s banana farms in Costa Rica meet the Social Accountability 8000 (SA8000) labor standard. According to the AFX Global Ethics Monitor, BVQI has certified that Chiquita’s Costa Rica farms forbid the use of child and forced labor, guarantee the right to unionize, require a safe and healthy workplace and provide other safeguards for workers. (Business for Social Responsibility News Monitor summary of article in AFX Global Ethics Monitor, 18 Mar. 2003)

The threat to science as a 'public good' -...Many feel that, through legislation on issues that range from intellectual property rights to copyright on databases, attempts to turn scientific information into private property have gone too far. The WSIS [World Summit on the Information Society] presents an ideal opportunity to highlight this issue before the world's political leaders, and help forge an international consensus that urgent measures are needed to redress the balance between public access to, and private control over, scientific data...Developing nations are at particular risk from these trends. (David Dickson, comment, SciDev.Net, 17 Mar. 2003)

Indian Company in Partnership to Produce Cheap Meningitis Vaccine for Developing World - Serum Institute of India Ltd. has agreed to be the first to produce a vaccine for a strain of meningitis that is epidemic in Africa and will do so for approximately $.40 per dose. According to The Wall Street Journal, the project will be funded by the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) a program established in 2001 with a $70 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to correct what supporters call a “market failure” in vaccines for the developing world. The vaccine for meningitis A was developed but never commercially produced by two major firms (Business for Social Responsibility summary of article in Wall Street Journal, 17 Mar. 2003)

Charges follow deaths at Pacific Steel [New Zealand] - Pacific Steel is to face prosecution over the deaths of two men at its Auckland site last year. (EPMU - New Zealand Amalgamated Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, 17 Mar. 2003)

Food experts set guidelines to judge biotech risks - International food experts agreed on a framework last week for assessing the risks of biotech foods, establishing global guidelines that could help shape countries' food policies and influence trade disputes. (Tim Large, Reuters, 17 Mar. 2003) 

EU wants to simplify limits on pesticide residues - The European Commission plans to set maximum residue levels for pesticides used by farmers across the 15-nation bloc, part of its programme to raise food safety standards for European consumers, it said. (Reuters, 17 Mar. 2003) 

Breaking the 24/7 work habit - Setting limits in an age of instant access has meant a better quality of life for many -...Researchers found that those who had little latitude or control over the circumstances of their work were 43 percent more likely to die over five years and 50 percent more likely to die over a 10-year period than their peers with greater latitude. (Adam Stone, SunSpot/Baltimore Sun, 17 Mar. 2003)

World Water Forum: March 16-23, 2003 Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka, Japan

Labour Dept campaign finds 700 alleged workers compensation violations [South Africa] - More than 700 workers in Gauteng reported to the Department of Labour on Saturday how they had received no compensation for injuries they suffered while at work and how some of them had been fired after they were injured. (South African Press Association, 16 Mar. 2003)

US Grant for Fight Against Aids At the Workplace [Mozambique] - The Mozambican government on Friday received a grant of around 900,000 dollars from the United States to support actions in workplaces against the spread of HIV/AIDS. (Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, 15 Mar. 2003)

Less money for mining victims - Cape plc’s South African asbestos victims will get only one-third of the £21-million originally promised them by the British-based multinational. (Justin Arenstein, Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 14 Mar. 2003)

Gold Mines Could Face Gencor-Type Lawsuits [South Africa] - Spoor said far more workers had silicosis than asbestosis (Business Day [South Africa], 14 Mar. 2003)

WATER: How To Supply All Populations Will Dominate Next Week's Forum - The question of how to get sufficient water to all the world's people will dominate the third World Water Forum, which begins Sunday in Kyoto, Japan...One of the most controversial topics participants will address is the question of whether water is a commodity or a basic human right. U.N. agencies and other international groups contend it is both, but the privatization of water companies has met with mixed success and has even created unrest, as when a revolt in Bolivia over Bechtel Corporation's doubling of water rates left seven people dead. (UN Wire, 14 Mar. 2003)

Black workers to receive £45m asbestos settlement [South Africa] - Thousands of black South African workers suffering from asbestos-related diseases yesterday secured multi-million pound compensation deals from two leading mining companies, after six years of legal wrangling in London and Johannesburg. British company Cape has agreed to pay £7.5m in compensation to 7,500 workers, and Gencor, a South African company which took over many Cape operations in 1979, has agreed to set up a trust fund for its workers, worth 448 million rand (£37.5m). Gencor will pay an additional £3.21m to the Cape claimants, who were also exposed to Gencor's operations. (David Black, Guardian, 14 Mar. 2003)

Workforce: Watch yourself at work [USA] - A total of 8,786 work fatalities were reported in 2001 [in USA], including those related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks...The construction industry, with fatalities at their highest level since the fatality census was first conducted in 1992, continued to report the largest number of fatal work injuries of any industry...Statistics aside, McWane Inc., an Alabama-based sewer and water pipe manufacturer, is often cited among policy makers and media as one of the worst examples of workplace safety. Since 1995, nine McWane employees have died in workplace accidents...Since 1995, over 4,500 McWane employees have suffered workplace injuries. (T.K. Maloy, UPI, 14 Mar. 2003)

Nursing Homes to Get Safety Guidelines [USA] - Nursing homes are the first industry to get government guidelines that suggest ways to reduce workplace injuries, replacing the legal requirements Congress rolled back two years ago after businesses complained they were too burdensome and costly. (Leigh Strope, AP, 13 Mar. 2003)

Pharmaceutical Company Whistle-Blower Tells of 'Illegal' Tactics [USA] - David Franklin, the drug company whistle-blower who has sparked federal and state investigations into the marketing of the top-selling drug Neurontin, said yesterday that he and his former colleagues engaged in a series of inappropriate tactics, including misleading doctors to persuade them to prescribe the drug for unapproved uses. ''I was trained to do things and did things that were blatantly illegal''...Franklin spent just four months working as a medical liaison for Parke-Davis, the company that sold Neurontin and was later acquired by Pfizer Inc. in 2000. Over the short period, he grew uncomfortable with the aggressive sales tactics even though he felt the rest of the drug industry was doing the same thing (Liz Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, 12 Mar. 2003)

Loggers vs. "Invisible" Tribes: Secret War in Amazon? [Peru] - The greatest pressure the isolated peoples face is from the loggers who have come to Madre de Dios to extract mahogany from the forests. Recent encounters between loggers and the isolated peoples have resulted in violence...They are at risk to disease that their immune systems cannot fight as well as mortal injury from the loggers. (John Roach, National Geographic News, 12 Mar. 2003)

Dow's Texas headquarters blockaded; contaminated water returned - "Our message is simple," said Greenpeace's Casey Harrell. "Dow must clean up Bhopal now and accept full responsibility for the health and environmental damage in that city. Until it does so, Dow will never be a responsible corporate citizen." (Greenpeace, 11 Mar. 2003)

CHEMICALS: U.N. Panel Calls For Further Controls On Asbestos, Pesticides - A panel set up under the Rotterdam Convention on hazardous chemicals called yesterday for tougher trade controls on all forms of asbestos, several deadly pesticides and two highly toxic lead fuel additives. (UN Wire, 11 Mar. 2003)

Five dead in China chemical plant blast (ABC Radio Australia News, 11 Mar. 2003)

TOBACCO: U.S. Newspaper, Columnist Criticize Washington Over Treaty - The New York Times on Saturday called on U.S. President George W. Bush's administration to sign on to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control...Syndicated columnist Derrick Jackson called U.S. resistance to the treaty a "singularly obvious" attempt at "sabotage" and pointed to political funds the tobacco industry gave in the most recent U.S. elections..."Philip Morris, the world's biggest exporter of cigarettes, alone paid $3.4 million to buy influence, with 80 percent of its contributions going to Republicans or the Republican Party" (UN Wire, 10 Mar. 2003)

Time for serious action on vehicle pollution [New Zealand] -...It is estimated that at least 500 people in New Zealand die prematurely each year due to the effects of vehicle pollution, mainly in the form of carbon monoxide and carbon particulates from diesel vehicles. (Motor Industry Association, 10 Mar. 2003)

Mining Fatalities Unacceptably High [South Africa] - Some improvement in the safety record, but this has not been substantive - At the end of January Gold Fields, SA's second biggest gold producer, said four of its miners had died in a fire at the company's Driefontein mine. Last month AngloGold reported that two of its miners had died at its Great Noligwa mine in a rock slide. Fatalities in the gold industry still make up more than double that recorded in any other area of the mining industry. (Julie Bain, Business Day [South Africa], 10 Mar. 2003)

Factory fined RM20,000 for discharging effluents [Malaysia] - An electronics factory here was today fined RM20,000 by the Sessions Court for discharging effluents above the permissable levels into Sungai Melaka. (A. Hafiz Yatim, New Straits Times, 10 Mar. 2003)

Charter for voluntary pollution control [India] - The Ministry of Environment and Forests and industrial sector are all set to enter into a partnership on voluntary pollution control by releasing a charter on Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection in New Delhi on March 13...The 17 major polluting industries identified for preparatory approach towards pollution control are: cement, aluminium, thermal power plants, oil refineries, pesticides, iron and steel, pulp and paper, copper and zinc, distilleries, sugar, petrochemicals, dye and dye intermediates, caustic soda, pharmaceuticals, tanneries and fertilizer industry. (The Hindu, 10 Mar. 2003)

Asbestos Case Ruling Sides With Workers [USA] - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that some workers who were exposed to cancer-causing asbestos can win money damages in court even though they do not yet have cancer and may never get it...The fear of developing cancer is grounds enough to collect for workers who already have asbestosis, a separate asbestos-related ailment, and can document their health fears, a 5-member majority of the court found. (Associated Press, 10 Mar. 2003)

Toyota settles US Clean Air Act suit for $34 mln [USA] - Toyota Motor Corp has pledged to improve anti-pollution controls on old, publicly owned buses that were not made by Toyota as part of a $34 million package to settle a Clear Air Act lawsuit, the U.S. Justice Department said..."With this bus retrofit action, our nation's school children will be breathing less of the small particles that can cause lung and respiratory damage," said EPA Administrator Christine Whitman. (Deborah Charles, Reuters, 10 Mar. 2003)

Triboard plant releases pollutants, says report [New Zealand] - A health impact report on emissions from the Kaitaia triboard plant run by Japanese-owned Juken Nissho has identified pollutants being released into the air by the two mills in the area. (Tony Gee, New Zealand Herald, 10 Mar. 2003)

Uranium plant workers exposed to harmful metal [USA] - Forty-four workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant have tested positive for exposure to a metal that can cause long-term lung problems...The U.S. Enrichment Corp. leases the plant from the Energy Department to separate beneficial uranium and process it into fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. (Louisville Courier-Journal, 9 Mar. 2003)

Good Practice Guide on Domestic Violence and the Workplace Launched [UK] - Opportunity Now in partnership with Women’s Aid (the national charity working to end domestic violence against women and children) have produced The Good Practice Guide for Employers on ‘Domestic Violence and the Workplace’. (Business in the Community, 7 Mar. 2003)

MPs call for corporate killing law [UK] - MPs from the UK’s three main political parties will be pressing the case for a new law against corporate killing, promised in Labour’s 2001 General Election Manifesto, at a meeting in the House of Commons today (Tuesday). (Trades Union Congress, 7 Mar. 2003)

Scientists blame industry for unchecked pollution [India] - Addressing a conference on 'Impact of emerging pollutants on health, environment & agriculture,' he [Dr AP Mitra, honorary scientist of eminence, National Physical Laboratory] said the industry should adopt environmental norms as practiced in developed countries and strictly adhere to environmental safety standards to improve the situation. (Press Trust of India, 7 Mar. 2003)

'Affected workers will be compensated' [India] - The Pondicherry Health Minister, E. Valsaraj said here today steps would be taken to provide compensation to workers of a privately managed glass container manufacturing unit at Thondamanatham, now undergoing treatment in a hospital here [for silicosis disease allegedly caused by pollution during the production process in the unit]. (S. Nadarajan, The Hindu, 7 Mar. 2003)

Tara Whelan - Coroner's Inquest Outcome [UK] - Tara Whelan was a BT Customer Service Engineer...tragically she was involved in an accident in Trowbridge, Wiltshire on Friday 25th May 2001, whilst working on a BT pole...The Jury wanted an investigation to establish whether there was a case for Corporate Responsibility for Tara's death. On this issue the Coroner ruled that as the CPS had already ruled on a prosecution for Corporate Manslaughter not being possible, he was unable to take forward this recommendation...At the close of the inquest, CWU [Communication Workers Union] approached BT's Head of Health and Safety to request an immediate review of their procedures. (CWU News, 7 Mar. 2003)

T&G helps women to stay safe at work [UK] - The Transport and General Workers’ Union will be helping women to stay safe at work with the launch of a new health and safety guide to coincide with International Women’s Day (Saturday 8th March 2003). The practical guide identifies workplace hazards and provides advice on how employers and employees can overcome them. (Transport & General Workers’ Union, 7 Mar. 2003)

$100-million lawsuit questions Bayer's handling of recalled cholesterol drug - A $100-million US lawsuit unfolding in a Texas courtroom has yielded e-mails and internal documents suggesting Bayer Corp. disregarded disturbing research on the cholesterol drug Baycol before pulling it off the market because of dozens of deaths. (Lynn Brezosky, Canadian Press, 7 Mar. 2003)

{···español} PCB en las calles Plantenses [Argentina] - La Defensoría Ecológica de La Plata denunció ayer a la empresa de energía eléctrica Edelap por la utilización de transformadores con la sustancia tóxica PCB luego de que el viernes pasado vecinos de Gonnet presentaran un reclamo ante el organismo en donde afirmaban que por lo menos 10 personas, en una cuadra del barrio donde viven 15 familias, contrajeron diversos tipos de cáncer por la contaminación ambiental. (Página/12 [Argentina], 6 marzo 2003)

Africa's aid plan seeks healthy growth -...The task of tackling diseases of poverty is huge, matched only by the lack of research into them.  Pharmaceutical firms have developed 1,700 medicines approved for clinical use in the last 15 years.  Yet only 11 were targeted at tropical diseases. (Adam Lusekelo, BBC News, 6 Mar. 2003)

Women's struggle is never won? [Thailand] - Why is it that we rarely hear anything from our national labour unions on how to redress gender inequality in the workplace? Is it because these unions are male-dominated, even though women make up half of the workforce and a full 70% of workers in the export industry?...Although work-related injury and illness are constantly on the rise, there is no independent agency to take up the workers' cause. The victims are primarily women who work in the manufacturing and export industries. (commentary by Sanitsuda Ekachai, Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post, 6 Mar. 2003)

