DDD38

Dirt Diggers Digest No. 38

June 25, 2003


Editor: Philip Mattera


1. Electronic filing of insider trading reports set to begin

2. Labor group publishes profiles of U.S. contractors in Iraq

3. "Publish What You Pay" transparency movement gains momentum

4. Polaris Institute publishes critique of service sector lobbying group

5. U.S. PIRG report documents field tests of genetically engineered crops

6. Labor Department gets huge reponse to LM-2 revision plan


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1. Electronic filing of insider trading reports set to begin


June 30th is the day that the SEC rule on the electronic filing of

insider trading reports is scheduled to take effect. Starting on

that day, companies will be required to submit their Forms 3,

4 and 5 (also known as Section 16 forms) in electronic format

to the SEC, which will make them available through EDGAR.

Filings have to be made within two days of the stock transaction.

Firms must also post the documents on their own website by

the end of the business day during which they are filed with the SEC.

Section 16 applies to officers and directors of companies as well

as anyone who is the beneficial owner of more than 10 percent of

any class of registered equity security. For the text of the final rule,

see http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/33-8230.htm.


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2. Labor group publishes profiles of U.S. contractors in Iraq


U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) has published a report

containing critical profiles of U.S. corporations that have been

awarded reconstruction contracts in postwar Iraq. Titled THE

CORPORATE INVASION OF IRAQ, the USLAW report can be found at

http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/images/CorpInvasion.061503.v1.4.pdf.

The 18 profiles, covering companies ranging from Dick Cheney's alma

mater Halliburton to the bankrupt MCI Worldcom, include an account

of each firm's labor relations record as well as descriptions of its

general operations and its plans for Iraq.


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3. "Publish What You Pay" transparency movement gains momentum


Publish What You Pay <www.publishwhatyoupay.org> is the name

of an international initiative of non-governmental organizations aimed

at getting major corporations, especially in the extractive industries, to

disclosure the payments they make to the governments of third world

countries. The concept, which is meant to thwart corruption on the part

of public officials, was endorsed this month by a committee of the

European Parliament, which held a hearing at which representatives of

oil giants BP and Shell supported the idea. Also this month, Catholic

Relife Services <www.catholicrelief.org> has released a report called

BOTTOM OF THE BARREL: AFRICA'S OIL BOOM AND THE POOR

that endorses disclosure by oil companies of the payments they make

to governments in Africa. Also on the bandwagon is the Blair government

in Britain, which last year launched an Extractive Industries Transparency

Initiative <http://www.dfid.gov.uk/News/News/files/eiti_core_script.htm>.


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4. Polaris Institute publishes critique of service sector lobbying group


The Polaris Institute, a progressive corporate research center based

in Ottawa, has published a report on the U.S. Coalition of Service

Industries <see http://www.polarisinstitute.org/pubs/pubs_pdfs/uscsi.pdf>.

Titled ENRON-STYLE CORPORATE CRIME AND PRIVATIZATION, the

report documents the involvement of corporate members of the lobbying

group in some of the major business scandals of recent years. It also

describes how the Coalition pushes for the inclusion of business-friendly

principles such as privatization in international trade agreements.


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5. U.S. PIRG report documents field tests of genetically engineered crops


A report published by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group found

that the number of field tests of genetically modified crops authorized

by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reached nearly 40,000 --

more than 10,000 of which have occurred in the past two years alone.

The report, RAISING RISK: FIELD TESTING OF GENETICALLY

ENGINEERED CROPS <available at uspirg.org>, warns that this

huge volume of field testing is taking place without sufficient regulatory

oversight. PIRG's report appears amid an aggressive campaign by the Bush

Administration to promote agricultural biotechnology in the face of

strong opposition from Europe.


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6. Labor Department gets huge reponse to LM-2 revision plan


The Bureau of National Affairs has reported (Labor Relations Week,

June 19) that the Department of Labor has received more than 35,000

comments regarding its proposed revisions to the annual disclosure forms

that unions are required to file. DOL has not announced its assessment

of the response, but BNA said that most of the sample comments it reviewed

were opposed to the controversial changes. In announcing the proposal last

December <http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/esa/ESA2002698.htm>

DOL said the aim was to give rank and filers more information about the

finances of their union, but labor observers have charged that the changes

are politically motivated. Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of

Commerce, which are no great fans of disclosure when it comes to

corporations, are strongly supporting the new union requirements in the

name of transparency.


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Philip Mattera

Director of the Corporate Research Project

Good Jobs First

pmattera@goodjobsfirst.org

www.corp-research.org