Dear Peter,
This, just in the last 3 months:
The “world’s least sustainable corporation” has committed to stop destroying the rainforest
Three huge clothing manufacturers have stopped torturing rabbits for their fur
The biggest corporate power grab in a generation has stalled in the US Congress, and is facing growing opposition around the world
The UK government has put plans to sell citizens’ private medical data to corporations on hold
Our growing community of more than 3 million people played a crucial role in every one of these victories -- and many, many more! It’s been an exciting few months.
Meanwhile, we’re pushing forward in other areas, too. A massive US garden store has confirmed to us that it's developing a policy on neonics, the pesticides that are killing the bees. We’ve filed a legal request to fight back in the courts against Bayer’s attempt to overturn Europe’s ban on these poisons. And more and more companies are making strong commitments to remove conflict palm oil from their products. Things are happening fast.
But let’s be clear: The fight against corporate power is a big one. In almost every country, and on almost every issue, big corporations are fighting against the issues we care most about. From environmental protection to human rights to economic justice, corporate power is a huge part of the problem. And until we name it and fight it, we can’t win.
And that’s why there is huge hope in the SumOfUs community. Together, we’re 3 million people strong -- and we hold tremendous collective power over the corporations that increasingly control our democracies.
Thanks for being a part of it. Towards the next 3 months,
-- Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Executive Director
PS: Get ready for some groundbreaking campaigning in the months ahead to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership and challenge giant corporations like Monsanto, as well as the launch of SumOfUs in German, French and Spanish (with more to come). Chip in to make it happen here.
Campaign updates
VICTORY! Saving Tony the Tiger and the rainforest from the “world’s least sustainable corporation”
Tony
After months of organized pressure against Kellogg's and its massive partner Wilmar International -- a palm oil company that Newsweek named the “world's least sustainable corporation” -- both companies are taking action to protect the rainforest!
Kellogg’s and Wilmar have both signed commitments to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains in the next two years -- in what the Guardian called a “major success for environment and consumer groups”. We played a key role in pushing these companies over the line. Here's just a few of the things we did together:
Bombarded Kellogg's with hundreds of thousands of petition signatures and thousands of phone calls
Worked with organizers in Michigan (where Kellogg’s is based) to pressure executives on their home turf, generating reams of media coverage
Delivered tens of thousands of personal messages to Kellogg’s CEO, and met personally with the company’s head of sustainability
Put the campaign on investors’ radar, who proposed the issue for discussion at the company’s AGM to increase the pressure
Helped publish a report that exposed Wilmar's role in illegal destruction of orangutan habitat
Kellogg's commitment raises the bar for other consumer companies -- who we're getting ready to target soon. And because Wilmar controls nearly half the world’s palm oil trade, this could represent a massive sea change in the industry. We’re working with partners to make sure they implement their commitments on the ground -- groups like Catapult Campaigns, Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace -- all of whom were crucial in winning this campaign, too.
This is great news for Tony the Tiger, and for the survival of Southeast Asia’s rainforests. It's one of our biggest victories to date as a community -- and a very, very big deal.
Read More: Original petition
Press: Bloomberg | Clean Biz
WE WON: They stopped torturing and killing bunnies for their fur!
Bunnies
When we saw the horrific video footage showing rabbits screaming in pain as their fur was torn off at angora farms in China for the sake of “fashion” -- we knew we had to act. We got in touch with PETA to put pressure on three clothing manufacturers to stop production of their angora products -- and they did!
Topshop was the first to topple, after five days of pressure from SumOfUs members around the world. Not satisfied, we moved on to Asos -- who promised to never sell angora on its website again. Next, we asked clothing giant Zara to suspend orders of angora -- who were initially refusing to act.
After a week of pressure, Zara caved! SumOfUs members mobilized almost 300,000 petition signatures and thousands of comments on Zara’s Facebook wall. 330 people signed up to our Super Bunny Warrior Team, and over 200 people personally delivered the petition to Zara stores to force them to act.
Read More: Original petition
Press: Daily Mail | Huffington Post | LA Times
HUGE PROGRESS! UK government not selling private medical records to corporations -- for now
NHS Alarmed by a plan that would have seen British citizens' private medical records sold to corporations, we sprung into action this month. SumOfUs joined with 252,000 UK members to spearhead growing opposition to the proposal.
Our staff team was meeting with top officials this week when they announced that they were delaying the scheme for six months. They were feeling massive pressure -- SumOfUs’ campaign had already been featured in the biggest UK newspapers, we’d commissioned an opinion poll that demonstrated that 65% of the UK public were opposed to the scheme, and we were working with our partners 38 Degrees to build a mass opt-out system for our members.
