Unethical Companies

1) Monsanto co:

The Missouri based agricultural company has been named world's

most unethical company. The company leads the world's production of

genetically modified foods. Monsanto is infamous for unfairly suing farmers who

try to grow foods both ethically and organically. If the lawsuit is not ruled in

Monsanto’s favor, they still achieve their desired results as the small-scale farms

become bankrupt due to legal costs. The company is also the creator of the

highly poisonous herbicide named Roundup (a weed killer). This weed killer is

both damaging to ecology as well as humans. A 2008 scientific study found

Roundup can cause the death of unborn children.

2) Halliburton:

The world's second largest oilfield services corporation,

Halliburton was granted a no-bid contract to restore Iraqi oil during the invasion

of Iraq. This contract was no doubt given to Halliburton thanks to the influence

of Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who just so happened to be the former

CEO of Halliburton Corp. Whilst in Iraq, Halliburton's subsidiary, KBR, was found

to have unfairly overcharged for its operations by approximately $1.3 billion. On

top of the Iraqi corruption, the company was fined for the bribery of Nigerian

officials in order to secure oil and gas deals in Nigeria. Halliburton was forced to

pay a fine of $559 million.

3) Chevron:

The oil and gas company has been criticized for a variety of

environmental and human rights abuses. Chevron has been accused of dumping

18 billion gallons of toxic waste into the Ecuadorian Amazon. Amazonian

activists have claimed Chevron ran a campaign of intimidation against them to

halt a pollution trial focused on the company. The oil giant has also been

involved in human rights abuses with a group of Nigerian protestors

campaigning against the company. Two of the protestors were shot by the

Nigerian Army who had been transported to the scene by Chevron.

4) Freeport-Mcmoran:

The cooper and gold company has been accused on

infringing upon the land of West Papuans and oppressing their rights. In 1998, a

lawsuit was brought against the company accusing Freeport of human rights

abuses in West Papua. These abuses included; house arrest, death threats,

psychological harassment and surveillance monitoring by the security forces

who were employed by Freeport. The lawsuits failed because the district court

ruled the alleged abuses were not a violation of the 'law of nations'. The

unethical companies mining procedures still continue today, unopposed by laws

and officials.

5) Phillips Morris:

Cigarette manufacturer, Philip Morris is the 5th most unethical

company due to its marketing strategies. In the past the company has targeted

children and exploited their vulnerability to addictive habits. The company has

also employed underage girls to handout free Marlboro cigarettes to children at

clubs and concerts. On top of this unethical marketing, the company issued a

report in the Czech Republic saying that premature smokers deaths have

‘positive effects’ because they save governments money.

6) Syngenta:

The Swiss agricultural and chemical company profits from marketing

genetically engineered agriculture. The company’s objective is to dominate the

seed market so that all farmers have to rely on Syngenta seed sales. In 2008, the

company was fined by the Environmental Protection Agency for violating federal

regulations in some of their facilities and for failing to keep protective

equipment away from contaminated areas. A former employee at Syngenta was

awarded $2 million in a lawsuit after she was unfairly fired for reporting

discriminative behavior in the workplace.

7) Occidental Petroleum:

In 2005 the company attracted criticism for proposing to

build a road through one of Ecuador's national parks. To add to this controversy,

the oil and gas corporation has been constantly involved in territory disputes

with indigenous and local populations who accuse the company of infringing

upon their land. The company has in the past created uproar for drilling on

claimed Indian Territory in Northern Colombia and causing environmental

destruction in Ecuador. In the latter case, the Ecuadorian government threw

Occidental Petroleum out of the country.

8) Ryan air:

The budget Irish airline is always charging customers hidden costs.

The company reportedly does not even allow employees to charge their mobile

phones so Ryan air can save electricity costs. Passengers who forget to bring

their boarding passes to the airport automatically face a charge o f £40 whilst

customers wanting to complain via telephone have to pay 5p/min. Passengers

who need assistance with booking a flight pay a fee of £1 per minute to call a

customer service assistant.

9) Group Mexico:

In 2009, the Mexican mining enterprise ordered private security

forces and police to forcibly evict mine workers at the Pasta de Conchos in

Mexico after Group Mexico had sold the mine to the company, Transports

Signup. Group Mexico is also known to violate health and safety laws and in

2007 miners at a mine in Northern Mexico went on strike in protest of these

violations. The company continues to ignore the demands of the miners and the

strike still continues today.

10) Total:

The unethical French oil and gas corporation, Total has a large oil pipeline

in Myanmar, built by slave labor. The Burma UK Campaign has criticized the

company for playing a crucial role in funding the Burmese military junta. The

junta receives between $200 million to $450 million a year from the oil whilst

the people of Burma receive nothing but aggravation. The profit made from the

pipeline has been spent on funding the junta’s military with 10 MIG jets being

purchased from Russia. Security forces employed to protect the pipeline have

been known to commit horrific human rights abuses.