Magazine Issue 1 - Winter 1996
Babylonian Times

Frightening facts about company power
In case you're ever doubting that the growing power of global corporations is as much of an issue as it's cracked up to be Corporate Watch has a couple of facts for you. The 100 largest global corporations are bigger than most member states of the United Nations. The 500 largest control 70% of world trade. One example: General Motors has a gross income greater than the GDP of Denmark. - Ward Morehouse, speech to Creen Cathering, Los Angeles, August '996

Big Commerce Park
Large-scale car-based developments continue to be popular. Hanson Land is planning to build Europe's largest commerce park on 27 ha of land near Peterborough, with easy access from the A I.- Construction News, 26/9/96

BNFL's Guilty Conscience?
Corporate Citizen magazine has discovered that in 1994 BNFL was the UK's 8~ most generous corporate donor to chanties and communities. They gave out _6m representing 8% of their annual profits - Guardian, 25-9-96

Brays
Brays Detective Agency, infamous for their monitonng of roads protectors, wrote to wildlife t~usts and nature reserves last year, offenng to organise eviction of gypsies and new age travellers more cheaply than by going through the courts. It is worrying that Brays are offenng to work with one side of the environmental movement in spying on the other side

US Bank blocks China dam
On May 30th, the US Exportlmport Bank announced ~at it would not, 'at this time', help finance construction of China's Three Gorges Dam Damming the Yangtze would displace more than a million people, flood farmlands and forests and destroy the habitats of endangered dolphins, cranes, alligators and pandas

Carlisle - Newcastle Ship Canal
Construction companies Amec, Acer, Redland and others are backing proposals for a _6bn ship canal &om Carlisle to Newcastle, slicing Bntain in half and allowing large commercial ships to travel straight through Another example of public money being spent for the benefit of corporate big business.- Construction News, 26/9/96.
Embarrassment of riches
Gateway supermarket boss David Simons has been ponder ing the flotation of his company Somerfield. Over the next five years he'll pick up a cool £10 million. "I don't embarrass easily," he says.

Unsafe Plutonium Flights
In a move verging on madness, safety rules governing the air ransport of nuclear fuels are to be relaxed so that BNFL can transport nuclear fuel overseas. Mixed uranium-plutonium oxide fuel (MOX) will soon be legally transportable by air in containers designed to withstand only 30mph crashes. Ihe British Government backs the International Atomic Energy Agency's proposals because the tight safety regulaions make the trade in this fuel uneconomic, with t he alternative mode of transport being by land and sea. Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace said, "Most air crashes take place at over 200mph - a 30mph standard is just ludicrous." BNFL commented, "In its transport operations BNFL will anly use equipment and procedures which satisfy all relevant national and international regulations." Oh dear! -Scotsman 12-9-96

Labour Exposes Water Scam
Labour called for tougher fines on water companies that commit repeated pollution offences. Over the last seven years (since privatisation) there have been 240 prosecutions yet the fines totalled less than _1m. The report by Frank Dobson, Shadow Environment Secretary, "The Polluters Don't Pay - How the Water Companies Get Away With Pollution" listed the three worst: Severn Trent with 42 prosecutions, Welsh Water with 34, and North West Water with

Who wants Nike?
Nike's latest TV commercial (for hiking shoes) was filmed in Kenya with Samburu tribespeople. In the advert the camera zooms in on one tribesman who speaks in his native language. As he speaks the slogan 'Just do it' appears on the screen Except Lee Comk, an anthropologist at the University of Cincinnati, says the tribesman is really saying "I don't want these!" Nike's Elizabeth Dolan says, "We thought nobody in America would know what he was saying..." - EF! Action Update, 9196.
Private Finance News
A leaked government report has suggested that seven Scottish hos pitals, involving 2,000 jobs, are t, be closed in order to kick-start th' UK's two largest privatelyfinanced hospitals, both in Edinburgh. And in the New Year, consortia will be asked to bid for a _24m magistrates' court in Liverpool under the Private Finance Initiative. It seems there is no limit to how far the PFI can be pushed - after hospitals, roads anc pasons now parts of the legal sys tem are to be run on the basis of profit. Meanwhile, the Construction Industry Employers' Council is calling for new boosts to PFI, including tax breaks and other incentives to attract institutional investors, and a reduction in the number of PFI schemes worth lesc than _500,000. Small operators will thus find themselves in even more difficulties, while the big constructors rake in bigger profits. - Construction News, 26/9/96.
Rail Privatisation Monopolies, Fat Cats but Still not many Trains
The Of fice of Fair Trading may order a Monopolies and Mergers Commission review of the bid by Stagecoach for Porterbrook, which leases rolling stock to train operators. Concenns have been raised that Stagecoach, which runs trains ftom London to the West Country and on the Isle of Wight, could gain an unfair competitive advantage by charging rival operators more for hinng its trains. Porterbrook also hit the headlines last month when its owners, former BR managers, shared a windfall of £83 million by selling the company just months after buying it from the Govemment. Meanwhile, eleven directors of train operator Prism Rail have awarded themselves £19 million in shares on the flotation of the company, after winning the London, Tilbury and Southend franchise. Up to 54 million deferred shares could bring the directors ovet _230 million if other franchises are won.