{···español} Nueva Protesta en Esquel contra la Mina de Oro y Plata [Argentina] - Piden que no se modifique la fecha fijada para el plebiscito que decidirá la suerte de la explotación. Temen que se contamine el medio ambiente...La empresa El Desquite, propiedad de la multinacional canadiense Meridiam Gold, compró en 1.400 millones de dólares un yacimiento de oro y plata ubicado a 7 kilómetros de la ciudad...Hará una inversión de 100 millones de dólares y creará 1.500 puestos de trabajo directos e indirectos. Pero la gente del pueblo y de las localidades vecinas se opone: tienen temor a la contaminación del medio ambiente debido a que, para sacar el oro y la plata de la roca, la empresa utilizará grandes cantidades de cianuro, un elemento altamente tóxico. (Clarín [Argentina], 5 marzo 2003)

US EPA proposes cancer guidelines for children - Infants and toddlers have 10 times the risk of cancer from hazardous chemicals than adults do, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said this week in its first guidelines that define the greater risks that children face...Chemicals also can affect babies more. They include vinyl chloride - a gas used in making PVC or polyvinyl chloride - diethylnitrosamine - found in tobacco smoke - and the insecticide DDT. (Maggie Fox, Reuters, 5 Mar. 2003) 

HIV/AIDS Reporting Framework Released - Key performance indicators for HIV/AIDS management were set out for public feedback today...The resulting draft document, “Reporting Guidance on HIV/AIDS: A GRI Resource Document”, was released today in an effort to elicit extensive global feedback that will shape the final report. In parallel, a broad range of South African manufacturing, mining, banking, and government organisations have agreed to evaluate the HIV resource document. All public feedback should be submitted by 21 April 2003 to the South African contacts listed below. (Global Reporting Initiative, 4 Mar. 2003)

{···français} Une nouvelle étude confirme le lien entre la pollution et la mortalité à Paris - L'observatoire régional de la santé (ORS) d'Ile-de-France a publié, lundi 3 mars, une étude confirmant un lien direct entre la pollution atmosphérique, principalement issue des transports, et la mortalité ou la morbidité des habitants qui la supportent. (Benoît Hopquin, Le Monde, 4 mars 2003)

Working through 'the change' [UK] - Almost every woman passes through the menopause, but very few employers know how to deal with the issue - it's often treated as an embarrassing, hidden illness, rather than a normal part of human life. It wasn't long ago that pregnancy was treated exactly the same, but now many employers have policies about pregnancy, and although problems still remain, we can do the same for the menopause. (Trades Union Congress, 4 Mar. 2003)

Damned if you do… - Social responsibility is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to some companies, says Stephen W. Stanton -...Should McDonald’s be commended for making warm meals both convenient and affordable for even the poorest people in many nations? Alternatively, should the golden arches be torn down for making the United States among the fattest nations in the world, triggering heart disease, diabetes and premature deaths of many Americans?...Ben & Jerry’s is often cited as the model of socially responsible management...However, unlike McDonald’s, Ben & Jerry’s does not make food products with any redeeming nutritional value (Stephen W. Stanton, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 4 Mar. 2003)

When does protest work? Leading campaigners and experts told The Observer what made campaigning effective - and how companies needed to ensure that corporate accountability was not simply a PR exercise if they wanted to protect their brands and reputations. [refers to Shell, ExxonMobil/Esso, Nestle, Unity Trust Bank, Co-operative Bank, Cobbetts solicitors, Enron, Rio Tinto] (Lola Okolosie, Observer [UK], 2 Mar. 2003)

Biotech crops Become Common on American Farms Despite Health Concerns - The U.S. government this week approved a new strain of genetically altered corn that promises to reduce the amount of chemical insecticide farmers spray...Despite concerns among critics about possible health or environmental impacts, biotech crops have become common on American farms. (Steve Baragona, Voice of America, 1 Mar. 2003) 

Environmental Groups Sue EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] for Weakening Clean Air Act - Charge Bush administration’s new source review changes illegal - The Bush administration’s changes to a key provision of the Clean Air Act is illegal and will dramatically increase air pollution, threatening the health of millions of Americans, according to a lawsuit filed today by Earthjustice on behalf of a coalition of environmental and public health groups. (Earthjustice, 28 Feb. 2003)

DaimlerChrysler widens HIV drive [South Africa] - Car maker DaimlerChrysler SA said yesterday that it would extend its existing treatment programme to employees made redundant as well as to their dependants. (Business Day [South Africa], 28 Feb. 2003)

Lagos Pupils Get Nutritional Supplement [Nigeria] - Lagos State Goverment, in conjunction with UNESCO and the West African Milk Company (WAMCO), embarked on the programme...The programme is designed to provide milk twice a week. (Yemi Akinsuyi, This Day [Nigeria], 28 Feb. 2003)

Banned pesticides poisoning millions - Millions of farmers in the developing world are being poisoned by pesticides that are banned in Europe, environmental campaigners claimed yesterday. A report by the Environmental Justice Foundation found that the use of organophosphates and organochlorines in crop spraying in Asia, Africa and South America was exposing poorly paid workers to a far higher risk of developing cancers. (Matthew Beard, Independent [UK], 27 Feb. 2003)

Rural education can cut pesticide deaths - report - Agrochemical giants must make amends for pesticide-caused deaths by funding rural education in the developing world and phasing out their most dangerous chemicals, an environmental group [Environmental Justice Foundation] said yesterday...Leading biotech companies contend that their investment in new technologies is reducing the damage done by pesticides. (Reuters, 27 Feb. 2003)

Latest mine explosion at Muchonggou coal mine compounds appalling loss of life in China’s coal mining industry - In the afternoon of 24 February 2003, a huge explosion rocked the Muchonggou coal mine in Shuicheng County, Guizhou province, killing up to 40 miners and injuring scores more (China Labour Bulletin, 26 Feb. 2003)

ExxonMobil Receives 23 Shareowner Resolutions on Issues Ranging from Climate Change to Corporate Governance -...The social resolutions filed with ExxonMobil ask the company to implement a sexual orientation nondiscrimination policy, review and implement human rights standards, affirm political nonpartisanship, and report on the impact of AIDS on operations. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 26 Feb. 2003)

Peru Pipeline Endangering Lives of Indigenous People, Say Groups - Funding should be withheld from the sponsors of a gas pipeline project in the Peruvian Amazon, whose imported workers are seriously threatening the health and well-being of previously isolated indigenous people living in the area, according to six environmental and watchdog groups. The groups, which include Rainforest Action Network, Environmental Defense, and Friends of the Earth International, maintained that the sponsors of the US$1.4 billion Camisea Gas Project, Pluspetrol of Argentina and Texas-based Hunt Oil, were "forcibly contacting groups living in voluntary isolation" in violation of internationally recognized rights of indigenous peoples. (Jim Lobe, OneWorld US, 26 Feb. 2003)

State [of California] toxic control agency fines Rialto firm $2.5 million [USA] - Nearly $2.5 million in fines have been levied against a Rialto hazardous waste facility [Denova Environmental Inc.] where thousands of pounds of unstable explosives were stored, the state Department of Toxic Substance Control announced Wednesday. (Associated Press, 26 Feb. 2003)

EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] report details how toxics harm kids' health - Additional risks to California children are listed - A new federal report on children's exposure to environmental contaminants blames air pollutants, mercury, lead, pesticides and solvents for damaging health and causing birth defects. (Jane Kay, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Feb. 2003)

Erin Brockovich firm to sue over Beverly Hills oil -...a lawsuit against the city of Beverly Hills and three oil companies for allegedly ignoring cancer-causing toxic gases leaking from oil wells on the Beverly Hills High School grounds. Masry told Reuters the lawsuit would be filed within a month in Los Angeles Superior Court against the city, the school district and Occidental Petroleum Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp. and privately held Venoco Inc. of Carpinteria, California, on behalf of more than 80 cancer patients who are former students, teachers or school employees. (Gina Keating, Reuters, 25 Feb. 2003)

China Serves as Dump Site for Computers - Unsafe Recycling Practice Grows Despite Import Ban -...The real costs are being borne by the people on the receiving end of the "e-waste." In towns along China's coast as well as in India and Pakistan, adults and children work for about $1.20 a day in unregulated and unsafe conditions. As rivers and soils absorb a mounting influx of carcinogens and other toxins, people are suffering high incidences of birth defects, infant mortality, tuberculosis and blood diseases, as well as particularly severe respiratory problems, according to recent reports by the state-controlled Guangdong Radio and the Beijing Youth newspaper. (Peter S. Goodman, Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2003)

Bayer shares fall as Baycol woes mount - Shares in Bayer AG fell five percent on Monday after a U.S. newspaper reported that senior company executives knew of the risks associated with its Baycol cholesterol drug long before it was recalled. (Sitaraman Shankar, Reuters, 24 Feb. 2003)

Capitalism Must Develop More of a Conscience -...Business has to work hand in hand with governments and civil society in employing its capabilities and its know-how in the fight against poverty, AIDS and all the other issues on the global agenda that undermine the dignity of life and threaten our very existence. (Klaus Schwab, President of World Economic Forum, in Newsweek, 24 Feb. 2003)

Analysis: Dow Chemical and Bhopal – the continuing debate on responsibility - Dow Chemical is coming under renewed pressure in 2003 over the long-running issue of the Bhopal accident in 1984. Dale Crofts examines the situation (Dale Crofts, Research Fellow at the Centre for Organisation Reputation and Relationships at Henley Management College UK, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 22 Feb. 2003)

US factory boss guilty of 'slavery' - The owner of a clothes factory in American Samoa [Kil Soo Lee, who owned the Daweoosa Samoa company which made clothes for the JC Penney chain as well as other retailers before it closed] has been convicted [in U.S. court] of what prosecutors called "modern-day slavery"...he was accused of ordering beatings for disobedient employees, starving workers or threatening them with deportation if they complained. (BBC News, 22 Feb. 2003)

Factory fined for refusing access to inspector [Australia] - An Adelaide paint manufacturer has been fined $4500 after being found guilty of abusing and barring access to a workplace inspector attempting to measure solvent fumes. (David Eccles, Advertiser [Australia], 22 Feb. 2003)

Scandal of Toxic Waste Exports to Developing Nations Continues - A coalition of NGOs are calling on Thailand to ban the import of all toxic wastes into Thai territory, following the discovery that the country is becoming a target for international toxic waste traders. Last March it was revealed that hazardous waste from the wealthy West was being sent to less well-off nations such as China, India and Pakistan. Basel Action Network (BAN) and the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition revealed that poor workers in China were being employed to break apart obsolete computers, coming into contact with toxic substances from lead-laden cathode ray tubes to soldered circuit boards. (Edie, 21 Feb. 2003)

Spotlight interview with Jaffa Mummy (South Africa – COSATU) [refers to issue of HIV/AIDS discrimination in workplace] (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 21 Feb. 2003)

Plastics industry loses out -...When chemicals companies Solvay and EVC decided to sue us in 1997, they were following in a long corporate tradition of using money and the courts to silence critics...Solvay and EVC were suing over our campaign to prevent poisonous PVC plastic being used in children's toys...In Italy the two companies sued us for damage to their image, reputation and for illegal claims. They also maintained "production of PVC and PVC products do not harm the environment". However the judge threw out all claims of the industry and ordered the companies to pay the legal costs. (Greenpeace, 20 Feb. 2003)

Bush Administration Hides Reports on Mercury Risks While Simultaneously Weakening Mercury Protections - The Sierra Club today called on the Bush Administration to immediately release a long-delayed report on the health risks children face from toxic mercury spewing from coal power plants. (Sierra Club, 20 Feb. 2003)

About six per cent of men's deaths involve occupational factors [Finland] (Trade Union News from Finland, 20 Feb. 2003)

CSL ship ignored safety code: Damning report into near fatality of guest worker on former Australian vessel - A man suffered life-threatening injuries due to crew fatigue and a failure to comply with safe work practices, according to a damning report into an accident on the CSL Pacific [registered in Bahamas] (Maritime Union of Australia, 20 Feb. 2003)

French President Meets With Businesses on Global Compact - French President Jacques Chirac met with leaders of French companies in Paris on 19 February to discuss the Global Compact. The business leaders shared with the President examples of good corporate practices and partnership projects. These examples included an initiative to fight malaria in Africa, access to water in urban areas, voluntary initiatives to advance environmental management as well as other corporate practices in support of the Global Compact. (U.N. Global Compact, 19 Feb. 2003)

New occupational safety law in force [Finland]: Greater responsibility to employers for preventing accidents at work (Trade Union News from Finland, 19 Feb. 2003)

TOBACCO: WHO Asks Film, Fashion Industries To Stop Glamorizing Smoking - The World Health Organization yesterday called on the film and fashion industries to stop glamorizing smoking, urging the industries in a statement to "stop being used as vehicles of death and disease." (UN Wire, 19 Feb. 2003)

Club Owner May Face Charges in Tramplings [Chicago, USA] - The owner of a nightclub where 21 people died in a stampede down a narrow stairway could face fines and more than a year in jail for criminal contempt of court, officials say...Twenty-one people were killed and more than 50 injured early Monday after a security guard used pepper spray to break up a fight that erupted in the second-floor nightclub known as E2. (Mike Robinson, Associated Press, 19 Feb. 2003)

Patent relaxation threatens Aids drugs -...The US develops 70 per cent of all new drugs and most Aids drugs. Yet 25 per cent fewer drug companies are working on Aids drugs than a few years ago, partly because their previous discoveries are being ripped off. The US trade representative should continue to stand up for patents against the rest of the world, allowing only the poorest 60 or so countries to copy patented drugs. (Roger Bate, Africa Fighting Malaria, letter to Financial Times, 18 Feb. 2003)

TOBACCO: WHO Begins Final Talks On Control Treaty (UN Wire, 18 Feb. 2003)

EU to debate pesticide ban on highly toxic aldicarb (Reuters, 17 Feb. 2003) 

EU under attack over plan to legalise paraquat - Environmentalists, insisting that paraquat is highly toxic for humans and animals, slammed EU proposals to legalise the controversial herbicide across the bloc although it is banned in several member states. (Jeremy Smith, Reuters, 17 Feb. 2003)

A Toxic Legacy on the Mexican Border - Abandoned U.S.-Owned Smelter in Tijuana Blamed for Birth Defects, Health Ailments (Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2003)

Farm labor transit is now more safe [California, USA] - Fatalities involving farm labor vans were nonexistent in 2002, a first in the state since 1992. (Kara Machado, Hanford Sentinel, 16 Feb. 2003)

