Big Box Campaigner, May 21, 2008

In this update you will find:

U p c o m i n g . E v e n t s

Upcoming Events

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This space could be filled by something you are working on. Planning to release a report, host an event, or send out an urgent action alert: send an email to trina.tocco@ilrf.org and your info will be added in this weekly email.

Worth a Read

Wal-Mart and the Chinese Earthquake: Cheap Help for A Cheap-Labor Country

May 14, 2008
By Phil Mattera
Dirt Diggers Digest

Wal-Mart Stores has put out a press release patting itself on the back for promising the equivalent of about $430,000 for disaster relief and reconstruction for the area of China hit by a massive earthquake this week. The gesture was laudable but the amount was less than impressive.

After all, the giant retailer would be nowhere today without the countless Chinese workers who toil in sweatshops so that American consumers can be offered the cheap goods that are at the core of the company’s business model. Last year those largely Chinese-made goods brought Wal-Mart profits of $12.7 billion, or about $1.4 million every hour of every day. The $430,000 contribution thus represents less than 20 minutes of profit.

Wal-Mart also profits from Chinese consumers. The company operates more than 200 stores in China (through joint ventures and minority-owned subsidiaries), several of which have been shut down because of the tremblor. Wal-Mart was so eager to operate stores in China that it agreed to let its employees there be represented by unions (though of the government-dominated variety).

Wal-Mart has a history of using relatively inexpensive amounts of disaster relief to boost its reputation. After Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, Wal-Mart maneuvered to get maximum exposure for its prompt delivery of relief supplies. A fairly routine operation for a company possessing the most advanced logistics infrastructure was seen as nearly miraculous, given the ineptitude of federal and state public officials.

The company made an initial faux pas (quickly reversed) in announcing that employees at its stores shut down by the storm would be paid for only three days. It also started out offering a measly $2 million in relief but soon overcame its parsimonious instincts and upped the figure by $15 million, thereby winning wide praise. The wave of favorable coverage went on for several months, thanks at least in part to the efforts of its army of p.r. operatives from Edelman and a conservative blogger who was paid to tout Wal-Mart’s hurricane work in the blogosphere.

Wal-Mart may have to part with more than $430,000 to get a similar public relations bonanza from China’s suffering.

Wal-Mart’s 2008 Shareholder Resolutions: Human Rights Committee

May 13, 2008
Wal-Mart Watch

This is the third in a series of posts on Wal-Mart’s 2008 shareholder resolutions. The full list of resolutions – and Wal-Mart’s statements regarding them – can be found in the company’s 2008 proxy here (PDF).

Resolution #7 on this year’s proxy proposes the establishment of a human rights committee at Wal-Mart. Below, the details of the proposition, why Wal-Mart’s shareholders would benefit and how the company has reacted to the proposal.

Wal-Mart’s Public Image Problem

Reports of human rights violations have dogged Wal-Mart for years – particularly in the company’s supplier factories, most of which are overseas. These violations have thoroughly damaged Wal-Mart’s reputation, with everyone from U.S Senators to Wal-Mart employees to factory workers themselves speaking out about the inhumane conditions in Wal-Mart’s supplier factories. Bama Athreya, director of the International Labor Rights Forum, testified before Congress on the issue of toy safety, explaining that “Wal-Mart bears a lion share of responsibility for pushing the toy industry to a place where worker health and safety are basically nonexistent.”

Wal-Mart also holds the ignominious title of being the only company investigated by Human Rights Watch for its domestic labor practices. The group’s 2007 report labeled Wal-Mart’s union-busting policies a violation of basic human rights, saying:

It pursues its anti-union agenda relentlessly, often from the day a new worker is hired, devoting considerable time and resources at all levels of the company to the anti-union drumbeat.

The constant stream of allegations have damaged Wal-Mart’s reputation and in turn, its profits. In 2007, a Bank of America analyst’ report found that Wal-Mart’s profits had suffered as a result of organized labor’s opposition to the company and its unethical labor practices. The report noted that the union’s campaign “has cost WMT [Wal-Mart] real estate sites in key locations, adversely impacted comp store sales to some degree, and has distracted m management from focusing on its retail strategy. Additionally, Lee Scott now spends a large amount of time improving WMT’s image domestically and abroad, and WMT has been forced to focus advertising dollars on defending their brand.”

