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Walmart Investors Voice Deep Concerns over Bribery Allegations April 24th, 2012

Shareholders Identified Company’s “Aggressive and Competitive” Growth Strategies as Lacking Ethical Standards in a 1999 Letter to Management

Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) , a coalition of faith-based and responsible institutional investors that have been actively engaging Walmart on social environmental, and governance issues are dismayed by recent reports in the NY Times alleging systematic bribery and corruption beginning in 2005 to facilitate the rapid expansion of their retail operations in Mexico. The Missionary Oblates is an active member of ICCR and engaged in the dialog with Walmart.

Said Sr. Barbara Aires of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, New Jersey who has led the Walmart engagement for over 20 years, “We have a tremendous investment in this company in terms of our time, expertise and yes, capital, and find these allegations deeply disturbing on so many levels. Should these reports be confirmed, we deem this a significant breach of trust and loss of management credibility.”

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Socially Responsible Investment Coalition Celebrates 30th Anniversary! April 20th, 2012

The Socially Responsible Investment Coalition (SRIC) celebrated its 30th anniversary in the new Whitley Theological Center Facility on the campus on the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio recently. Seamus Finn, OMI presented, using a video and powerpoint presentation in a panel titled “Impacting Investments in a Sustainable World.”

SRIC is a non-profit religiously sponsored organization headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Institutions and individuals belonging to SRIC work to balance their economic policies and practices with their fair and social concerns. As investors and shareholders, members act to influence corporations toward social responsibilty.

Oblates Participate in 10th Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance April 20th, 2012

Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI participated in the 10th Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance held in Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 24-25, 2012. He was a panelist in the plenary session on Faith-Based Investment and Social Responsibility.

The Forum brochure offered this summary of the proceedings:

The Tenth Forum features three main parallel sessions, which reflect three major themes within the topic of economic development. These include the Islamic financial sector’s contribution to global economic development, Islamic finance and the development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), and faith-based investment and social responsibility. Apart from these three main sessions, there are also parallel sessions on Islamic finance and the Arab Spring movements, global perspectives on Islamic finance, Islamic finance and alternative economic thinking, and current academic research on product development in the Islamic finance industry. With over 50 speakers and 30 nationalities represented, the forum attracts the leading practitioners from academia and the industry to critically discuss the issues highlighted above with a view to proposing sustainable developmental plans for the Islamic finance industry in general. There is no doubt that this rapidly developing field of the global financial system requires a close scrutiny to maximally harness it for the development of the global economy.

 Learn more about the Islamic Finance Project…

Interfaith Moral Action On Climate April 20th, 2012

Interfaith Moral Action on Climate is a broad-based interfaith coalition formed to raise up the need for urgent action on climate change. Believing that the threat posed by Climate Change is a moral issue, IMAC has planned a series of events to coincide with Earth Day. To avoid conflicting with other events planned in Washington DC for Earth Day weekend, and because they will be visiting members of Congress, IMAC has scheduled the group’s activities for Tuesday April 24.  If you are in the area, we encourage you to become involved. The Missionary Oblates JPIC Office is an endorsing organization. Full information is available on the IMAC website.

Download a flyer for the April 24th A Day for the Climate in Washington DC 

Schedule of activities:

Sunrise – 9:15 am Vigil • 8:30 am Interfaith Service with Bill McKibben, Ibrahim Ramey, Indigenous leaders, Luci Murphy Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

10:30 am “Cry of the Earth: A Service for Healing the Climate” with: Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, Dr. Carroll Baltimore, Sr. Simone Campbell/SSS, Rev. Richard Cizik, Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Mohawk Clan Mother Louise McDonald, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, and others at the NY Ave. Presbyterian Church,1313 New York Ave., NW; Bring some earth from your local community to be healed at the Service

12 noon Multi-faith Procession to the US Capitol

• Upper Senate Park, 200 New Jersey Ave. NW
• Wear religious garb if possible

1 pm Brown bag lunch for yourself and to share

1:30 pm Commissioning Vigil at the Capitol

2 – 4:30 pm Constituent Visits with Ethical Report Cards

• meet with members in the House and Senate (Sign up for this separately on the IMAC website)

4:30 – 6:00 pm Closing, Sharing & Benediction

• Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol St.
• (behind the Supreme Court)

People of faith and good will around the country who cannot join us on April 24 are urged to have vigils in their local communities.

US Textile Trade Associations Press Bangladeshi Government on Murder of Labor Leader April 20th, 2012

A number of textile trade associations and unions sent a letter to the Bangladeshi Prime Minister in response to the recent murder of labor activist, Aminul Islam. Mr. Islam was a senior organizer at the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) and a local leader for the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF). Both organizations have been working to help workers combat low wages, deadly factory fires, and repression of their right to organize. This letter went to the Prime Minister through the initiative of ICCR shareholders with Wal-Mart and PVH Corp. (Phillips Van Heusen). The Missionary Oblates is an active member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR).

Read the letter (Download PDF)

The International Labor Rights Forum sent out this information on Aminul Islam on April 12th:

Last Wednesday, Aminul Islam left his office for evening prayers. He noticed a police van parked outside and called his colleagues, worried about possible harassment. Then he went to meet with a worker. He never returned home.

His body was found a day later. According to police reports his legs had severe torture marks including a hole made by a sharp object. All his toes were broken.

Aminul was a senior organizer at the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) and a local leader for the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF). ILRF has worked with BCWS and BGIWF for many years. They have been a critical force in the effort to defend workers’ rights in a country known for sub-poverty wages, deadly factory fires, and repression of the right to organize.

Over the past two years, the government of Bangladesh has carried out a campaign of intimidation and harassment against BCWS. On June 16, 2010, Aminul was detained by security forces, beaten repeatedly and threatened with death, in an attempt to coerce him into making incriminating statements against the organization. Not long after, he and his colleagues Kalpona Akter and Babul Akhter were arrested and kept in jail for nearly a month, where they were subjected to psychological and physical abuse. Since 2010, Aminul, Kalpona and Babul have faced criminal charges for which no substantiating evidence has been presented.

Given this history, there is strong reason to suspect that Aminul’s murder was in retaliation for his efforts as a labor rights organizer and to fear this could represent a violent escalation in the repression of worker rights advocates in Bangladesh.

Join with us in calling for a thorough and impartial investigation into Aminul’s murder. BCWS and BGIWF have asked for an outpouring of letters to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Please take a moment to add your voice!

Earth Day Calls for a Respect for Biodiversity April 16th, 2012

We are grateful to Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI, of the Diocese of San Angelo for his Earth Day reflection on biodiversity, and wanted to share that here. (Download PDF)

 

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