July 2012
2 posts
Happy 50th Birthday, Walmart? →
This week is Walmart’s 50th birthday. While the champagne may be flowing at Walmart HQ, for the rest of us, Walmart’s anniversary is hardly cause for celebration. There’s a real cost to those “low prices” Walmart promises — and our communities are paying the price.
Walmart lives and dies by its public image. So, to commemorate its 50th birthday, SomOfUs.com created an infographic for you to share...
Unhappy 50th Birthday, Walmart! →
After losing her job in advertising when her small-business employer folded during the recession, Marie Kanzer-Born, 54, found herself turning in desperation a year ago to a night shift job stocking shelves at a suburban Chicago Walmart. But she wasn’t happy with what she calls “the weird culture of fear” that its hovering, hectoring supervisors created, the inadequate staffing...
June 2012
8 posts
Wayward Walmart--a regular news spotlight on the... →
Check out the latest edition of Wayward Walmart—a regular news spotlight on the company’s missteps and misdeeds. View the newsletter online here.
Walmart: End Forced Labor by Suppliers →
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 6:00pm
Striking guestworkers from Louisiana-based C.J. Seafood, a Walmart supplier, are holding a vigil at the home of Walmart Board Member Michelle Burns to protest brutal working conditions they’ve endured. Michelle Burns has the power – and duty – to stop abuses by Walmart suppliers. But instead of intervening, Burns has continually looked the other way on labor...
NY1: Walmart Silent On Potential NYC Expansion...
It’s been more than a year since Walmart started to aggressively lobby for a New York City location. After fierce political opposition and a bribery scandal, the mega retailer has gone radio silent. NY1’s Courtney Gross filed the following report.
Last summer, Walmart was handing out checks to City Hall for summer jobs. A year later, there’s silence.
After years of flirting...
New York City Pension Funds Sue Walmart →
New York City’s pension funds on Monday became the latest group to file a derivative lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores based on reported allegations of bribery in Mexico and a possible cover-up by Wal-Mart officials.
The suit, filed in Delaware Chancery Court, alleges that Wal-Mart’s[WMT 67.70 0.17 (+0.25%) ] officers and board of directors breached their fiduciary duty to both the...
Is Walmart Finished in New York? Greg David Seems... →
Walmart is in a pickle, and not the kind that can be found in the canned goods aisle. Following the Mexican bribery scandal, pols high and low have reaffirmed their opposition to the store. But they are not the only ones. Even some of the big box retailers staunchest supporters have come out against the company, namely Greg David.
The Crain’s columnist and former editor for three decades of the...
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Wal-Mart is driving down wages for warehouse... →
SACRAMENTO —Wal-MartStores Inc.has applied its aggressive cost cutting to logistics, helping to drive down wages and benefits for U.S. warehouse workers, according to a new study conducted by a labor-backed group.
The world’s largest retailer has significantly outsourced its supply chain, hiring third-party companies to operate its warehouses and transport its good to stores. Those firms...
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It's all Related: Trio dominates development in... →
An in-depth look from Sunday’s Crain’s New York Business on how the Related Companies, with $17B worth of projects in the pipeline in NYC alone, took over NYC
Read the full story.
At Annual Meeting, Wal-Mart to Confront... →
ROGERS, Ark. — As Wal-Mart celebrates its 50th anniversary at its annual shareholders’ meeting on Friday, the company is expected to face some of the staunchest opposition in years to the continued tenure of several board members and its chief executive, as well as some corporate policies.
Read the full story.
May 2012
18 posts
Today: Pressure on Walmart Board of Directors...
Walmart associates, including employee-shareholders, and community activists have been confronting members of the Walmart board of directors in protests in the past several weeks, with escalating protests happening this week in the days leading up to the Walmart shareholders meeting Friday. The protests, which will include confrontations with Walmart board members Rob Walton, Greg Penner, and...
Walmart’s ‘bad neighbor’ actions in South Africa →
Walmart continues to try to claw its way into the New York City marketplace, but in 2012, its efforts to penetrate other markets have been creating the headlines.