The Human Rights Committee Proposal

In order to increase shareholder value by improving Wal-Mart’s public image, Harrington Investments has placed a resolution on this year’s proxy proposing the institution of a human rights committee as part of Wal-Mart’s Board.

Harrington Investments argues in its supporting statement: “Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and its suppliers have been associated with labor and human rights controversies both inside and outside the U.S. Such attention damages our brand and thereby long-term shareholder value.”

Harrington’s proposal calls for the creation of a human rights committee that would “review the implications of company policies…for human rights of individuals in the U.S. and worldwide.” The committee would examine issues “above and beyond matters of legal compliance.”

Wal-Mart: “Human Rights Oversight Already Exists”

Wal-Mart disagrees that this human rights committee would meaningfully contribute to the company’s ability to monitor its human rights practices. Citing its Standards for Suppliers, a code of conduct it adopted in 1992, and its Ethical Standards Program, which verifies the suppliers’ compliance, Wal-Mart makes the case that it already has an oversight structure in place. The company further notes that it publishes an annual Report on Ethical Sourcing, where it “outlines our plans aimed at improving our sourcing practices, through which we seek to have a positive effect on workers’ lives and the environment.” Wal-Mart asserts that its entire Board reviews this report.

Noted Oversight Failures

Despite Wal-Mart’s assertion that its human rights oversight structure is already functional, a number of indicators illustrate that there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

Wal-Mart’s record for factory inspections – a critical component to labor law enforcement – remains shamefully poor. Of the company’s factory inspections, a paltry 26% are unannounced . Unannounced inspections are crucial to a fair assessment of factory conditions, as announced inspections inevitably give managers time to cover up abuses. The company’s human rights record has been slammed by United Students Against Sweatshops, Co-op America, the National Labor Committee, the UFCW, Sweat Free Communities, China Labor Watch, and the AFL-CIO, among others.

Limitations of the Committee

While there is clear need for greater human rights oversight at Wal-Mart, the proposal by Harrington Investments has three significant limitations. First, it allows Wal-Mart’s Board to select the members of the committee, and second, it requires that the Board approve the committee’s budget and operating procedures. Thirdly, the committee has no decision-making power – the proposal explicitly states that the committee will not “restrict the power of the Board of Directors to manage the business and affairs of the company.”

With such limited independence, and with solely an advisory role, it seems questionable that in its proposed form the human rights committee would have enough agency to affect Wal-Mart’s business practices.

Improved Image, Improved Shareholder Returns

Whether or not the proposed human rights committee is able to substantially improve Wal-Mart’s labor practices, the appearance that the company is taking action would advance the company’s reputation, which could translate into greater profits and an increase in shareholder returns.

Children’s Jewelry with High Lead Levels Found in City Stores

May 14, 2008
Baltimore Sun

Two city businesses have received citations for selling children’s jewelry with excessively high levels of lead, Baltimore health officials announced today.

The Wal-Mart at 2701 Port Covington Drive was cited for selling stud earrings with blue hearts produced by Girl Connection, which were found to have 70,400 parts per million of lead. The Murray’s at 2317 E. Northern Parkway was cited for two vending machine necklaces that had lead levels of 2,940 parts per million and 3,740 parts per million, according to the Baltimore City Health Department.

The products were identified as part of 17 items of children’s jewelry tested last month by the health department. City regulations adopted in September limit children’s jewelry to no more than 600 parts per million of total lead content.

As a result of the citation, Wal-Mart management has stopped selling Girl Connection merchandise at stores across the nation, according to city Health Commissioner Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein.

City officials say they have banned the items from being sold in Baltimore and also alerted the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Target: A Well-Positioned Retailer

May 19, 2008
By Thomas M. Anderson
Kiplinger via Washington Post

Investors have, by and large, written off retailers for dead. They fear that consumers are reining in spending because of rising food and gasoline prices, declining home values, the credit crunch and economic uncertainty. But there are signs that the pessimism is overdone.

