PR Newswire, May 13, 2008, Tuesday
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PR Newswire
May 13, 2008, Tuesday
HEADLINE: Teamsters' Report on Cummins Diesel's Labor Abuses Sparks Shareholder Resolution;
Union's Report on Cummins' 15 Years of Worker Rights Violations Spurs Resolution Urging Engine Parts Maker To Follow International Labor Standards
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WASHINGTON, May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At today's Cummins Inc.(NYSE:CMI)shareholder meeting in Columbus, Indiana, Teamsters Union leaders urged passage of a shareholder resolution that calls on the company's board of directors to adopt a policy under which Cummins would meet International Labor Organization (ILO) standards. The ILO standards serve as worldwide benchmarks for companies' respect for workers' basic human rights on the job.
The resolution, sponsored by Domini Social Investments, SEIU Master Trust, and Harrington Investments, arose from an August 2007 report on Cummins' 15-year pattern of violating worker rights that was commissioned by the Teamsters Union. The Teamsters represent more than 500 workers in Cummins' U.S. distribution segment.
The resolution urges the diesel engine parts manufacturer to adopt ILO standards across its subsidiaries, joint ventures and suppliers, and to implement a monitoring process to ensure its adherence. It comes in the wake of recent challenges by labor and environmental advocates to Cummins' high ranking by socially responsible investment groups. Research reports have detailed the company's pattern of union busting and worker rights' violations, and documented the company's support of an anti-environmental agenda in Congress.
The Teamsters'-commissioned report, authored by Cornell University labor rights expert Lance Compa, documented how Cummins has used corporate reorganizations -- followed by increasingly harsh treatment of workers -- to weaken or eliminate unions across its U.S. operations over the past 15 years. The report, "Every Abuse: Violations of International Labor Standards by Cummins," noted that Cummins has forced multiple strikes, creating severe hardships for workers and their families. In one case, a Cummins worker in Portland, Oregon, who committed suicide, cited despair over the long strike in his will.
"The Teamsters have blown the whistle on Cummins' labor abuses. We're also working hand in hand with environmental groups that are protesting Cummins' political contributions that undermine environmental protections. We're pleased today to see shareholders standing up to demand reform," said Teamster Warehouse Division Director John Williams. "The ILO standards are a worldwide benchmark for whether companies respect the most basic human rights at work. Socially responsible investors will want to know why Cummins refuses to sign on."
Cummins also came under fire recently for political donations that belie its self-promotion to SRI firms as a leading "green" corporation. A report issued on April 28 by Friends of the Earth Action and the Teamsters Union details Cummins' political action committee (PAC) donations to 2006 congressional candidates, a crucial election cycle for environmental issues. The report, "Not So Green--Cummins: Financing Political Enemies of the Environment" demonstrates that Cummins' PAC contributions in the mid-term elections went overwhelmingly to legislators with poor environmental voting records. One of Cummins' largest PAC donations to Senate candidates was to Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), one of the Senate's most outspoken critics of measures to curb global warming.
"Cummins is abusing its workers and the planet," said Williams. "And socially responsible investors are taking notice."
The Teamsters Union represents more than 500 Cummins workers in the United States. Copies of "Every Abuse: Violations of International Labor Standards by Cummins" are available at:
http://www.teamster.org/divisions/industrialtrades/cummins_compareportjuly 2007.pdf
Copies of "Not So Green--Cummins: Financing Political Enemies of the Environment," are available at: http://www.teamster.org/divisions/industrialtrades/cummins_not_so_green_FOE_IB T.pdf
CONTACT: Galen Munroe of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
+1-202-624-6904, gmunroe@teamster.org
Web Site: http://www.teamster.org/
SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
URL: http://www.prnewswire.com
LOAD-DATE: May 14, 2008
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