Corporate Hospitality at the WTO

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Corporate Hospitality at the WTO
By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman

Tired of getting fundraising letters in the mail? 

Just imagine how hard it would be to be a corporate CEO. Not only does
virtually every politician come hat in hand seeking a campaign
contribution, but you are besieged by a long line of nonprofit
organizations seeking support for their charitable endeavors. Then your
fellow bosses hit you up for contributions to support one or another
political lobbying effort. And now there is a new panhandler that CEOs
must handle: the mega-intergovernmental conference.

The latest example: The World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting
in Seattle, to be held in late November and early December. 

"I know you are on the receiving end of many requests for support from
organizations and events, but the hosting of the WTO Ministerial is truly
a unique opportunity," wrote Lawrence Clarkson, chair of the fundraising
committee of the "WTO Seattle Host Organization" in a March 15 fundraising
appeal to corporate executives. Host Organization co-chairs are
Microsoft's Bill Gates and Phil Condit, CEO of Boeing.

"The Seattle Host Organization is committed to ensuring that the private
sector is an integral part of the events surrounding the Ministerial. We
are working very closely with the USTR [Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative] and WTO officials every step of the way to coordinate
schedules and venues to maximize interaction between the officials and the
private sector."

The corporate-sponsored gathering in Seattle is no groundbreaker, as Susan
Kruller, media and public relations director for the Seattle Host
Organization, notes.

When NATO gathered for its fiftieth anniversary blowout in Washington,
D.C. earlier this year, a dozen companies contributed a quarter of a
million dollars each to have their CEOs serve as directors of the NATO
Summit's host committee. Others kicked in smaller amounts.

Similar arrangements have been made at a recent G-7 meeting in Denver
(presidents and top officials of a group of the world's most powerful
countries meet at the G-7) and a Summit of the Americas in Miami. At a
1996 National Governors Association conference focused on education
issues, each governor was paired with a CEO from their state.

Corporate sponsorships of mega-event host committees are now routinely
structured into event planning by the U.S. government, Kruller says. 

In agreeing to host the WTO meeting in the United States, the U.S.
government obligated itself to pick up the incremental costs between
holding the meeting in Geneva at the WTO's headquarters and locating the
gathering away from the WTO's home, Kruller says. The U.S. government
turns to the private sector to help defray resulting taxpayer expenses.

The private sector is set to kick in $9.2 million to defray the
ministerial's costs.

When the news first broke of the Seattle Host Organization's request for
contributions, a controversy ensued over Clarkson's letter's promise that
high donors would be able to attend a conference at which "the private
sector will meet senior U.S. trade officials to discuss priorities for the
upcoming Round." That offer drew a rebuke from the Office of the U.S.
Trade Representative, and the promised meeting was cancelled.

Corporate contributors are not being denied all goodies, however. Those
donating at the Emerald Level, a $250,000 contribution, are entitled to
send five guests to the Host Organization's opening and closing receptions
and to an exclusive ministerial dinner. They can send four guests to
private sector conferences the Host Organization is arranging. They are
provided with briefing updates on the ministerial's progress, assistance
with room reservations, media assistance and hospitality service. Their
logos are permitted to appear on the Host Organization's web site and they
are given signage and display of corporate materials. Companies at the
Emerald Level are Allied Signal/Honeywell, Deloitte & Touche, Ford, GM,
Microsoft, Nextel, Boeing, US West, plus the State of Washington.

Lesser benefits are conferred on those making less generous donations. The
Diamond Level supporters ($150,000 to $249,999) are Activate.com, UPS and
Weyerhaeuser. Platinum Level supporters ($75,000 to $149,999) are AT&T,
Bank of America, Columbia Resource Group, Eddie Bauer, Expeditors
International of WA, Hewlett Packard, Seagram's, Preston Gates & Ellis and
The Production Network. Gold Level supporters ($25,000 to $74,999) include
Caterpillar, IBM, Lucent and U.S. Bancorp. 

In addition to an extra opportunity to rub shoulders with policymakers and
high-ranking bureaucrats, what the corporate contributors to the Seattle
event and similar events really get in exchange for their dollars is a
sort of hyper-niche image advertising, with a group of hundreds of
policymakers as their target. 

In most instances, at least, the corrupting element is not a quid pro quo,
but rather something more profound. Corporate sponsorships at the Seattle
trade ministerial and other meetings are another indicia, another
reinforcement, another reminder to the government officials of their
obligations to Big Business. The sponsorships are a corruption of
atmosphere and place. 

Happily, the Seattle meeting will include a counterbalancing factor: tens
of thousands of activists who plan to take to the streets to protest the
WTO's record of riding roughshod over consumers, workers, the environment
and any non-commercial values. Hopefully this mass citizens' mobilization
will force the trade officials to confront their collective betrayal of
the public trust.

Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime
Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based
Multinational Monitor. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: The
Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Monroe, Maine: Common
Courage Press, 1999; http://www.corporatepredators.org)

(c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman

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