Although most retailers reported lower earnings in the first quarter, they frequently beat Wall Street’s subdued expectations. Wal-Mart (symbol WMT), Kohl’s ( KSS) and J.C. Penney ( JCP) were among those that topped analysts’ estimates when they reported results the week of May 12. Expect no less of a showing from discount retailer Target ( TGT) when it reports first-quarter results May 20.

Target specializes in selling affordable and fashionable goods to the mass affluent. While Wal-Mart’s sales are six times higher than Target’s, the Minneapolis-based retailer manages to charge rock-bottom prices and attract higher-end consumers. More than half of Target shoppers are college graduates, and the median household income of its customers is $60,000 per year.

In the face of a stormy outlook for consumer spending, Target has battened down the hatches. To reduce its exposure to shaky credit markets, the company plans to sell 47% of its credit-card business to JPMorgan Chase for $3.6 billion. “This deal partners Target with another highly experienced credit-card issuer and allows Target to retain full control of all of its credit-card operations,” says William Blair & Co. analyst Mark Miller, who rates Target’s shares “outperform.” Target will use the proceeds from the JPMorgan deal to buy back shares and fund new store openings.

An aggressive buyback program is charging ahead. Last November 20, Target announced plans to repurchase $10 billion in stock within three years. It has since bought $1.5 billion worth of shares.

The company says it wants to complete “a significant portion” of the program in the 2008 fiscal year, which ends January 31, 2009. Buybacks will keep Target’s earnings per share growing at a decent rate even if net income increases at a more modest clip.

Target wants to add 90 to 100 stores per year through 2012. In fiscal 2008, the company plans to open about 95 new locations. It now has 1,395 discount stores in 46 states and Washington, D.C., and 218 SuperTarget stores, which are much larger than the typical store.

Unlike Wal-Mart, Target has no presence overseas. That means Target has growth opportunities abroad but can’t use overseas operations to compensate for the slowdown in the U.S.

Despite some savvy moves, Target is running uphill. The retailer has tilted its mix from discretionary products with high mark-ups, such as home furnishings, to lower-margin consumer staples, such as clothing. The merchandise shift will make it harder for Target to keep pace with last year’s net income, which totaled $2.9 billion.

Target has forecast that sales will grow 8% to 9% range in the current fiscal year. That reflects big contributions from new stores and a two-to-three-percentage-point boost from same-stores sales, or sales at stores opened more than a year.

The company expects much better sales growth in the second half of the fiscal year. That outlook may change on May 20. Wal-Mart and Kohl’s gave cautious forecasts when they reported results.

Target’s shares have been under pressure for much of the past year. The stock, which closed May 16 at $54.88, has sunk 22% from its July 2007 high. The stock trades at 15 times the $3.49 per share that analysts estimate the company will earn in fiscal 2008. That’s a discount to Target’s historical five-year average price-to-earnings ratios of 18. Credit Suisse analyst Michael Exstein rates the stock an “outperform” and has a 12-month target price of $60.

The Toll of Producing Cypress Mulch

May 19, 2008
Washington Post

The May 11 Business article “Shreds, Reds and Stony Beds” recommended the use of cypress mulch. But the Sierra Club, along with its partners in the Save Our Cypress Coalition, has been fighting for years against the destructive and unsustainable logging practices of the cypress mulch industry.

Louisiana, Florida and the other Gulf states are paying a premium so that unknowing consumers can use cypress mulch in their gardens. Cypress mulch is not a byproduct of milling operations. The mulch industry is clear-cutting tens of thousands of acres of century-old trees, which lack the commonly touted rot- and insect-resistant characteristics of the ancient growth, and is putting them into a chipper and sending them off to your local retailer or garden center.

While the federal government is setting aside billions of dollars to restore storm-damaged and eroding coastlines, our best natural storm protection is being clear-cut at an alarming rate for the sole purpose of making mulch. And despite claims by the forestry industry, the cypress trees are not growing back.

