CSR News Stories
Japan: Tepco supplier exposed workers in Fukushima crisis
Nine workers for construction firm Build-Up were forced to under-report radiation exposure when they were dealing with the Fukushima nuclear plant crisis. A senior executive at the company order staff to attach lead plates to pocket dosimeters supplied by Tepco in order to keep the readings below government emergency safety limits.
France Telecom investigation over staff suicides linked to bullying
France Telecom is under investigation after 35 employee suicides in 2008 and 2009 have been linked to a restructuring programme that allegedly undermined employees' well being and was akin to bullying.
Walmart targeted over labour practices at CJ Seafood
Over 140,000 people have signed a petition calling on Walmart to end its relationship with supplier CJ Seafood for alleged abusive working conditions.
Indonesia: Nike supplier to pay $1m unpaid overtime to workers
PT Nikomas has reached a settlement to pay workers $1m in unpaid overtime to around 4,500 workers. The company, which makes shoes for Nike at its factory in Banten province, had failed to pay for nearly 600,000 hours of overtime in two years.
Netherlands: Walmart blacklisted by major pension fund
The country's biggest pension fund, Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds, has stated that it is to blacklist Walmart for a range of factors concerning its social and environmental practices.
US: Amazon slammed for warehouse working conditions
Amazon has been accused of subjecting workers to 'sweatshop conditions' at its warehouse in Pennsylvania where employees have complained of unbearable temperatures, high pressure and mandatory overtime.
China: McDonald's and KFC probed over low wage accusations
The Labour Bureau in Guangdong province has begun a probe into allegations that McDonald's and KFC paid part-time employees less than the minimum wage of 7.5 yuan per hour.
UK: Survey shows impact bad management has on staff
Almost half of workers polled in the UK said that they had left a job because of bad management and that, given the option, they would rather take a pay cut than be managed by someone with poor skills.
US: Anheuser-Busch savaged for unequal pay by former head of PR
The brewer of beers such as Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch, is being sued by a former top executive for sex discrimination. According to the suit, the company encouraged a "frat party" corporate atmosphere, and maintained serious gender disparities in pay.
UK: Balfour Beatty amongst those that bought worker blacklist
A number of construction firms, including Balfour Beatty, have been named by the information commissioner as having paid for information on blacklisted workers.
China: Sale of steel group ended after workers kill executive
Thousands of rioting steel workers have brought an end to the proposed sale of a majority stake in the state-owned Tonghua and Steel Group. The workers fought with police, and beat to death a senior executive from the company that had been poised to buy the firm.
UK: Government to ban anti-union blacklists
The government has said that it will introduce new laws to ban companies from using secret blacklists to avoid employing people that have been active with trade unions.
France: 45 percent support workers who kidnap bosses
An opinion poll has shown that 45 percent of French citizens believe that radical action by workers facing pay cuts or redundancies to kidnap their bosses to force concessions is acceptable. 50 percent believe it to be unacceptable.
Germany: Deutsche Bahn CEO goes in spying row
The chief executive of Germany's railway firm Deutsche Bahn is to leave after revelations that thousands of employees were spied upon during an operation intended to reduce corruption.
UK: Construction firms illegally bought worker blacklist
40 major construction companies, including Taylor Woodrow, Laing O'Rourke and Balfour Beatty, bought secret information on workers to enable them to vet them before employing them, according to the information commissioner.
US: Mitsui sued over alleged discrimination against non-Asian employees
Trading company Mitsui has been accused of denying non-Asian employees equal pay and promotion opportunities at its US unit.
Pakistan: Union campaign targets Unilever's Lipton Tea
The plight of 700 contract agency workers at a Unilever tea factory in Pakistan has been highlighted by a union campaign to get the workers granted permanent job status.
Turkmenistan: Chinese oil firm sacks workers over protest
The Chinese National Petroleum Corporation has sacked ten employees who led protests over the company persistently paying them late, according to Radio Free Europe.
China: Kader settles labour dispute after violent protests
Kai Da, a leading toy manufacturer in Guangdong, has agreed to renew labour contracts with employees following violent protests against its plans to terminate them.
Finland: Union boycott brings Stora Enso's exports to a standstill
The Finnish Transport Workers Union (AKT) has carried out a two-day boycott of Stora Enso's paper and wood exports in protest of workplace policies at the company.
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Special Feature
Social responsibility and finance - on the precipice
In a recent article, the BBC's economics editor Robert Peston highlighted the fact that in 2012 the chances are that the economy - punch drunk as it is from the various flavours of debt crisis it has been pummelled with over the course of the year - will be hit by the collapse of a major bank and / or government.
