The Corporate Hall of Shame has opened its polls for people to select the worst corporations of 2008
The Corporate Hall of Shame has opened its polls for people to select the worst corporations of 2008.
The Hall is the creation of Corporate Accountability International.
Kelle Louaillier, executive director of Corporate Accountability International, said: ‘We believe all of the nominees deserve this infamous dishonor, but we look forward to seeing which corporations voters select as the worst of the worst. The ballot box is a way to call politicians to task. The Hall of Shame is a way of calling corporations to account for major abuses of the public interest.’
Last year, more than 20,000 votes were cast to induct ExxonMobil, Halliburton and Wal-Mart.
The nominees include:
ADM (Archer Daniels Midland), for contributing to global warming by clearing endangered forests to develop palm oil plantations;
Blackwater Worldwide, for killing unarmed Iraqi civilians, and using its ties to the Bush Administration to secure lucrative contracts;
Countrywide, for predatory mortgage lending to elderly and non-English-speaking borrowers, and for gouging minority borrowers with discriminatory rates and fees;
Mattel, for producing lead-contaminated children's toys, and lobbying against bans on other toxic chemicals;
Nestle, for labor violations -- including child exploitation -- and threatening community water supplies when siting water bottling plants;
Toyota, for lobbying against measures to reduce global warming gas emissions while hypocritically spending millions to advertise its environmental "leadership" and Prius hybrids;
Wal-Mart, for displacing local businesses, failing to cover employees under the corporation's health plan, and opposing legislation that would increase homeland security;
Wendy's, for its contribution to the growing childhood obesity and diabetes epidemics, and for refusing to meet nutritional labeling regulations.
Source: Corporate Accountability International
