We always assumed that ethics were measured by adherence to the general moral principles of justice and fairness. But maybe we were wrong.

This newspaper has extensively covered Sodexo’s unfair treatment of employees at Binghamton University. Ethisphere, a magazine based in New York, has just named the corporation to its World’s Most Ethical Companies list for the second year in a row.

In today’s issue, Pipe Dream covered a protest outside of Sodexo’s U.S. headquarters in Maryland, in which 12 people (Danny Glover included) were arrested (see Page 1). It was just last month that Ethisphere celebrated the company’s “integrity track record,” “corporate citizenship” and “tone.”

Pipe Dream detailed the hostile work environment, indifference on the part of superiors and unlivable wages faced by Sodexo workers. Ethisphere wouldn’t comment.

Even without a comment, it’s easy to see that the magazine has its own definition of ethical practice, given Sodexo’s neighbors on the list. Corporations like PepsiCo, Best Buy and Nike — commonly thought to be the world’s foremost sweatshop manufacturer — were also lauded by the magazine.

But regardless of how you define ethics, this award does nothing to help the employees of Sodexo, who are actually being mistreated. It only perpetuates the current situation by outwardly validating Sodexo’s shady practices.

Sodexo is an international corporation that generates billions of dollars in revenue every year and employs 110,000 people in the U.S. alone. But some of its workers, at least in Binghamton, are still forced to eat at soup kitchens to make ends meet for themselves and their families. These people are living paycheck to paycheck; as described in the article, a significant number of Sodexo workers here are paid minimum wage, or close to it.

The local union of Sodexo workers does have a collective bargaining agreement with the company, but this contract is extortionary. Next to the low wages are substandard benefits, not to mention questionable clauses. Unlike the rest of the working world, Sodexo employees at BU can work only 30 hours a week and still be considered full-time; but overtime only begins after a 40-hour week.

It isn’t right that such practices are being implicitly supported by our school, which has a $120 million contract with Sodexo.

We have a new president coming in next year, right around the time the Sodexo contract with its employees expires. Let’s hope he or she will do more than simply continue the status quo.

BU would do itself and its campus community a service by pressing Sodexo to implement the fairer practices all employees deserve.