Manpower boss posts bail in probe of Bulgarian worker abuse [Israel] -...Bulgarian construction workers have filed 25 complaints of abuse with police against Tzarfati and his staff. Immigration police are investigating the claims of physical and verbal abuse by the six managers - three Israelis and three Bulgarians, who deny the accusations. (Ruth Sinai, Haaretz [Israel], 15 Feb. 2003)

Refinery pollution report a shock: [San Francisco] Bay Area plants belching 30% more gases than realized [USA] -..."I was astounded to see how much pollution was being released from the flares," said Contra Costa Health Director Wendel Brunner, who has expressed serious concern about their impact on public health. (Jason B. Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 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)

An Appeal to Action on HIV/AIDS - In the context of HIV/AIDS as a major threat to global development, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, the Head of UNAIDS, and the Director General of the ILO sent a joint letter to the CEOs of companies participating in the Global Compact...The Global Compact, the ILO and UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) will join forces in 2003 to mobilize businesses, encourage increased action to fight HIV/AIDS in the workplace, and combat stigmatisation of people in the workforce living with the disease. ..The letter encourages businesses worldwide to adopt and fully implement the ILO Code of practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. (U.N. Global Compact, 14 Feb. 2003)

The unromantic side of red roses from Ecuador -...large growers here have been accused of misusing a toxic mixture of pesticides, fungicides and fumigants to grow and export unblemished pest-free flowers...Doctors and scientists who have worked in the region say serious health problems have resulted for many of the industry's 50,000 workers, more than 70 percent of them women...studies that the International Labor Organization published in 1999 and the Catholic University issued in Ecuador last year showed that women in the flower industry had more miscarriages than average in the region and that more than 60 percent of all workers suffered headaches, nausea, blurred vision or fatigue. (Ginger Thompson, New York Times, in International Herald Tribune, 14 Feb. 2003)

Lawsuits target drug pricing: Companies' discounts to doctors under scrutiny - New York state filed a lawsuit against two major pharmaceutical companies Thursday in a case that accuses them essentially of paying doctors and pharmacists to choose the companies' drugs over competing medicines...The lawsuits charge that the companies - GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Pharmacia Corp. - gave discounts to doctors and pharmacies that bought their drugs. A third drugmaker, Aventis, has been notified that it may also be sued...Regulators are also concerned that cancer doctors may have a financial incentive to recommend inappropriate or unnecessary chemotherapy because they are able to profit from prescribing particular drugs. (Reed Abelson and Jonathan D. Glater, New York Times, in International Herald Tribune, 14 Feb. 2003)

Diarrhoea vaccine on fast track for poor nations -...The PATH project will work with vaccine manufacturers and developing country governments to finance clinical trials in developing countries and accelerate the vaccine's availability to those children who need it the most. (Natasha McDowell, SciDev.Net, 12 Feb. 2003)

Consumers call on the World Health Organisation NOT to seek industry funding for its food standards work (Consumers International, 11 Feb. 2003)

Women Respond Positively to HIV/Aids Workplace Programme - Labour Commissioner Kambuto [Malawi] (Mallick Mnela, Chronicle Newspaper [Malawi], 10 Feb. 2003)

Scrapping Mining Dependence [This study, chapter 6 in Worldwatch Institute’s annual report State of the World 2003, assesses the impacts of global mining activities, and presents alternative ways in which the world can meet its demand for minerals.  Many major mining companies are referred to in the text] -...Mines have uprooted tens of thousands of people from their homelands and have exposed many more to toxic chemicals and pollution.  And mining is the world's most deadly occupation: on average 40 mine workers are killed on the job each day, and many more are injured. (Payal Sampat, Senior Fellow with the Worldwatch Institute and International Campaign Director at the Mineral Policy Center, 7 Feb. 2003)

Construction employer to face manslaughter charges over death of worker on a London construction site [UK] (London Hazards Centre, 7 Feb. 2003)

More tributes to tragic factory woman [UK] -...Lorriane Waspe, 40 of Valley Lane, Great Finborough, died when she was in collision with a piece of heavy machinery at the British Sugar Factory, in Bury St Edmunds on Wednesday. (Evening Star [UK], 7 Feb. 2003)

£40,000 fine for death of worker [UK] - A demolition firm [London-based Brown and Mason] was yesterday fined £40,000 for the death of one of its workers at Blyth Power Station. (Graeme Whitfield, The Journal [UK], 6 Feb. 2003)

El Salvador: Violations of Labour Standards Rife, says new ICFTU Report - ...the ICFTU has condemned El Salvador's failure to protect basic trade union rights in the country's Export Processing Zones...One of the many major allegations of the report was the unsafe working conditions workers face ...Gender discrimination is also widespread...The report also mentions the fact that indigenous people in El Salvador face discrimination in employment...Child labour is also widespread in much of the rural and unregulated urban economies (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 5 Feb. 2003)

After workers unionize, Puma cuts and runs from Mexico - ..."When the customers do audits of the factory, the company forces us to lie."...Matamoros Garment is a factory that produces uniforms for restaurants and hospitals in the United States under the Angelica label, and sports apparel for the German corporation Puma. (Campaign for Labor Rights, 5 Feb. 2003)

Tobacco: WHO Urges Higher Taxes, Advertising Controls In Poor States (UN Wire, 5 Feb. 2003)

UNEP: Agency Says Mercury Pollution Rising In Poor Countries - Coal-fired power stations and waste incinerators in developing countries are to blame for the majority of the world's new mercury contamination (UN Wire, 5 Feb. 2003)

Ivax submits inhaler that doesn't deplete ozone - Ivax Corp. said this week it submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking approval for a new asthma inhaler that uses the common treatment albuterol but does not deplete the ozone layer like most devices. (Reuters, 5 Feb. 2003) 

Multinationals Ride Wave of Water Privatization, Investigation Finds -...The report, which is being released in 10 parts between now and February 14, follows a year-long investigation by the Center's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which focused on corporate activities in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia, Colombia, Asia, and Europe. It documents how privatization has cut off millions of people from safe water supplies, resulting, for example, in South Africa's worst ever cholera outbreak, which killed nearly 300 people and infected more than 250,000. [article refers to France's Suez and Vivendi Environnement; Thames Water, owned by Germany's RWE AG; Saur of France; United Utilities of England; United States firm Bechtel] (Marty Logan, OneWorld US, 4 Feb. 2003)

Toxic Chemical Study Sounds Warning for Children - The most extensive study of the toxic chemicals to which Americans are exposed has found encouraging evidence that levels of lead, pesticides and tobacco related chemicals have declined over the past decade. But the report, released last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, offered worrying evidence that children are more exposed than adults to a range of toxic chemicals. (J.R. Pegg, Environment News Service, 4 Feb. 2003)

Asbestos Claimants Accept Gencor Offer [South Africa] - Lawyers representing asbestos victims approved a settlement offer from Gencor yesterday...Part of the R460m settlement offer would be set aside for claims against Cape plc (Chantelle Benjamin, Business Day [South Africa], 4 Feb. 2003)

UN Lists Top World Air Polluters -...The report released yesterday at the United Nations Environmental Programme headquarters, Nairobi, warns that mercury poisoning could increase if pollution from power stations is not curbed. (Jeff Otieno, The Nation [Kenya], 4 Feb. 2003)

Banana workers get day in court - For two decades, the workers say, their efforts to win compensation for the damage done by DBCP [a pesticide] - including sterility, cancer, and birth defects in children - have been frustrated by the legal tactics of American chemical and fruit companies. But now they are getting their day in court...A ruling by a federal judge in New Orleans has opened the way for a lawsuit brought by 3,000 Central American banana workers seeking millions in damages, the first time one of these cases would be tried in the United States. (David Gonzalez, Trinidad Express [Trinidad & Tobago], 3 Feb. 2003)

Work deaths soar as Labour dithers [UK] - Tony Blair's Opposition pledged tougher laws on corporate killing, writes David Bergman. Yet nothing has been done since he gained power and another 2,000 people have died (Observer [UK], 2 Feb. 2003)

Oil giants get slick with bid for new image - All the soft-focused ads in the world cannot detract from the fact that the major oil firms don't do enough, writes Faisal Islam [refers to BP and Exxon] (Faisal Islam, Observer [UK], 2 Feb. 2003)

AIDS Is Your Business - Fortunately, investments in programs that prevent infection and provide treatment for employees who have HIV/AIDS are profitable for many businesses--that is, they lead to savings that outweigh the programs' costs...Fighting AIDS not only helps those infected; it also makes good business sense. (Jeffrey R. Vincent, William MacLeod, Matthew Fox, Donald M. Thea, Sydney Rosen, Jonathon Simon; Harvard Business Review, 1 Feb. 2003)

N.J. fighting Ohio polluters [USA] - The McGreevey administration announced Friday that it is dispatching a pair of deputy attorneys general to Ohio to help argue a federal case charging Ohio Edison Co. with polluting New Jersey's air and damaging the health of state residents. (Jack Kaskey, PressofAtlanticCity.com, 1 Feb. 2003)

Letter To The Editor (and Responses) featuring Paul Hawken and Amy Domini [debate on socially-responsible investment; refers to labour, environmental, health & other social issues; refers to Chiquita, McDonald's, Wild Oats, Whole Foods, Horizon Organic, Coca-Cola]  (GreenMoneyJournal.com, Feb./Mar. 2003)

BP and Pertamina in pipeline safety row [Indonesia] - The British oil company BP has been accused of negligence in maintaining gas collection pipes at its offshore Pagerungan gas field near Madura in East Java. The president of state oil company Pertamina, Baihaki Hakim, said in January that BP should have anticipated a possible gas leak but had "failed to deal with it". (Down to Earth Newsletter, Feb. 2003)

WHO to meet beverage company representatives to discuss health-related alcohol issues - World Health Organization (WHO) will host a meeting with selected alcohol beverage company representatives in Geneva on February 12, 2003 to exchange views on the impact of alcohol on global health. (World Health Organization, 31 Jan. 2003)

Researchers Explore A New Toxic Pollution Site: People - “Body Burden” Studies Are Raising Health Concerns And Prompting Stronger Government Actions -...Subjects contained an average of 91 compounds, most of which did not exist 75 years ago. In total, the nine subjects carried 76 chemicals linked to cancer. Participants had a total of 48 PCBs, which were banned in the U.S. in 1976 but are used in other countries and persist in the environment for decades. (Environmental Working Group, 30 Jan. 2003)

Asbestos kills, judgment awaits [South Africa] - Herman Kubari is dead...He was the first of 1 600 applicants in a motion in the Johannesburg high court late last year to interdict Gencor, the investment holding company, from unbundling its stake in Impala Platinum and distributing the proceeds to shareholders until sufficient provision had been made for damages actions brought for asbestos-related diseases. (Ronnie Morris, Business Report [South Africa], 30 Jan. 2003)

Rail Workers Mourn Second Death In Six Months [New Zealand] (EPMU - New Zealand Amalgamated Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, 29 Jan. 2003)

Flawed anti-smoking laws endanger workers' health [Australia] - Inadequate anti-smoking legislation is threatening the health of thousands of Queensland workers and urgently needs to be amended, Queensland Council of Unions Assistant Secretary Chris Barrett said today. (Queensland Council of Unions, 28 Jan. 2003)

Building workers to demonstrate over safety in Dublin next week - Thousands of building workers are to stage a demonstration in Dublin next week to highlight concerns over safety standards. (Irish Times, 28 Jan. 2003)

DRUGS: WHO To Push WTO On Patents -...According to Brazilian Health Minister Humberto Costa, the WHO is planning to send a letter to the WTO calling for public health interests to be given priority over the interests of the pharmaceutical industry (UN Wire, 28 Jan. 2003)

Labour inspection blitz unearths rot [South Africa] - Employers would no longer get away with flouting the law, labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana said yesterday. "It is unacceptable in a human rights-based democracy for workers to be killed or injured while at work because of their employers' refusal to ensure their safety as prescribed by the law," he said during an inspection blitz in Gauteng...At one of the sites, Nigel Textile Works on the East Rand, inspectors found working conditions to be appalling, and recommended the prosecution of the employers. (SAPA, 28 Jan. 2003)

Harmony to offer HIV/AIDS drugs [South Africa] - Harmony Gold Mining would offer its HIV-positive employees antiretroviral drugs and was looking at rolling out a "workable and sustainable" antiretroviral programme, it said yesterday. (Sherilee Bridge, Business Report [South Africa], 28 Jan. 2003)

MERCURY: Advocates Urge U.S. Not To Block Treaty Talks -...The UNEP group stressed a particular need to protect children, women of childbearing age, indigenous people, people dependent on fish and those who may be exposed at work. (UN Wire, 28 Jan. 2003)

Call for strategy to help sick workers [UK] - A national strategy to rehabilitate workers who have been injured or made ill at work is urgently needed, according to two leading business interest groups. (BBC News, 28 Jan. 2003)

Link Found Between Nitrates Well Water and Factory Farms [USA] - Studies From An Independent Scientific Organization Show Link Between Higher Contamination Of Well Water Near Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (Environmental News Network, 28 Jan. 2003)

HIV/AIDS: WHO Welcomes Drug Makers' Patent Moves - The World Health Organization Friday welcomed new initiatives by several drug companies to license their patents to generic manufacturers for production of certain HIV/AIDS drugs. (UN Wire, 27 Jan. 2003)

Beyond petroleum, or beyond the pale? BP left out in the cold -...one of the UK's leading ethical investment funds, Henderson Global Investors, announced it was selling millions of pounds of BP shares because it could no longer assure its investors of the company's commitment to worker safety and the environment in Alaska. (Andrew Gumbel and Marie Woolf, Independent [UK], 23 Jan. 2003)

Group accuses Doe Run of damage overseas - A coalition of environmental, labor and human-rights groups has singled out St. Louis-based mining company Doe Run in a report that documents alleged environmental and social abuses by American companies operating abroad...The report highlighted lead poisoning among children in La Oroya, Peru, where Doe Run operates a smelter. According to a government test, 99 percent of children tested had elevated lead levels. (Sara Shipley, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 Jan. 2003)

press release: Coalition Tells World Economic Forum: Building Trust Requires Disclosure - New Report Highlights U.S. Multinationals' Shameful Human Rights, Environmental and Labor Records - a coalition of environmental, development, labor and human rights groups today released a joint report entitled "International Right to Know: Empowering Communities Through Corporate Transparency."  The report documents the irresponsible environmental, labor and human rights practices committed by ExxonMobil, Nike, McDonald's, Unocal, Doe Run, Freeport McMoRan and Newmont Mining. (AFL-CIO, Amnesty International USA, EarthRights International, Friends of the Earth-US, Global Exchange, Oxfam America, Sierra Club, Working Group on Community Right to Know, 22 Jan. 2003)

