Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Veolia
Seattle
Zine Project
Solidarity is not an act of charity but an act of unity between allies fighting on
different terrains towards the same objectives. Samora machel
This Zine is a collection of texts and images, a compiling of research and conversations, writings and
imagined futures with the defining and redefining of solidarity at its center. It is also a biographyif,
as we are told, corporations are people tooof French-based multinational corporation, Veolia.
Stop Veolia Seattle (SVS) is humbled to be stepping into a conversation with a much more
established movement targeting Veolia, and a much longer history of resistance to inequality in
the form of neoliberal corporatization and older forms of colonialism, imperialism, militarism,
apartheid, and occupation. This Zine is one way to write and draw our evolving understanding of
how our work in Seattle is part of a larger, longer conversation.
When we began SVS we asked: How can a campaign targeting Veolia help us and others ask
larger questions about solidarity organizing and the roots of our current struggles? How does
Veolias particular history and affiliations help us build or reinforce an understanding, an
analysis, that allows us to work across many different communities of resistance in mutually
generative ways?
We understand Veolia as a microcosm for tracing the intersections of our struggles locally and
globally, for the potential and the need for solidarity and for what that community of joint-struggle
might look like. Veolia also provides a case study for mapping other genealogies and continuities.
Veolia, a company that can be traced back to Napoleon, helps us to trace the roots of todays
neoliberalism in earlier manifestations of Western imperialism and exploitation.
stopveoliaseattle.wordpress.com
We hope this Zine reads both as a timeline for the evolution of systems of exploitation and as
a non-linear mapping of potential and real solidarities, for articulating and hopefully building
historically rooted forms of resistance.
3
art by maia brown
A History of Veolia
page 6
Whats inside?
History and
policy analysis is not
everyones thing, jump
to p. 79 for Seattle
testimonies.
Corporatization
page 18
page 21
page 27
page 30
despite veolias political interference, communities around the world protect human
right to water, by katherine sawyer
the corporate stranglehold over the united nations, by richard gerard
veolia & transportation: thinking about corporatization & freedom of movement,
by maia brown
why governments are on the hook to ensure clean, safe water for everyone,
by maude barlow
remunicipipalization
page 34
page 37
asia-pacific: a primer (5 reasons why you should challenge veolia), by mary ann manahan
india: veolia favors profits and abuse over right to water, by friends of earth france
South durban, south africa: activists occupy veolia plant, by sarah khan
privatizations human cost: the crisis of bus drivers in santiago, by anson stewart
boston school bus drivers vs. veolia, by linda averill
page 60
page 62
page 64
page 68
page 70
page 72
page 74
page 77
BDS marks another victory as Veolia sells off all Israeli operations
letter to the united nations, by richard falk
overview of current activities in europe, by adri nieuwhof
veolia & its history of contract losses
resistance from within: veolia employee stops cutting off the water,
page 80
page 84
page 89
page 90
page 92
page 94
page 96
page 98
page 99
detroit
palestine
seattle
a history of veolia
1: Food and Water Watch. Privatization Threatens St. Louis Water: Fact Sheet. December 2010, http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/StLouisweb.pdf#_ga=1.198022316.2052297339.1392144939
2: Encyclopaedia Britanica, Fifteenth Edition, 1991.
3: Ibid.
4: Ibid.
5: Ibid.
6: Ernesto Screpanti and Stefano Zamagni. Socialist Economic Thought and Marx, An Outline of the
History of Economic Thought, Second Edition. p. 135.
prominently. The private sector, we are told, fueled the modernization of France, and Saint-Simonianism
was the ideological underpinning and its adherents the network of business elites responsible for CGEs
and the industrial revolutions success.7
7: Aymeric Blank and Sarah Botton. Water Services and the Private Sector in Developing Countries: Comparative Perceptions and
Discussion Dynamics. AFD Research Department. 2010, http://www.afd.fr/webdav/shared/PUBLICATIONS/RECHERCHE/Scientifiques/
Recherches/02-Recherches-VA.pdf
Laetitia Guerin-Schneider and Dominique Lorrain. The relationships public authorities-private companies in the water and draining sector,
2003, http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15175987
10
10: Veolias debt problems were highlighted in 2012 when its credit rating was downgraded by Moodys Investors Services: Moodys Investors Service has today downgraded to Baa1 from A3 the senior unsecured ratings of Veolia Environnement SA. 7 Feb 2012, https://www.
moodys.com/research/Moodys-downgrades-Veolias-rating-to-Baa1-stable-outlook--PR_237104
11: Until February 2015, Veolia Group was Veolia Environnement.