The New York Times has reported that Walmart paid bribes worth a staggering $24 million to win the permits it needed to expand quickly in Mexico, then shut down an internal investigation in an attempt to cover it up.
And an ongoing...
NY Post: It’s good to be Goldman →
Walmart Free NYC blasted Goldman Sachs last week for naming Michele Burns as its audit committee chair even though she was on Walmart’s board in 2005 and 2006 when the company was covering up a bribery scandal in Mexico. Read the full story.
NY Post: Goldman’s audit head worry →
Walmart faced “rowdy shareholders” at its annual meeting last week as the director named to head the bank’s powerful audit committee was caught in the middle of Walmart’s bribery scandal in Mexico. Read more.
NY Post: Walmart faces call for entire board's... →
Throw the bums out!
A big Walmart shareholder says it will vote next week to oust the retailer’s entire board in the wake of the company’s sensational bribery scandal in Mexico.
That means chairman Rob Walton, CEO Mike Duke and former CEO Lee Scott, as well as two New York-based directors — human-resources exec Michele Burns and investor Christopher Williams. Read more.
New York Times: Bribery Case at Wal-Mart May Widen →
As Wal-Mart reported higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Thursday, it suggested in a regulatory filing that the scope of an internal investigation into bribery accusations had widened beyond the retailer’s subsidiary in Mexico.
The company reported that the audit committee of the Wal-Mart Stores board was examining possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and “other...
Wal-Mart sued for 'all black people must leave'... →
A black man is suing Wal-Mart for $1 million in damages, claiming he suffered emotional distress while he was shopping at a store in Washington Township, N.J. On March 14, 2010, a voice came over the PA system announcing: “Attention Wal-Mart customers: All black people leave the store now.” A manager quickly took control of the microphone and a 16-year-old boy was later arrested for...
Walmart At 50: Website Serves As A Forum For... →
Nearly three weeks after Walmart was accused of bribing government officials in Mexico, a new website, Walmart at 50, is airing all manner of grievances about the company. Launched by labor groups Making Change at Walmart and Our Walmart in connection with the company’s 50th anniversary, the site allows anyone with access to a computer to share their own photos, videos and Walmart-related...
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Severe Human Rights Violations at Food Processing... →
Sign the petition and tell Walmart to address abuses in the supply chain!
Last week thousands of workers at two different Thai food processing facilities protested their extremely poor working conditions. Both facilities, Phattahana Seafood and Vita Food Factory, are suppliers to Walmart stores across the US. Disturbing reports coming out of the region indicate that the questionable treatment...
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Wal-Mart At 50: A Crisis of Governance →
Wal-Mart may have entered the Golden Years, but its self-dealing and covers ups have seriously tarnished the brand, and put its “independent” governance in a state of crisis. Read the full story.
Democratic National Convention Returns $50,000... →
Facing pressure from Walmart opponents, the host committee for the Democratic National Convention is returning $50,000 worth of gift cards donated to the convention cause by the megaretailer, a Walmart spokeswoman and a convention official confirmed to The Huffington Post on Monday.
The Democratic National Committee has maintained a rule barring corporate cash donations for the Charlotte...
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Take Action! End the Cover-Up at Walmart →
A new website—6degreesofwalmart.com—is looking to change Walmart’s behavior by targeting the company’s political spending for right-wing causes, calling on the company to disclose its political spending and allowing citizens to directly challenge Walmart on political spending.
Among those leading the efforts to reform Walmart are company employees like Venanzi Luna, who created this...
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NYTimes: Wal-Mart’s U.S. Expansion Plans... →
Wal-Mart has worked hard in recent years to polish its reputation and give elected officials, community groups and shoppers a reason to say yes to their stores, especially as it pushes aggressively into big — and historically hostile — cities. Now, the revelation of a bribery scandal involving the retailer’s Mexican subsidiary is giving critics a new reason to say no. Read the full story.
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NYTimes: New York Pension Funds to Challenge... →
In light of the recent bribery scandal, leaders of NYC pension funds say they would vote AGAINST the re-election of five Walmart board members at the shareholder meeting next month. The list of five includes CEO Mike Duke! Read the full story.