Baby milk marketing 'breaks rules' - A study in the British Medical Journal says manufacturers of powdered baby milk substitutes are violating international codes when selling their product to West Africans...The researchers found the code had been violated by 40 products, many made by national and international manufacturers like Danone and Nestle. (Ania Lichtarowicz, BBC News, 17 Jan. 2003)

Job accidents increase, safety measures do not [Indonesia] - "The government lacks the personnel to implement laws on labor safety. There is only one official to oversee 700 companies while the ideal number is one for every 50 establishments"... (M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta Post, 17 Jan. 2003)

Industrial death law [Australia] - Unions want the crime of industrial manslaughter recognised to help cut the number of workplace deaths in NSW. (Antony Field and AAP, in Illawarra Mercury [Australia], 16 Jan. 2003)

Camisea Oil & Gas Project in Peru -...The following memo details new information regarding recent impacts of Peru’s Camisea oil and gas project...Illnesses are now spreading among peoples living in voluntary isolation within the Nahua-Kugapakori Reserve. Observers have repeatedly warned that project operations within the Reserve and Pluspetrol’s policy of forced contact with isolated peoples pose a direct threat to the physical and cultural integrity of peoples living in voluntary isolation. (Amazon Watch, 14 Jan. 2003)

Miners missing after Chinese mine blast - An explosion in a Chinese coal mine has left at least 30 miners missing only a day after a blast in another mine killed eight workers (BBC News, 11 Jan. 2003)

Local companies negligent about workers' safety [Indonesia] - Leniency in the labor law and lack of enforcement of standard safety measures have put the lives of millions of workers at risk, particularly those working in hazard-prone work places, a labor activist said on Thursday. (M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta Post, 10 Jan. 2003)

Deaths on the Job, Slaps on the Wrist [Dangerous Business - Part Three] [USA] - McWane [McWane Inc., Alabama conglomerate that owns cast-iron foundries] is one of the most enduring violators of worker-safety and environmental laws...McWane has persisted largely unchecked by taking full advantage of a regulatory system that has often proven itself incapable of thwarting flagrant and continual safety and environmental violations by major corporations (David Barstow and Lowell Bergman, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2003)

WHO: U.N. Agency Rejects Charges Of Food Industry Infiltration - The World Health Organization rejected allegations yesterday in the London Guardian that its policies on diet and nutrition were unduly influenced by the food industry, saying it welcomed open debate with all stakeholders and had strengthened its procedures against covert lobbying. (UN Wire, 10 Jan. 2003)

TOBACCO: Talks On Anti-Smoking Campaign Funding Set For February - The European Union will host a meeting Feb. 3-4 in Brussels to discuss how international donors can help developing countries finance anti-smoking campaigns. (UN Wire, 10 Jan. 2003)

WATER: IMF, World Bank Privatization Efforts Under Fire From Activists - The World Bank and International Monetary Fund's efforts to urge developing nations to turn their water utilities over to private companies has come under criticism from opponents who say water is a basic human need and should not be sold for profit (UN Wire, 9 Jan. 2003)

Business leaders grapple with HIV/AIDS in Republic of Congo - Business leaders in the Republic of the Congo are learning about HIV/AIDS, particularly the rights of workers living with the disease. In partnership with UNICONGO, the national business association, and under the patronage of First Lady Antoinette Sassou Nguesso, UNDP recently organized HIV/AIDS awareness workshops for such leaders in the country's two major cities (U.N. Development Programme, 7 Jan. 2003)

Workers counselled after death [UK] - Colleagues of a worker killed after an accident at a Corus tin plate plant are being offered counselling. (BBC News, 6 Jan. 2003)

Patents are not the problem with drugs access -...In reality, 99 per cent of the World Health Organisation's list of essential drugs are not patented - yet access to these medicines is abysmally low. The reason is the grinding poverty in poor countries and a lack of health infrastructure. If rich countries wanted to show that they took poor country concerns seriously, they should start reducing agricultural subsidies. (Richard Tren, Africa Fighting Malaria, letter to Financial Times, 2 Jan. 2003)

Pesticide Justice - Dow Chemical, Shell Oil Company and Standard Fruit (Dole Food Company in the U.S.), must pay $490 million in compensation to 583 banana workers injured by Nemagon, an extremely toxic soil fumigant that has sterilized thousands of Central American banana workers, a Nicaraguan judge ruled in December 2002. (Amy Ling and Martha Olson Jarocki, Pesticide Action Network North America, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2003)

Enviros Temperature Rising - Amid growing anger among environmentalists over the record and intentions of President George Bush, three major U.S. environmental groups announced in December that they are suing his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to curb global warming. The lawsuit by the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) charges the EPA with violating the 1977 Clean Air Act by failing to limit air pollution caused by automobiles that "may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare." (Jim Lobe, Third World Network Features/Inter Press Service, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2003)

2002:

Court Orders Bush Administration Must Give Trade Documents to the Public - A U.S. District Court today ordered the Bush administration to make public documents by revealing U.S. and foreign government positions in trade negotiations with potential impacts on domestic public health, labor, and environmental laws. (Earthjustice, Public Citizen, FOE and CIEL, 19 Dec. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Challenges to trade unions [Nigeria] -...the General Secretary of the NLC [Nigeria Labour Congress], Comrade John Odah, in his paper titled, "A module on AIDS and the Workplace," on how unionists should tackle the issue of HIV/AIDS, regretted that Trade Unions in Nigeria have done little or nothing to assist in the campaign against HIV/AIDS. (Chioma Obinna, Vanguard [Nigeria], 17 Dec. 2002)

DRUGS: Access Must Not Harm World Trade, WTO Head Says - "...if we fail to protect the patents of entrepreneurs who channel billions of dollars into developing new drugs, our hopes of finding lifesaving medication for currently untreatable ailments will be dashed," he [WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi] said (UN Wire, 16 Dec. 2002)

EYESIGHT: Deals Could Bring 10 Million Pairs Of "Adaptive Glasses" To Africa -...Silver [Oxford physics professor Joshua Silver] plans to sell up to 400,000 adaptive glasses in Ghana through his company, Adaptive Eyecare, in a deal with the WHO and World Bank. Another deal, for 9.3 million pairs for South Africa, is in the works. (UN Wire, 16 Dec. 2002)

Lawyer: U.S. Firms Ordered to Pay $490M - A Nicaraguan judge has ordered three U.S. companies to pay $490 million to 583 banana workers allegedly affected by the use of the pesticide Nemagon, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said Saturday. The alleged victims sued Dow Chemical, Shell Oil Co. and Standard Fruit Co. in 1998 for using Nemagon in the banana fields of western Nicaragua - despite the fact that the chemical had been banned for causing health problems. (Associated Press, 14 Dec. 2002)

US study links chemical to sperm damage - Everyday exposure to a chemical ingredient [phthalates] used to preserve many cosmetics and fragrances may contribute to sperm damage in adult men, according to a study published. (Laura MacInnis, Reuters, 11 Dec. 2002)

Air pollution damages across generations - study - Air pollution from steel mills causes genetic damage that fathers can pass to the next generation, researchers in Canada reported. (Maggie Fox, Reuters, 11 Dec. 2002)

Boycott Coke to press for action on HIV - CUPE is joining an international coalition of activists in a boycott of all Coca-Cola products. The action is aimed at getting the company to pay for HIV drugs and treatment for workers in Africa living with HIV among the 100,000 people who bottle and distribute Coke – not just the company’s so-called ’direct workforce’ of 1500 people. (CUPE - Canadian Union of Public Employees, 10 Dec. 2002)

27 Coal Miners Killed and Families Held in Isolation in Jilin Province [China] (China Labour Bulletin, 10 Dec. 2002)

Safe, secure drinking water is a human right: UN - For the first time United Nations Committee has declared formally that "safe and secure drinking water is a human right". (The Times of India, 7 Dec. 2002)

Lingering relics of the apartheid era will be shafted [South Africa] - South Africa's migrant labour system and single-sex hostels are among the few remaining relics of the apartheid era...The socioeconomic focus of the mining charter forces mining companies to tackle employee living conditions head on by making it a condition of awarding or renewing licences under the new regime. (Sherilee Bridge, Business Report [South Africa], 6 Dec. 2002)

Farmers complying with inspections [South Africa] - Only a few South African farmers are preventing labour department inspectors from accessing their farms...He [Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana] emphasised that the government would ensure that all farmers implemented and were compliant with the relevant labour legislation. (Business Day [South Africa], 6 Dec. 2002)

Safety should not be a barrier to disabled workers [UK] - Workplace health and safety risks should never be used as an excuse for not employing disabled people...Despite the legal protection of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, measures designed to protect staff from harm are often wrongly used in a way that discriminates against disabled people and excludes them from the workplace. (Trades Union Congress, 6 Dec. 2002)

Company convicted after worker is left paralysed [New Zealand] - Company convicted after worker is left paralysed -...Brian Ross Contractors Ltd was fined on a number of charges under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. (Occupational Safety And Health, 6 Dec. 2002)

Panel votes to ban perc: Dry cleaners target of action [USA] - Southern California air-quality officials voted on Friday to impose the nation's first ban of the most commonly used dry cleaning solvent due to health concerns. (Los Angeles Daily News, 6 Dec. 2002)

Mandela launches new South African AIDS drug campaign -...The programme will seek to negotiate cheaper drug prices from big pharmaceutical firms. (Andrew Quinn, Reuters, 6 Dec. 2002)

Global Funds Tell Union Carbide To Settle Bhopal Gas Leak Claims - A group of international investor funds which includes Trillium Asset Management, Domini Social Investments and the Calvert Group (together managing a combined asset value of $13 billion) have advised Union Carbide to settle claims of economic, health and environmental liabilities of over $500 million (Rs 2,500 crore) stemming out of the Bhopal gas leak...A letter has been sent jointly by a group of funds to the Dow Chemical Company, which took over Union Carbide in 2001 along with all its assets and liabilities. (Ajay Jain, Financial Express [India], 5 Dec. 2002)

Negligence caused Bhopal disaster: Report - Negligence by Union Carbide and not sabotage was responsible for the Bhopal gas disaster, the British journal New Scientist said on Thursday basing its conclusion on documents just released in the United States. (Times of India, 5 Dec. 2002)

PERU: $5 Million IDB Loan To Fund Monitoring Of Natural Gas Project - The Inter-American Development Bank said yesterday it has approved a $5 million loan to Peru to strengthen hydrocarbon safeguards, particularly in relation to the country's Camisea natural gas project. The loan is meant to help Peru monitor the Camisea plan's impact and other social and environmental measures...Preventative health care for native communities is also planned. (UN Wire, 5 Dec. 2002)

Swiss want big Syngenta chemical on UN control list - The Swiss government wants a top selling chemical from Syngenta AG, the world's biggest agro-chemical maker, put on a list of products the United Nations is seeking to have tightly regulated. The substance, paraquat, is already banned in some countries and is contained in the Syngenta product Gramoxone. (Jon Cox, Reuters, 5 Dec. 2002)

Fresh evidence on Bhopal disaster - The company that built and owned the Bhopal chemical plant in India [Union Carbide, acquired by Dow Chemical in 2001] cut crucial corners in its design, documents just released in the US suggest. (Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist, 4 Dec. 2002)

CHILD LABOR: ILO Official Calls For More Efforts In Central America -...During his visit to Guatemala, director of the ILO's International Program on the Eradication of Child Labor Frans Roselaers cited various programs already working in the region to benefit children who work in dangerous conditions, such as firework factories, quarries, agricultural labor that involves direct contact with insecticides and pesticides, domestic labor and sexual exploitation (UN Wire, 4 Dec. 2002)

RIVER BLINDNESS: WHO Ending West African Program, Claiming Success -...Initially, the control program focused on spraying of larvicide to kill black flies, but in 1988, it began distributing the anti-parasite drug ivermectin, which Merck offered free of charge. (UN Wire, 4 Dec. 2002)

Dow Chemicals asked to clean up toxic waste in Bhopal [India] - Nearly 300 people held a demonstration outside the headquarters of Dow Chemicals at Corporate Park, Chembur, yesterday in view of the 18th anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster, known as the Bhopal gas tragedy...Dow Chemicals acquired Union Carbide in February 2001. (Hemal Ashar, Yahoo India News, 3 Dec. 2002)

TOBACCO: EU Health Ministers Ban Tobacco Ads - European Union health ministers yesterday decided to prohibit tobacco advertising on the radio, in newspapers and magazines and on the Internet by 2005 and in Europe-wide sporting events -- such as Formula One car races and soccer championships -- by 2006. The new ban aims to cut smoking-related diseases and prevent tobacco companies from luring new smokers to replace the 500,000 Europeans who die each year from smoking-related diseases. (UN Wire, 3 Dec. 2002)

Unions to fight work law changes [Victoria, Australia] - The Bracks Government faces a showdown with unions over its plan to water down industrial manslaughter laws, removing fines and jail terms for employers. (Stefanie Balogh and Alison Crosweller, The Australian, 3 Dec. 2002)

Book on harassment hot item [Canada] - Union sending guide [about violence and sexual harassment in the workplace] to second printing - CSN [Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux] says 'extraordinary best-seller' is evidence of how widespread problems on job can be (Ann Carroll, Montreal Gazette, 2 Dec. 2002)

Declaration by unions challenges state, business [South Africa] - Three of South Africa’s largest union federations have drafted a declaration to challenge government and private employers to do more to fight HIV/Aids, and to refrain from discriminating against HIV-positive employees. (Herald [South Africa], 2 Dec. 2002)

South Africa to introduce minimum wages for farm workers - The government announced Monday that it would set minimum wages for farm laborers as from next year, saying the measure was necessary to protect one of the country's most exploited groups of workers...A recent study into working conditions on farms found that laborers had the lowest literacy rates in the country and that women were usually paid less and enjoyed fewer benefits than men. (Associated Press, 2 Dec. 2002)

Workers' safety to be boosted [South Africa] - Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana has resolved to increase the protection of workers through advocacy and rigorous enforcement of occupational health and safety regulations...This follows the closing down of several firms and the issuing of prohibition orders to others after raids by labour department inspectors revealed widespread contravention of health and safety regulations. (Business Day [South Africa], 2 Dec. 2002)

Factory fire: Labour dept also to blame [South Africa] - The labour department also had to share the blame for the tragic loss of 11 lives in a factory fire in Lenasia two years ago, a Johannesburg magistrate said on Monday. Lenasia regional court magistrate Caren Nienaber imposed fines on the owner of ESS Chemicals, Suleman Lachporia (45) and his manager Nezahuddin Ahmod (32). (South African Press Association, 2 Dec. 2002)

