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Dear subscribers to our newsletter, |
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just in time for today’s BASF Annual Meeting, we have once again summarized our arguments in two short videos, written a press release, submitted countermotions against the approval of activities of the Management and the Supervisory Board and have asked a number of questions.
In the spirit of this year’s Annual General Meeting – which is virtual and unfortunately offers hardly any interactive possibilities – the editorial of the third edition of the newsletter pursues the question of what actually constitutes a dialogue? |
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It Cannot be Business as Usual with Changed Leadership |
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Statement by Bishop Jo Seoka to the Shareholders and Board of BASF, Virtual AGM 2020.
We have been attending the AGM of BASF since 2015 as representatives of the Marikana and members of the „Plough back the fruits“ campaign. We have been consistent and our demands have remained the same. This shows that not much has changed for the workers and the communities around Marikana since the massacre, that claimed the lives of 34 miners and left hundreds with permanent injuries on the 16th August 2012.
Marikana is real and should be considered as the turning point in the history of the Platinum belt in South Africa. |
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Statement of the campaign, virtual Annual Meeting of BASF 2020 |
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For the sixth time since 2015, our campaign “Plough Back the Fruits” has submitted a countermotion to the Annual Meeting of Shareholders, arguing not to approve the actions of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF. The campaign is committed to compensating the survivors, injured and unjustly arrested people from Marikana, upholding the human rights of South African mine workers and their families.
As a reminder: in Marikana in the South African platinum mining area, 34 miners were murdered by the South African police on August 16, 2012. They went on strike for wage increases, better working conditions and decent living conditions in the informal settlements around the mines. |
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Webinar on the occasion of the BASF AGM 2020,
on June 25 2020, 14-16pm
- Introduction and Welcoming note (Boniface Mabanza, KASA)
- The Plough Back the Fruits-Campaign and the BASF AGM 2020: Did we get answers to our questions? (Tilman Massa, Ethical Shareholders Germany)
- Input Bishop Jo Seoka: update Marikana, BASF and the Platinum from South Africa, Mining industry in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Input Thapelo Lekgowa, Journalist: situation of mine workers in times of Corona and beyond
- Q&A session (Questions from the chat)
- Wrap Up and way forward
Moderation Maren Grimm
Zoom-Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81136255907
Meeting-ID: 811 3625 5907 |
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For corporations like BASF, a supply chain law is needed |
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Press release: Protests on the occasion the Annual General Meeting of BASF on 18 June 2020. This year’s virtual Annual Meeting of BASF on June 18 will be accompanied by protests outside the company’s headquarters in Ludwigshafen and online. The international network Plough Back the Fruits is calling for a binding supply chain law that will finally get companies like BASF to address human rights violations in their global supply chains. In view of the Corona pandemic, the network is asking BASF to forego the payment of a dividend. |
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Our countermotions BASF AGM 2020 |
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BASF’s measures to date have not been sufficient to make an effective contribution to achieving the goals of the United Nations’ Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030, the United Nations Global Compact and the German government’s National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights, to which BASF has committed itself. |
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Thinking racism structurally. What does the "Black Lives Matter Movement" have to do with the "Plough back the fruits" campaign? |
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by Boniface Mabanza. Since the assassination of the African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is experiencing a renaissance and is spreading worldwide. This article attempts to outline the links between this movement and the “Plough Back the Fruits” (PBF) campaign. Racism in our country too? |
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Talking is silver, taking action is golden |
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By Maren Leifker, Business and Human Rights Officer at Bread for the World. One thing is certain: dialogues between civil society organisations and companies on human rights issues are very much in vogue. It takes place both in an institutionalised form in so-called multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI), in which political representatives generally also take part. The number of MSIs in Germany has risen sharply in recent years. Examples of this are the Textile Alliance, the Cocoa Forum and, since February 2020, the “car dialogue” initiated by the Ministry of Labour. There are also numerous dialogue processes between individual or several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and companies, some of which are supported by critical shareholders or investors. |
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Easing of lockdown must be done carefully to save lives |
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by Bishop Jo Seoka.
The Covid-19 lockdown has taught some of us that people would rather choose money over life.
The easing of the lockdown, particularly in industries such as mining, has confirmed what Paul Getty, an American financier once said: “The meek shall inherit the earth, but not its mineral resources.”
It is true that miners or any other blue-collar workers toil so hard but die poor, while those who own the means of production accumulate money by any means opportunity avails.
There is sufficient evidence that since the mines were given the privilege to reopen their plants and call miners back to work, there has been an increase in deaths resulting from Covid-19. |
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Plough Back the Fruits
http://basflonmin.com
http://wordpress-ploughbackthefruits.p51238.webspaceconfig.de/de/credits/
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