April 2012
37 posts
2 tags
Inside Walmart's slow, quiet campaign to crack New... →
This week, following a report in the Times on a bribery scandal in Mexico involving Walmart, the mayor weighed in in favor of Walmart’s right to come to New York, the governor took a pass on the question, and several Democratic office-seekers, mindful of the strong opposition to Walmart by organized labor, weighed in, strongly, against.
Before this renewed debate, Walmart had been out of...
TODAY: Walmart Free NYC Seeks Answers from Walmart...
WALMART FREE NYC TO SEEK ANSWERS ABOUT COMPANY’S ACCOUNTING CONTROLS FROM WALMART BOARD MEMBER
Walmart Board Member Michelle Burns Sat on Audit Committee During Company’s Reported Corruption Scandal and Cover-up
New Yorkers Will Ask What She Knew, and When She Knew it
New York, NY- Today, members of Walmart Free NYC will visit the offices of Walmart Board member Michelle Burns to...
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The Wall Street Journal: City’s Wal-Mart Foes... →
Opponents to Wal-Mart’s entry into New York City are pouncing on allegations of bribery in Mexico to fuel a long-running fight to keep the retailer out of the five boroughs.
Anti-Wal-Mart groups gathered outside City Hall on Tuesday, backed by elected officials and union supporters, to draw attention to alleged violations of U.S. foreign corruption and bribery laws. Two likely mayoral candidates,...
Reuters: Wal-Mart appoints global anti-bribery... →
In New York on Tuesday, a group of 35 or so people, including members of a coalition called Walmart Free NYC and union activists, protested at City Hall, joined by politicians who said the scandal proved Wal-Mart was unworthy of operating stores in New York.
“This is not how we roll in New York,” Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer told Reuters before the protest began....
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Capital New York: Mayoral candidates denounce... →
A negative report about the business practices of Walmart, combined with fierce opposition from organized labor to Walmart’s longstanding attempts to open up an outlet in New York, have produced what amounts to a contest among Democratic candidates to denounce the corporation in the most memorable possible terms.
At a press conference outside City Hall this afternoon, former city...
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NY1 News: Opponents Demand Withdrawal Of Walmart’s... →
Following reports of the Justice Department’s inquiry into Walmart’s bribery scandal, elected leaders will join with members of Walmart Free NYC to demand Walmart halt its NYC expansion plans until the full scope of the company’s wrongdoing is revealed and adequate steps are taken to ensure the retailer doesn’t engage in any illegal activity to enter New York City.
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Politicker: Watch New York City Politicians Call... →
Opposing Wal-Mart was already a pretty easy position to take in New York City Democratic politics, but thanks to The New York Times‘ report of an extensive bribery scheme on the part of the company in Mexico, and similarly extensive efforts to cover it all up, that position just got a whole lot easier.
At a press conference earlier today, a plethora of officials, including three top tier...
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WNYC: Walmart May Lose Traction in NYC After... →
Opponents of Walmart locating anywhere in New York City are wasting no time trying to link their “Stop Walmart” campaign to expose on the retail titan’s legal troubles regarding bribes the company’s Mexican subsidiary allegedly paid out.
The New York Times reported Sunday that Walmart’s top corporate leadership engaged in an elaborate cover-up of an internal company probe...
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NYC Politicians Pile On Wal-Mart: "Mexico Is Only... →
With Wal-Mart’s alleged bribery in Mexico now being investigated in the U.S., a whole slew of politicians and labor representatives showed up at City Hall this afternoon to essentially tell the company—which can’t stop sniffing around the New York market—to shove off. “We say no to Wal-Mart,” was the key phrase repeated regularly.
With placard-bearing protesters behind...
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HuffPost: Walmart Critics In New York City, L.A.... →
Walmart’s bribery scandal in Mexico is turning into fresh meat for its opponents in the United States. Labor unions and activist organizations fighting the big box retailer’s push into New York City and Los Angeles are drawing parallels between the company’s domestic expansion strategies and its alleged illegal tactics in Mexico.
In New York City on Tuesday afternoon, some 50...
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Crain's: Local pols step up anti-Wal-Mart pressure →
Some call for City Council hearings to probe the retailers’ New York City business practices, including a full disclosure of the company’s philanthropic spending here.