12: Patel, Tara. Transdev to Sell European Assets, Cut Debt as Part of Overhaul. Bloomberg. 26 Mar 2013, http://www.bloomberg.com/
news/articles/2013-03-26/transdev-to-sell-european-assets-cut-debt-as-part-of-overhaul
Bloomberg. Company Overview. http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=1222575
Veolia says:
We are highly motivated to build and sustain positive
working relationships with organized labor.
We deliver bus and rail service at lower cost, and at
quality levels that are comparable and often better than
publicly operated transit service.
An increasing number of transit agencies have realized that
they are unable to maintain service levels with decreased
funding for their transit systems, and contracting with
the private sector for all or part of the service can be an
alternative to layoffs and service cuts.13
Especially in the context of economic recession and
state austerity measures, this is a very appealing pitch.
But as highlighted in recent reports coming out of North
America, Veolias prioritization of private profit is clearly
at odds with the environment and public welfare.14
According to Food and Water Watch and others,
Veolia often underbids its competitors for the operation
13: Transdev North America. Why Contract with Transdev North America: The Leader in Public-Private Contracting in Transit. http://www.transdevna.com/
Company/Contract-Options/Why-Transdev.aspx
14: Food & Water Watch. Money Down the Drain: How Private Control of Water Wastes Public Resources, 2009, http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/reports/
money-down-the-drain/
Food & Water Watch. A Closer Look: Veolia Environnement, 2010, http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/veolia.pdf
Food & Water Watch. Veolia Environnement: A Profile of the Worlds Largest Water Service Corporation, 2011, http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/reports/
veolia-environnement-a-profile/
Novato Friends of Locally Operated Wastewater. Veolia and the Environment: A Bad Fit for Novato. http://freepdfs.net/veolia-and-theenvironment-a-bad-fit-for-novato-green-party-of/1eb2bff3a6f63a89ff50ad446c8cf5d0/
11
Public Citizen. Veolia Environment: A Corporate Profile 2005, http://www.citizen.org/documents/Vivendi-USFilter.pdf
15: Global Exchange. Veolias Other Offenses. http://www.globalexchange.org/economicactivism/veolia/otheroffenses
The CAC 40 is a
benchmark French
stock market index
in 2010, all cac 40 companies (except unibail rodamco) had at least one director in common.
13
art by monica
14
14
15
15
mendoza
corporatization
16
17
numerous
water
quality
problems,
as well as broken
water meters that
cost the city tens of
thousands of dollars.
As a result of poor
water quality, some
residents reportedly
had to spend money
on buying bottled
water before the
city remunicipalized
in 2012. In Brussels,
a
subsidiary
of
Veolia called Aquiris
deliberately stopped
treating wastewater
released into the
river during contract
negotiations in 2009
putting pressure on
the local government
and demonstrating
the willingness of
the corporation to
put profits before
environmental and
public health.
Despite
Veolias
attempts to sneak
Trojan horse contracts through backdoor channels,
communities in the United Stateslike those
around the worldare exposing and halting this
political interference. Last year in St. Louis, for
instance, Corporate Accountability International
worked closely with the Dump Veolia coalition, a
close-knit group of human rights, environmental,
20
how big business already wields significant power over the un water agenda
1: Please see full report for more information on the World Water Council. URL: bit.ly/1bd0o88
2: Activists Slam Water Forum, Agence France Presse, March 21, 2009.
3: Elections for the new WWC Board of Governors will take place at the WWCs 5th General Assembly in October 2009.
21
source: cnn.com
ted turner, media magnate and founder of cnn, created the un foundation.
has ventured a long way down the
road of business partnerships and
private financing to the point where
cooperating with business and using
corporate funding has become a
fundamental cornerstone of the
entire institution.
If a global water forum were
to take place under the umbrella
of the United Nations today, it
would have to be done in such a
way as to overcome the corporate
stranglehold that already exists
in the UN, including the for profit
water services companies, the
food and beverage industry, plus
numerous other large water
using multinational corporations
and their business associations.
At the very least the global
water justice movement needs
4: Utting, P., Zammit, A., Beyond Pragmatism: Appraising UN-Business Partnerships, UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD),
Markets, Business and Regulation Programme Paper Number 1, October, 2006.
5: Utting, Peter, UN-Business Partnerships: Whose Agenda Counts, UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD),
22 December, 2000.
6: ibid.
7: ibid.
