The art of banding together. Hmmm. Sounds familiar, somehow...
Dan
From: "Taren S-K, SumOfUs.org" <us@sumofus.org>
Date: Aug 29, 2012 12:03 PM
Subject: Moving corporate mountains
To: "Daniel Stafford" <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Dear Daniel,
It has been nine months since the launch of SumOfUs.org, and in that short amount of time we have grown from an idea to a full-fledged movement. As we look back over the past two months and the milestones we have achieved, I thought it would be fun to share some numbers from our organization to show you all that we have accomplished, both statistically and in some of our most recent campaigns.
- 9 -- months since launch
- 772,707 -- people currently subscribed to our email list
- 20 -- companies that have stopped funding the extremist Heartland Institute since we launched our joint campaign with Forecast the Facts and 350.org
- 38 -- companies that have left ALEC since we launched our joint campaign with ColorOfChange
- 753 -- emails we've sent out, including campaigns, campaign tests, rally-reminders and report-backs
- 64 -- weeks the Coalition of Immokalee Workers had been campaigning to get Trader Joe's to sign the Fair Food Agreement when we joined the campaign
- 3 -- weeks from when we joined CIW's campaign til when Trader Joe's signed the agreement
- 7 -- staff (six full-time)
- 195 -- countries represented on our email list
- 3 -- number of countries represented on our staff
- 651,188 -- number of people who signed on for our Thank You, Starbucks campaign
- 46,501 -- number of people who joined the National Organization for Marriage's campaign against Starbucks
- 1 -- number of SumOfUs.org staff who dressed up as a Starbucks cup to deliver our thank you card to HQ
- 3,468,789 -- actions taken through our website since we launched
Campaign updates
Stand with Julia in her fight against TransCanada
Background: The Keystone XL Pipeline, which would transport dirty tar sands oil to the US, has been enormously controversial and a potential environmental disaster. Although President Obama ordered a review of the pipeline in January, the project is marching onwards. One of the few people to stand in TransCanada's way is Julia Trigg, a Texas farmer fighting to prevent Keystone's company, TransCanada, from seizing her land for its pan-American pipeline.
What we want: We asked the SumOfUs.org community to help contribute to Julia's legal efforts, in order to ensure that she could have top-notch legal representation as she goes up against the best lawyers oil money can buy.
Current status: The result was amazing! Over 2,000 people donated what they could afford to Julia, and we raised just short of $50,000 to support Julia's legal fund -- enough for her to hire another lawyer to fight TransCanada's army of corporate lawyers. When we told her, she literally jumped for joy. In her long struggle with TransCanada, this money will allow her to keep up the fight as her case works its way through the Texas legal system.
Last Wednesday, Julia suffered a first-round setback when the local county judge announced his ruling against Julia in a fifteen-word email, which he callously sent from his iPhone. Although Julia is disappointed, she has always had plans to appeal all the way to the Texas Supreme Court if she needed to, which has previously ruled in favor of landowners like her in similar cases. Thanks to the generosity of SumOfUs.org members, Julia is now secure that she can take her fight to the next round, in the state district court. Julia has been extremely grateful for the help SumOfUs.org members, whose donations have been a game changer. When she got our "Good luck" card from members, Julia called us up weeping in gratitude. To all that donated or helped raise awareness of Julia's campaign, thank you for your support!
Read More: Original donation ask | Our "Good luck" card to Julia
Press coverage: The Toronto Star | The New York Times
These workers aren't just fighting for their jobs. They want to buy the factory.
(US and UK-only campaign)
Background: Serious Energy, owned in part by Mesirow Financial, was planning to shut down a Chicago-area energy efficient-window and door factory, lay off all the workers, and sell the parts off for scrap to vulture companies, kicking the factory workers out to the job market.
Partners: The Working World
What we want: Members of SumOfUs.org called on Serious Energy and Mesirow Financial to come back to the bargaining table and work with the workers' cooperative to reach a fair deal to save the factory.
Current status: We won an important step by getting Serious Energy back to the bargaining table to sit down and talk in good faith. Word from our allies is that the talks have been progressing well, and we hope to have exciting news to report back about New Era Windows when we update you again in October. In the words of our allies, "we have made great progress... and the petition was instrumental to making it happen."
Read More: The original petition | Fundraiser for the workers
Press coverage: The Nation
Johnson & Johnson and ALEC and Trayvon
(US-only campaign)
Background:
The American Legislative Exchange Council gained notoriety earlier this year when it was connected to Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which George Zimmerman had infamously used as his defense for the killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. As the public began to learn more about ALEC's work in partnering corporate lobbyists with state legislatures to craft harmful legislation, a call went out for corporations to stop associating with the organization.
