The Bullog - July 2022

Roe v Wade:?Might business do the Rights thing?

Should business have a role in underpinning the basic human rights of its employees??

The US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade on the 24th of June, the landmark 1973 ruling on womens’ Constitutional rights to an abortion, is a decision with massive ramifications within US society and well beyond.

For those who have been on the moon over the past two weeks let me provide some brief context. Donald Trump, having been able to nominate three Justices to the Supreme Court during his four year tenure, has hard baked a 6 to 3 Conservative majority into the court, whose ruling brought about this momentous decision on abortion rights for women.?This is a decision supported (and no doubt applauded) by an estimated 36% of the population (roughly the same number who still believe Donald trump was cheated out of the last election) while the remaining majority of the population look on in disbelief. A total of 13 States have already introduced so called “trigger bans” and up to half of all states are likely to follow suit to enforce the ruling.

I’ve often claimed that The Bullog is A-political and focusses instead on issues related to business in society and the role it can play in improving it.?However, I’m increasingly of the belief that business and politics are starting to converge.?We’re witnessing the breakdown of traditional 20th century democratic institutions, while conversely, we’re starting to see the emergence of something analogous to more democratic corporations, as power shifts downwards and outwards - from shareholder interests to wider stakeholders, employees in particular.

What has been the response from business thus far?

Many corporations have openly stated that they will fund out of state travel for their employees to access legal abortion clinics if required as part of a holistic approach to healthcare (LIN.?The question is: should big business be doing more?

Corporate influence on society has often been criticised for being too powerful and having a negative impact??Am I naive to suggest that this influence could instead be leveraged for the greater good and step in where government seems to be failing the majority of its population?

That’s a highly contentious statement I know, but conservative Justice Samuel Alito stated in his ruling that they are not going to stop at abortion rights and have already moved on to expanding gun ownership and restricting the US Environmental Protection Agency’s power to introduce climate change regulations.??Rumours abound that gay marriage will be next in the firing line.?Where does it stop and where does the fightback begin?

Corporations are not yet democracies, but I do wonder what the opinions would be in a straw poll of Apple, Google or Amazon employees, all with demographically much more young and liberal attitudes. I suspect that the vast majority would be strongly opposed to the Supreme Court’s decisions on these issues. No doubt many of these same citizen employees will have joined marches and demonstrations to make their views known. But instead of (or as well as) taking to the streets in protest, might they be able to have more impact by exerting their power and influence collectively on the response of their employer?

Apple have invested an estimated one trillion dollars in a new HQ in Austin, ?Texas and Amazon many other large companies seem to be investing massive amounts in this traditionally conservative state. Indeed, Texas was one of the first to introduce a “trigger ban” on abortion.?How will Apple employees feel about being based in a State that has withdrawn “a woman’s right to choose”??How should they make their views known to Apple’s leadership and what should they ask them to do??Apple’s CEO Tim Cook may not be directly impacted by abortion rights, but as the first Fortune 500 CEO to courageously come out as gay in 2014, he would no doubt have strong views were the rights to Gay Marriage be withdrawn by the State.?And were Cook, backed by a strong democratic mandate from his employees to threaten reversing billion dollar investment decisions based on his ability to attract and retain talent, how might that influence knee jerk anti-democratic decisions at the level of the State?

No, I don’t have all the answers to these questions and I may well be opening a can of worms by raising them.?But these are conversations I’d like to provoke at the virtual water coolers of these global corporations in an effort to encourage them to do “the Right” thing.?

This article is an extract from the?July edition of my Bullog,?my monthly?blog. To read the full blog or to sign up to receive The Bullog directly each month?visit………www.gibbulloch.com/bullog.