Word: figleaf
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...from the Carnation company which for three years running has failed to meet the basic requirements of the Sullivan Principles a set of fair labor and equal opportunity guidelines for U.S. firms in South Africa. The Sullivan guidelines are far from perfect, they have been widely attacked as a figleaf to cover up the sins of corporate involvement in the country. But they are the closest thing there is to reasonable standards of behavior for U.S. firms, and Carnation has not shown the least indication of concern or attempts at improvement. Here is an ideal opportunity for Harvard to pressure...
...number of anti-apartheid activists have pointed out, the principles themselves are only minimum guarantees. Exiled South African poet Dennis Brutus calls them "a figleaf to cover up the obscenity of the Corporations" working in South Africa. We agree with Brutus and others like him. So what if IBM treats its 200 Black employees nicely when its computers help the illegitimate South African government maintain its systematic repression of millions of others...