SP 10 Corporate Accountability

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Guiding Principles

Those in favor of corporate accountability advocate for responsible business practices on the part of corporations. This includes obeying laws regarding appropriate wages, the formation of unions, environmental regulations, and discrimination issues, extending beyond the law to include the idea that human safety and well-being should be of higher importance than profit.

Corporate accountability is important because....

Wake Up WalMart

Wake Up WalMart is a grassroots campaign effort sponsored by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Their goal is to expose the unethical and illegal practices of America's largest retailer, WalMart. The organization maintains WakeUpWalMart.com and blog.WakeUpWalMart.com. Wake Up WalMart currently claims over 645,000 members and concerns itself with issues such as wages, unions, workers' rights, and discrimination on behalf of WalMart employees. On behalf of communities Wake Up WalMart exposes the company's cost to taxpayers and the blight the stores bring to rural and suburban areas. The organization empowers citizens to advocate against WalMart on a local and national level. Part of their mission statement reads:


“We will be a vehicle through which millions of Americans can join together, from neighborhoods all across our nation, to harness the power of our consumer behavior and use it to reform a company. America’s largest corporation must reflect America’s values.” [1]

Methods

In short, Wake Up WalMart has two basic purposes. They want WalMart to change its policies so that workers, taxpayers, unions, minorities, and communities receive fair treatment. They advocate for WalMart to make decisions that take into account their effects upon people, and not simply upon profits. Additionally, Wake Up WalMart puts a great amount ot energy into preventing the spread of new WalMart stores opening across the country.

To achieve these goals, Wake Up WalMart primarily spends its time and resources empowering consumers and citizens through the spread of information. Wake Up WalMart believes in the power of individual consumers and wants them to make informed decisions about shopping at WalMart. WakeUpWalMart.com features over fifty anti-WalMart commercials which expose the companies multiple ethical and legal violations. In addition to the videos, WakeUpWalMart.com provides well-researched fact lists about topics such as wages, healthcare, discrimination, blight, and the cost of WalMart to taxpayers.


Wake Up WalMart maintains a YouTube account under username "wuwm" for easy access to their videos. Some of them are entitled:

America Can't Afford WalMart Any Longer

Waiting on WalMart to Do the Right Thing

WalMart and John McCain vs Women Workers]

Information Provided by Wake Up WalMart

Most of WakeUpWalMart.com is devoted to providing information about WalMart to concerned individuals. The organization discusses many of WalMart's unethical and illegal activities in a well-researched collection of facts

Wages

Wake Up Wal Mart is determined to publicize the fact that the average worker at Wal Mart earns wages that fall below the poverty level, and below acceptable retail-industry standards. With an average annual pay of $20,774 a year, WalMart falls behind the average annual pay in retail, which is $22,050 a year. A comparison of hourly wages, too, shows WalMart falling short. The average WalMart worker makes $11.75/an hour, with the average retail worker in the United States making $12.04/an hour, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because WalMart is America's largest employer, it should be taken into consideration that the industry-average pay would significantly increase if WalMart began offering fair pay. Wake Up Walmart quotes Walmart spokesperson Mona Williams as admitting, “More than two thirds of our people... are not trying to support a family that's who our jobs are designed for”

Corp Watch

Corp Watch does this... and is the shit....

Corporate Accountability International

Corporate Accountability International is cool

Multinational Monitor

Multinational Monitor....

References

1. http://wakeupwalmart.com/

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