23
24
8: Speech by Georg Kell, addressing the Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst Conference, UN Global Compact Executive Director
Addresses Private Equity Community, September 17. http://www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/27662-UNGlobal-CompactExecutive-Director-Addresses-Private-Equity-Community
In a climate of increased
corporate power the United
Nations obviously cannot ignore
multinational corporations and
their influence on public policy.
However, by moving away from a
mandate of regulating the power
and influence of corporations to
becoming a major promoter of
public private partnerships and
a welcome un-critical place for
TNCs, the United Nations has
25
Veolia
Read the full report for more information on the following dens of corporate influence on water issues inside the UN: Global
Compacts CEO Water Mandate, the World Water Council, and Secretary Generals Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation.
26
9: Witte, J.M., Reinicke, W., Business UNusual: Facilitating United Nations Reform Through Partnerships, commissioned by the
United Nations Global Compact Office, produced by the Global Public Policy Institute, 2005.
10: World Urban Forum 4, Closing Session, Closing Remarks, November 6, 2008, http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/
docs/6076_32858_WUF4_Closing_Private_Sector.pdf
8: www.transdevna.com
9: Klein, Naomi. Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.
10: Kabak, Benjamin. NICE BUS, $7.3 million in the red, already threatening service cuts. http://secondavenuesagas.com/2012/02/16/nicebus-7-3-million-in-the-red-already-threatening-service-cuts/
11: Conversation with Anson Stewart
12: Halper, Jeff. The Palestinians: Warehousing a Surplus People. http://www.icahd.org/node/330
28 13: Background on the Restriction of Movement. Btselem, http://www.btselem.org/freedom_of_movement
14: Veolia Environnement Who Profits? Exposing the Israeli Occupation Industry. http://whoprofits.org/company/veolia-environnement
15: The Influence of the Private Prison Industry in Immigration Detention. Detention Watch Network. http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/privateprisons
16: The Matrix of Control: From Israel to the World, an interview with Jimmy Johnson: http://peoplesgeography.com/2009/09/08/the-matrix-of-control-fromisrael-to-the-world-2/
17: ibid.
18: Johnson, Jimmy. Israels Export of Occupation Police Tactics. Electronicintifada.com, Oct 9, 2009. http://electronicintifada.net/content/
israels-export-occupation-police-tactics/8485
19: Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
29
20: State of the Worlds Cities 2006/7. UN-HABITAT, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/11292101_alt.pdf and
The Dawn of an Urban World. World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/kobe_centre/publications/hiddencities_media/p1_who_
un_habitat_hidden_cities.pdf
31
remu
nicip
aliza
tion
32
33
art by maia brown
in bolivia and
latin america
WRITTEN BY marcela olivera
art by maia brown
Andean government-governed
relations. But the search for new
formulae to co-manage natural
resources, of which water is a
central component, between
popular organizations and the
state have only just begun.
The struggle over who controls
water is ongoing. What were
fighting for in Bolivia and Latin
America now is to put together
effective, participatory control
by the people over our social
resources of water, health and
education as an alternative to
private control. We know that
continued action in our streets
and our communities is essential
to social change. In Latin America,
that involves the politics of mass
mobilization combined with our
construction of autonomous
alternatives to old models.
Marcela Olivera is a water
commons organizer.
After
graduating from the Catholic
University
in
Cochabamba,
Bolivia, Marcela worked for
four years in Cochabamba as
the key international liaison
for the Coalition for the
Defense of Water and Life, the
organization that fought and
defeated water privatization in
Bolivia. Since 2004 she has been
developing and consolidating
an
inter-American
citizens
network on water justice named
Red VIDA.
turning
the
tides:
new approaches and alternatives to privatization and commodification of water
There is an English saying that
whiskey is for everyone but
water is for fighting over. Indeed,
many countries have gone to war
for the control of water. This
life-giving resource has been
a major contributing cause to
many conflicts in the past: the
annexation of territories and
occupation of the West Bank, the
Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip
by Israel in 1967; the conflicts
between India and Pakistan over
their shared rivers for more than
a decade; and even during the
celebrated Camp David peace
agreement, Egyptian leaders
made threats to other countries
over the waters of the Nile, just
to name a few.
The 21st century, too, has
seen many battles for and
over water but of a different
kind. The most iconic example
is Bolivias water wars. In the
year 2000, tens of thousands of
people came out in the streets of
Cochabamba, Bolivia to clamor
for the cancellation of a very
Revolutionizing water
management and governance
38
39
Mary Ann Manahan is a program officer with Focus on the Global South and has
a background in sociology and women and development studies. Based in Manila,
she works on Focus Reclaiming the Commons program.