Until major retailers such as Lowe’s, Home Depot and Wal-Mart take a stand against selling cypress mulch from clear-cut forests, we will continue to permanently lose vital storm protection and precious habitat for our fishing industry and our endangered and threatened species.

JEFFREY DUBINSKY
Central, La.
The writer is chair of the Baton Rouge Group of the Sierra Club and Internet organizer for the Save Our Cypress Coalition.

Wal-Mart, Plaintiff Settle 2006 Discrimination Claim

May 20, 2008
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

FAYETTEVILLE — A Wal-Mart Stores Inc. secretary who sued the company in 2006 claiming discrimination settled the lawsuit Friday, an order of dismissal shows. Rita Miles sued in U. S. District Court, claiming she was being harassed for reporting that her bosses shredded documents that had been subpoenaed in a federal investigation of former Vice Chairman Tom Coughlin. Coughlin eventually was convicted of stealing from the world’s largest retailer and of tax evasion. The terms of the settlement between Miles and Wal-Mart weren’t stated in the dismissal signed by U. S. District Judge Robert T. Dawson. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can’t be refiled. At the time of the lawsuit, Miles was administrative assistant to Terry Srsen, vice president of labor relations for Wal-Mart in Bentonville.

The suit states that she called federal authorities in May 2005 after her bosses began shredding documents requested under subpoena in the Coughlin case. Miles claimed hard copies of the documents were shredded despite a Wal-Mart lawyer saying they should be preserved.

Wal-Mart said in an answer to the lawsuit that the documents Miles claimed were shredded were first preserved by being scanned into an electronic database.

The company denied all other claims.

Coughlin, 57, was sentenced in August 2006 to 27 months of house arrest and five years ’ probation for embezzling from Wal-Mart and for lying on a federal income tax return. He pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion.

Wal-Mart Rang Up $2.2M in 1Q Government Lobbying

May 20, 2008
Associated Press via Forbes

WASHINGTON –

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, spent $2.2 million in the first quarter to lobby on consumer product safety legislation and a host of other issues, according to a disclosure report.

In the last five months, the House and Senate have passed their versions of legislation that would toughen inspections of toys and other products made outside the United States, in response to millions of recalled products that have sickened children. Both bills increase penalties for companies that violate safety rules and increase funding for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Wal-Mart has said it has implemented certain safeguards of its own, including independent laboratory testing for products it sells. A top company lobbyist also said the company would follow whatever new federal rules are enacted.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based company also lobbied the federal government on immigration reform, climate change and renewable energy legislation, the farm bill and food safety, health, labor and corporate tax issues, digital television matters and a bill that would make organized retail crime a federal felony.

In the January-to-March period, Wal-Mart lobbied Congress, White House, U.S. Trade Representative’s office, and several other departments, including Commerce, Energy, State and Health and Human Services, according to the report filed April 21 with the House clerk’s office.

Resources

Wal-Mart Lobby: MA Commonwealth Study Commission on Corporate Taxation

Wal-Mart pays $208,678 for high price lobbyists in Massachusetts, according to a Massachusetts Commonwealth Study Commission on Corporate Taxation…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-norman/walmart-pays-208678-fo_b_84601.html

Massachusetts Commonwealth Study Commission on Corporate Taxation …

http://www.mass.gov/Ador/docs/dor/Publ/PDFS/Study%20Commission%20on%20Corporate%20Taxation%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf

Going Green or PR Stunt: Video from Canada

Green Giant: Wal-Mart says it’s going green, but do its business practices measure up?

This video from The Agenda, a Canadian current events show, includes a panel discussion on Wal-Mart’s greening efforts and whether the company is serious or simply looking for good PR.

Click Here to Watch Video

Video: Do As We Say, Not As We Do – Wal-Mart and Women’s Empowerment

March is National Women’s History Month – and there’s no denying that Wal-Mart has had an enormous impact on women.

In front of the camera and in the public eye , Wal-Mart claims it is “committed to empowering all women.” But behind closed doors, Wal-Mart sends its employees a very different message.