Partner: ColorOfChange
What we want: SumOfUs.org members called upon Johnson & Johnson, along with other corporations, to leave ALEC over its support for harmful legislation.
Current status: Johnson & Johnson announced it was leaving ALEC in June. Since then, the bleeding has continued, with General Electric, General Motors, Sprint, Walgreens, Hewlett-Packard, CVS, Best Buy, John Deere & Co. and MillerCoors LLC all announcing that they, too, have quit the corporate "stealth lobbying" group, bringing the total of organizations that have withdrawn to 38. ALEC has become toxic to many top brands, and as more and more companies pull out, ALEC's funding has been cut short and its activities restricted. In recent months it disbanded its task force responsible for drafting Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law as well as drafting the infamous voter-ID laws which will restrict voting rights in a number of states this fall. If you are unsure about your own state's voting laws, go here to find out if your state requires an ID, and make sure you and your friends will be eligible to vote in 2012.
Read More: Original petition
Press coverage: Triple Pundit | Policy Mic | Business Week
Berenstain Bears: Dump the anti-gay Chick-fil-A
(US-only campaign)
Background: Chick-fil-A came under a media firestorm in July, after its CEO went on the record to say he was "guilty as charged" as a funder of discriminatory laws against the LGBT community. In light of his comments, and the ensuing stories about Chick-fil-A's significiant donations to anti-gay organizations, the Jim Henson Company ended its partnership with Chick-fil-A's Kids' Meals.
Partner: CREDO, Faithful America
What we want: The SumOfUs.org community asked the Berenstain Bears, Chick-fil-A's next toy sponsor, to end its partnership with Chick-fil-A as well.
Current status: The Berenstain Bears responded to the controversy by putting up a public notice on its website distancing itself both from Chick-fil-A and from its publisher, HarperCollins. We delivered over eighty thousand signatures to HarperCollins headquarters. The publisher decided to push forward with the toy deal, citing support of corporate "free speech". But Chick-fil-A and its corporate friends have felt our heat. The fast food company's next two planned toy tie-ins are unbranded and unadvertised.
Read More: Original petition | Press release
Press coverage: The New York Observer | The Telegraph | Entertainment Weekly
Enbridge: Stop misleading the public
(Non-US campaign)
Background: Canadian oil company Enbridge is building a massive, 700-mile-long pipeline through gorgeous wilderness, terminating at a bay filled with over a dozen islands. In order to sell this dangerous plan to the public, Enbridge -- which has a long history of oil spills -- erased almost all of the islands from its public-facing map and video, making the route appear safer than it actually is.
Partner: LeadNow
What we wanted: SumOfUs.org called on Enbridge to pull its ads in order to stop misleading the public.
Update: Enbridge quickly responded by editing its video and adding a disclaimer, but continues to use the misleading piece to sell its idea. SumOfUs.org and LeadNow are planning to deliver over 40,000 signatures to Enbridge's head office in Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary, calling for the company to pull the ad for good.
Read more: The original petition
Press coverage: The Vancouver Observer | Huffington Post Canada
IKEA: Stop destroying Russia's remaining ancient forests
Backgrou
nd: IKEA's motto may be "We love trees" but privately IKEA sources much of its wood from Europe's last-remaining old-growth forest, cutting down trees that environmentalists have found to be hundreds of years old, in violation of IKEA's own policies.
What we want: We are asking for IKEA to stop sourcing its wood from Russia's old-growth Karelia forests.
Current status: Over 100,000 of you signed our petition to IKEA, and the company responded by shooting us a letter in which it claimed that we were mistaken about the extent of its logging operation, and its use of ancient trees. We checked in with Protect the Forests Sweden, an environmental charity which has actively investigated IKEA's logging sites, who provided clear proof that IKEA was chopping down old-growth trees. We communicated this confirmation to IKEA, and will continue to monitor IKEA for another opportunity to publicly pressure the company of its environmentally-unsound practices.
Read More: Original petition | Protect the Forest Sweden
Hershey's Chocolate: Let HIV+ boys attend your school
(US-only)
Background:
A boy was denied admission to the Milton Hershey School, a private boarding school for underprivileged kids, simply because he was HIV+. That school is run solely with funding from the Hershey Corporation. Despite pressure from community groups and a lawsuit, the Milton Hershey School dug in and continued to refuse admission to the boy, in direct violation of the law.
What we want: We called for Hershey Corporation to use its weight as a Board member of the school to push the school to admit the boy.
Current status: Victory, the boy was offered admission! Organizers of a Hershey's boycott tell us our 20,000 signatures helped build media attention on the issue and push the school to change their course.
Read More: Original petition
Press coverage: Associated Press | MarketWatch
Hyatt: Re-hire Elvia Bahena!
