Drawing Caterpillar Out Of Its Corporate Cocoon

[corporatewhore]

Drawing Caterpillar Out Of Its Corporate Cocoon: Company Should Examine Its Role in Mideast Violence
Liat Weingart, Sister Valerie Heinonen and Mary Ann McGivern, The Electronic Intifada, 28 April 2004

On April 14, an American corporation was confronted with the choice of whether or not to examine their role in perpetuating the cycle of violence in the Mideast. An alliance of Catholic nuns and Jewish peace activists teamed up to introduce a shareholder resolution asking Caterpillar, Inc. to conduct an internal investigation to determine if the use of their bulldozers to violate human rights laws goes against corporate policies. In fact, it was the first time ever that a shareholder resolution relating to human rights violations in the occupied territories has been brought before a US corporation. Though the odds against the resolution were tremendous, it still garnered 4% of the vote, enough to be re-introduced next year.

Caterpillar, the industry leader in heavy equipment manufacturing, has put its brand name at risk by becoming the industry leader in transforming construction equipment into military equipment. According to Caterpillar Chairman Jim Owens, in a letter sent to Jewish Voice for Peace on August 22, 2003, Caterpillar bulldozers are sold to Israel through the US Foreign Military Sales Program. In other words, Caterpillar bulldozers are not given to Israel as construction equipment but explicitly as weapons.

(snip)
Some years ago, the Israeli Supreme Court made a groundbreaking decision on in the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. They ruled that, "the degree of responsibility increases as we draw further away from the man who uses the fatal instrument with his own hands." In other words, the company that is producing the weapons that make wanton destruction possible are equally, if not more, responsible for the crime. Caterpillar sinks further into the mire of war crimes by supplying bulldozers to Israel not as construction equipment but unambiguously as weapons, unnecessarily risking its reputation, image and credibility.

Given the gravity of Caterpillar's situation, the shareholder resolution, filed by the Mercy Investment Group and the Loretto Community and initiated by Jewish Voice for Peace, made a reasonable request: it called for Caterpillar to conduct an internal investigation to find out whether sale of bulldozers to Israel violates their code of conduct. The Caterpillar Board of Directors responded by saying that the resolution asks the company to get embroiled in a political conflict better left to political leaders. But while Caterpillar claims neutrality, it continues to profit from perpetuating the cycle of violence in the Mideast by providing weapons to Israel. If Caterpillar wants to disentangle itself from a political conflict best left to leaders, it should present what the resolution called for: full disclosure.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2602.shtml

[Muddleoftheroad]

1. The whining of losers

They lost 96-4, but continue to whine about CAT doing legitimate business with a democratic ally of the U.S.

[lefty_mcduff]

2. No. They continue to *protest* what they (and many other) see...

...as CAT selling bulldozers to a rogue state than then uses the construction equipment to run over civilians and crush peoples houses. Not really too hard to understand.

[neverborn]

3. I was there!

Friday, April 23, 2004! We marched on CAT's World Headquarters in Peoria, IL.

They had snipers pointed at us :/

There were about 400 or so people there. I have pics if anyone's interested.

[corporatewhore]

4. i would love to see them