Vote for the Worst Companies in the World

[la_vie_noire]

Public Eye Awards.

Nominated:

Tepco
Against its better judgement, Tepco, Japan’s largest energy company, grossly neglected the structural safety of its atomic power plants in order to cut costs.

Samsung
In its factories, Samsung uses banned and highly-toxic substances without informing and protecting its workers. The result: cancer.

Barclays
Barclays, banking giant and the world’s fastest-growing food speculator, drives up global food prices at the expense of the poorest.

Vale
In the midst of Amazonas rainforest Vale is constructing the Belo-Monte-Dam. 40’000 people are suffering forced eviction.

Syngenta
Despite being banned in Europe Syngenta markets its herbicide Paraquat in the Global South. Thousands of farmers have already died due to the use of the product.

Freeport
For 45 years the US-mining corporation Freeport McMoran pollutes with its mine the environment in West Papua. Those who raise their voice get tortured or killed.

Vale is my personal favorite. But Freeport is a close second.

Comments

[willow]

Grew up w/ Barclays. I'm just jaw dropped at a bank being into food speculating and just -wtf?

Family members mentioned the short shrift with the nuclear power plant in Japan and I thought it couldn't possibly be true; cause I was remembering the 80's and 90's when Japan was so very, very disciplined about nuclear power.

On the other hand, thank you for mentions about Samsung - as I need to buy a new phone and now WILL NOT choose the Samsung option.

[starlady]

See, obviously Tepco was criminally neglectful, but the government regulators have been letting them get away with murder from the dawn of time (i.e. 1955), so my vote is definitely going to one of these other companies. Probably Freeport or Samsung.

[la_vie_noire]

Well, here it says this about Barclays:

Barclays speculates on food by buying and selling contracts in financial markets, which were originally designed to offer a kind of insurance against changing prices for food producers and consumers. But deregulation in the last decade has allowed Barclays and other big banks (like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley) to dominate these markets with their immense funds. Global speculation on food has almost doubled in the last five years; the global investment volume currently amounts to USD 126 billion. The result has been dramatic increases in food prices that have plunged communities in poor regions of the world into even more severe hunger and poverty. Speculating on food is estimated to earn Barclays up to USD 530 million each year. Barclays also boasts about enabling market access for other big investors such as pension funds. The bank enjoys close ties to the UK government, holding 15 meetings with finance ministers within their first year in office. With such close links to banks like Barclays, it’s no surprise that the UK government is refusing to support proposals for European regulation that would effectively curb food speculation.

I don't know, first time I hear about think bank.