Fat cats with thick skins
Brian Staples, of United Utilities, defending his outrageous _300,000 payout: "You may regard me as a fat cat but I bave worked hard all my life to acquire the skills to become chief executive of a FT-SE 100 company. I'm not at all bashful about it."Presumably the 1,700 staff he recently sacked also worked all their lives to acquire their skills. Didn't do them mucb good...
Wheatley Quarry to be visible from moon
Whatley Quarry, in the Mendips, is one of the biggest quarries in Europe. It produces 14,000 tonnes of aggregate per day, of which a large proportion goes to building roads. Amey Roadstone Corporation (ARC) want to expand the hole over 84 more acres making it visible from the moon. The expansion will destroy ancient trees, hedges, fields, a lane between two small villages and threaten the water supply to the hot springs of Bath. Now that the expansion plan has the go-ahead the only option lefl is direct action. This is also a crucial time for Hanson, the owners of ARC. A high profile campaign now could spell disaster for them in the financial markets where there is great scepticism about their forthcoming de-merger. As always the main need is for people. There are buildings to squat, trees to protect and large areas of land to be fort)fied. Just a few people gening in the way could easily cost ARC millions. "It doesn't take much to stop a quarry - all you have to do is sit on the conveyor belt." ARC spokesman, David Weeks.
Radiation Good for You says BNFL US Subsidiary
Regular exposure to nuclear radiation can prevent cancers and daily doses of low-level radiation should be part of a healthy lifestyle, according to John Graham, vice-president of British Nuclear Fuels' US subsidiary. Speaking in London at a meeting of the Uranium Institute (a trade association), he said, "Small doses of radiation could be essential to life as we know it". Subjected to regular low levels of stress, the body adapts to make it less susceptible to massive stress. Graham said recent data showed health benefits would result from doses 1500 times higher than the current permined limits. We're very lucky to have a man in the nuclear industry so concemed about the public health and not just his own profits. -Professional Engineenng. 9196.
BP Rapes the Andes
BP, along with Shell, Amoco, and many other oil companies are investing heavily in an area of the Colombian Andes which has become the world's largest on-shore oil-field. BP is involved in environmental degradation of farm lands and is paying the Colombian military, which is accused of implication in rape, murder, illegal detention, torture and collusion with assassins. Right- wing death squads shadow local groups that dare to protest against the oil giants.

BP strongly denies any involvement in the persecution of local communities, or in any human rights violations. -Guardian 11-9-96
British Aerospace on the warpath
The four East Timor ploughshares women had enjoyed only a few minutes' freedom outside Liverpool Crown Court when someone acting on behalf of British Aerospace (BAe) served them with "Statements of Claim" for a permanent and draconian civil injunction.

The previous week, following open fence-cuning actions at BAe factories at Warton and Stevenage, five other anti-Hawk activists had also been served with temporary injunctions, pending fuller hearings at the High Court in London. Two and a half years ago BAe obtained pemnanent injunctions against anti-Hawk activists Chris Cole and Milan Rail These injunctions effectively tum some sorts of legal protest, writing and action into imprisonable offences, and in 1995 Chris Cole was sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court, having wrinen a "Call to Action and having trespassed on a BAe carpark, neither of which are criminal offences.