Take a look at this “behind closed doors” footage of Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott at a 1995 Wal-Mart logistics meeting:

http://action.walmartwatch.com/page/invite/doaswesay

Once you watch the video, it should come as no surprise that Wal-Mart is the subject of the largest class-action lawsuit in America’s history: Dukes v. Wal-Mart.

Over 1.6 million women are suing Wal-Mart for business practices that deny them equal job assignments, promotions, training and compensation.

Although women outnumber men 4-1 among hourly supervisors, in 2001 they made up just 45% of all Support Manager positions – the highest-level hourly position.

And the further up the ladder you go, the worse it gets. Women make up only 37% of Assistant Managers, 21% of Co-Managers, and 15% of Store Managers. In 2001, those women who did become salaried Wal-Mart managers earned about $14,500 less than men per year.

Wal-Mart knew about the problem – and chose to do nothing to fix it.

Wal-Mart might suggest that the performances featured in the footage from this 1995 meeting were intended to be funny, but discriminating against women is no joking matter. Watch the video now:

http://action.walmartwatch.com/page/invite/doaswesay

As the largest corporation in the world, Wal-Mart should set the right example and treat all employees with respect. Unfortunately, it looks like the company still has a long, long way to go.

David Nassar
Wal-Mart Watch

Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart’s Violation of US Workers’ Right to Freedom of Association

» View the report

This report was released back in May 2007 by Human Rights Watch. Thanks to the thorough work of HRW, this report points the figure at Wal-Mart over and over again.

“Wal-Mart is a case study in what is wrong with US labor laws. It is not alone among US companies in its efforts to combat union formation, following the incentives set out in unbalanced US labor laws that tilt the playing field decidedly in favor of anti-union agitation. It is also not alone in violating weak US labor laws and taking advantage of ineffective labor law enforcement. But Wal-Mart stands out for the sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of its anti-union apparatus and actions.”

Baby’s Toxic Bottle Sold at Wal-Mart, Target and other stores

» Read Baby’s Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Brands of Baby Bottles

Last Week the Center for Health, Environment and Justice released a report about toxics in baby bottles. The U.S. bottles were purchased in nine states at major retailers: Babies”R”Us, CVS, Target, Toys”R”Us, Walgreens, and Wal-Mart. Tests found these popular bottle brands leach levels of bisphenol A (5-8 parts per billion) when heated. Laboratory experiments with animals show that exposure to this level of bisphenol A causes a range of adverse effects.

Wal-Mart’s 2008 sustainability speech – lots of promises but not too much substance

» Click here to download the video
» Click here for text of the entire speech

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Jan. 23, 2008 – In a speech to more than 7,000 managers at the annual kick-off meeting for its U.S. stores, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. president and CEO Lee Scott said the company would continue to demonstrate leadership and work for change on major issues important to Wal-Mart’s customers, communities, associates and suppliers worldwide.
Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Initiative: A Civil Society Critique produced by 23 organizations

» Download the report

The Big Box Collaborative is proud to announce the release of Wal-Mart Sustainability Initiative: A Civil Society Critique written by 23 organizations which analyzes Wal-Mart’s smoke in mirrors sustainability initiatives. This report calls on Wal-Mart to reframe their sustainability efforts so that workers, the environment and communities are all respected.

This report was coordinated by the Big Box Collaborative, and includes contributions from ActionAid International USA, Agribusiness Accountability Initiative, American Independent Business Alliance, American Rights at Work, Center for Health, Environment and Justice, Centro de Investigación Laboral y Asesoria Sindical (CILAS), The Cornucopia Institute, Corporate Ethics International, Dogwood Alliance, Environmental Investigation Agency, Food and Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, Good Jobs First, Global Exchange, Gulf Restoration Network, Institute for Policy Studies, International Labor Rights Forum, Mangrove Action Project, STITCH, WakeUpWalMart.com, Wal-Mart Alliance for Reform Now (WARN), and Washington State Jobs with Justice.

