posted on June 6, 2006 03:31:52 PM new
Way to go, Norway!!!
Norway dumps Wal-Mart from $240 billion investment fund
Updated 6/6/2006 4:11 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this
By John Acher, Reuters
OSLO — Norway said on Tuesday that its $240-billion oil fund would no longer invest in Wal-Mart (WMT), the world's biggest retailer, because of what it called "serious and systematic" abuses of human and labor rights.
Norway's government also excluded shares in mining group Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) from the fund — one of the world's biggest pension funds — for environmental reasons.
The fund sold its holdings in both firms, which had been worth about $430 million at the end of 2005 — most of it in Wal-Mart stock — by the end of last month, the finance ministry said.
"These companies are excluded because, in view of their practices, investing in them entails an unacceptable risk that the fund may be complicit in serious, systematic or gross violations of norms," Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen said.
The move raised the number of companies excluded from the fund for what Oslo calls ethical reasons to 19. Norway has previously ejected companies involved in producing anti-personnel land mines, cluster bombs or nuclear weapons.
The Finance Ministry based the exclusions on the recommendations of the fund's ethical council.
"The recommendation to exclude Wal-Mart cites serious/systematic violations of human rights and labour rights," the finance ministry said. "The recommendation to exclude Freeport is based on serious environmental damage."
A Wal-Mart spokeswoman declined to comment. Freeport-McMoRan's spokesman said the company rejects the allegations and they are based on a misunderstanding.
The ministry said the council had found "an extensive body of material" that indicated Wal-Mart had broken norms, including employing minors against international rules, allowing hazardous working conditions at many of its suppliers and blocking workers' efforts to form unions.
It also listed other alleged Wal-Mart abuses including pressuring workers to work overtime without compensation, discriminating against women in pay and blocking "all attempts to unionise".
It said Wal-Mart employees were "in a number of cases unreasonably punished and locked in".
The council's report encompassed Wal-Mart's operations in the United States and Canada and its suppliers in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Lesotho, Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, Malawi, Madagascar, Swaziland, Bangladesh, China and Indonesia.
The finance ministry said Norway's central bank, which manages the investment fund, had invited Wal-Mart to comment on the allegations in September, but the company did not respond.
Halvorsen said Norway might provide an example to other investors in the way it exercises ownership rights.
"It is of great value that others see what we do," Halvorsen, who also leads the Socialist Left party, told a news conference.
The ministry blamed Freeport-McMoRan for using a natural river system to dispose of tailings from a huge copper mine on the island of New Guinea in Indonesia. "The Council on Ethics finds that the environmental damage caused by the mining operations is extensive, long-term and irreversible," it said.
Freeport-McMoRan's spokesman Bill Collier said the tailings were not toxic. "They did contact us," he said of the fund's managers, Norway's central bank. "We furnished them with our information, but we feel this reflects a misunderstanding."
Collier said Freeport conducts comprehensive monitoring of the water in the river and the area where the tailings are deposited, including sediment, plant species and aquatic organisms. "And it has never detected a problem," he said.
The fund had held about 2.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($416 million) worth of Wal-Mart securities at the end of the 2005, and its holdings in Freeport-McMorRan were worth about 116 million crowns, the ministry said. All were sold by the end of May.
The Government Pension Fund — Global, which invests surplus oil wealth in foreign stocks and bonds, was worth 1.48 trillion Norwegian crowns ($246.2 billion) at the end of March.
Contributing: Carole Vaporean in New York, Jessica Wohl in Chicago and Joergen Frich in Oslo.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. Click for Restrictions.
posted on June 6, 2006 04:20:04 PM new
"OSLO — Norway said on Tuesday that its $240-billion oil fund would no longer invest in Wal-Mart (WMT), the world's biggest retailer, because of what it called "serious and systematic" abuses of human and labor rights."
If Im not mistaken, I believe Tom said that Norway was about the only country that buys seal furs from Canada-after they've been beaten and slaughtered.....of course then again,they are only seals.
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If you dont want to hear the truth....dont ask the question.
posted on June 6, 2006 07:33:12 PM new
Remember peepa's the guy who does not even pay Walmart wages or benefits, but gives his employees "compassion" instead. LOL.
Anybody seeking a "career" or premium medical plan at Walmart is probably too stupid to work even for peepa.
posted on June 6, 2006 07:37:58 PM new
I'm with Peepa. You do NOT have to be a leftie to hate evil Walmart. Many Republicans refuse to shop at Walmart too.
Human Rights violations, huge sums of money being funneled into China, unfair business practices, and many other offences make Walmart the most evil business on the planet. Yes, even ahead of microsoft.
Dr. Arcane, revelator of mystical secrets http://www.drarcane.com
Got questions about the secrets of the universe?
posted on June 7, 2006 03:42:05 AM new
ronnie,
I am glad the word GREED got your attention like the good neocon you are.
desquirrel, I no longer have any employees I am retired. My wife runs the business now. When I did have employees they were part time High School and College kids for the most part. I didn't need full time people. I did help out a Marine that after serving in Iraq couldn't find a GOOD JOB! I never needed much help only a couple people at a time but yes they did make more than the average Wal Mark employee.
My employees never did make as much as the Wal Mark family that a couple years ago gave a WHOPPING 1 PERCENT of their HUGH income to charity. I am sure they must be giving more now but it took a lot of bad press and bad publicity to get the fish hooks out of their pockets.