She maybe reached at mbmanahan@focusweb.org
40
http://www.blueplanetproject.net/
www.foodandwaterwatch.org
www.municipalservicesproject.org
www.ourwatercommons.org
Transnational Institute:
www.tni.org
veolia
around the world
41
42
1: Ann-Christin Sjolander Holland (2006), The Water Business: Corporations versus People, Zed Books, p. 15.
2: See Veolia 2013 Annual and Sustainability Report, http://www.veoliawaterst-sea.com/vwst/ressources/
files/1/37353,RADD-Veolia-2013_GB-1.pdf (Accessed April 1, 2015), pp.68-69.
3: Ibid, p. 8.
43
Some examples:
44
6: Globalization Monitor, An Open Letter to Veolia Environment S.A. regarding tap water pollution in Lanzhou., March 6, 214,
http://globalmon.org.hk/content/open-letter-veolia-environment-sa-regarding-tap-water-pollution-lanzhou (Accessed
April 2, 2015)
7: Ibid.
8: Polaris Institute and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Public Risks, Private Profits: Veolia Environnement, Profles of
Canadas public-private partnership industry, June 2014, p. 14 http://cupe.ca/sites/cupe/files/veolia_e.pdf (Accessed April 2, 2015)
45
4.
Water
contract
controversiesprice
hikes, mal-performance,
inefficiencies, tap water
pollution and corruption
Behind the lofty words, old fears of water privatization die hard.
Today, Veolia would call itself the white knight finally bringing
water to the poor Indians, in the name of the right to water and
the Millennium Development Goals. But behind this revamping of
water privatization the same reality prevails: a reality comprised of
financial opacity, incredible promises left unfulfilled, price increases
of water, social conflicts, and the private monopolisation of public
funds. New methods of social business continue to hide the same
goal: get the poor used to have to pay more for their water.
In 2012, Veolia proudly announced its first global privatisation
contract for water in India, in the city of Nagpur (2.5 million
inhabitants). And just a few months later, the group invited a
delegation of French journalists to come celebrate its success.
But alas, at that same moment, the complaints had already started
to pile up against the private operator, due to delays in work
and ill-treatment by some of its local officials. Today, the private
management is a financial pit. Large sums of money have been
spent there without actually improving the situation. Riots have
taken place in certain areas against the Veolia officials, andlitigious
proceedings by the local authority against the private operator
have been announced.
Wherever the French water industry giant happens to be, such as
in Delhi or in the Karnataka area, the same complaints arise: vague
contracts favouring private businesses, increases in prices, and
diversion of water from the public sphere to profit the areas under
private management...
Official publicity presents India as a new El Dorado which will
allow the French multinational water companies to conquer new
markets all while tending to its own image. In reality, with the wave
of public-private partnerships, what is happening is the pillaging
of public funds where access to water for the poorest
is only a small margin of importance.
47
5. Cancellation of Contracts
12: Ibid, p. 9.
13: Corporate Accountability International, Behind the World Banks Spin: Private Water Failures in Manila and Nagpur, November 2014, pp.8-9.
14: Anjaya Anparthi, Two-thirds of Nagpurs water supply lost, NMC remains clueless, May 20, 2014 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
city/nagpur/Two-thirds-of-Nagpurs-water-supply-lost-NMC-remains-clueless/articleshow/35353540.cms (Accessed April 2, 2014)
15: Yao Lan, Veolia under fire for water quality in China, April 21, 214, http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2014/04-21/110421.
46
shtml (Accessed April 10, 2015)
16: Globalization Monitor, Open Letter
17: David Hall, et.al., , p.9.
Mr. Minister: The fault is not the workers, but rather the exploitative businessman
into democracy.
In Durban specifically, in the
early 2000s the Municipality
handed wastewater management
in the highly polluted area of South
Durban to the privately owned
French company. As in Palestine
and the U.S., Veolia profits at the
expense of the environment and
ratepayers. The French company
provides recycled wastewater to
industries in the South Durban
Courting Veolia
After
Veolia/Redbus
was
awarded the extended contracts,
service quality deteriorated
markedly.
By August 2012,
passengers were fed up. One
afternoon, people gathered at
a stop waiting for Route C10,
which was scheduled to arrive
every five minutes, waited
four times longer, then began
spontaneously protesting in the
streets.
