Another one of Indiana’s largest companies is expressing its opposition to the abortion bill signed into law Friday by Governor Eric Holcomb. In a statement shared to employees on Saturday, Columbus-based Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) said it is “deeply concerned” how the law impacts its employees and impedes its ability to attract and retain a diverse workforce in Indiana.
Source: Cummins outlines opposition to Indiana abortion law – Inside INdiana Business
There’s a growing trend of corporations which threaten to take tax monies out of a state unless the state passes laws in a manner they deem acceptable. First of all, if a company will shift operations or holdings to a different state over one particular human rights law, why do they continue to do business with entire countries whose governments have long and terrible records of human rights abuses, say, like China?
Further, if they’re so concerned with social justice and making statements, why do they remain silent on such issues as China’s treatment of Uyghurs? I can’t find any reference to any statement Cummins has made to condemn this unilaterally bad policy. Even if they don’t change actual business practices, the least they could do is show some disdain for the situation.
Second of all, companies are led by a relative handful of people, which are supposed to follow the direction of the shareholders — i.e. banks — presumably to maximize profit. Why should the officers of US corporations get to leverage the enormous resources at their disposal to, in essence, blackmail our governments to pass a law, especially one that has such a dubious connection to profit? I don’t support the Indiana abortion law either, but I also don’t think corporations should be allowed to engage in this sort of strong-arming behavior toward our government. It’s not democracy. It’s corporatocracy.