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Wal-Mart Faces Tough Labor Questions From NYC Pension Funds
By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 31, 2011
Modified May 31, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 31, 2011
Modified May 31, 2011
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If your retirement is tied up in New York City pension funds, you're technically investing in Wal-Mart. The funds own 5.7 million shares in the company, and in a shareholder meeting on Friday they're planning on asking Wal-Mart's board of directors to "require vendors to publish annual reports detailing working conditions in their factories" overseas, the Times reports. Given that Wal-Mart has a history of using prison labor and that working conditions in the US haven't always been peachy, this makes sense. Unfortunately, those 5.7 million shares add up to less than 0.2 percent of an ownership stake. In Wal-Mart terms, the funds are like this gallon of mayonnaise that they sell: big but still worthless.
Michael Garland, who manages shareholder activism for New York City's pension funds, claims Wal-Mart is too big to carefully monitor their suppliers oversees for poor working conditions, while at the same time putting "tremendous pressure on their suppliers to cut money out of the system," which leads to people working 12-hour-days for a substandard wages. A Bangladeshi labor organizer will present the request to Wal-Mart's board says "we haven't seen any Wal-Mart suppliers giving a living wage to workers," and that during an audit "the worker is coached by the management to tell lies in front of the auditors."
Naturally, Wal-Mart denies all this, despite making a profit selling this CD of Alan Jackson's #1 Hits for less than $13. A spokesman says that the company has high standards for its suppliers to meet, and their "failure to adhere to these standards may jeopardize that supplier's continued business relationship with Wal-Mart." Coming from a company that is the largest importer of foreign goods in the United States, take this with a grain of Mrs. Dash.
Tagged
labor
new york city pension funds
unfair labor conditions
wal-Mart
walmart
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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