The president of the Transport
Commission, a conservative
legislator
named
Gustavo
Hasbn, diagnosed the protest
by the Route C10 passengers as
follows:
This is the second protest
emerging from a problem
with Redbus. During this
year they began to take buses
from other zones to solve
problems whenever people
complained. When
people
stopped
c o m p l a i n i n g , 51
Veolia At
Home
Privatization
is increasing in
United
States
transit systems;
36% of peak hour
transit vehicles in
the United States
were operated under
contracts in 2010,
compared
to
26% in 2002.
Politicians
advocating
involving
mayor
53
54
Winter in Santiago
Hasta Cundo?
55
You can help. Call Mayor Walsh at 617-635-4500 or e-mail mayor@boston.gov to support the
drivers demands. For updates, information on how to show solidarity, and sample resolutions, go
to www.bostonschoolbus5.org.
Contact Averill, a unionized Seattle bus driver, at avlinda587@gmail.com.
57
Det
roit
58
59
61
written by khaled a beydoun, original publisher: al jazeera, july 27 2014, permission to reprint
When it comes to peoples safety,
money wins out of every time
-Gil Scott Heron,
We Almost Lost Detroit
I am a Detroiter. I grew up in
the Warrendale neighbourhood,
on the citys westside. It is
an enclave that sits at the
intersection of Detroits majority
African-American
population
and its thriving Arab-American
community. These walls that
separate residents of Detroit
along racial and economic
lines may soon be washed
away and replaced by an even
more primordial divide - access
to water.
Since the 1967 race rebellions, Detroit has occupied the role of municipal
pariahinthenationalmedia.Ithasbecomeacautionarytale,deployedtowarn
Americans about the horrors of crime and poverty, racial segregation and
municipal bankruptcy.
As a result, national media has created a sense of collective pity
for Detroit by illustrating the post-apocalyptic hellhole as an
aberration, a blight on the map, cut off from the prototypical
American experience. Much of the national coverage focusing
on Detroits most recent trial - the water crisis - unsurprisingly
flows in this direction.
Missing from the flood of stories about Detroits decline, abject
poverty, and rustbelt apocalyptic narratives coming from outside the
city is an indigenous story. A story about racial isolation, the politics
of municipal shrinkage, a proud people fractured from the rest of
their state and country, and a proliferating population of Americans
denied the most fundamental human right: access to water. Until this
crisis is reframed as an American human rights emergency, the same
song of money win[ing] out every time will imminently jeopardise
water access for Americans near and far from Detroit.
62
khaled a beydoun is the critical race studies teaching fellow at the ucla school of law
63
64
65
Palestine
66
67
68
international law.
As well as its involvement in
the JLR, Veolia had also been
targeted for its role in waste, water
and bus services for illegal Israeli
settlements. Veolia transferred
control of these projects to other
companies as the campaign
pressure on it mounted.
Riya Hassan, the BNCs Europe
coordinator, said, Veolia is
still a target for union activists,
environmentalists and antiprivatization campaigners,
due to its record of anti-labour
policies and involvement in the
privatization of public water.
All those still being affected by
Veolias policies and struggling for
accountability and reparations can
continue to count on our solidarity.
The BDS movement takes crossstruggle solidarity to heart.
69
killings and injuries of Palestinian civilians and restrictions of movement that affect Palestinians, but
not Israeli settlers.
16 November 2012
Dear NLWA members,
I am writing to you in my capacity as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 to urge you not to select Veolia for
public contracts due to its active involvement in Israels grave violations of international law.
On October 25, I presented a report to the United Nations General Assembly on the legal
responsibility of business enterprises, corporations and non-State actors involved in activities
relating to Israels settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.1 The report concluded that
corporations and non-State actors play an instrumental role in Israels belligerent occupation of
Palestinian territory and the infringements on the human rights of Palestinians and that public
authorities and civil society must take actions to hold complicit corporations to account.
Due to its deep and ongoing complicity with Israeli violations of international law and the strength
of concern of Palestinian, European and Israeli civil society about the role played by Veolia, I decided
to select Veolia as one of the case studies to include in my report. I have attached the report for
your consideration.
Veolia has a 5 per cent share in the CityPass consortium, through its subsidiary Connex Israel, which
was contracted by Israel to operate the light rail project in Jerusalem. The light rail is designed
to connect the city of Jerusalem with Israels illegal settlements. Veolia owns approximately 80
per cent of Connex Jerusalem, the company that operates the trains. Furthermore, through its
subsidiary company, the Israeli Veolia group, Veolia owns and operates the Tovlan landfill in the
Jordan Valley of the occupied Palestinian territory. The Tovlan landfill is used to dump Israeli waste
from both within Israel and Israeli settlements. Veolia furthermore operates buses linking Modiin
and Jerusalem via road 443 and thereby servicing the Israeli settlements of Givat Zeev and Mevo
Horon. All these activities directly contribute to flagrant violations of international law.