Japan orders nuclear reactor closed for false data - Japan's Trade Ministry will order a one-year suspension of a nuclear reactor operated by the nation's largest power utility, Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc (TEPCO) (9501.T), last week to punish it for falsifying data. (Reuters, 2 Dec. 2002)

Unions call for election pay-off [Victoria, Australia] - Unions want a second Bracks Government [Victoria, Australia] to deliver more public service jobs and industrial manslaughter laws. (Nicola Webber, Herald Sun [Australia], 2 Dec. 2002)

press release: Access to essential drugs may be undermined by global patent agreement -...The Panos Report, Patents, Pills and Public Health: can TRIPS deliver? warns that patent legislation is not being debated widely enough in most developing countries, and the process of introducing it needs to be more consultative and transparent. (Panos Institute, 1 Dec. 2002)

Report: Gender & Codes - If You Want to Help Us Then Start Listening to Us! From Factories and Plantations in Central America, Women Speak out about Corporate Responsibility -...for this study we focus on women workers in Nicaragua, in two sectors - clothing factories and banana plantations...Across Central America women workers have organised, calling on companies to address their concerns, including health and safety, discrimination, sexual harassment, low salaries, long working hours, freedom of association and right to collective bargaining, especially given weak enforcement of national and international labour legislation. (Marina Prieto and Jem Bendell, New Academy of Business, Dec. 2002)

Industrialised North Puts Brakes on WTO Medicine Accord - Negotiators at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) failed Friday to reach an agreement to ensure poor countries access to essential medicines. Health activists blame the fiasco on opposition from the United States and a handful of other industrialised countries. (Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service, 29 Nov. 2002)

CCA Welcomes HSE Support for the Retention of Inquests into Work-Related Deaths [UK] - The Health and Safety Executive has criticised the proposal by the Coroner’s Review Team to remove the legal requirement to hold an inquest into a work-related death (Centre for Corporate Accountability, 29 Nov. 2002)

Striking Vietnamese 'hit with bars' - At least four Vietnamese men have been taken to hospital after a group of factory managers allegedly attacked striking workers with metal bars...The general manager of the Taiwanese-owned furniture factory, Chen Chung Hoan, has apologised and promised to rectify the breaches of labour law within a fortnight. (Clare Arthurs, BBC News, 29 Nov. 2002)

UN Consecrates Water As Public Good, Human Right - The United Nations Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights issued a statement Wednesday declaring access to water a human right and stating that water is a social and cultural good, not merely an economic commodity. (Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service, 28 Nov. 2002) 

Tobacco: An enormous threat to development - The development community must recognize the enormous threat to human health, life and sustainable development posed by tobacco use and consider it a high priority on the development agenda. (International Development Research Centre, 27 Nov. 2002)

Timber workers urged to take care over arsenic - Timber workers are being urged to make sure that their employers meet all health and safety requirements as concern grows over the use of arsenic in timber treatment [New Zealand]. (EPMU - New Zealand Amalgamated Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, 27 Nov. 2002)

Employees deafened at work need more government help [UK] (Trades Union Congress, 27 Nov. 2002)

WATER: U.N. Issues General Comment On Right To Water - The U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued a "general comment" yesterday on the right to water, stressing that water is a limited natural resource and a public commodity fundamental to life and health. (UN Wire, 27 Nov. 2002)

TOXIC SUBSTANCES: Countries Discuss More Public Access To Information - European, Central Asian and North American negotiators began weeklong talks in Geneva Monday to finalize an international pact on the public's right to information about chemical waste and toxic pollutants in the environment, Reuters reports. (UN Wire, 27 Nov. 2002)

Unions want 'death' database [Australia] - The Australian Workers Union (AWU) will continue its push for a national coronial database..."Each year, 2,900 Australians die of work-related diseases and injuries,"..."A national coronial database can help us cut that number by detecting badly-designed machinery, chemical exposures and other factors that kill workers." (AAP, 26 Nov. 2002)

Smoking stubbed out at Philip Morris [Australia] -...Smoking in every [Philip Morris] office nationwide was banned from September 16 with smokers shunted into ventilated indoor smoking rooms. (Jen Kelly, Herald Sun [Australia], 26 Nov. 2002)

Water: Is the cup half full or half empty? Depends on who owns the cup. -...Water is not a commodity. It is a basic human right. (Blaine Townsend, Trillium Asset Management, 25 Nov. 2002)

Asbestos-related diseases 'rising' [Australia] -...Asbestos-related diseases affect people who have worked in asbestos factories, in the construction industries, on the waterfront, at sea or just doing home renovations. (Kelly Nicholls, AAP, 25 Nov. 2002)

RODDICK: It's the Real Thing -- Thievery and Corruption [India] -...Coca-Cola is anything but a savior to the indigenous people (Adivasis) and members of the oppressed castes (Dalits) around Kerala. To them, Coca-Cola Corp. is a thief operating with impunity, polluting their land, killing their crops, stealing their water and then selling it back to them as fizzy sugar drinks, and ironically, bottled water. (Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, AlterNet, 25 Nov. 2002)

Gencor denies it employed asbestos claimants [South Africa] (Ronnie Morris, Business Report, 25 Nov. 2002)

Cheap products' human cost - China's success in the PC revolution lies in its mostly young and low-wage workers, who put in stunning amounts of overtime -...With its estimated 100 million migrant workers and its notoriety for low wages and lax enforcement of labor and environmental laws, China is fast becoming the world's premier electronic workshop...Pilla [a Microsoft spokesman] said Microsoft plans to monitor compliance with labor standards as part of routine quality audits of its contractor factories. [also refers to Dell, Flextronics, Seagate] (Karl Schoenberger, San Jose Mercury News, 24 Nov. 2002)

ELECTRONIC WASTE: Asian Summit Examines Threats To Health, Safety (UN Wire, 22 Nov. 2002)

Action pledged on work deaths [Australia] - Moves to cut deaths in the workplace by 20 per cent over the next 10 years have been announced by the New South Wales government (AAP, 22 Nov. 2002)

Gencor opposes class action as 37 seek payment for asbestos-related diseases [South Africa] - SA MINING company, Gencor, has contested the basis for a class action in SA. (Business Day [South Africa], 22 Nov. 2002)

Are Big Macs hazardous to children's health? Lawyers have filed a class-action lawsuit against McDonald's on behalf of New York children who have suffered health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. (Associated Press, 21 Nov. 2002)

Gap hit by 'sweatshop' protests - Gap is being targeted by activists who are telling Christmas shoppers that the struggling multi-national clothes retailer is encouraging the exploitation of workers. Gap workers from Indonesia, Lesotho and El Salvador were presented at a press conference in Manhattan to describe how they were paid very little to work long hours making Gap clothes in factories full of health hazards and brutal working conditions. (BBC News, 21 Nov. 2002)

Worker who was sucked into conveyor belt dies [South Africa] - A worker sucked into a conveyor belt on Tuesday at an Epping factory [South African Metal] in Cape Town has lost an overnight battle for life. (Judy Damon, Cape Times, 21 Nov. 2002)

HEPATITIS: U.N.-Backed Vaccine Initiative Reaches 10.5 Million Children -...There is clear evidence, the report said, that a public-private alliance along with significant backing from GAVI's financing branch, the Vaccine Fund, could create new interest in vaccines for the poorest countries. (UN Wire, 21 Nov. 2002)

TOBACCO: European Parliament Approves Advertising Ban (UN Wire, 21 Nov. 2002)

VACCINES: U.N. Calls For More Investment, Cheaper Products - Immunizations are saving 3 million lives a year but could save 3 million more with more investment and less expensive vaccines, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Bank said today in a report (UN Wire, 20 Nov. 2002)

California's Health, Labor and Business Leaders Confirm 8-Year Success of Smoke-Free Workplaces (Business Wire, 20 Nov. 2002)

New Findings In Malaria Vaccine Development Announced At International Malaria Conference (Malaria Vaccine Initiative, 19 Nov. 2002)

Toughening up on workplace safety [Australia] - More Australians die at work than die on Australia's roads...The community is often unaware of the issue of workplace safety and the need to provide legislation to promote it. (Katy Gallagher, Canberra Times, 19 Nov. 2002)

Asbestos victims seek court nod for class action against Gencor [South Africa] - The Johannesburg high court will be asked tomorrow to recognise the right of people suffering from asbestos-related diseases to bring a class action for damages against Gencor, the investment holding company. [refers also to Cape plc] (Ronnie Morris, Business Report [South Africa], 18 Nov. 2002)

Union bails out exploited sailors - An international union investigation of sub-standard pay and conditions affecting seamen on foreign ships trading in Australian waters has netted close to 20 offenders. (AAP, in Herald Sun [Australia], 18 Nov. 2002)

Foreign firms must put safety first, says OWTU [Oilfields Workers Trade Union] [Trinidad & Tobago] - All foreign companies wishing to do business in Trinidad and Tobago should be mandated to adhere to international health, safety and environmental (HSE) laws before they are given work permits to operate here. (Cheryl Ann Chaitoo-Bernard, Trinidad Express, 18 Nov. 2002)

Road Worksites Must Be Safer: AWU [Australia] - The Australian Workers' Union is calling for tougher measures on Victorian road worksites after two AWU members were injured, one critically, in a traffic incident on Friday. (Labor Council of New South Wales, LaborNET, 18 Nov. 2002)

PACE International Union Seeks Injunction to Allow Union's Investigation of Fatality at Graphic Packaging Facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan [USA] (PACE International Union, 18 Nov. 2002)

Gold mines account for 64% of SA [South Africa] mine deaths (SAPA, 14 Nov. 2002)

Claimants set to pursue Gencor in UK [UK/South Africa] -...Lawyers for the claimants are apparently re-opening the case because Cape plc failed to pay the first tranche of the settlement on the due date. Gencor has denied any liability arising from claims by asbestos miners (Business Day [South Africa], 14 Nov. 2002)

Economists again call for safety inspection of ammunition factories [South Africa] - Economists Allied for Arms Reduction (ECAAR-SA) on Wednesday again called for a thorough safety and health inspection of factories owned by weapons manufacturer Denel. (SAPA, 13 Nov. 2002)

Fatal flaws in ill-fated water tower [Australia] -...The Daily Telegraph has learned that investigators inquiring into the accident that killed two workers and put three others in hospital have documentation that shows South African sub-contractor BGA imported sub-standard scaffolding for the job. (Ben English, Daily Telegraph [Australia], 13 Nov. 2002)

Teenage Workers Don’t Need to Die [New Zealand] - “The pitiful fine of $15,000 awarded against a rubbish collection firm [Street Smart] for failing to ensure the safety of a teenage worker highlights the need for tougher workplace health and safety law,’ said Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson today. (New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, 13 Nov. 2002)

ITF condemn P&O ban of inspector from 'Ships of Shame' [Australia] - The International Transport Federation (ITF) today condemned the banning of its Australian-based coordinator, Dean Summers, from foreign-registered Ships of Shame berthed at P&O docks. The Maritime Union of Australia called on P&O to immediately lift the ban on the ITF inspector and allow him to proceed unhindered in his inspection of ships...In the past, these inspections have uncovered cases of gross underpayment of crews and exposed some shocking cases of dangerous rust-bucket flag of convenience vessels described as floating time bombs. (Maritime Union of Australia, 12 Nov. 2002)

Investing in Africa, challenges and initiatives - Alex Blyth looks at the principal issues around western business investment in Africa and some of the companies that are attempting to improve their impact on the landscape and people of the continent [refers to Environment: TotalFinaElf in Nigeria; Palabora Mining Company (49% owned by Rio Tinto) in South Africa; Anglo American; DeBeers; Water & sanitation: Suez in Morocco & South Africa; Thames Water in Tanzania & South Africa; Education: ChevronTexaco in Nigeria; Old Mutual in South Africa; Barclays Africa; Economic development: Richards Bay Minerals (50% owned by Rio Tinto) in South Africa; HIV/AIDS:  Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland; DaimlerChrysler in South Africa; Coca-Cola]  (Alex Blyth, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 11 Nov. 2002)

NIGERIA: Oil Giant, UNDP Sign Development Accord For Volatile Niger Delta - U.S. oil giant ChevronTexaco today said it signed an agreement with the U.N. Development Program to assist Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region, which is the source of more than 90 percent of Nigeria's foreign earnings but one of its most underdeveloped and violent areas.  Chevron...will work with the UNDP on projects for health, education, agriculture and empowerment of youth and women (UN Wire, 11 Nov. 2002)

POLIO: Aventis Pasteur Gives U.N. 30 Million Vaccine Doses - Aventis Pasteur Friday donated 30 million doses of polio vaccine to help the World Health Organization and UNICEF immunize 60 million children against polio in 16 West African countries. (UN Wire, 11 Nov. 2002)

Replacement Worker's Inexperience May Have Led to Death [USA] - A worker at a [Graphic Packaging] paper mill in Kalamazoo died on the job this week, and now locked-out union members are wondering if his inexperience was a factor. (WXMI-TV [Grand Rapids, USA], 9 Nov. 2002)

A cost beyond dollar figures [New Zealand] - The huge human and financial cost of workplace accidents has been highlighted in a major Government study released yesterday. (Kevin Taylor, New Zealand Herald, 7 Nov. 2002)

Wilson wants brutal workplace safety message [New Zealand] - Labour Minister Margaret Wilson wants the impact - and $4 billion annual cost - of workplace injuries and deaths rammed home in road-crash style advertising. (Kevin Taylor and Mathew Dearnaley, New Zealand Herald, 7 Nov. 2002)

Investigation into steel mill accident [at Pacific Steel's Otahuhu mill site] focuses on safety barrier [New Zealand] (Mathew Dearnaley, New Zealand Herald, 6 Nov. 2002)

Anglo American to foot bulk of mining Aids bill [South Africa] - Anglo American...had effectively agreed to foot the lion's share of the local industry's bill to investigate the efficacy of antiretroviral drugs given to miners with HIV/Aids, it emerged yesterday. (Sherilee Bridge, Business Report, 6 Nov. 2002)

Most employers feel vulnerable to being sued for causing stress [UK] - More than 80 per cent of employers feel vulnerable to being sued for causing workplace stress, even though a landmark appeal court decision has strengthened their legal defences. (Bob Sherwood, Financial Times, 6 Nov. 2002)

Union [Northern Territory branch of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union] backs smoking ban in clubs and pubs [Australia] - The union has joined health groups and others in a push to ban smoking in such venues Australia-wide by the end of 2003. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 6 Nov. 2002)

