Corporate Accountability SP11
Economics -> American Capitalism and Social Justice Spring 11
When the choice is between people or profit, the answer should be an easy one. However, for multinational corporations whose ultimate goal is to maximize profit, it is not always so simple. Today, our society is under increasing threat from corporate abuses. This threat has prompted many scholars as well as organizations and campaigns to challenge the issue of Corporate Accountability.
Scholars
Alperovitz
Domhoff
Yates
In his book Why Unions Matter, Michael Yates uses simple terms to answer basic questions about the function and formation of unions, the process of collective bargaining, and the relationship between unions and American politics. He begins by explaining that unions provide solidarity and allow worker’s demands to be met as a group when they would have likely been ignored otherwise. This solidarity provides not only a wage advantage but also enhanced grievance procedures, benefits, and dignity for the American worker. <ref name="Yates"> Yates, Michael D. (2009). Why Unions Matter. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press. </ref>
Yates also addresses the allegation of the corrupt nature of unions by saying that although there have been cases of illegal activities, generally unions leaders are elected by their members and accountable to them. He argues that this model of democracy marks the vast contrast to the lack of democracy of corporations. <ref name="Yates" />
In the last chapter, Yates identifies that the core of the labor agenda are the right to employment, the democratic control of production, more leisure time, reduced income gap, and an end to discrimination in the workplace. <ref name="Yates" /> He also suggests that even though some of these elements are included in the Democratic agenda, the labor movement might need more sympathetic allies from the Labor Party, which is currently weak and has no chance of winning an election. <ref name="Yates" /> Yates’ idea of labor movement reform calls for significant support from a stronger political party to fight for the rights of American workers.
Bowles, Edwards, and Roosevelt
Challenging Walmart
Major Challengers
Walmart Watch
Walmart Watch (WW) was formed in the spring of 2005 as a joint project of Five Stones and the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics to criticize Walmart’s corporate accountability as the largest corporation in the United States. [1]
Since its establishment, WW has represented hundreds of thousands of Walmart employees countrywide. Through in-depth research and analysis, WW has been educating policy makers, community leaders, media, and the public about Walmart’s wages, benefits and impact on communities.
In November 2005, WW kicked off a series of events called “Higher Expectations Week”. Supported by over 300 organizations, this nationwide campaign included more than 1000 local events and 7000 house parties to advocate for stronger efforts by federal, state, and local officials to hold Walmart to their standard of “high expectations.” .<ref name="walmartwatch">Higher Expectations Week, additional text.</ref>
WW has also performed a “Price Check” program to test Walmart’s low-price guarantee policy. There has been a lot of speculation about Walmart’s pricing strategy and how they usually cut prices upon moving into a new community only to raise them when free of nearby competition. For this nationwide project, WW chose 5 everyday household products for testers to purchase and compare prices across the country. [2]
By shining a spotlight on some of Walmart’s shortcomings, WW hopes to challenge the giant corporation to become a more responsible corporate citizen and a positive force for change for millions of American workers.
Wake Up Walmart
Wake Up Walmart (WUW) is a community-based campaign launched by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in 2005 to be the center of a new grassroots movement that will lead and revolutionize the national fight to change Walmart [3]
Paul Blank, campaign director for the WUW campaign, stated: "Walmart's greed puts profits before people… we are forming a grassroots movement to empower millions of Americans to ask Walmart to put people first… There is only one force powerful enough to change the largest corporation in the world, the largest retailer in the world and the largest employer in the world-the American people. We are Walmart's consumers and it is time for Walmart to wake up and start doing what is right for its employees, our families, and our country." [4]
The WUW campaign aim to give retail workers necessary tools to band together in common purpose in order to change their employers’ business practices. The campaign utilizes an array of organizing strategies, innovative media, a blog and other internet tools that have been used successfully in previous political and grassroots campaigns. [5]
The campaign website informs people about Walmart’s record and invites visitors to become active members. The "Take Action" feature also allows community leaders to Adopt-A-Store and begins forming community coalitions around every Walmart location in the United States. The website is also used to form a group of current and former Walmart employees called the Walmart Veterans Association where Walmart stories can be shared. In addition, the campaign carries a resourceful blog that is updated throughout the day on news and stories related to Walmart.
In 2005, WUW also created a national association called Walmart Workers of America to advise past and present Walmart workers of their rights and help them to file complaints against Walmart. <ref name="Washington Post">Group to Form Association for Walmart Workers, additional text.</ref>
Ideologies
Alperovitz
In his popular book America Beyond Capitalism, Gar Alperovitz defines the distribution of wealth ownership in America as truly feudal and deeply corrosive of our democracy. Data shows that the top 5% of Americans own about 70% of all financial wealth. Furthermore, the top 1% of Americans now claim more income per year than the bottom 100 million Americans taken together. <ref name="Alperovitz"> Alperovitz, Gar. America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth Our Liberty, and Our Democracy. John Wiley & Sons, Inc:New Jersey, 2005 </ref>
Alperovitz clearly expresses that our society is in a lot of trouble: escalating inequality, erosion of liberties, and growing pessimism about the democratic system. The current system simply cannot deliver its promises, and neither will traditional liberal solutions. He sketches the outlines of a new system that can sustain equality, liberty, and democracy in the coming century. This system is Pluralist Commonwealth, which literally calls for a diversity of democratic institutional forms and a centrality of public wealth holding. <ref name="Alperovitz" />
Both WW and WUW would agree with Alperovitz that giant corporations such as Walmart are to take the blame for the growing concentration of wealth and the decay of liberty, fairness, and democracy in our society. The efforts of their initiatives to push Walmart to restructure their wages, bonus, and benefits can help redistribute wealth and income in America. Therefore, they would strongly support Alperovitz’s idea of a Pluralist Commonwealth system where corporate control of capital would be replaced with new institutions of property ownership. They all share the vision that, eventually, worker-owned and community-owned businesses and a national public trust will come to hold public wealth on behalf of the working class communities.
WW and WUW also fight for retail workers to have more leisure time, because according to Alperovitz, “…there is no way to achieve a meaningful individual liberty in the modern era without individual economic security and greater amounts of free time.” <ref name="Alperovitz" />
One other ideal of Alperovitz that is shared by WW and WUW is that democracy must start from nurturing local democracy in everyday life in local communities. These groups collaborate in nationwide projects that often start with local churches and house parties, aiming to educate the public from the local level.
Only when the economy shifts from corporate control to public control can other changes follow to bring liberty, fairness, and democracy to the American workforce.
References
<references/> Walmart Watch's Website
