The 10 Worst Fox Valley Corporations of 2002

by Tony Palmeri

January 3, 2002

In their annual essay exposing the 10 worst corporations of the year, Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman begin by writing that "2002 will forever be remembered as the year of corporate crime, the year even President George Bush embraced the notion of 'corporate responsibility.'" Much of the 2002 corporate crime dealt with financial scams, the nature of which are summarized nicely for Multinational Monitor by Lee Drutman and Charlie Cray.

Last year I named the 11 worst Fox Valley Corporations for 2001. Sadly, 4 of the corporations (Wal-Mart, Plexus, Gannett, Aurora) must be placed on this year's list also. And while I have decided not to place the entire paper industry on this year's list, that should not be taken as a sign that the industry cleaned up its act in 2002. Rather, that the paper companies have been so brazen in their quest to avoid responsibility for cleaning up the Fox River is now so obvious that to place them on the list only wastes space that could be given to a less well known but equally "deserving" corporation. See the Clean Water Action Council's website to learn about the extent of paper company duplicity in the region.

And now the 10 worst Fox Valley corporations of 2002, arranged in alphabetical order:

*Affinity Health Systems: When United Food and Commercial Workers International Organizer Karen Prade appeared on Commentary in December, she described an Affinity management at Oshkosh's Mercy Medical Center that has no respect for the rights of health care workers. CEO Kevin Nolan has said that "To have a sustainable quality organization, we need a sustainable quality culture based upon our mission and values." Apparently, for Mr. Nolan that means treating caregivers like expendable commodities, hiring foreign nurses at the same time decreasing current staff, and doing everthying possible to prevent the workers from organizing collectively. As if to get a headstart on being named the worst corporation of 2003, the press reported today (January 3, 2002) that 15,000 - 17,000 Oshkosh residents may have to switch physicians due to an Affinity/TouchPoint squabble over which patients have no control.

*Algoma Ethanol, LLC: This corporation makes the list of the 10 worst Fox Valley corporations not based on the merits of ethanol; indeed, much of the opposition to the plant construction in the town of Utica is coming from hypocritical "old boys" practicing a NIMBYism they protest loudly when it comes from areas in which they do not live. Rather, Algoma Ethanol makes the list for filing a ridiculous and mean-spirited libel lawsuit agaist a citizen who produced an anti-ethanol website. The lawsuit has the look of a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation); that is, a corporate tactic for crying "defamation" as a way of silencing critics.

*ArvinMeritor/AxleTech International: ArvinMeritor (formerly Rockwell) kept workers at the Oshkosh High Avenue plant guessing for more than 2 years about the status of the plant and their jobs. New owners AxleTech in late December insisted on renegotiating the labor contract and made an outrageous offer to the workers, resulting in early January picketing outside the plant. UAW Local 291 President Alan Sawitski has decried the corporate greed that led to this bleak situation for approximately 350 workers. ArvinMeritor/AxleTech's behavior throughout this affair has been textbook case of greed and disloyalty to workers and the entire community. Technician Al Flanders said it best in a report by the Oshkosh Northwestern's Doug Zellmer: “It’s sad with what’s happening to the city of Oshkosh, state of Wisconsin and the nation in general as far as out sourcing our work, having our parts machined in other countries. It all boils down to corporate greed and profit.”

*Aurora Health Care: Representative DuWayne Johnsrud (R-Eastman) has called Aurora the Wal-Mart of health care. Sean Fitzgerald explained the Wal-Mart analogy in a February column for the Oshkosh Northwestern. Aurora President G. Edwin Howe has the gall to claim that his company's Oshkosh expansion will not necessarily mean higher health care costs for consumers even though such increases have been seen in every community Aurora has entered. Fox Cities chamber executive director William Welch says of Aurora, “They’ve gone on what can only be described as a hospital building spree, where they are building hospitals ... and they’re doing it not by spending money but by incurring debt.” Guess who will ultimately pay off that debt?

