Wow, we get the opportunity to really vote for the worse company of the year award! It's a difficult choice to chose the worse of all evils. Read the list then click at the bottom to cast your vote!
The companies listed are:
Alstom:
The French energy and transport conglomerate Alstom is involved in corruption scandals all over the world. Alstom systematically bribes local politicians, sometimes in the seven figures, to secure contracts. The frequency of known cases is such that one wonders if this is a deliberate business strategy. Alstom has been fined repeatedly and some of its subsidiaries were excluded from World Bank projects.
Coal India
Coal India's coal mines destroy the habitats of many large mammals and rob tribal peoples of their livelihood and homelands, forcing them into a life of bitter poverty. The dismal record with 205 workers dead and 699 seriously wounded in 2010 alone, suggests that working conditions at Coal India are indeed disastrous. At least 239 coal mines belonging to Coal India operate without environmental permit.
G4S
The ranks of the British security service company G4S include more than 650'000 employees. These security forces are often badly trained and paid and many of its members have a criminal record. The company is involved in countless cases of violations of international law and human rights abuses. G4S is present in the occupied Palestinian territories—manning checkpoints and managing prison security for Israel and is thus complicit in Israel’s illegal settlement policy.
Goldman Sacks
Between 1998 and 2009 Goldman Sachs pocketed horrendous fees to hide half of Greece’s public debt by means of accounting tricks, which eventually ruined Greece and plunged the EU into a financial crisis of which only Goldman profits. The bank has already earned at least 600 million dollars and Greece owes it 400 million per year until 2037, for a total of more than 10 billion dollars at the expense of European taxpayers.
Lonmin
Lonmin, the world's third largest mining concern, urged the South African mining ministery to take „appropriate“ measures against striking mine workers at their mine — with the help of the police or the army. A short time later, 44 protesting mine worker were shot dead by the police nd 77 more were seriously wounded. One day after the massacre, Lonmin threatened all workers who continued to strike with dismissal.
Repower
The Swiss energy corporation Repower is building a hard-coal fired power plant in Calabria, Italy, despite the opposition of the local population. The planned site lies at the very heart of the dominion of the `Ndrangheta Mafia, Italy’s and probably Europe’s most influential organized crime alliance. Repower will have to do business with the Mafia, or might already be doing business.
Shell
Shell is the first super-major oil company that plans to exploit the fragile Arctic in a high risk hunt for fossil fuels. The oil exploration in the Arctic has biodiversity consequences. While Shell confidently tells us that it has «made numerous plans for dealing with oil in ice». The company also admits that the technical and environmental challenges of oil exploration in the Arctic «are immense.