Again you being a good neocon with nothing to say about the subject your comment is more or less about nothing.
BTW, your not the DUMPSTER DIVER looking for items to sell on Ebay are ya? Is that you or do I have you confused with another neocon on this board?
COME AND JOIN THE GREAT AMERICAN PROTEST ON NOVEMBER 7th 2006. THE MAJORITY WANTS A BETTER AMERICA.
posted on June 7, 2006 04:26:39 AM new
Let's also not forget the hiring of illegal aliens (I don't buy the we didn't know defense). I'm willing to bet they are still employing them.
Classic - I'm not attacking you, but wonder why you are so compassionate about seals being killed, yet I haven't heard you say anything about how cows, pigs, chickens, raccoons, foxes, wolves, minks, ermines, chinchillas, etc., are being beaten and killed by the millions on a daily basis. Do you think there's a difference?
posted on June 7, 2006 07:09:23 PM new
Kraft-I dont approve the beating to death of ANY animal-however we do eat pigs and chickens as a source of food.How many people do you know that eat seals??? I never heard anyone beating a cow to death.We milk cows,and we eat cattle for steaks hamburger etc.We beat raccoons, foxes, wolves, minks, ermines, and chinchillas to death by the millions on a daily basis?? Please provide articles and pics.I can provide MANY articles and pics of the scumbag Canadians beating seals to death for no good reason if you would like me to.
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If you dont want to hear the truth....dont ask the question.
posted on June 7, 2006 08:49:26 PM new
All raccoons must die. In the kindest way possible, of course.
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Now We Know... Uninformed People Elect Uninformed Presidents
posted on June 8, 2006 09:56:41 AM new
call me a pinko if you'd like classic, but these foul creatures have been Disney-fied to the point that there are misguided dopes all over the country who think it's cute to feed them!!
If anyone wants to see, I could post pics of what Rocky Raccoon will do your favorite laying hen. Think headless, footless, hollowed out chicken, nothin left but skin and feathers. A chicken bag, if you will. You could sew up one end and put a strap on it and give it to the Mrs. for her birthday.
They are the #1 vector of Rabies in North America, hands down winners, have been for years. Foul tempered vile vermin. There goes the blood pressure.........
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Now We Know... Uninformed People Elect Uninformed Presidents
posted on June 8, 2006 10:20:46 AM new
Raccoons are hardly "vermin", even the little b*stard that got into my ceiling last year and fell through.
My friend found a baby raccoon and took care of it. You're not supposed to be able to domesticate them, but his became the family pet. Think of a cat with the IQ of an 8yr old. Darndest thing you ever saw.
posted on June 8, 2006 10:24:45 AM newWhen I did have employees they were part time High School and College kids for the most part
So you are a greedy hypocrite bastard. Part timers don't get benefits like all you Demomorons complain that all employers need to provide. Maybe you should do as you say and not as you do. Give all you money to your workers you complete liar. You don't deserve any of that hard earned money.
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Many misleading tricks in 2006. The new Demomoron slogan.
posted on June 8, 2006 10:47:05 AM new
rapacious vermin. they breed like cockroaches and make Dbl look even-tempered. Wait till the family pet decides to rip the face off some visiting child. Better a pen full of pit bulls. Not that I have anything against them. Everything in it's place, I say. Their place just happens to be my lime pit.
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Now We Know... Uninformed People Elect Uninformed Presidents
posted on June 8, 2006 12:05:28 PM new
LOL sorry Profe didnt mean to get ya blood pressure up-I meant that as a joke.
The fact is I've never seen a raccoon in the wild.The only animals we have running wild around here are deer,rabbits and a few garter snakes.We did have a opossum that got trapped in our garage last summer.I left both garage doors open for a couple of hours and he refused to leave.Had to call the police,because I didnt know if the damn thing was rabbid or not,although I didnt think it was.He was a cute little thing and was cuddle up in a corner.Im sure he was scared as hell as when I slowly walked toward him he was trying to climb the wall so I backed off.Since he was a wild animal and I wasnt about to pick him up, the only thing we thought off was to spray him with the water hose-which worked-he ran like hell LOL.
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If you dont want to hear the truth....dont ask the question.
posted on June 8, 2006 03:50:36 PM new
If you've got deer and rabbits I'll bet you've got coons too classic. Maybe your trash cans are airtight or something.
I was kidding about the BP. Only thing gets my BP out of sorts is Californians.
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Now We Know... Uninformed People Elect Uninformed Presidents
posted on June 8, 2006 09:36:25 PM new
Coming from a long line of coon hunters I can tell you that they are not nice pets. The best bet is to alter their reproductive equipment, if you must keep one as a pet. I like to think of them as miniature bears. My dad had a blue tick hound drowned by a coon. This dog had scrapped with many a coon and knew how to do it. But this particular coon was smart, he took to the water and the dog went after him. The coon climbed on the dog's head biting and clawing the whole way. The dog soon drowned, he couldn't hold his head out of the water with the weight of the coon on it.
posted on June 9, 2006 08:36:55 AM new
"A chicken bag, if you will. You could sew up one end and put a strap on it and give it to the Mrs. for her birthday. "
I guess I'm the only one here who read that line and remembered this is an eBay board. Sounds like you may have invented a new line of products!
Dr. Arcane, revelator of mystical secrets http://www.drarcane.com
Got questions about the secrets of the universe?
