Dirt Diggers Digest No. 38
June 25, 2003
Editor: Philip Mattera
1. Electronic filing of insider trading reports set to begin
2. Labor group publishes profiles of U.S. contractors in Iraq
3. "Publish What You Pay" transparency movement gains momentum
4. Polaris Institute publishes critique of service sector lobbying group
5. U.S. PIRG report documents field tests of genetically engineered crops
6. Labor Department gets huge reponse to LM-2 revision plan
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1. Electronic filing of insider trading reports set to begin
June 30th is the day that the SEC rule on the electronic filing of
insider trading reports is scheduled to take effect. Starting on
that day, companies will be required to submit their Forms 3,
4 and 5 (also known as Section 16 forms) in electronic format
to the SEC, which will make them available through EDGAR.
Filings have to be made within two days of the stock transaction.
Firms must also post the documents on their own website by
the end of the business day during which they are filed with the SEC.
Section 16 applies to officers and directors of companies as well
as anyone who is the beneficial owner of more than 10 percent of
any class of registered equity security. For the text of the final rule,
see http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/33-8230.htm.
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2. Labor group publishes profiles of U.S. contractors in Iraq
U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) has published a report
containing critical profiles of U.S. corporations that have been
awarded reconstruction contracts in postwar Iraq. Titled THE
CORPORATE INVASION OF IRAQ, the USLAW report can be found at
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/images/CorpInvasion.061503.v1.4.pdf.
The 18 profiles, covering companies ranging from Dick Cheney's alma
mater Halliburton to the bankrupt MCI Worldcom, include an account
of each firm's labor relations record as well as descriptions of its
general operations and its plans for Iraq.
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3. "Publish What You Pay" transparency movement gains momentum
Publish What You Pay <www.publishwhatyoupay.org> is the name
of an international initiative of non-governmental organizations aimed
at getting major corporations, especially in the extractive industries, to
disclosure the payments they make to the governments of third world
countries. The concept, which is meant to thwart corruption on the part
of public officials, was endorsed this month by a committee of the
European Parliament, which held a hearing at which representatives of
oil giants BP and Shell supported the idea. Also this month, Catholic
Relife Services <www.catholicrelief.org> has released a report called
BOTTOM OF THE BARREL: AFRICA'S OIL BOOM AND THE POOR
that endorses disclosure by oil companies of the payments they make
to governments in Africa. Also on the bandwagon is the Blair government
in Britain, which last year launched an Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative <http://www.dfid.gov.uk/News/News/files/eiti_core_script.htm>.
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4. Polaris Institute publishes critique of service sector lobbying group
The Polaris Institute, a progressive corporate research center based
in Ottawa, has published a report on the U.S. Coalition of Service
Industries <see http://www.polarisinstitute.org/pubs/pubs_pdfs/uscsi.pdf>.
Titled ENRON-STYLE CORPORATE CRIME AND PRIVATIZATION, the
report documents the involvement of corporate members of the lobbying
group in some of the major business scandals of recent years. It also
describes how the Coalition pushes for the inclusion of business-friendly
principles such as privatization in international trade agreements.
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5. U.S. PIRG report documents field tests of genetically engineered crops
A report published by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group found
that the number of field tests of genetically modified crops authorized
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reached nearly 40,000 --
more than 10,000 of which have occurred in the past two years alone.
The report, RAISING RISK: FIELD TESTING OF GENETICALLY
ENGINEERED CROPS <available at uspirg.org>, warns that this
huge volume of field testing is taking place without sufficient regulatory
oversight. PIRG's report appears amid an aggressive campaign by the Bush
Administration to promote agricultural biotechnology in the face of
strong opposition from Europe.
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6. Labor Department gets huge reponse to LM-2 revision plan
The Bureau of National Affairs has reported (Labor Relations Week,
June 19) that the Department of Labor has received more than 35,000
comments regarding its proposed revisions to the annual disclosure forms
that unions are required to file. DOL has not announced its assessment
of the response, but BNA said that most of the sample comments it reviewed
were opposed to the controversial changes. In announcing the proposal last
December <http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/esa/ESA2002698.htm>
DOL said the aim was to give rank and filers more information about the
finances of their union, but labor observers have charged that the changes
are politically motivated. Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce, which are no great fans of disclosure when it comes to
corporations, are strongly supporting the new union requirements in the
name of transparency.
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Philip Mattera
Director of the Corporate Research Project
Good Jobs First