Corporations such as ExxonMobil and Blackstone also big funders of climate crisis, new trade union report finds

Some of the world’s largest companies have been accused of undermining democracy across the world by financially backing far-right political movements, funding and exacerbating the climate crisis, and violating trade union rights and human rights in a report published on Monday by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

Amazon, Tesla, Meta, ExxonMobil, Blackstone, Vanguard and Glencore are the corporations included in the report. The companies’ lobbying arms are attempting to shape global policy at the United Nations Summit of the Future in New York City on 22 and 23 September.

  • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    1 month ago

    I mean… ignoring Elon himself, what they’ve listed for Tesla is kinda laughable in terms of among the top companies in the world undermining democracy.

    At Tesla, the report cites

    anti-union opposition by the company in the US, Germany, and Sweden;

    The Sweden stuff is weird, but they are by no means required to sign an agreement. It’s literally how it works there. By not signing an agreement, the unions are allowed to sympathy strike. Both things are working by design.

    For Germany, there is a work council, and IG Metal is on it, but they don’t have a majority of seats. They only have as much influence as Tesla employees have voted for them, and for now, that is a minority of seats.

    In the US they won their lawsuit about clothing, they werent violating anti union laws there. But they have had other anti union stuff as well. But it’s not like Starbucks shutting down entire stores that unionize like many corporations do or try to do.

    E.g Walmart shut down an entire store when it unionized in Canada. Walmart even pays their employees so little they get government support, which the employees then use at Walmart. Total scam while destroying the workforce.

    human rights violations within its supply chains

    This is tricky and maybe there are problems in the supply chain, but this isn’t an isolated problem to Tesla, and with problem things like cobalt they’ve actively worked to reduce their usage of it, and use less than other automakers on non lfp batteries. (Edit: I skimmed their “report” on human rights violations, and it’s mostly about illegal deforestation for nickle which is impacting some communities and mentions the other automakers as well, not a Tesla specific thing. Also any car that gets $3750 or $7500 in the USA does not use nickle from these mines as an audit is required to get it, and LFP batteries don’t have nickle, so I think that means every Tesla made in the USA is in the clear, except maybe the Tesla’s that don’t get IRA due to being to expensive as we don’t know their nickle status. The 3/Y that don’t get it use LFP I may have misunderstood what they report was saying there with regards to the IRA… it is audited, but it might not require exclusion of these sources.)

    The rest was all Elon hate as if that means it’s all Tesla, but adding Tesla gets more clicks than just Elon and wouldn’t fit report/article otherwise.

    Edit: and maybe there’s more in the actual report… but if this is what they led with, it’s kinda weak for the qualifier of worst in the world. Like, where’s Sinclair, or some of Rupert Murdochs media companies. That shits miles worse than Tesla.

    Edit: And sorry of course our favorite, Twitter! I’m actually surprised that wasn’t led with.