The UN and the overwhelming majority of its members have consistently condemned Israels
settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory as illegal under international law (Article 49(6)
of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 governing belligerent occupation) and as a formidable
obstacle to peace, yet Israel continues with their expansion. The United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has documented how the existence and continued
expansion of illegal settlements have a severe humanitarian impact on Palestinian
70 civilians, including with respect to house demolitions,
1: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43376#.UJ-8rYVY4Xw
Veolia is a signatory to the UN Global Compact, a set of principles regarding business conduct.
Yet its wide ranging and active involvement in Israels settlement regime and persistent failure to
exercise due diligence show utter disregard for the human rights related principles of the Global
Compact.
One of the key recommendations of my report is to urge states to implement the new UN Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights. These Guiding Principles suggest as good practice that
state authorities consider denying or withdrawing existing public support or services to companies
that fail to address their involvement in serious human rights recommendations.2
I was therefore heartened to learn that a UK government minister has confirmed that UK legislation
allows public authorities to exclude companies involved with Israels illegal settlements from tender
exercises.3
Indeed, I agree with the increasing number of experts in international law that argue that any
decision by the NLWA to provide access to public funds to Veolia may contravene the UKs
international legal obligation not to facilitate Israeli violations of international law.
It is my view that Veolias violations of the UN Global Compact principles and its deep and
protracted complicity with grave breaches of international law make it an inappropriate partner for
any public institution, especially as a provider of public services.
As I conclude in my recent report, the failure to bring Israels occupation of Palestinian territory to
an end after more than 45 years creates an augmented international responsibility to uphold the
human rights of the Palestinian people, who in practice live without the protection of the rule of
law.
I urge you to follow the example set by public authorities and European banks that have chosen to
disassociate themselves from Veolia and take the just and principled decision not to award Veolia
any public service contracts. Such a measure would contribute to upholding the rule of law and
advancing peace based on justice.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Falk
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied since 1967
71
Finland
France
The Netherlands
United Kingdom
Adri Nieuwhof is a human rights advocate based in Switzerland and contributor to The Electronic Intifada.
73
global
June 2009, Veolia has lost $7 billion worth of contracts since the beginning
of the campaign and considered abandoning the Jerusalem Light Rail project.
October 2010, Veolia signed a principle agreement to sell its shares in the
Jerusalem Light Rail to the Israeli transportation cooperative Egged. Veolia
will transfer shares to Egged over a five-year period.
December 2010, The monitoring network Banktrack noted
that financial investment in Veolia is risky because
of its illegal activities in the OPT.
united states
Ireland
August 2006, Veolia cancelled its contract with the Irish Trade Union to
train Israeli drivers and engineers on the Dublin Luas tram (nearly identical
to the illegal tramway being built in Jerusalem).
February 2009, Sligo City Council passed a motion not to renew any further
contracts with Veolia because of its activities in the OPT.
April 2009, Galway City Council voted (12 to 2 in favour) not to renew or
enter into any contracts with Veolia (who had operated underground
system).
May 2010, Dublin City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on
the City Manager not to renew any contracts with Veolia (Luas tram) and
exclude all new contracts (metro)
October 2010, Cork City Council voted to not
sign or renew contracts with Veolia.
wales
United Kingdom
January 2012,
The National
Union of Students expressed its
support for campaigns calling on
UK universities to abolish their
relationship with Veolia and Eden Springs
for their involvement in the occupation.
February 2012, Jeremy Corbyn, MP (Member of
Parliament) calls for economic operators
aiding and abetting the building, maintenance,
or servicing of illegal Israeli settlements to
be excluded from public contracts
in the EU. His Early Day Motion
is signed by 76 other MPs.
switzerland
spain
November 2008,
A Veolia campaign is launched
in front of the Bilbao city hall in
response to Bilbaos awarding of a bus
contract to the company.
scotland
Iran
australia
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england
sweden
February 2011, Richmond Council did not renew its streetcleaning contract with Veolia, worth 12m.
Netherlands
france
October 2007, AFPS with PLO took Veolia Transport and Alstom to court, invoking French civil code. A French court in
Nanterre rejected the two companies claims that it had no jurisdiction in the case and reaffirmed the illegality of Israeli
colonies in East Jerusalem etc.
