It’s A Three-Peat! Tranz Railwinner Of The Roger Award

For The Worst Transnational Corporation In New Zealand In 2002 Novartis: Special Spin Award; Carter Holt Harvey: Continuity Award: The Government: Collaboration Award

The full Judges’ Report will be available (from Saturday May 3rd) at http://www.cafca.org.nz

The six finalists for 2002 were: Tranz Rail; Carter Holt Harvey; Novartis; Shell; Sky City Entertainment Group and Telecom. The criteria for judging are by assessing the transnational that has the most negative impact in New Zealand in each or all of the following fields: unemployment, monopoly, profiteering, abuse of workers/conditions, political interference/running an ideological crusade, environmental damage, cultural imperialism, impact on tangata whenua, impact on women, health and safety of workers and the public. The judges were: Sukhi Turner, Mayor of Dunedin; Prue Hyman, academic and feminist, of Victoria University; Dr Ranginui Walker, Emeritus Professor at the University of Aiuckland; and John Minto, veteran Auckland activist and National Chairperson of the Quality Public Education Coalition.

This win represents a three-peat for Tranz Rail, which has previously won the Roger Award for 1997 and 2000, and has been a finalist every year since the Award began, in 1997. To quote the judges: “Since privatisation, the company has cut staff, services, safety and many corners…The record in 2002 is no improvement on past behaviour. Disregard of the health and safety of both passengers and the few workers who have not been downsized out of the company is an ongoing scandal…The saga never ends. Tranz Rail deserves huge censure, with successive governments’ handling of rail little better. The Roger Award 2002 is the least Tranz Rail can expect”.

Novartis won a Special Spin Award for its role in Corngate. “The company showed contempt for New Zealand concerns about GE and utter disregard for the potential effects on New Zealand’s environment, international image, and public health, as well as our democratic system of government”. Carter Holt Harvey got the Continuity Award for the appalling treatment of its workforce. “[Its] corporate greed and lack of humanity, manifested in the dismissal of half the workforce, has a huge human cost, while the wider effect on Tokoroa and its district will be felt for a generation at least”. The 2002 Labour-led Governments got a Collaboration Award for “failure to assert the public good against corporate pressure at a critical point”.

© Scoop Media