Background: For years, Hyatt has been one of the worst employers in the hotel industry, with a significantly higher rate of injury on the job, and few protections for workers. One of the more egregious violations of workers' rights occurred in Indiana, when subcontract worker Elvia Bahena spoke out against Hyatt's practice of discriminating against contact workers, thus depressing their wages and ensuring they had no opportunities for advancement. After Elvia spoke out, Hyatt punished her by refusing to hire her further.
Partner: UNITE HERE
What we want: We called upon the manager of the local Hyatt, Brian Comes, to re-hire Elvia.
Current status: Over 60,000 SumOfUs.org members wrote in to Brian, but Hyatt has refused to let Elvia back on her job, and continues both its abusive practices and a sophisticated, long-running PR campaign to discredit anyone who speaks out. We will continue to monitor Hyatt and its abuses going forward.
Read More: Original petition
Chipotle: Sign the Fair Food Agreement
(US-only campaign)
Background: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has been fighting for over a decade to pressure large corporations to sign the Fair Food Agreement, ensuring that tomato-pickers are treated humanely and paid a fair wage. Chipotle has been the latest company to hold out on signing. Chipotle does carry out some of the provisions of the FFA, but by not signing, Chipotle creates a dangerous environment that undermines entire Fair Food Program..
Partner: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers
What we want: SumOfUs.org members called for Chipotle to finally sign the agreement with workers.
Current status: We worked with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for a fantastic day of action, with hundreds of phone calls to Chipotle's headquarters, nearly two dozen rallies across the country and tons of SumOfUs.org members visiting stores to speak with their local Chipotle manager. In advance of the week of action, Chipotle sent around a briefing memo to managers to make sure they could echo its inaccurate talking points to concerned customers. However, Chipotle has continued to claim that its own, limited reforms are good enough. We will continue to bring pressure to Chipotle, and press the company until it lives up to its claims of truly serving up "food with integrity."
Read More: Original petition | Pictures and press from the Day of Action (scroll down to July 27th) | 10 lies in Chipotle's response
Apple: Make your products ethically
Background: In January 2012, the New York Times reported that workers at iPhone factories in China faced harsh working conditions, illegal overtime requirements, and were paid a pittance. Since then, Apple has hired the Fair Labor Association, which confirmed what we already knew -- things are really bad for workers at factories in Apple's Chinese supply chain. Over the summer, two independent research groups released reports showing that instead of improving working conditions like Apple promised, many workers are now being forced to work unpaid overtime, and are making even less -- a direct contradiction with what Apple committed to do.
Partner: Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour
What we want: The SumOfUs.org community wants Apple to treat its workers ethically, ensuring good wages, legal overtime hours, humane working conditions and the freedom of association. As an industry leader and one of the most profitable companies in the world, Apple should also be a leader in the way it treats the men and women who make its products.
Current status: After getting Apple to acknowledge its problems and pledge to fix them, we moved to the next step of the campaign: Getting Apple to make good on its word. To that end, we launched a website to track Apple's progress towards its commitment to make its products ethically. Check EthicaliPhone.org to see Apple's progress towards keeping its promise, as well as facts on Apple's treatment of workers. Apple's manufacturing partner, Foxconn, is still systematically violating overtime laws. The Fair Labor Association has reported modest reforms, but much more reform still needs to be accomplished before Apple can have any claim to workers being treated ethically.
Read More: Original petition | EthicaliPhone.org | Press release
Press coverage: CBS News | LA Times | Talking Points Memo
Beyond all of this, we've been waging a number of shorter-term campaigns you may have seen that aren't included here in this big round-up. If you have specific questions about what is happening with any campaigns, let us know through our contact form.
Onwards!
As you can tell, we've been busy! But we wouldn't have it any other way. We are excited to build a movement together, and we're honored that you're a part of it.
We have some incredible campaigns in the works that we're looking forward to sharing with you. As we are still a tiny organization, with just six full-time staff members, we make sure that every dollar counts. If you want to help support our movement, please consider becoming a donor. We don't take any money from corporations or governments, which allows us to be truly independent and able to run campaigns like the ones above. But that also means we depend on our members to keep us going. Any donation -- even $5 -- that you can make not only improves our ability to campaign for corporate accountability, but also energizes us, knowing that you are invested in what the SumOfUs can do. To make your money go even further, make a recurring monthly donation.
Thanks for reading, and for continuing to support our growing movement for corporate accountability.
SumOfUs is a world-wide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy. You can follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook. Was this email forwarded to you? Click here to add yourself to SumOfUs.
If you don't want to receive emails from us anymore, you can remove yourself aquarianm@gmail.com from our list by clicking here. But just know, we'll miss you!
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