Amazon, Meta, and Tesla Face Accusations For Threatening Democracy and Environment

Amazon, ExxonMobil, Tesla, Blackstone, Meta, Vanguard, and Glencore are some of the largest corporations charged in the report. 

A number of the biggest companies in the world like Amazon, Meta, and Tesla are accused of weakening democracy, like giving financial support to far-right political movements, increasing the climate crisis, and breaking trade union and human rights, according to a report released by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on Monday.

Amazon, ExxonMobil, Tesla, Blackstone, Meta, Vanguard, and Glencore are some of the largest corporations charged in the report. 

Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer and cloud computing service and the fifth largest employer globally. The report mentions that it has gained a reputation for breaking union laws, giving low wages to workers from several continents, producing excessive carbon dioxide through AWS data centers, evading corporate taxes, controlling and dominating the e-commerce industry, and engaging in national and international lobbying.

The report even highlights Amazon having a high rate of work injuries in the USA, its attempts to change labor laws in Canada, banning Amazon lobbyists from the European parliament because they refused to appear at worker violation hearings, refusal to engage in union negotiations in Germany and legally challenged against the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB). Amazon has also invested in some far-right political organizations that oppose antitrust laws and women’s rights, and hate groups have raised money and sold goods on Amazon’s website.

Regarding Tesla, the report says that the company has anti-union opposition in the US, Germany, and Sweden, human rights abuse in its supply chains, Elon Musk has personal opposition towards unions and democracy, challenges to the NLRB in the US, and backing political leaders like Donald Trump, Javier Milei in Argentina, and Narendra Modi in India.

Meta, the largest social media network in the world, is mentioned in the report as allowing far-right propaganda and groups to use its platform to grow members and gain support in the US and abroad. It also cited expensive lobbying efforts against legislation governing data privacy and taking revenge for regulatory actions in Canada.

Glencore, the largest mining corporation in the world by revenue, was reported to finance international campaigns that target activists and indigenous people.

Blackstone, a private equity firm led by Stephen Schwarzman, funds far-right political parties and fossil fuel projects and contributes to deforestation in the Amazon.

Blackstone network invests tens of millions of dollars to support politicians or groups who vow to prevent laws that could hold the company accountable.

The report mentions the Vanguard group financing the most anti-democratic companies in the world. ExxonMobil supports research related to anti-climate science and vigorously lobbying against environmental regulations.

According to Todd Brogan, the director of campaigns and organizing at the ITUC, corporate lobbying dominates workers’ demand even in robust democracies, either in policymaking or elections. Corporate power will set the agenda unless people demand responsive governments that address their needs, just as trade unionists know that the boss sets the agenda in the workplace unless workers are well organized.

They are playing a long game. Transferring power away from democracy and into an environment to maximize the influence and profit rather than the effects on workers. These multinational corporations have more power than states but have no democratic responsibility except for organized workers.

The International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) is a labor group consisting of 191 million workers from 169 countries, including the largest labor union federation in the US, the AFL-CIO, and the Trades Union Congress in the United Kingdom.

The federation is pushing for an international treaty and is continuing to advocate the Open-ended intergovernmental working group to make multinational businesses responsible under international human rights legislation because 4 billion people will get to vote in global elections in 2024.