April 2009, Greater Bordeaux local government announced that the contract for the biggest urban network in France
was awarded to Veolias competitor (worth $1 billion).
November76
2010, Veolia loses bid to renew contract to operate the metro, bus and tramway lines in Lille, worth 1.2 billion.
January 2013, The Rennes City Council voted to not renew a contract with Veolia for management of their water.
Marc, an engineer for customer services and a Veolia employee for twenty years, has lost
his job for refusing to cut off the water to families who could not pay.
Marc was fired in April of 2013 from Veolia Eau (Veolia Water) in the town of Avignon-his dismissal letter cited his refusal to implement the cut-offs following the non-payment
of bills. Basta! online reported that Marc refused to cut off water from close to one
thousand households between 2006 and 2013. A Veolia spokesperson on France TV info
responded: His job description included closing water pipes and we are a company that
has rules. You cant choose which tasks you want to do.
Instead of turning the water off, Marc attempted to find alternate payment plans for
families, and often forgot to cut off services if bills went unpaid. He repeatedly asked
for a different position in the company arguing that the emotional strain was too much.
In an interview with Europe1 radio Marc explained: I saw people who had nothing,
living with their children, who begged me not to cut off the water supply and to give them
a little more time to pay upIt could happen to anyone. You have to make a choice - either
feed the children or pay the bills. These big companies pocket the money and redistribute
it to their shareholders, without looking after their clients or employees. Its scandalous.
Management at Veolia have consistently argued that the homes where Marc refused to
turn off the tap were not families in need, but just irresponsible, habitual non-payers. In
an interview with France Bleu, Marc responded, Sometimes when I arrive at someones
home theres nothing there. The fridge is empty and they have children. His colleagues
recall him saying were no longer there to carry out a social service, now its just
for the money.
1: McPartland, Ben. Fired for Refusing to Cut Off Poor Families Water. The Local: Frances News in English, http://www.
thelocal.fr/20130419/sacked-for-refusing-to-cut-off-poor-families-water
2: Chapelle, Sophie. Mobilisation pour lemploy de Veolia qui refusait de couper leau. Basta! http://www.bastamag.
net/Avignon-mobilisation-pour-l
3: McPartland, Ben.
4: Trouble brewing Sacked for refusing to cut off the water for destitute families. Le Monde, http://bigbrowser.blog.
lemonde.fr/2014/01/16/eau-dans-le-gaz-licencie-pour-avoir-refuse-de-couper-leau-a-des-familles-demunies/
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Seattle
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result of the
clear that Veolia
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Opposing Veolia
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veolias
Stop Veolia Seattle (SVS) and the undersigned organizations urge the King County Council to 1)
discontinue all contracts with Veolia, 2) preclude Veolia from obtaining any future contracts with the
County, and to 3) bring Metro Access services in-house to be operated by the County.
Veolia, the French-based multinational corporation, formerly known as Vivendi, is the largest
privatizer of water in the world, the largest privatizer of transportation in North America, and also
involved in privatizing other public services such as trash collection and disposal. In more than 50
instances around the globe, cities and states have broken their contracts with Veolia because Veolia
is not meeting the terms of its contracts. Costs have gone up while service has gone down, turning
public investment into private profit. This track record has been opposed by the public since Veolia
went by the name of Vivendi. As Vivendi, the corporation lost record numbers of contracts because
costs were going up and services were deteriorating, posing serious risk to public health and safety.
The commodification of public services and resources for profit have also led to policies and practices
that break international law and infringe upon human rights globally. Unfortunately, in changing their
name they didnt also change their business practices. As Veolia, the corporation has lost an additional
24 billion dollars worth of contracts. It feels shameful that in Martin Luther King Jr. County our public
taxpayer dollars are supporting a corporation with such a dismal global track record.
There are also grievances at home. Veolia has a history of union busting right here in Seattle, as well
as in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Boston. Moreover, users of Metro Access report that the service has
deteriorated under the authority of Veolia. Our disability community deserves much better.
Because of Veolias role in global structures of inequality, as one of the largest privatizers of public
services in the world, SVS and the undersigned see Veolia as one window into understanding the
larger interconnections of our struggles for economic and social justice both in our local communities
and in solidarity with struggles for justice around the world.
SVS and the undersigned are committed to building relationships at the intersections of labor,
disability justice, anti-corporatization, environmental justice, corporate accountability for human
rights violations, and solidarity with the Global South.