Download the report at http://www.laborrights.org/creating-a-sweatfree-world/wal-mart-campaign/resources/1009

Get Involved and Take Action

SIGN ON TO ENDORSE THE BIG BOX RETAILERS CONSENSUS STANDARDS DEMAND SET!

To celebrate the upcoming Wal-Mart shareholder meeting on June 6, the Big Box Collaborative – a broad coalition of labor rights, environmental, public health and consumer advocacy organizations – is preparing to release a list of civil society demands on big box retailers like Wal-Mart and others in order to transform the Big Box Economy and push them to adopt sustainable and ethical practices. The Consensus Standards document enumerates a number of collective demands on retail companies themselves in addition to governments and consumers to promote standards for worker rights, environmental rights, purchasing practices, community rights and corporate citizenship and governance.

The purpose of this unprecedented comprehensive list of demands from a diverse coalition of groups, advocates and organizers, is not only to forge a broad-based movement consisting of various labor, environmental and community interests, but also to serve as a foundational document to define and guide that movement in its advocacy and actions. In unifying our demands on giant retailers like Wal-Mart we can better pressure big box companies to be accountable, socially responsible, and to lead with an ethical business model in today’s global economy.

Our goal is to get as many organizations signed on to this document before it is released publicly so that we can raise the authority of our demands with the backing of many different organizations. Please read and endorse these Consensus Standards and help us in our struggle to build a moral economy that respects the rights of workers, environmental sustainability, and local communities.

DEADLINE FOR ALL ENDORSEMENTS IS WEDNESDAY MAY 28TH.

Go to this link to view the Consensus Standards: http://www.bbc.wikispaces.net/consensusdemands

Please email endorsements (person’s name, title and org) to Trina Tocco at trina.tocco@ilrf.org

The specific use of this document has not been determined yet and I’m also interested in any feedback from you on this. Some suggestions have been:

to engage inside enviro groups at the table with Wal-Mart to encourage them to sign on and to bring up these issues while at the table with Wal-Mart

these demands would link to a page on the BBC wiki that would list various resource documents specific to the demand

Trina Tocco (Big Box Collaborative’s Coordinator) will be speaking at the upcoming Wal-Mart shareholder meeting and therefore have a platform for discussing this document and encouraging others to take it seriously

This document may be a hook to demand another meeting with Wal-Mart where orgs from various issues are represented

If there is something you would like to add to the demands, please email trina.tocco@ilrf.org to discuss further. DEADLINE FOR ALL ENDORSEMENTS IS WEDNESDAY MAY 28TH.

MAP Calls for Your Support of the “Shrimp Less, Think More” Campaign

This past Earth Day, April 22nd, MAP officially launched a U.S.-based consumer awareness campaign about imported farmed shrimp. We’re focusing our early efforts in the Seattle area, with an eye to expanding the campaign along the West Coast and beyond.

We’re already seeing the momentum building behind our campaign:

· Check out our campaign blog, a place to learn, comment, and participate!

· MAP was featured in local media outlets, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Mind Over Matters on KEXP

· MAP presented at the Seattle Green Festival

Why Shrimp? Why the U.S.?

Just a short time ago, shrimp farming and seafood in general, were barely on the radar screen of most Americans, even the most eco-friendly among us.

Fast forward to 2008:
Suddenly, it is impossible to avoid mention of sustainable seafood, even Wal-Mart is promoting it! But the general conversation still frequently overlooks America’s favorite seafood, shrimp, and how it is produced and processed.

Consider this:

· Shrimp consumption in the U.S. has doubled in the last 10 years

· Americans now eat 4.4 lbs/year, more than salmon or tuna

· 90% of the shrimp consumed in the U.S. is imported, and most is farmed

Mangrove forests continue to be cleared and carbon-storing productive wetland soils are excavated in order to establish extensive stretches of unsustainable shrimp ponds. And that’s not all, as a recent AFL-CIO report notes, pervasive worker and human rights abuses exist in the shrimp processing industry in such countries as Thailand and Bangladesh.

