Sex for a tea job: the abuse continues
New investigations by the BBC show that managers at two of the biggest tea farms in Kenya, James Finlay Kenya and Ekaterra, continue to demand sex from women in exchange for work. SOMO researcher Sanne…
Unilever
Victims of violence at Unilever tea plantation take complaint to the UN
A group of 218 current and former Kenyan tea workers have filed a formal complaint against Unilever today for its failure to respect international human rights standards following widespread violence at the multinational’s largest tea…
Will Dutch multinationals pay their taxes this time?
ABDUP: an influential lobby for Dutch multinationals
Based on a ‘freedom of information’ request and research by SOMO, Platform Authentieke Journalistiek (Platform Authentic Journalism) published an article, for Follow The Money, about a lobby for Dutch multinationals called ABDUP. This lobby represents…
Open letter to Ben & Jerry’s to join the ‘Milk with Dignity’ Program
Together with a group of civil society organizations, SOMO wrote an open letter to Ben & Jerry’s CEO. The organisations urge the company to protect workers’ rights to join the Milk with Dignity Program.
SOMO’s mica research leads to action by companies and governments
Beauty and a Beast: take the child labour out of your cosmetics
At least twenty thousand children work in mica mines in the region Jharkhand/Bihar, India. They work long hours in dangerous conditions. Mica is used in cosmetics, car paints, and many other products. On 22 May…
Beauty and a Beast
Child labour in India for sparkling cars and cosmetics
Unilever steps up efforts to address sexual harassment at its Kenyan tea plantations
Unilever introduces a new action plan following repeated reports on sexual harassment on its tea plantation in Kenya. As early as 2008, SOMO published on precarious work on this particular tea estate owned by Unilever….
Precarious work in certified tea production for Unilever
Workers picking tea for Unilever in India and Kenya are subject to precarious working conditions and labor rights violations, even though this tea carries the Rainforest Alliance certificate. This is an important finding from the…
Certified Unilever Tea
Small Cup, Big Difference?
Keeping an eye on Annual General Meetings
By posing critical questions and providing sustainable voting advice on the basis of SOMO’s research, the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (Vereniging van Beleggers voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling -VBDO) has this spring once again…
Unilever – Overview of controversial business practices in 2010
Special report PG Tips and Lipton tea hit by ‘sexual harassment and poor conditions’ claims
It is one of the flagship plantations of the world’s biggest tea company, stretching across more than 30,000 acres of land and employing 16,000 people. But the Kericho tea estate in Kenya, operated by Unilever…
Sustainable voting advice for investors
This year the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (Vereniging van Beleggers voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling – VBDO) has issued sustainable voting advices which can be used when voting at the annual general meeting (AGM)…
Unilever – Overview of controversial business practices in 2009
Unilever - Overview of controversial business practices in 2009
Shareholders give Unilever a dressing down
At the Unilever shareholders’ meeting today, the Dutch trade union FNV, the international trade union for food workers IUF and other interested parties, such as VBDO, raised the issue of the working conditions of workers…
Unilever – Overview of controversial business practices in 2008
