Ralph Nader (Co-op America, 1989).
Campaigns that have achieved just that:
June 2006
The Burma Campaign UK
announced that sustained pressure had led to Austrian Airlines, Eastravel
and FromersGuides joining the growing exodus of companies ending their
promotion of tourism to Burma. Austrian Airlines subsidiary Lauda Air
was the only airline in Europe with direct flights to Burma, and the
regime had welcomed the flights, hoping they would boost tourism and
investment. There’s more good news as Gill Clothing has also formally
pledged to stop sourcing from the country. Its clothing had been sporting
Made in Myanmar labels.
“It is good to see companies responding to public pressure to stop promoting tourism to Burma,” said Anna
Roberts, Campaigns Manager at the Burma Campaign UK. “Companies don’t want to operate there, and the public
don’t want to visit, as they don’t want to put money into the pockets of Burma’s generals.”
October 2005
The Coalition to Abolish the Fur
Trade (CAFT) stated that Inditex Group, which owned fashion chain
Zara, had decided to withdraw fur from all the group's 2,064 stores in
52 countries. The fur was phased out over a period of several weeks and
Inditex ceased sale of fur in its shops from 31 December 2004. Inditex
stated in a letter to its customers that a formal policy had been established
and as of 1st January 2005 no fur was to be used in Inditex Group clothes
or other products. The policy was announced 3 days before a planned international
day of action against Zara.
August 2005
Snow+Rock announced it would no longer be selling real fur garments following
a campaign by Coalition to Abolish the
Fur Trade (CAFT). The managing director, Dion Taylor, said: “We
feel there are enough man made equivalents to satisfy the needs of our
customers.” More info on CAFT's other campaigns on 0845 330 7955.
August 2005
Aon Corporation informed the Burma Campaign UK it intended to terminate
all business in Burma. The company had appeared on the Burma Campaign's
‘Dirty List’ of companies directly or indirectly funding the
regime in Burma. The campaign group welcomed the decision: “Aon have
acted responsibly by ending their involvement in Burma,” said Director,
John Jackson. Other companies that have either pulled out of Burma, or
made a principled decision not to become involved with the country, can
be viewed on www.burmacampaign.org.uk/dirty_list/clean_list.html.
Alternatively, contact the campaign on 020 7324 4710
July 2005
The Captive Animals’ Protection Society (CAPS) claimed that the
Automobile Association (AA) had told them “no wild captive animals
will feature in future AA advertising.” This was in response to a
customer furore, following an AA ad featuring Anne, an elderly Asian elephant
on loan from Bobby Roberts Circus. To read about Anne, and the Bobby Roberts
Circus that made £6,500 from loaning her out, see www.captiveanimals.org/elephants/index.htm
or contact CAPS on 0845 330 3911.
October 2004
Marine campaign group Oceana's boycott of Royal Caribbean Cruises
Ltd led to the company installing Advanced Wastewater Purification technology
(AWP) on all its ships. Oceana campaigns to stop the release of toxic
chemicals and waste from cruise ships, and feels that the AWP systems
will ensure that each vessel meets strict quality standards. Oceana reports
that Royal Caribbean will have independent, third-party auditors monitoring
the new equipment to ensure performance targets are met. To find out about
Oceana's current campaigns see www.oceana.org/
March 2004
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) confirmed its decision to pull out of
Burma. The company had featured on Burma Campaign UK's boycott list of
companies directly or indirectly funding the regime in Burma.“This
is excellent news,” said John Jackson, Director of the Burma Campaign
UK. “Foreign investment has played a key role in keeping Burma’s
dictatorship in power. With PwC pulling out, yet another potential source
of revenue for the regime has been cut off.” Find out which companies
are still on the boycott list at: www.burmacampaign.org.uk/dirty_list/dirty_list_details.html
September 2003
In response to a three-year Animal Aid campaign, Focus pledged to end
the sale of all animals, including fish, in its stores throughout the
UK. The massive DIY chain promised that animal sales would stop in the
next two years. Information on the pet trade can be found at www.animalaid.org.uk/pets/index.htm
or call 01732 364 546
March 2003
The Stop Staples Campaign was declared to be over following the office-supply
giant’s announcement that it would meet the campaign’s goal
of moving the company towards environmentally-preferable paper sales.
Staples pledged to achieve an average of 30% post consumer recycled content
across all paper products it sold. It also pledged to phase out purchases
of paper products from endangered forests, create an environmental affairs
division and to report annually on its environmental results. More information
on www.dogwoodalliance.org/campaign/osi.php
April 2002
Focus DIY victory
The Focus store group has announced to Animal Aid that it is to cease
the sale of all birds and small mammals. Animal Aid began its Focus campaign
in February 2000, originally concentrating on the company’s sale
of reptiles. Following hundreds of demonstrations at the company’s
stores around the country, Focus'
reptile sales ended in October 2000.
www.animalaid.org.uk
Tel: 01732 364546
February 2002
Triumph victory
As previously reported on this page, Triumph International was the subject
of a boycott call over its manufacturing operations in Burma. However,
just as this magazine went to press, the company announced that it would
be closing down its Burma-based manufacturing site, located on a military-owned
industrial estate north of Rangoon. Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma
Campaign UK celebrated Triumph's decision. "Triumph have obviously
been taken by surprise by the strength of feeling against doing busines
in Burma - having been inundated by customers pledging to boycott their
products," she said. "This should serve as a warning to other
companies operating in Burma: Get out now, or you could be next."
Burma
Campaign UK
April 2001
Victory over John Lewis Hunts
The four year boycott run by the National Anti-Hunt Campaign (NAHC)
over John Lewis’ staff pheasant shoots has finally ended in victory, with
the closure of the company’s Shooting Club. This highly active boycott
has seen the release of pheasant stocks by the ALF and regular demonstrations
and other lobbying tactics at John Lewis stores nationwide. The campaign
gained a higher profile in 2000 when Animal Aid added its voice and membership
capacity to the boycott. The NAHC/Animal Aid victory comes despite John
Lewis trying “every trick in the book,” according to NAHC’s Niel Hansen,
including libel writs and attempting to have one campaigner jailed for
distributing leaflets on company property.
nahc@nahc.freeserve.co.uk
December 2000
Rainforest victory
The Rainforest Action Network has called off its long-standing boycott
of Mitsubishi. The two main companies targeted by the boycott, Mitsubishi
Motors and Mitsubishi Electric, have signed an agreement with RAN committing
themselves to making important changes to their wood and paper purchasing
policies, and the rest of the Mitsubishi group is also said to be looking
at ways of improving its environmental management. This signals an important
victory for the campaign to promote more responsible forestry practices
in the world’s rainforests.
More information is available from:
Rainforest Action Network
221 Pine Street, Suite 5000, San Francisco, California USA
001 415 398 4404
www.ran.org
April 2000
Mitsubishi in Mexico - boycott success
Following a long campaign of protest, Mitsubishi surprised campaigners
by announcing in March that it was pulling out of an industrial salt
project in Mexico for environmental reasons. The project to extract
salt from sea water in evaporation ponds was to be located in a World
Heritage Site - the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve - and was outlined in
EC52. Potentially covering 116 square miles, it threatened a breeding
ground for whales and other endangered species. A 'Mitsubishi: Don't
Buy It' campaign was launched, more than 40 Californian cities passed
resolutions condemning the company, and over 700,000 letters of objection
were sent. Homero Aridjis, one of the campaign's leaders was reported
as saying: "It has been a tough fight for five years with one of
the richest corporations in the world and the Mexican government."
Visit ECRA's Boycott Bush
website