Labour inspectors shut down factory [South Africa] - Labour inspectors stopped operations at a plastics manufacturer in Ga-Rankhuwa, north-west of Pretoria, on Tuesday because of unsafe working conditions. (South African Press Association, 5 Nov. 2002)

Rand Water pours R20m into Aids fight [South Africa] - Rand Water, the country's largest water utility, is spending about R20 million this year to fight the HIV/Aids epidemic among its workforce. (Khulu Phasiwe, Business Report [South Africa], 5 Nov. 2002)

NI-Lithuanian labour trafficking exposed  [UK/Lithuania] - Hundreds of workers are being brought in from Eastern Europe to work on Northern Ireland farms in harsh conditions on false promises of high pay (BBC News, 5 Nov. 2002)

Asbestos litigation overwhelms courts [USA] -...Not enough of the money is getting into the hands of people who have suffered, said Mickey Kilbane, a Cleveland asbestos worker critical of corporate bankruptcies and fat lawyer fees. (Stephen Hudak & John F. Hagan, Plain Dealer [USA], 5 Nov. 2002)

Tiered pricing alone is not enough - Oxfam welcomes the [European] Commission’s initiative to help reduce the price of essential medicines for developing countries. This must now be coupled with fundamental reform of global patent rules which are preventing poor people getting access to the cheapest possible medicines...Oxfam believe that the Commission’s decision to limit the scope to just HIV, TB and Malaria and to the very poorest countries in the world could result in terrible development outcomes. (Oxfam, 4 Nov. 2002)

New Code of Conduct on Pesticides adopted - A revised 'International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides' should significantly reduce the threats posed by agro-chemicals in developing countries. (U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization [FAO], 4 Nov. 2002)

CHILD LABOR: At Least 300,000 Children Working In Colombian Mines - At least 300,000 children as young as 5 are working in Colombian mines, risking contraction of respiratory disease and other respiratory ailments (UN Wire, 31 Oct. 2002)

Job Exposure Linked to Many Cases of Lung Disease - Nearly 1 in 5 cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)...can be attributed to on-the-job exposures, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health...The investigators found that COPD was twice as common in blue-collar industries such as rubber, plastic, and leather manufacturing; utilities; office building services; textile mill products manufacturing; the armed forces; and food products manufacturing than in white-collar industries...As for specific jobs, the risk was elevated in freight, stock and material handlers, records processing and distribution clerks (which includes mail handlers); sales; transportation-related occupations; machine operators; construction trades and waitresses. (Keith Mulvihill, Reuters, 31 Oct. 2002)

Japan carmakers off hook in landmark pollution suit - A Japanese court yesterday ordered the central and Tokyo city governments to pay compensation for health problems caused by diesel exhaust fumes but rejected a demand that vehicle makers be made to pay as well. (Elaine Lies, Reuters, 30 Oct. 2002)

Government and business join in tackling poverty in South Africa -...The summit marked the first time the private sector has become a partner in dealing with poverty. Business has previously participated in social responsibility projects, but with this initiative it is working with government on designing a strategy that aims to quicken poverty reduction and action against HIV/AIDS. (U.N. Development Programme, 30 Oct. 2002)

Ex-steel worker wins £500,000 damages [UK] - Christopher Simmons injured his head on a metal stanchion after falling while working as a burner at British Steel's Clyde Bridge Works in Cambuslang more than six years ago. (BBC News, 29 Oct. 2002)

Former gold miners show high level of lung disease [South Africa] (Ronnie Morris, Business Report [South Africa], 29 Oct. 2002)

Asbestos victims' lawyers carry costs - UK-based company Cape plc reneged on more than just the settlement agreement it had with 7500 SA [South Africa] victims suffering from asbestos-related disease, says London lawyer for the claimants Richard Meeran. Cape plc failed to pay more than £50000, being the costs of a medical review of the claimants, until forced to do after a judgment was obtained against the company. The £20000 in expenses incurred in setting up a trust fund in SA are still outstanding. (Business Day [South Africa], 28 Oct. 2002)

China mine blast death toll reported to hit 36 (Reuters, 27 Oct. 2002)

TUC wants what Australian safety reps have got - the power to make workplaces safer [UK] (Trades Union Congress [UK], 26 Oct. 2002)

Nike, Adidas, Reebok and New Balance Made in China [working conditions and labour rights abuses] (Li Qiang, China Labor Watch, 25 Oct. 2002)

ICFTU Report Denounces Massive Child Labour and Deteriorating Workers’ Rights in Zambia -...children are still toiling in even the worst forms of child labour such as small scale mining operations, agriculture and stone crushing...a deteriorating situation as regards violation of basic workers’ rights in the private sector, including by multinationals...Women are severely disadvantaged....Zambians...infected [with HIV-AIDS] face discrimination in employment as a result of their condition. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 25 Oct. 2002)

Tobacco Companies Pressed to Halt Youth Smoking Prevention Campaigns - The world's leading cancer, heart, and lung associations have called on the major tobacco companies [including Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, and Japan Tobacco International] to immediately halt their youth anti-smoking campaigns which they said not only have failed to reduce smoking but may actually be encouraging young people to smoke. (Jim Lobe, OneWorld US, 25 Oct. 2002)

Negligent Bosses Labelled ‘Serial Killers’ [Australia] - The push for a national database of workplace deaths is gathering pace, with one union leader equating repeat employer offenders as the equivalent to ‘serial killers’. (Workers Online, Labor Council of New South Wales, 25 Oct. 2002)

Bayer says no plan to test pesticides on humans - Germany's Bayer AG said yesterday it wanted to be able to use data collected by testing pesticides on humans but was not seeking to revive the trials which are currently banned in the United States. (Reuters, 25 Oct. 2002)

Greenpeace Challenges Dow Chemicals to Clean up site of world's worst industrial disaster - Guidelines for Clean up delivered to multinational chemical giant -...The waste was abandoned by Union Carbide (now Dow Chemicals) after an explosion at its pesticide plant in Bhopal, India left 8,000 dead and half a million injured. (Greenpeace, 24 Oct. 2002)

Blacks hurt more by power plant pollution - US study - Blacks are more likely than whites to live near areas polluted by power plants and suffer adverse health consequences as a result, civil rights and environmental activists said yesterday. (Karen Jacobs, Reuters, 24 Oct. 2002)

US, Solutia revise deal for faster PCBs clean up [USA] - The clean up of dangerous PCB chemicals from a former Monsanto Co. plant in Alabama will begin two years sooner than previously planned as part of a revised settlement...The revised terms of the settlement, which also involves Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia Corp., call for the Environmental Protection Agency instead of the companies to assess the risk to human health from the contaminated site (Reuters, 24 Oct. 2002)

California smog agency seeks ban on dry clean chemical - Southern California's clean air agency has proposed the nation's first ban on a toxic chemical used in dry cleaning that officials say makes the cleaners a greater cancer risk than oil refineries or power plants. (Reuters, 24 Oct. 2002) 

Methanex to file new NAFTA case on Calif MTBE ban (Allan Dowd, Reuters, 23 Oct. 2002)

Harrowing tales prompt probe by dept: Lost limbs, depleted lungs and lifetime illnesses lead to visit to Denel plants [South Africa] - Harrowing reports of lost limbs, depleted lungs and lifetime illnesses from workers at two of the government-owned arms company Denel's plants near Cape Town have prompted Parliament's portfolio committee on Defence to visit the plants "within a week" and to demand a probe by the Department of Labour. (Sue Segar, Natal Witness, 23 Oct. 2002) 

Corus admits blast blame [UK] - Steel giant Corus has admitted civil liability for an explosion which killed three workers at a south Wales plant last year. (BBC News, 23 Oct. 2002)

CHILD LABOR: Activists Seek Preventive Action In Nicaragua, Ecuador - Human Rights Watch Investigates Child Labor Issues In Ecuador (UN Wire, 22 Oct. 2002)

Mining diseases 'too high' [South Africa] - The burden of disease resulting from working in mines is unacceptably high in South Africa, Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Tuesday...she said about 25 000 compensation applications were made each year for occupational lung diseases resulting from working in mines. (SAPA, 22 Oct. 2002)

US Extremism Threatens to Derail World’s First Public Health Treaty - NGOs Urge Negotiators to Resist US Attempts to Dramatically Weaken Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Consider US Track Record of Not Signing onto International Agreements -...“The US is putting all of its political muscle into blocking the progress of the overwhelming majority of countries-in effect, doing Philip Morris’s dirty work..." (Infact, 22 Oct. 2002)

CHEMICALS: "Gender-Benders" In Small Amounts Said To Alter Child Behavior - New research indicates even small amounts of so-called "gender bender" chemicals can cause preschool children to switch their traditional gender roles...Although the chemicals have been banned in industrialized countries, nearly 1.5 million metric tons of PCBs contained in paint, plastics and other materials are said to have been spread around the world, persisting in the environment and in body fat. (UN Wire, 22 Oct. 2002)

Belgian Explosion Kills at Least 2 - A gas explosion at a steel factory in eastern Belgium killed two workers and injured at least 13 others Tuesday...The plant...is owned by France's Usinor SA group, which is part of Newco, the world's largest steel company. (AP, 22 Oct. 2002)

Unions call for united effort on health and safety law [New Zealand] (NZPA, 22 Oct. 2002)

Law to make work stress a hazard [New Zealand] - Employers will soon be required to guard against stress and fatigue in their workers. (New Zealand Herald, 22 Oct. 2002)

Glamis Gold unit hit by Honduras protest - Several hundred residents of a Honduran town last week protested against an open-pit mine run by a unit of Canada's Glamis Gold Ltd., saying it was damaging their environment...They said the open-pit mine was destroying their forests, and threatening local water supplies. (Reuters, 21 Oct. 2002)

POLLUTION: European Studies Target Health Implications - Two European studies published over the weekend in The Lancet emphasized the damaging effects of air pollution -- particularly that caused by the burning of coal -- on the heart and lungs, intensifying concern about the health of residents of smoggy, coal-dependent Asian behemoths China and India. (UN Wire, 21 Oct. 2002)

COSATU welcomes crackdown [South Africa] - The Congress of SA Trade Unions on Monday welcomed the order by the Department of Labour to close part of the Bresmen factory in Durban and the inspection of the Foskor fertiliser company in Richard's Bay. Spokesman Vukani Mde said that a spate of recent incidents in which workers had been injured confirmed Cosatu's view that many employers regarded workers' health, safety and even lives as expendable. (SAPA, 21 Oct. 2002)

Mine deaths [at the Loxton Exploration diamond mine] shock rescuers [South Africa] (Jeanne-Marié Versluis, Volksblad, 18 Oct. 2002) 

AIDS Activists Mobilize against Coca-Cola - AIDS activists are preparing rallies and demonstrations Thursday in several cities around the world to protest against global soft-drink giant Coca-Cola, which they charge must do more to help and treat its HIV-infected workers and their families in sub-Saharan Africa. (Jim Lobe, OneWorld US, 17 Oct. 2002) 

TOBACCO: WHO Says Annual Death Toll To Reach 8.4 Million By 2020 (UN Wire, 16 Oct. 2002) 

Toxic clean-up programme in Africa receives international funding support - WWF, the conservation organization, applauds the decision by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to endorse the Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP), which aims to clean-up and safely dispose of over 50,000 tonnes of obsolete pesticide waste stockpiled throughout Africa. (WWF International, 16 Oct. 2002) 

Cape avoids justice again - ACTSA [Action for Southern Africa] campaigners protested today outside the Royal Courts of Justice to express their outrage and disappointment at the collapse of the out-of-court settlement between Cape Plc and the 7,500 South African asbestos claimants, which was made last December. (ACTSA - Action for Southern Africa, 15 Oct. 2002) 

Women’s Health a Special Concern at Regional Migrant Workers Conference in Bangladesh -...attendees were especially concerned about the particular risks faced by female migrant workers, including sexual abuse by employers, diseases such as AIDS and forced or illegal abortions. Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand were criticized for subjecting migrant workers to mandatory AIDS tests and immediately deporting workers found to be positive. Singapore and Malaysia also automatically deport migrant workers found to be pregnant. Other issues addressed at the conference included low pay, dangerous working conditions and inadequate access to health care. (BSR [Business for Social Responsibility] News Monitor summary of 11 Oct. 2002 article from Inter Press Service, 16 Oct. 2002)

Gencor mum on asbestos case [South Africa] - Gencor, the mining holding company, said that until it had papers served upon it in South Africa, it had no comment on the decision by the English High Court to include Gencor as a co-defendant in the asbestos case of Cape plc, the UK building materials company. (Justin Brown, Business Day [South Africa], 16 Oct. 2002)

Mining sector should extend worker care' [South Africa]: Health committee hears submissions - Mining houses could soon be forced to accept financial responsibility for the health costs of workers for up to two years after they leave their employment as opposed to the current six months if they have contracted a disease for which compensation can be claimed, a parliamentary committee heard yesterday. (Business Day [South Africa], 16 Oct. 2002)

Company fined after worker falls to his death [New Zealand] - Donaghys Industries Limited was fined $15,000 in the Christchurch District Court today after an accident this year. An employee was killed when he fell from the platform area of the knitting machine he was working on. (Scoop, 16 Oct. 2002)

International Tobacco Treaty: Public Health Advocates Face an Uphill Battle: How Bad Does it Have to be Before it's Worse than Nothing? -...Not surprisingly the tobacco industry and its client states such as Germany, Japan and the United States have been doing as much as they can to delay, dissipate and divert any measures that look as though they may be effective. [refers to Philip Morris, BAT - British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International] (Clive Bates, Director of ASH - Action on Smoking and Health [UK], special to CorpWatch, 15 Oct. 2002)

“Fatigue kills”: international day of action for road transport workers - On 15 October the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is holding a day of action to increase public awareness of the terrible working conditions of many road transport workers throughout the world. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 15 Oct. 2002)

Ikorodu Factory Fire: Judicial Panel Inaugurated [Nigeria] - A panel of inquiry to look into the September 16, Ikorodu rubber factory fire disaster, with a view to unraveling the cause and preventing a reoccurrence, has been inaugurated by the Lagos State government. (Tokunbo Adedoja, ThisDay News [Nigeria], 15 Oct. 2002)

TOBACCO: WHO Opens Treaty Talks With Revised Annual Death Toll - After revising its estimate of annual tobacco-related deaths worldwide from 4 million to 4.9 million, the World Health Organization today opened a two-week round of talks in Geneva on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, renewing its appeals for an advertising ban, stiff tax increases and tough restrictions on secondhand smoke as the best methods to reduce the death toll. (UN Wire, 15 Oct. 2002)