We’re staying engaged so we can feed in our views to any consultation process that might emerge from the wreckage of this proposal. And we'll be watching closely to see whether NHS England will make real changes to the scheme to address our privacy concerns. If they don’t, then we’re ready to spring into action.
Read More: Original Petition
Press: The Independent | The Telegraph
STOPPING THE TPP: A corporate lobbyist’s wildest dream
TPP
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is called a trade deal, but it’s really a massive corporate power grab that would make it easier for corporations to sue our governments when they act to protect our environment or health. And so we’ve launched a major campaign to stop it.
In the US, Obama has been pushing for “fast track” authority to allow him to negotiate the sweeping deal without input from Congress. But after SumOfUs members joined with other groups and made almost 8,000 calls to their representatives, key lawmakers including Senate majority leader Harry Reid and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi came out against fast track authority -- a major blow to the TPP.
This fight isn't close to over, but we've got momentum on our side. Now, we’re working to build major opposition in Australia, Canada, and elsewhere in the 12-country block to kill the TPP. If just one key country stands up and rejects the TPP, the whole deal could fall through -- and we think our community has got what it takes.
Read More: American call-in | Australian Petition
Press: Reuters | The Guardian
STILL BUZZING: Strong progress for the bees
Bees
Bayer is determined to keep selling its killer-pesticides for profit -- whatever the cost to the bees. It’s still pushing ahead with a ridiculous lawsuit against the EU’s two-year ban on the pesticides that are behind the global bee die-off.
Well two can play at that game. Tens of thousands of us chipped in to defend the ban in the European courts against Bayer -- and the court is currently considering our case. The stakes are high. If Bayer wins, it would be a huge setback for the bees -- making it much harder to push other countries to ban these dangerous pesticides. But with science on our side, we’re quietly confident we can silence Bayer’s legal threats.
Meanwhile, thousands of SumOfUs members in the US and Canada joined up with Friends of the Earth and others to deliver a Valentine’s message to big garden stores Home Depot and Lowe’s -- asking them on the phone and in stores to “show the bees some love”. After the national media covered the story, Home Depot has contacted us to let us know it's developing a policy on neonics. It’s a positive sign -- but we’ll keep up the pressure until it commits to remove bee-killing pesticides from its stores, and we're working to push other retailers to action, too.
Read More: Contribution page for lawsuit | Valentines call-in
Press: Ecowatch | NBC
VICTORY! Winning workers’ rights from the 4th richest man in the world
We Won
A company owned by the world’s 4th richest man, Warren Buffet, was threatening to throw 200 low-wage rail workers on the streets when they came together to demand decent wages. BNSF, a railroad company Buffet owns, planned to fire its subcontractor if its workers went on strike for decent wages.
Union-busting is always wrong, but it’s especially disappointing coming from Buffet, who’s become famous for speaking out against inequality. But after we spoke out against Buffet's hypocrisy, the railroad backed down and the workers got a fair contract and a raise.
Read More: The original petition
Press: United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
TAKING THE FIGHT TO ITS OWN BACKYARD: Joining Monsanto’s concerned shareholders to call on the bio-giant to tell the truth about GMOs.
Monsanto
Monsanto is known as the biggest bully around -- so we decided to find some friends and fought it in its own backyard.
Thousands of us chipped in to so we could take action with concerned shareholders, who simply wanted the bio-giant to come clean about the risks of GMOs at the company's Annual General Meeting. With your help, we were able to:
Secure advertising in Monsanto's home town of St Louis, Missouri, so that shareholders hear our message
Send organizers to St Louis to raise a media storm outside the shareholder meeting and deliver 160,000 signatures to Monsanto
Buy a small, strategic stake in Monsanto so that we can speak out as shareholders ourselves.
Our shareholders failed to win the vote to demand Monsanto come clean this time around. But we know it is scared. Monsanto even planted pro-GMO advocates to speak out against transparency (who in their right mind is against being open with the data on GMOs?). But we built invaluable strategic partnerships that will help us fight Monsanto in the future -- from spreading harmful GMOs, to introducing terminators seeds, to its butterfly killing pesticides. We are as determined as ever to keep fighting Monsanto.
Read More: Original petition
Press: NPR | Reuters
Onwards!
As you can tell, this has been a busy 3 months! We're not just winning campaigns -- together, we are building a movement strong enough to take on corporate power. Thank you for being a part of it.
To keep up our momentum and make sure that corporations continue to hear our voices, would you consider becoming a donor in order to help our movement grow?
We are still a tiny organization, so we depend on members like you to keep us going -- especially since we don't take any money from corporations or governments. SumOfUs is a world-wide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions -- and we really can't do it without you.
donate
SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.
Please help keep SumOfUs strong by chipping in $3.
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November 2013 / February 2014
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