The injunction terms that BAe is seeking against the four women include, "restraining the Defendants and each of them, whether by themselves, their servents or agents ,or otherwise from doing whether directly or indirectly...causing, assisting, counselling, procuring or encouraging in any manner whatsoever any person to trespass on any of the BAe sites." Such wording, if finally granted, raises the stakes not just for nonviolent resistance, but for protest and public education as well.

British Aerospace has never tried to defend itself morally, but now that it is faced with serious charges of illegality and a level of nonviolent resistance that affects its ability to deliver its bloody equipment, it is fighting back against those calling it to account with its conciderable resources, it is vital that all injunctions are offered the full and active support of the peace and human rights movements, and it would be great if BAe's anempts at repression serve merely as injunctions for us all to redouble our efforts at education, protest and resistance against the ongoing Hawk deal.

For news of forthcoming actions: Stop the Hawk Deal on 0161 834 0295 SH

Safety on the line
Officials at the DTI believe that the £150 million a year cost of complyingwith Construction Design and Management safety regulations are outweighing the benefits. Consultants are to be appointed to review these regulations; suggested proposals include the drawing of more inspectors from the private sector. Safety campaigners and unions are furious at this blatant disregard of the fundamental problem of corporations policing themselves where safety is concemed. - Construction News, 26/9/96

Vogue Censors Rabbits Ad.
Vogue magazine has rejected an advertisement for the Co-op bank because it deliberately suggested that "experiments on animals are in some way morally wrong." The ad shows a woman applying face cream alongside a picture of rabbits in a laboratory with the words: " We never invest at face value.

Greenwash "Earth Day" GatecrashedIn April, activists from Wetlands
Rainforest Action Group and other groups gatecrashed the Texaco and Pepsico sponsored "Earth Day" in Westchester County, New York. Over 5000 leaflets were handed to hundreds of families encouraging them to write to the nearby Texaco and Pepsico head of fices. Rag Rag, Summer 1996.

Ronald McDonald to move into India American burger giant
McDonald's is planning its debut in India. There has been relent less speculation about the fast food chain's exact plans for the country, but it has been confirmed that two outlets will be opened in Delhi and Bombay later this year. Let's hope that McDonald's does n't suffer the same fate as Kentucky Fried Chicken, which was stormed and ransacked by local farmers, who were angry at the damage the store was doing to the area's economy. - Economic Times, India, September 1996

Heseltine's Car Crazy
Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine isn't very likely to push for a more sustainable transport policy. Hezza is a 'sleeping' partner in the magazine publishing giant Haymarket, which publishes What Car, Autosport and Grand Prix review, and which nets him a cool _1 million a year in dividends. Down with the car culture, eh Heza? Vroom vroom choke!

Brazil Gives Amazon Two Year Respite
In August the President of Brazil signed into law a two year moratorium on issuing any new mahogany permits in the Brazilian Amazon, and also passed a law (still to be rat)fied by Congress) to reduce the amount of a forested area that can be cleared for agriculture from 50% down to 20%. - Rag Rag, Summer 1996.

Texan Beef Shock
The US beef lobby was ranled recently by the discovery that the Texas agriculture department's of ficial in charge of promoting the state's $8bn beef industry is a vegetarian and has been for four teen years.

Health Industry Hunts
WHO materllity expert, Marsden Wagner has issued a warningin The Lancet that tbe corporate health industry has undertaken a "global witch hunt" against midwives in an effort to wrench away more business. 70% of all cases brought before civil courts and medical or bealth insurance review boards involve midwives

Chief Executive Pay Soars Skyward
And to reflect tbeir good work, Chief Executives are getting paid more and more all the time, while real industrial wages are actually lower (in the United States) than they were 20 years ago. Fat Cat Of The Year Award 1994 goes to Michael Eisner, Chief Executive of the family-friendly Walt Disney Corporation, who took home a whopping S209 million in 1993. That translates to $84,000 an hour. Nice work if you can get it, goes the joke. -Ward Morehouse, speech to Green Gathering, Los Angeles, August 1996

56 Workers Poisoned at South China Gas Plant
More than 50 workers at a liquid crystal display plant in Shenzen City near the border with Hong Kong have been poisoned by months of exposure to ethane gas. Poor ventilation and safety standards were found to be the cause of the poisoning, and the current condition of the workers is still not known. China's breakneck economic development has been accompanied by a big rise in industrial accidents as employers cut comers in the relentless search for profits. - Reuter, September 1996