Florida workplace deaths rise [USA] - Workplace deaths increased in Florida in 2001 for the first time in three years, the state Department of Insurance reported Monday...Among the transportation-related deaths were 67 involving employees working in transportation and material-moving occupations such as truck drivers or industrial truck and tractor equipment operators. (Palm Beach Post, 15 Oct. 2002)

ILO, ADB join forces to improve labour standards, promote development - The International Labour Office (ILO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have joined forces to improve labour standards as a means of promoting development and reducing poverty in the Asia-Pacific region...The meeting recommended that Governments, the ADB and the ILO highlight labour standards in policy dialogue with governments; promote improved labour standards by designing projects, e.g., to address child labour, improve occupational safety, reduce discrimination at the workplace or eliminate bonded labour; strengthen monitoring of working conditions in the region... (International Labour Organization, 11 Oct. 2002)

GLOBAL FUND: UNAIDS, WHO Revise Figures, Say AIDS Fight Underfunded -...UNAIDS and WHO said substantial boosts in expenditures from all quarters -- governments, bilateral and multilateral agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector -- are urgently needed to keep pace with the epidemic's rapid expansion (UN Wire, 11 Oct. 2002)

Activists bring their complaints home to Taiwan - DISPUTE: US workers for plants owned by Taiwan's Koo's Group are angry and they have brought their grievances across the Pacific to Koo's doorstep - Hundreds of labor and environmental activists from 16 countries yesterday protested in front of the Taiwan Cement Corp building in Taipei to urge the Koo's Group to solve disputes involving one of its subsidiaries in the US. The protesters claim that Koo's Group's Continental Carbon Co violated environmental protection and labor rights laws [in USA] (Chiu Yu-Tzu, Taipei Times, 10 Oct. 2002)

US top court rejects appeal over cyanide poisoning - The U.S. Supreme Court let stand this week the conviction of an Idaho fertilizer company's owner and his 17-year prison sentence, the longest ever for an environmental crime, for improper disposal of hazardous cyanide waste that left an employee with permanent brain damage. (Reuters, 9 Oct. 2002) 

MINING: Intensive Shifts Could Raise Accident Rates, Says ILO - New, intensive labor practices in the mining industry could become a "poisoned chalice" of industrial accidents, according to an International Labor Organization study released yesterday. (UN Wire, 8 Oct. 2002)

Arsenic lawsuits get under US wood treaters' skin -...Walker is one of a growing number of consumers who blame U.S. wood products makers for injuries they received from wood treated with a compound containing arsenic, a known carcinogen...companies that have made or sold wood treated with the arsenic compound - including forest products heavyweights Georgia Pacific Corp. and Universal Forest Products Inc. - are becoming targets of a growing wave of litigation [also refers to Home Depot] (Nichola Groom, Reuters, 8 Oct. 2002)

Disney Pressed on Factory in Bangladesh -...The Campaign for the Abolition of Sweatshops and Child Labor...accused Disney of ending an eight-year relationship with Shah Makhdum garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh earlier this year. Coalition members claim Disney pulled out after workers publicly complained about poor working conditions. The company denies the allegations. Rahman described 14-hour days, seven-day work weeks and beatings if workers did not meet quotas..."  The women's demand is that Disney return to the factory immediately, but this time do it correctly (Associated Press, 8 Oct. 2002)

SA asbestos lawyers could face dilemma: Gencor may seek redress from Cape [South Africa] - Lawyers for the 7500 SA victims suffering from asbestos-related diseases will ask the British High Court next week to make Gencor a co-defendant in proceedings against UK-based company Cape plc. (Business Day [South Africa], 8 Oct. 2002)

Call For Safety On Job Bill [Barbados] (Latoya Burnham, Barbados Daily Nation, 8 Oct. 2002)

US green group says diesel soot is big cancer risk - Tiny soot particles emitted by diesel-fueled cars, trucks and construction equipment are a major contributor to the cancer risk from air pollution, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said. (Reuters, 7 Oct. 2002) 

Exelon settles worker discrimination case with NRC [USA] - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said last week it reached a settlement agreement with Exelon Nuclear Generation Co. in a discrimination case involving a former employee who raised concerns about safety at a nuclear power plant in Illinois. An NRC investigation found that an Exelon manager deliberately discriminated against the employee on Aug. 25, 2000, by not picking him for a new job. (Reuters, 7 Oct. 2002)

Dominican Republic: high-risk work in free trade zones and sugar cane plantations - In a new report produced for the WTO's review of trade policies of the Dominican Republic (7 to 9 October), the ICFTU denounces the serious infringements of workers’ human and trade union rights, particularly in the country’s free trade zones and sugar plantations. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 7 Oct. 2002)

Union wants safety standards in workplaces [Nigeria] - The Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria, has called on the Federal Governent to evolve a policy that would ensure the highest saftey standard in the work place. The call was made in a condolence message signed by the union’s secretary general, Solomon Onaghinon and sent to the president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and the families of the victims of the recent fire disaster which occured at the premises of the West African Rubber Products Company (WARPCO) (Winifred Igunbro, Daily Times [Nigeria], 7 Oct. 2002)

Justices turn away asbestos fight [USA] - The Supreme Court has refused again to get involved in a dispute over a giant asbestos trial in West Virginia that big corporations claimed could cost them millions. The court in September refused to stop the trial from starting and then said today it would not review arguments from Mobil Corp. and other large companies that the large trial was unconstitutional. (Associated Press, 7 Oct. 2002)

Workers demand smoke-free offices [UK] - Employees are six to one in favour of banning smoking at work, claims a group calling on the government to bring in new laws. (BBC News, 5 Oct. 2002)

Jury awards former smoker $28 billion in punitive damages [USA] - Philip Morris Inc. says it will ask a court to set aside or reduce a record $28 billion in punitive damages awarded to a cancer-stricken 64-year-old former smoker. (Gary Gentile, Associated Press, 5 Oct. 2002)

Casino staff in strike threat - Passive smoking fears may trigger a staff walk-out at Crown casino [Australia]. (Michael Warner, Herald Sun [Australia], 4 Oct. 2002)

GARMENT INDUSTRY: Bangladesh, ILO Seek Better Work Conditions - The International Labor Organization and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association have launched a $2.1 million program to improve working conditions in Bangladeshi garment factories...The program...will seek to promote occupational health and safety, improve human resource management and monitor the elimination of child labor. (UN Wire, 3 Oct. 2002)

Toxins put Arctic polar bears and humans at risk - The health of polar bears and the indigenous peoples of the Arctic is at serious risk from man-made toxins being carried there by air and sea, a new report showed yesterday. (Paul de Bendern, Reuters, 3 Oct. 2002)

'Heart and Soul' dramatizes HIV/AIDS and other issues for millions in Africa - The intertwined lives of two African families, one well-off and the other poorer, is the setting of "Heart and Soul," a prime-time television and radio soap opera that is bringing issues such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, human rights and development to a potential audience of 50 million to 75 million....Beiersdorf - Nivea (East Africa), the Coca Cola Africa Foundation and Western Union are private sector sponsors. (U.N. Development Programme, 3 Oct. 2002)

Iscor faces court action on pollution - A South African High Court has begun hearing an application by families seeking a court order to stop giant steel producer Iscor from allegedly polluting their underground water sources. (Reuters, 2 Oct. 2002)

End of the Road for Endosulfan: A call for action against a dangerous pesticide -...In this report, we present compelling evidence of the considerable threats the pesticide endosulfan poses to human health and environmental integrity...The chemical is out of patent and is marketed by many different companies and under a variety of names... (Environmental Justice Foundation, Oct. 2002)

Asbestos claim case takes new twist with Gencor: Workers to challenge company's unbundling [South Africa] - The case brought by 7500 SA mineworkers against UK multinational Cape plc took a new twist last Friday when London lawyers joined forces with SA lawyers to challenge the terms of Gencor's proposed unbundling.  Gencor's shareholders are scheduled to meet on Wednesday on whether or not to approve the proposal which provides R409m for the costs of defending asbestos claims, but no provision to compensate victims. (Business Day [South Africa], 30 Sep. 2002)

PESTICIDES: Countries Meet In Bonn To Review Controlled Chemicals List - Monocrotophos -- a highly toxic insecticide used in many developing countries in Asia and elsewhere to protect crops from pests -- could this week become the 32nd product subject to prior informed consent procedures under the Rotterdam Convention on pesticides and hazardous chemicals. (UN Wire, 30 Sep. 2002)

Boston Considers Full Ban on Workplace Smoking [USA] - Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has announced his support for a proposed ban on smoking in all Boston workplaces, including restaurants and bars. (HR Daily News, 27 Sep. 2002)

Japan aims to improve nuclear plant safety rules - A Japanese government agency drafted a set of measures yesterday aimed at preventing a recurrence of the falsification of nuclear power plant safety data that has deepened public distrust of the nuclear industry (Reuters, 27 Sep. 2002) 

Oxfam response to EC working document on Tiered Pricing -...Tiered Pricing is not enough [regarding access to medicines] (Oxfam, 26 Sep. 2002)

Coca-Cola extends AIDS coverage in Africa - Under fire from activists, The Coca-Cola Co. announced Thursday it was joining with its bottlers in Africa to extend AIDS health care coverage, including access to expensive drugs, to tens of thousands of workers. (Paul Geitner, AP, 26 Sep. 2002)

Analyis: Values-based supply chain management: Whose values, whose benefit? Toby Kent examines the effects of values-based supply chain management on agricultural producers and workers in developing economies. (Toby Kent, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 26 Sep. 2002)

More deaths at workplaces after job safety standards eased [South Korea] (Lee Moo-young, JoongAng Ilbo [South Korea], 26 Sep. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Commonwealth Forum Urges Businesses To Respond To Crisis (UN Wire, 25 Sep. 2002)

Perth construction sites closed - Perth construction sites were closed yesterday as 1000 building workers protested against what they say is the West Australian government's failure to ensure safety in the industry. (Liza Kappelle, AAP, 25 Sep. 2002)

Critical mines chief cops lash [Australia] -...Last Thursday the State Government released the report into 56-hour rosters in Tasmanian mines...The report came after a public outcry at the roster system's impact on both the health and safety of workers. (Luke Sayer, Mercury [Hobart, Australia], 24 Sep. 2002)

US groups to push for sweatshop reforms - US human rights and trade union groups will launch a campaign on Tuesday aimed at restricting US imports of goods made under sweatshop conditions. The effort aims to put political muscle behind what the groups say is the failure of many large US companies to abide by voluntary corporate codes of conduct that were supposed to improve working conditions in factories abroad that produce clothing, shoes and other goods for the US market. (Edward Alden, Financial Times, 23 Sep. 2002)

Adidas Sweats Over Third World Subcontractors Sweatshops -...In the past few years, however, the issue has crossed the Atlantic. Human rights leaders, trade unions, and religious groups have formed a loose alliance called the Clean Clothes Campaign and have begun attacking Adidas, Hennes & Mauritz AB, Benetton Group (Victoria Knight, Dow Jones, 23 Sep. 2002)

CHILD RIGHTS: U.N. Committee Examines Role Of Private Sector -...Committee Chairperson Jacob Egbert Doek said human rights committees and special rapporteurs are increasingly concerned about privatization of such basic services as health, water and education...it was recommended that governments retain sole responsibility in ensuring child rights, even if the private sector is involved in providing services...Speakers also said that state regulation of the private sector is needed; self-regulation by the private sector is insufficient (UN Wire, 23 Sep. 2002)

TEPCO acted improperly in 8 more reactor data cases [Japan] - Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc said it had acted improperly in another eight cases regarding the keeping of nuclear power plant safety records. (Reuters, 23 Sep. 2002)

The Human Cost of Coal Mining: Disaster at No. 5 Mine [USA] - In a barely noted tragedy a year ago, 13 men died when methane gas and coal dust exploded deep below the hills of Alabama. [regarding mine owned by Jim Walter Resources] (David Jackson, Chicago Tribune, 22 Sep. 2002)

Judge links US tobacco lawsuits - A federal court judge has unleashed an ambitious campaign against the US tobacco industry by certifying a nationwide punitive-damage class-action suit against several cigarette makers. (Jonathan Moules, Financial Times, 21 Sep. 2002)

Red tide threatens fisheries [Chile] -...it has spread northward, killing 19 people and making more than 500 extremely ill...research indicates that they have become more frequent off the coast of southern Chile because of wastewater discharges from coastal cities and ships and pollution from salmon farms. (Hugo Godoy León, Latinamerica Press, 20 Sep. 2002)

Lagos fire: Tinubu warns as head-count of victims begins [Nigeria] - Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos State, yesterday, warned the Management of Super Engineering Company, Ikorodu which went up in flames last Monday to desist from blaming the workers for the incident. About 120 workers were feared dead in the inferno. (Kenneth Ehigiator, Sina Babasola & Olasunkanmi Akoni, Vanguard [Nigeria], 20 Sep. 2002)

Aids lobbyists tackle drug giants [South Africa] -...AIDS activists lodged complaints against two pharmaceutical giants yesterday, accusing them of over-pricing their medicines and causing thousands of deaths. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) AIDS lobby group and others lodged the complaints against GlaxoSmithKline, which has its headquarters in Britain, and Boehringer Ingelheim, of Germany, with South Africa's Competition Commission.  (AFP, in Business Day [South Africa], 20 Sep. 2002)

Harmony, labour sign Aids pact - Harmony, the South African gold miner, yesterday signed an agreement with its labour organisations on measures to reduce the number of HIV/Aids infections among employees, their families and communities. (Justin Brown, Business Day [South Africa], 20 Sep. 2002)

PHILIPPINES: UNICEF Estimates Child Laborers Total 4 Million - The number of Philippine children working as family breadwinners has reached 4 million, an increase of 800,000 children in recent years, a UNICEF official has estimated...About two-thirds of the children work in the agricultural sector, although some work in more hazardous industries such as mining...The Employers Confederation of the Philippines and the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry implemented a program to address the plight of working children. (UN Wire, 20 Sep. 2002)

Activists Urge U.S. to Prioritize Health Over Profit at Hearing on Global Tobacco Treaty -...Throughout the negotiations, the US has been sharply criticized for espousing treaty positions that benefit Philip Morris and other giant tobacco corporations at the expense of public health. (Infact, 20 Sep. 2002)

Southern African nations seek GMO advisory body - Southern Africa's agriculture ministers want to set up an advisory committee to help them determine the potential effects of genetically modified foods on their populations (Reuters, 20 Sep. 2002)