MAP is stepping up in a bold way to take on this issue and asking U.S. consumers “All you can eat? How much can you stomach?!?”. We are laying the groundwork for this effort by developing partnerships across environmental, local/slow food, and trade organizations and we are making sure that the voices of the mangrove communities of the Global South are heard in the U.S. and at seafood forums across the globe.

You can help! Go here to find out the individual actions you can take.

Please consider supporting our campaign – a very generous MAP donor has offered a 1:1 match to donations up to $5,000.

Give today and make your donation of $50 turn into $100 to support MAP’s work to protect our health and the health of mangroves against the ravages of imported farmed shrimp.

We have just 30 days to reach our goal of $5,000 in donations and secure the full $5,000 match, so give today!

Tell Wal-Mart to Clean Up Its Act

Wal-Mart has talked a big game on the environment during the past few years. But talk and action are very different things.

The company’s initiative to open green stores has been diluted by its environmentally damaging business practices. The gains made by a few green stores are lost when Wal-Mart opens up a new energy-guzzling behemoth every two days.

Today is Earth Day – and Wal-Mart needs to get serious about becoming an environmentally responsible company.

Tell Wal-Mart to clean up its act:

http://action.walmartwatch.com/earthday

Wal-Mart has made a lot of promises, but has yet to make significant progress on any of the green goals it established in 2005:

1. To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy.
2. To create zero waste.
3. To sell products that sustain our resources and environment.

Just last month, when asked whether Wal-Mart would achieve these lofty environment goals, CEO Lee Scott responded, “I have no clue.”

The fact is, Wal-Mart’s business model isn’t compatible with eco-friendly living. As Stacy Mitchell, a senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, wrote on the environmental news website Grist.com:

Wal-Mart’s initiatives have just enough meat to have distracted much of the environmental movement, along with most journalists and many ordinary people, from the fundamental fact that, as a system of distributing goods to people, big-box retailing is as intrinsically unsustainable as clear-cut logging is as a method of harvesting trees.

With “mom ‘n’ pop” shops shutting down, customers are driving further distances to shop at stores like Wal-Mart. And each Wal-Mart store requires massive amounts of land, labor and energy to function.

That’s not all. By importing the vast majority of its products from countries overseas, Wal-Mart is creating an enormous global footprint. Forcing manufacturers to use cheap factories in countries with lax environmental laws is not only dangerous for product safety, it’s dangerous for our planet.

Tell Wal-Mart to stop talking about helping the environment, and to start taking action:

http://action.walmartwatch.com/earthday

But if Wal-Mart really wants to “go green,” it should start by following the law.

Only a few weeks ago, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources caught Wal-Mart trying to recycle hazardous agricultural products, instead of a using a more expensive hazardous waste disposal contractor, as required by law.

And Wal-Mart is still under investigation by the States of California and Nevada for violations of their hazardous waste disposal policies.

Wal-Mart’s Earth Day campaign talks about how customers’ choices, “multiplied by 200 million, can equal a brighter future for us all.” That’s true. Wal-Mart needs to start living up to its own promises and following our country’s environmental laws to achieve those goals.

http://action.walmartwatch.com/earthday

David Nassar
Wal-Mart Watch

Vote Wal-Mart into the Corporate Hall of Shame!

If there were a Corporate Hall of Shame, would Wal-Mart belong in it? Of course they would.

Thankfully, there IS a Hall of Shame for abusive corporations, and now we can help make sure Wal-Mart is inducted.

Corporate Accountability International, a membership organization that protects people through campaigns that challenge abusive corporations, is opening up voting to the public for the second year in a row for their popular Corporate Hall of Shame.

The Hall of Shame exposes some of the most abusive, manipulative and harmful corporations — and this year Wal-Mart is one of eight possible inductees.

Voting is open now, so click here to vote to make sure Wal-Mart gets inducted.

It just takes a second, and you can also post comments about why they deserve to be in the Hall of Shame.

Corporate Accountability International will announce the three new inductees in July, and having Wal-Mart included will add pressure to our own campaign work.

Thanks for voting.

T.J. Faircloth
Corporate Accountability International

Keep Wal-Mart’s Health Care Nightmare in the News!