*eFunds: We know that NAFTA and other so-called "free trade" scams have made it easier for manufacturers to outsource to cheap labor locations work that used to be performed in the USA. But could even the most cynical among us have predicted service sector outsourcing? In March, news reports revealed that eFunds corporation of Scottsdale, AZ made profits off tax dollar money by paying wages of $2 to $3 per hour to telephone operators in Bombay, India. The calls used to be fielded in Green Bay by workers at APAC customer services making $7.50 per hour or more. In April, the SEC began scrutinizing eFunds' financial dealings, leading to a December investor lawsuit claiming the company "inflated financial results by overestimating revenue and underestimating its tax payments." eFunds is innocent until proven guilty, but the fact that they would outsource telephone operating services does not suggest a company for which ethics is the operative buzz word in the corporate mission statement.

*Gannett: The Appleton Post-Crescent, The Green Bay Press Gazette, The Fond du Lac Reporter, The Oshkosh Northwestern, The Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter, The Marshfield News Herald , The Sheboygan Press, The Stevens Point Journal, The Wausau Daily Herald, and The Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune are now so dreadfully similar to each other that one wonders if the Gannett Corporation was created by the Raelian cloning cult. In 2002, Gannett finally began exploiting Wisconsin's adoration of the Green Bay Packers to the hilt, initiating a "Packers Premium" web subscription service. At Christmas time, Gannett with no shame told its web readers that "For only $34.95, your friends or family will receive:"

As the Packer fan exploitation escalated, the Green Bay Press Gazette set new limits on reader forum letters, while the Oshkosh Northwestern reached new lows in reporting and editorial carelessness.

*The JohnsonGroup: This Rockford, IL based outfit closed down Wausau's Marathon Press Inc. over the Memorial Day weekend, laying off 60 Wausau workers and another 10 in Green Bay. The workers were given no warnings that the plant was in danger of closing, and when pressed a JohnsonGroup spokesman could provide no specific reasons why the company was exempt from state law requiring a 60-day notice for plant closings for business with more than 50 employees. After dismantling a 77-year-old Wausau company in a deceitful and shameful manner, JohnsonGroup Chief Operating Officer Gene Toepfer in October moved on to Rider Dickerson Inc. (Chicago) as senior vice president.

*Plexus: This so-called "new economy" business acts very much like part of the "old economy" when it comes to laying off workers in Neenah. Rather than invest in updating their Neenah operations, Plexus took the tradional "cost-cutting" route. The result? Analysts at Applied Finance concluded that "Plexus management is doing a worse job of using investors' capital than the leaders of any other public company in the state." Let's also not forget that former chief executive Peter Strandwitz, who retired in March, saw his personal wealth grow by more than $11 million via stock in a year that Plexus' individual share price dropped by almost $47. At the end of 2001, Plexus' stock price was down 66.5% from the year before, but by exercising stock options Strandwitz was able to see a compensation increase of 1,333%.

*Wal-Mart: On November 21, activists all over the nation raised awareness of Wal-Mart's community-busting behaviors in a national day of protest. In Oshkosh in 2002, construction of a 207,000 square foot supercenter neared completion as Aviation Plaza retailers feared that Wal-Mart's abandonment of that area might lead to additional business closures. Meanwhile, in spite of the fact that the Neenah Common Council used taxpayer dollars to make infrastructure improvements for Wal-Mart, the company announced it would probably not open the Neenah store until late 2004 at the earliest. That's good for downtown Neenah business owners, who will be able to survive for at least another year.

*Wisconsin Automated Machinery Corporation (WAMCO): Taking advantage of state laws that reward "low road" companies and an Oshkosh municipal administration and common council that doesn't ask tough questions, WAMCO literally took the money and ran in late July. In an August 2nd interview, Councilor Paul Esslinger hit the nail on the head: "I would hope that this would send a message that you can't trust everything you are told by some of these company officials, and that the cost of redevelopment in Oshkosh is now at the expense of people's jobs."

There you have the 10 worst Fox Valley corporations of 2002. Frequently when presented with lists like this, citizens respond with "but what can I do?" Ralph Nader's new Citizen Works website provides a partial answer to that question. Click here to see that part of the site dealing with local solutions. At a minimum, those of us in the Fox Valley tired of the corporate abuse of our economy and democracy ought to be able to put in place this Citizen Works' suggestion: Hold Regular Town Meetings to Generate Community Discussion About How Corporations Have Weakened Your Local Democracy and What You Can Do About It.

Would you like to nominate a Fox Valley corporation as the worst of 2002? E-mail me your suggestion at Palmeri@uwosh.edu

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