The pressure is mounting on Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to abandon its long-running plans to enter the New York City market. In the wake of the weekend’s revelations of alleged bribery and cover-up in the retail...
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Is Walmart Finished in New York? Greg David Seems... →
Walmart is in a pickle, and not the kind that can be found in the canned goods aisle. Following the Mexican bribery scandal, pols high and low have reaffirmed their opposition to the store. But they are not the only ones. Even some of the big box retailers staunchest supporters have come out against the company, namely Greg David.
The Crain’s columnist and former editor for three decades of the...
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Time: How Big a Deal Is Walmart’s Mexico Bribery... →
“Frankly, it’s hard to image how Mike Duke can remain a credible CEO, given the report in the Times,” John Marshall, an analyst for the United Food and Commercial Workers capital stewardship program, told Reuters. “It appears that during key moments he was aware of what was going on and apparently may have participated in the cover-up.” Read the full story.
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New York Times: Wal-Mart Stock Falls Nearly 5% →
Wal-Mart’s stock fell almost 5 percent on Monday, accounting for about one-fifth of the losses in the Dow Jones industrial average, as investors reacted to a bribery scandal at the retailer’s Mexican subsidiary and a report that an internal investigation was quashed at corporate headquarters in Arkansas.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Wal-Mart investigators had found credible...
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How Walmart may have blown it in NYC →
Walmart certainly makes it hard for people who want to support the giant retailer— especially those of us (ranging from the mayor to major business groups to me) who have argued that it should be allowed to do business in New York City.
A huge scandal exploded over the weekend when The New York Times wrote that Walmart may have not only systematically bribed Mexican officials to ease its...
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TODAY: Walmart Corruption On Trial At City Hall
Media Release for Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Contact: Raymond Rodriguez, 646-200-5309/305-992-1809, raymond@berlinrosen.com
WALMART CORRUPTION ON TRIAL TODAY AT CITY HALL
Following Reports of Justice Department Inquiry Into Bribery Scandal, Electeds Join With Walmart Free NYC To Demand Walmart Withdraw Plans For NYC Market
New York, NY- Today, following reports of the Justice Department’s...
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Crain's: Despite scandal, Wal-Mart pushes on in... →
Its shares plummeting and executives reeling in the wake of bribery allegations in Mexico, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. won’t alter its quest for a city location.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will likely forge ahead with plans for a New York City store despite heavy fallout from bribery allegations at the retail giant’s Mexican division.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based company is already facing a...
Wall Street Journal: Mexican retailer seen as... →
Wal-Mart Chief Executive Mike Duke said that the retailer’s Mexican business is an example to be emulated at the global level by other Wal-Mart divisions.
MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)—Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) investors might do well to pay more attention to Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB (WALMEX.MX, WMMVY), a high-growth emerging market play in which Wal-Mart owns 69% that offers solid returns...
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“Corrupt” Wal-Mart’s NYC Plan: 159 stores, growth... →
Walmart was again in headlines this weekend for allegedly covering up widespread, prolonged, top-level corruption in their foreign practices after a major NY Times story examined massive evidence of bribery cover ups going back to September 2005. For the biggest, worst-paying employer in the US, the news seems only to be beginning, but their plan is simple, operating on a five decade model of...
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Wal-Mart's Green Drive Damaged Long Before Mexico... →
When it rains, it pours…and with Walmart, the runoff is toxic. Read more.
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DEAR WALMART: If The Bribery Story Is True, You... →
Walmart’s stock is getting hammered following allegations that the company engaged in systematic bribery in Mexico for several years and then covered it up.
If true, the allegations are a huge black eye for the global retailing leader, which prides itself on its reputation for integrity and transparency.
Read more.
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Politicker: Quinn Reaffirms Commitment to Stopping... →
After The New York Times uncovered the internal reaction of Wal-Mart’s top executives to an extensive bribery scheme in Mexico, depicting the company in a fairly negative light, a variety of New York City politicians latched onto the report in order to further their arguments against the superstore ever setting up shop in the city. The group of elected officials who have sent out statements on...
