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The New York Times
Editorial
The NYT editorializes on where the Supreme Court might be heading, regarding the constitutional rights of corporations. Read the article here.
Excerpt:

The question at the heart of one of the biggest Supreme Court cases this year is simple: What constitutional rights should corporations have? To us, as well as many legal scholars, former justices and, indeed, drafters of the Constitution, the answer is that their rights should be quite limited — far less than those of people.

This Supreme Court, the John Roberts court, seems to be having trouble with that. It has been on a campaign to increase corporations’ legal rights — based on the conviction of some conservative justices that businesses are, at least legally, not much different than people.

Read more…

On the issue of corporate personhood, you may also find this article to be of interest: Capital Punishment: For Corporations that Violate the Public Trust.

This is good news. It’s about time that companies take a close look at the implications of their associations. If the values don’t match, it’s a good idea to leave and to do so publicly.

Excerpt:
SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- PG&E Corp. (PCG) said Tuesday it is leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over objections to what its top executive called the chamber’s “extreme position on climate change.”

In a letter to the U.S. Chamber published on PG&E’s blog, www next100.com, PG& E Chairman and Chief Executive Peter Darbee wrote that company employees “find it dismaying that the Chamber neglects the indisputable fact that a decisive majority of experts have said the data on global warming are compelling and point to a threat that cannot be ignored.”

Read more…

The Times of India

CSR week? You’ve got to be kidding. Read the article here.
Excerpt:

AHMEDABAD: When a management course teaches all the skills and techniques that wannabe managers could need, why should the corporate social responsibility (CSR) be left out? Students’ council of BK School of Business Management believe so and have organized the CSR week that commenced from Friday.

Read more…

As seen on Reuters website
PRNewswire
Read the article here.
Excerpt:

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ — Are we, as a nation, becoming more or
less ethical in the workplace? The Ethics Resource Center is working to find out, using its extensive biannual National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) – the only workplace survey of its kind. Results are used widely by leaders in business and government to spot trends and focus resources.

The 2009 survey – ERC’s sixth in a series – is complete and results are scheduled for release in mid-October.

This year’s survey gauges the effects of the recession, the financial crisis and Washington’s response to both on ethics and compliance in the workplace. It also will track trends in ethical conduct and culture. ERC has polled more than 16,600 American employees since 1994.

Read more…

Owners of Jack Daniel’s Whiskey, Fetzer Wines, and Korbel California Champagnes http://www.brown-forman.com/responsibility/

http://www.ips-dc.org/reports/executive_excess_2009
Excerpt from the 16th annual report from the Institute for Policy Studies:

The 20 U.S. financial firms that have received the most bailout dollars from taxpayers awarded their top five executive officers, in the three years through 2008, pay packages worth a combined $3.2 billion. These 100 financial executives, on their way to driving the U.S. economy off a cliff, averaged $32 million each. One hundred U.S. workers making the 2008 annual average wage would have to labor over 1,000 years to make as much as these 100 executives made in three.

The Wall Street Journal
Sarah E. Needleman
What happens when you take the high road and offer your employees health benefits? You get higher productivity and a lower rate of employee turnover. Read the article here.
Excerpt:

Four years ago, executives of Burgerville, a regional restaurant chain, agreed to pay at least 90% of health-care premiums for hourly employees who work at least 20 hours a week. Today, the executives say the unusual move has saved money by cutting turnover, boosting sales and improving productivity.

Burgerville’s experience is notable for the food-service industry, where turnover is high and fewer than half of chains offer health insurance for part-time hourly employees, according to People Report, a research firm. The chains that do offer benefits pay on average 49% of the cost for employees working at least 30 hours a week, People Report says.

Read more…

New York Times
Steven Greenhouse
Read the article here.
Excerpt:

In surveying 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries, including apparel manufacturing, child care and discount retailing, the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339. That translates into a 15 percent loss in pay.

The researchers said one of the most surprising findings was how successful low-wage employers were in pressuring workers not to file for workers’ compensation. Only 8 percent of those who suffered serious injuries on the job filed for compensation to pay for medical care and missed days at work stemming from those injuries.

“The conventional wisdom has been that to the extent there were violations, it was confined to a few rogue employers or to especially disadvantaged workers, like undocumented immigrants,” said Nik Theodore, an author of the study and a professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois, Chicago. “What our study shows is that this is a widespread phenomenon across the low-wage labor market in the United States.”

The report, Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violations of Employment and Labor Laws in America’s Cities can be found here.

Hartford Courant
Devlin Barrett (Associated Press)
Read the article here.
Excerpt:

Announcing the settlement Wednesday, the Justice Department said that it included the largest criminal fine in U.S. history — $1.2 billion. The agreement also included a criminal forfeiture of $105 million.

Authorities called Pfizer, which employs about 5,000 in Connecticut, a repeat offender and noted that this is the fourth such settlement of government charges in the past decade. They said the government will monitor the company’s conduct for the next five years to rein in the abuses.

[...]

“Pfizer’s drug-pushing tactics put profits ahead of patients,” said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. “The company’s kickbacks endangered patients rather than enhancing health care. Taxpayers, patients, medical professionals and consumers all should be outraged and appalled.”

Read more…

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