Now that Wal-Mart dropped its claim against Debbie Shank, everything is OK with Wal-Mart’s health coverage, right?

Wrong.

Debbie Shank’s tragic story was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Wal-Mart and health care. It is representative of the retail giant’s nickel-and-dime approach to its workers’ health coverage.

With all the attention being paid to the Shank family’s tragic ordeal, now is the time to make sure the media continues to investigate Wal-Mart’s failure to take care of its employees. Use our simple tool to write to the major media outlets and tell them there’s much more to this story:

http://action.walmartwatch.com/page/speakout/healthcarehypocr

The American people need to know the larger context of the Debbie Shank saga.

Even though Wal-Mart makes the $470,000 it sought from the Shank family every 38 seconds, the retail giant still hounded them for the money for nearly three years until the public outcry force it to stop.

And even though Wal-Mart made $11 billion in profit last year, it still offers such poor health benefits that only half its workers participate in the company health plan.

This is unacceptable for the nation’s largest private employer — and we need to make sure the American people know it.

Help keep the pressure on Wal-Mart. Write a letter to the national media urging them to run more stories on Wal-Mart’s poor record on health care:

http://action.walmartwatch.com/page/speakout/healthcarehypocr

In an interview last week, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott had the nerve to criticize other U.S. businesses over their poor health care policies.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black — Wal-Mart’s failure to take responsibility for its employees’ health care is why cases like Debbie Shank’s occur.

As the world’s largest company, Wal-Mart should be a leader in corporate responsibility. It can start by providing good wages, safe and fair working conditions, and quality health coverage for its employees.

Do your part to help get this message out to the rest of the country:

http://action.walmartwatch.com/page/speakout/healthcarehypocr

David Nassar
Wal-Mart Watch

Tell TIAA-CREF to Put Pressure on Wal-Mart and Divest

There is an ongiong campaign to pressure TIAA-CREF to use their power to pressure Wal-Mart to change and also for TIAA-CREF to divest from Wal-Mart directly. If you would like more information, email Al Norman or Neil Wollman.

Would it upset you to know that TIAA-CREF—the nation’s largest retirement fund, with over $400 billion and three million participants—is a major investor in Wal-Mart? Millions of TIAA-CREF investors are contributing their money to support Wal-Mart’s abusive human and labor rights practices, environmental sprawl, loss of manufacturing jobs, and harming of local communities. Even if you are not in the TIAA-CREF system, you can help promote corporate responsibility.

It’s time for faculty, staff, organizations, and citizens across America to tell TIAA-CREF that it must use its considerable shareholder power to influence Wal-Mart for the better–or stop investing in it.

1) Turn up the heat on TIAA-CREF to truly invest for the “greater good.” Help us educate faculty/staff/organizations you know–and nationwide. Whether you have money invested in a TIAA-CREF account or not – email the below message to CEO Roger Ferguson at RWFerguson@tiaa-CREF.org, and send a copy to: [[trustees@tiaa-cref.org|trustees@tiaa-cref.org]]. Also leave the same message in a phone call (800-842-2733 or 212-490-9000 and ask for CEO Roger Ferguson).

Sample message: I am concerned about TIAA-CREF being a major investor in Wal-Mart, a company involved in abusive human and labor rights practices, environmental destruction, and harm to local economies and neighborhoods. I want TIAA-CREF to put Wal-Mart on notice that if it doesn’t clean up it’s bad practices, that TIAA-CREF will find other companies to invest in.

Let Ferguson know if you are in the TIAA-CREF system; and if you are able to do so at your institution and feel strongly enough, say that you (or your whole school/organization) will withdraw money from TIAA-CREF if it doesn’t engage or withdraw from Wal-Mart.

2) As a faculty/ staff/organization, send a letter to TIAA-CREF and/or pass a resolution concerning Wal-Mart and send it to: Roger Ferguson, CEO, TIAA-CREF, 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017.

3) Write a letter to the editor of your school, local, or a national newspaper that “friends don’t let friends invest in TIAA-CREF” because of their large holdings in Wal-Mart stores.