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Signed,
BAYAN-NW, CISPES (Community in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador), CodePink - WA,
Freedom Socialist Party (Seattle), JVP-Seattle (Jewish Voice for Peace), No New Jim Crow Seattle
Campaign, Puget Sound Chapter of Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME),
QuAIA (Queers Against lsraeli Apartheid), Rising Tide - Seattle, SUPER UW (Students
United for Palestinian Equal Rights), The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and
Justice, Transit Riders Union, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR), 89
WISH (Washington lncarceration Stops Here )
BAYAN Pacific Northwest stands in strong solidarity with people around the world fighting against
multi-national corporations attempting to privatize basic needs, like access to water and sanitation
services. We are in full support of the Stop Veolia Seattle Campaign advocating that King County
cease its contract with Veolia to operate the Metro Access program, a transportation service for
disabled and elderly residents.
BAYAN Pacific Northwest is a strong supporter of the United Nations Convention on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights affirmation that access to water is a condition for the enjoyment of
the right to an adequate standard of living and inextricably related to the right to the highest
attainable standard of health and therefore a human right. We affirm the belief that access
to water is a human right and should not be a profit-generating commodity. However, Veolia
is the largest privatizer of water in the world, which includes water and sewage contracts in
Manila, Philippines.
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This corporation is also complicit in the continuing oppression of communities across Palestine
and Israel. From their illicit subsidiaries supporting illegal settlements on Palestinian land to
normalizing Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands through transportation contracts, Veolia is a
giant octopus of corruption whose tentacles of profit opportunistically squirm into the crevices of
developing countries across the world.
This company makes millions in profits off privatizing basic needs, occupation, and segregation.
In addition, Veolia has a long history of union-busting and hostility to its workers collective right
to organize. This includes King Countys Metro Access program, despite King County Metro transit
operators long history of union representation. In severing union contracts and paying workers
below that of union wages, Veolia once again demonstrates their priorities of profit over people.
We join Filipino Americans and allies globally in resisting Veolias attempts to profit from water
and sanitation, to profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine, to profit by eliminating living
wage union jobs.
From Seattle to the Philippines, no to privatization! No to contracts with Veolia!
BAYAN-NW, Joaquin Uy
bayanusapnw.wordpress.com
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solid ground, access driver & member of atu local 587 on veolia
anonymous, access driver for 8+ years, interviewed and transcribed by susan koppelman
The 75% of Access drivers with
Veolia/Transdev have not been
unionized since King County
canceled
the
successorship
contract with MV Transport in
2008 and accepted Veolias lowbid to save $1 million off the
backs of Access drivers. In 2009
Metro approved an additional
$1 million in annual costs to
Veolia, in 2010 an additional $4
million annually, and since 2011
Metro has approved a total $7.3
million annual cost increase to
Veolia since 2008 while workers
conditions suffer.
When Veolia came into being
a provider, drivers used to have
what we call start times that a
person comes to work everyday.
For instance, a driver gets a
chance to have what we call
picks, just like metro, you can say
what days off you want and what
time of work you want, or what
time of day you want to start
work. So it was generally done
like 7 oclock, then 7:15, theres
a 7:30 start, a 7:45, in 15-minute
intervals, from 7 oclock all the
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[1] The call center is run by private transportation corporation First Transit, second largest in
the US next to Veolia/Transdev.
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My name is Jacqueline R.
Sorgen, I have been using
Access now in excess of 8 years.
Every 3 years you are required
to go for reevaluation. Mine is
due sometime I believe June
9th and Im trying to move it
up because sunshine hurts my
eyes and I prefer doing this
before the heavy sunshine of
the summer.
Regarding Veolia, I have been
there since before they came
on board, and theres a problem
of a tremendous disconnect,
because there is more than one
company involved, and they
dont communicate well with
others. I believe First Student
does the scheduling and the
drivers are with different
organizations, Veolia and Solid
Ground. I have noticed that the
Veolia drivers are not as well
trained or as experienced as the
Solid Ground drivers, and also
that there is a lot of paranoia
because they are cutting back
the hours and everything else
of the Veolia drivers, and since
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going forward?
js:
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on september 17, 2014 the mlk county labor council passed the following
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http://www.mlkclc.org/docs/Resolutions%202014%2Epdf
SVS and our partners refuse to allow Transdev or others to use the global outrage
directed at Veolia/Transdev for its complicity with Israeli violations of international
law through August 2015 as a way to somehow intimidate our elected officials into
dismissing its unfair labor practices, poor service and outright lies to King County.
SVS is grateful to be working in close partnership with the Transit Riders Union, the MLK County Labor Council,
ATU Local 587 and other local partners.
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