PPP: Plan Puebla Panama, or Private Plans for Profit? A Primer on the Development Plan that Would Turn the Region from Southern Mexico to Panama into a Giant Export Zone - There is currently a multi-billion development scheme underway that would turn southern Mexico and all of Central America into a massive free trade zone, competing in the world wide race to the bottom of wages, working conditions, lax environmental regulation and disregard for human rights...The PPP has drawn fire from environmentalists, labor leaders and human rights advocates throughout the region. (Miguel Pickard, investigator for CIEPAC, A.C. [Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Políticas de Acción Comunitaria], special to CorpWatch, 19 Sep. 2002)

Pesticide link to childhood leukaemia - A newly established link between exposure to household pesticides and childhood leukaemia is an ominous warning of the dangers of certain man-made chemicals, says WWF. (WWF, 19 Sep. 2002)

South Africa: Gagging order lifted - Pollution row goes to open court -...The residents of Vanderbijlpark's Steel Valley say the giant Iscor steel producer - Africa's largest - has polluted their water, degraded their environment and brought sickness to their families for forty years - and they want compensation for their plight. (Index on Censorship, 19 Sep. 2002)

Study published on labour rights at Nokia Brazil - Finnish metal unions sponsor evaluation of Finnish transnational's social-labour performance at its Manaus plant - The detailed report...evaluates the degree to which Nokia is complying with fundamental labour rights... and examines issues related to workplace health and safety and the environment. (IMF - International Metalworkers' Federation, 19 Sep. 2002)

LABOR: ILO, ADB Meet On Standards, Development - The International Labor Organization and Asian Development Bank yesterday opened a two-day workshop on labor standards and social and economic development...The bank said Asia's "progress ... has been uneven" on compliance with labor standards, citing in particular the prevalence of child labor and reports of bonded labor and discrimination, as well as repression of unions and workers' meetings, exposure to health hazards and frequent avoidable accidents. (UN Wire, 19 Sep. 2002) 

POLLUTION: Dirty Air Kills More People Than Car Crashes, Institute Says - Air pollution takes a heavy toll in lives worldwide, killing more people than traffic accidents do, the nongovernmental Earth Policy Institute said in an article published yesterday. (UN Wire, 19 Sep. 2002)

Government bans paraquat herbicides [Malaysia] - The Government has banned the production of all pesticides and herbicides containing the hazardous paraquat and calcium cyanide compound, used in the country’s plantations for over 40 years. (Devid Rajah & Jacqueline Ann Surin, Star [Malaysia], 19 Sep. 2002)

Research confirms AWU fears over dangerous mining hours - A comprehensive report into the extended shifts in the Tasmanian mining industry released today has confirmed Australian Workers’ Union fears that miners are working excessive hours. (Australian Workers Union, 19 Sep. 2002)

Construction industry safety record 'disgraceful' [UK] - Construction workers are six times more likely to be killed than other employees, according to an official report. (Ananova, 19 Sep. 2002)

World Bank to fund plastics manufacture in India - In violation of the International Treaty on Pollution, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has proposed $20 million loan to expand the Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastics operations of India's Chemplast-Sanmar Limited. The manufacture and disposal of PVC produces the cancer-causing dioxin, one of the deadliest Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). (Sanctuary Asia, 18 Sep. 2002)

Reports of Pesticide Poisoning Down - Reports of farmworkers poisoned by pesticides in California are declining, but labor advocates say tougher state laws and more enforcement are needed to protect the people picking and packing crops. (AP, 18 Sep. 2002)

PESTICIDES: FAO Revises African Stockpile Estimate To 120,000 Metric Tons - The Food and Agriculture Organization today raised its estimate of the amount of toxic obsolete pesticides in Africa by more than 100 percent...Alemayehu Wodageneh, an expert with the U.N. agency, told a Rome meeting that every African country has obsolete pesticides that pose a threat to human health, degrade land and pollute water. (UN Wire, 18 Sep. 2002)

TEPCO says acted improperly in 16 reactor data cases [Japan] - Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc said yesterday it had acted improperly in 16 cases regarding the keeping of nuclear power plant safety records. (Reuters, 18 Sep. 2002) 

120 roast to death in Ikorodu factory fire []Nigeria] - About 120 factory workers were feared dead after a massive fire swept through a rubber slippers/aluminium spoon/bottled water factory [Taiwanese-owned] in the early hours of yesterday, at Odogunyan, in Ikorodu, Lagos State...It was gathered that the casualty figure would probably have not been that high if the exit points had not been locked. (Victor Ahiuma-Young, Olasunkanmi Akoni & Kenneth Ehigiator, Vanguard [Nigeria], 17 Sep. 2002)

LA babies get lifetime's toxic air in 2 weeks - study - A two-week-old baby in the Los Angeles area has already been exposed to more toxic air pollution than the U.S. government deems acceptable as a cancer risk over a lifetime, according to a report yesterday by an environmental campaign group...It said diesel exhaust - from trucks and cars, school buses, and farm and construction equipment - was still the worst source of air pollution. But it also took into account chemicals emitted by dry cleaners and factories as well as pesticides, adhesives and lubricant oils. (Reuters, 17 Sep. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Drug Maker Urges Stronger Coalition Against Disease - U.N. agencies, pharmaceutical companies, large employers and governments should form a "constructive partnership" to confront the HIV/AIDS crisis in southern Africa, Merck Chief Executive Ray Gilmartin said in Botswana last week. Gilmartin presented a Merck-Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation program in the country as a model of public-private cooperation. The drug maker is giving free anti-retrovirals to Botswana and granting the country $50 million over five years to combat an adult HIV rate of 38.5 percent. Meanwhile, large employers in the region have been negotiating with drug makers to secure HIV/AIDS drugs for their workers. (UN Wire, 16 Sep. 2002)

Asbestos Lawsuit Stays On Docket [USA] - The Supreme Court refused Monday to block a massive asbestos trial in West Virginia...The trial will combine the cases of some 8,000 people who claim asbestos exposure against 250 companies. (CBS News, 16 Sep. 2002)

Cape Plc fails to pay asbestos claimants [South Africa] - The lawyers of thousands of South Africans suffering from asbestos-related diseases said on Monday they would return to the United Kingdom High Court in an effort to force mining company Cape Plc to pay overdue settlement claims. (South African Press Association, in Business Report [South Africa], 16 Sep. 2002)  

Report calls for laws on corporate killing [UK] - The Government is being urged to bring in legislation on corporate killing in a bid to improve safety in the workplace. A new report into recent work-related deaths in London said there was a clear need for laws to target company directors. (Ananova, 16 Sep. 2002)

Students from the two Congos alert each other against HIV/AIDS - Young people in both the Congos are alerting one another about the deadly risks of HIV/AIDS and how to prevent infection in an initiative supported by international and private sector partners...UNDP, the Congo Government, the US Mission, and two companies, Chevron Texaco and CMS Nomeco, are providing support. (U.N. Development Programme, 13 Sep. 2002)

AngloGold signs Global Labour Agreement - In a historic first for the global mining industry, the world's leading gold producer, Anglogold and the 20-million strong international trade union federation, ICEM signed an agreement on the promotion and implementation of good human and industrial relations...The promotion and respect for human and trade union rights, health and safety, environmental protection and the promotion of good relationships with local mine communities are pivotal to the agreement. (ICEM - International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 13 Sep. 2002)

Helping to reunite families while slowing AIDS [South Africa] -...Faced with post-apartheid laws that no longer favour migrant labour and with HIV infection rates estimated at 25% to 30% of their workers, many SA mining companies are working to replace crowded, all-male hostels with low-cost family housing. (Business Day [South Africa], 13 Sep. 2002)

Construction industry seeks ways to reverse worsening accident rate [Finland] - Alarm bells are ringing in the construction industry, where the safety record has been deteriorating annually since 1996. (Juhani Artto, Trade Union News from Finland, 13 Sep. 2002)

Giant dam could cause geological disasters - China - A 600-km (365-mile) reservoir that will start filling behind China's giant Three Gorges dam next year could cause geological disasters in the surrounding area, state media said yesterday...The 185-metre (607-foot) dam, the largest water control project in the world, has been plagued by reports of shoddy construction, rampant corruption and criticism from environmental experts and human rights groups. (Reuters, 12 Sep. 2002)

Lead paint poses new legal threat for US companies -...Rhode Island, which has one of the highest rates of child lead poisoning in the nation, is suing some of the biggest names in U.S. manufacturing, including DuPont Co., the nation's No. 1 chemical company, and Sherwin-Williams Co., the No. 1 paint maker. Other defendants include Atlantic Richfield, which was acquired by BP Plc, Cytec Industries, NL Industries Inc. and a unit of ConAgra Foods. (David Howard Sinkman, Reuters, 12 Sep. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Hope Of Free Treatment Draws Botswana's Neighbors - Rising numbers of southern African HIV/AIDS sufferers are going to Botswana because of its free anti-retroviral drug program...Botswana is the only southern African country to offer universal provision of anti-retroviral drugs through a partnership with U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (UN Wire, 12 Sep. 2002)

Hazardous Waste as Fuel: Conservation or Corporate Irresponsibility? The cement industry calls the use of hazardous waste to fuel cement kilns recycling while critics of the practice call it dangerous. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 11 Sep. 2002)

Old Mutual to provide anti-Aids drugs to staff [South Africa] - Old Mutual would provide life-prolonging anti-Aids drugs to its HIV-positive staff who needed the treatment, the financial services group said yesterday. (Reuters, 11 Sep. 2002)

Current List of Annual Company Meeting Statements Made by Socially Responsible Shareholders [includes Alltel - Sexual Orientation Discrimination; Eastman Chemical Company - Health Risks of Cigarette Filters; Gannett - American Indians / Diversity Reporting; Hasbro - Sweatshops] (Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, 10 Sep. 2002)

Asbestos case: Bankers could be held liable [South Africa] - The bankers of Cape plc, the company that reached an out-of-court settlement with South African asbestosis victims last year, would be held personally responsible if it was proved they were responsible for reneging on the agreement, the victims' legal counsel said on Tuesday. The directors of the company and its bankers, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland, were formally notified of this on Tuesday (South African Press Association, 10 Sep. 2002)

BP says it failed to conduct integrity test on well in Alaska before explosion - BP PLC has admitted for the first time it failed to conduct comprehensive tests on a well that exploded in Alaska last month, the Financial Times reported...The explosion seriously injured an operator and caused a spill. (Ananova/AFX News, 10 Sep 2002)

Experts mull global pact to cut mercury use - Scientists from around the globe began a week-long conference yesterday aimed at shaping a programme to cut back the use of mercury - a toxic substance which poisons and cripples hundreds of people annually...Widely used for decades in lamps, batteries and electrical equipment because it is an excellent conductor of heat, as well as in thermometers and dental fillings, it can cause permanent damage to the brain, nervous system and kidneys. UNEP says it has also been used in some pesticides and pharmaceuticals, as well as in some skin-lightening creams. (Reuters, 10 Sep. 2002)

Social development in Tamil Nadu [India]: The Murugappa Group of companies [leading engineering company and the market leader in products like steel-strips, steel-tubes and bicycles] is promoting social development in the villages of Tamil Nadu...The foundation provides assistance in the areas of education, medicare and research in rural development. (InfoChange [India]) [added to this website on 10 Sep. 2002]

From diamonds to development [India] - The Bhansalis [one of India’s leading diamond merchants] have ploughed a substantial part of their profits from the diamond trade into health, women’s education and disaster management since 1969 (InfoChange [India]) [added to this website on 10 Sep. 2002]

China's workers pay price in death and injury for country's export success -...Tens of thousands of Chinese are killed or maimed every year in similar on-the-job accidents — casualties of their country's rise as a manufacturing powerhouse. (Martin Fackler, Associated Press, 9 Sep. 2002)

New report highlights 'sweatship' conditions for many employed on cruise ships - Excessively long hours, very low pay, and management as abusive as anything you might find in 'sweatshop' factories are common on many cruise ships, says a report jointly published today by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and the British campaigning organisation War on Want. (International Transport Workers' Federation and War on Want, 9 Sep. 2002)

Feds: Fine Phone Co. in Job Death [USA] - Federal regulators on Monday proposed fines totaling $55,500 against Verizon for numerous safety infractions that led to the electrocution of a telephone lineman in March. (AP, 9 Sep. 2002)

US Senate votes to ban mercury fever thermometers (Reuters, 9 Sep. 2002)

China may break Aids drug patents - China will be forced to break patents on Western Aids drugs unless foreign pharmaceutical companies agree to cut prices by early next year, a top health official said. (BBC News, 6 Sep. 2002)

India to pursue extradition of Bhopal accused - India is determined to press the United States for the extradition of former Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson over a 1984 gas disaster that killed thousands, a foreign ministry official said on Thursday. (Reuters, 6 Sep. 2002)

Years pass, but tears still flow in India's Bhopal -...Although the Indian government's civil case against Union Carbide, which merged with U.S.-based Dow Chemical Co two years ago, was settled in 1989 for $470 million, criminal cases continue in Indian courts. (Maria Abraham, Reuters, 6 Sep. 2002)

Diesel fuel exhaust likely to cause cancer - US EPA - U.S. environmental regulators in a new report this week formally classified for the first time diesel exhaust from trucks and buses as likely to cause cancer in humans. (Reuters, 5 Sep. 2002)

TOBACCO: Southeast Asian Countries Call For Total Ad Ban Representatives from 10 Southeast Asian countries meeting in Bangkok yesterday called for tougher tobacco regulations, including an advertising ban. (UN Wire, 5 Sep. 2002)

New legal campaign for smokefree space in hospitality industry [Australia] - A Western Sydney pub patron is about to take on his local pub in a campaign for smokefree space. (Australian Liquor, Hospitality & Miscellaneous Workers Union, 3 Sep. 2002) 

Teens need safer workplace [USA] -...The Labor Department released a report recently urging the government to prohibit teenagers from working in fields such as construction, window washing and garbage collection. The report also called for stronger enforcement of the labor regulations already in place. (editorial, St. Petersburg Times [Florida, USA], 2 Sep. 2002)

Asbestos Lawyers Hand Cape a Final Ultimatum to Pay [South Africa] - Lawyers acting on behalf of victims of Cape plc's asbestos operations on Monday handed the multi-national an ultimatum to comply with an out-of-court settlement. (South African Press Association, 2 Sep. 2002)

Caught in the Supply Chain: Strengthening Rights for Women Workers -...BSR has conducted a study of the general and reproductive health needs of women in global supply chains. The study – focused on China, India, Indonesia and Mexico – details the health needs faced by women working in the supply chains serving global companies. It also profiles innovative projects to improve women’s health as well as partnerships between companies and local and international NGOs. (Aron Cramer, Business for Social Responsibility, Sep. 2002)