SP 10 Corporate Accountability
Corporate accountability refers to the broad concept of corporations taking responsibility for the effects of their actions and policies on consumers, employees, communities, and the environment.
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. Corporations who operate within the boundaries of the law can still find themselves targeted by social justice groups if what they are doing is nevertheless considered negligent or unjust.
American capitalism has produced increasing levels of inequality due to the fact that profits are very unevenly distributed. This results in an ultra-wealthy upper class which comprises a tiny portion of the population, and a much larger impoverished class (Understanding Capitalism 14-19). Corporate accountability efforts are the only means at the disposal of ordinary citizens to speak out for change in corporate policies.
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]
Wake Up WalMart demands that WalMart operate under common codes of social justice.
Goals and 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. They believe that WalMart policies should be as eco-friendly as possible. Additionally, Wake Up WalMart puts a great amount ot energy into preventing the spread of new WalMart stores opening across the country.
Wake Up WalMart believes in the power of individual consumers and wants them to make informed decisions about shopping at WalMart. Because of this, it is an extremely democratic organization. Rather than advocate a very specific agenda or formulate a rigid approach to fighting WalMart, the organization encourages people to take initiative and participate in the ways they see fit. This helps combat the principles of rigid hierarchy that are found in the power elite (CITE somebody?)
To achieve these goals, Wake Up WalMart primarily spends its time and resources empowering consumers and citizens through the spread of information. WakeUpWalMart.com provides well-researched fact lists about topics such as wages, healthcare, discrimination, blight, and the cost of WalMart to taxpayers. The site also features over fifty anti-WalMart commercials which expose the company's multiple ethical and legal violations.
In addition to simply raising awareness through the spread of research about WalMart, Wake Up WalMart promotes anti-WalMart activism on local and national levels. Their articles about the wrongdoings of the company are all linked to short letters which can be send to editors of local newspapers. There is even an application on the site that allows users to search for newspapers within a certain number of miles from their location. The letters to the editor can be send digitally.
Wake Up WalMart has helped activists organize anti-WalMart protests all across the country. There is an application on their site which allows users to locate any Wake Up WalMart event within 100 miles of any zip code. Although Wake Up WalMart itself has organized events, their main goal is to empower and unite individuals who are interested in taking action. It is easy to organize and list an event on the site.
Videos
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
Issues
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 to encourage consumers to take action against America's largest retailer.
Wages
Wake Up WalMart is determined to publicize the fact that the average worker at WalMart 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. 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.
As argued by Michael D. Yates, fair pay for work is one of the most basic tenets of social justice, and thus, one of the core issues of concern for Wake Up WalMart. Because of the inextricable ties between the power elite and the corporate world, corporations operate in the favor of the upper class. An impoverished lower class perpetuates the dominance of the power elite and prevents meaningful change from occurring in society. (CITE DOMHOFF pg 55) A working class that is not impoverished would be healthier, happier, less likely to commit crimes; this would simply be better for society as a whole.
Unions and Workers' Rights
Wake Up Walmart cites examples of stores that have closed at the first hint that employees were attempting to unionize. A Walmart in Jonquiere, Quebec became the world's first unionized Walmart in 2005 when 51% of employees signed union cards. The store was promptly closed. In fact, Walmart issues a “Manager's Toolbox to Remaining Union Free” which includes information for managers on how to spot employee activities that might indicate a union is being formed. These signs include “associates who are never seen together start talking or associating with each other”.
As a union-backed organization, Wake Up WalMart is particularly attentive to the issue of WalMart's union policies. It is illegal to deny workers the right to form unions, but WalMart constantly works to prevent them. This is not only a denial of social justice, but is also in direct contradiction to the law. WalMart encourages managers to be watchful over employees, even to the point of keeping track of their social lives in order to prevent unions. This is a classic example of the power elite subjecting workers to unjust treatment in order to maintain high profits.
Discrimination
Wake Up Walmart claims that the company systematically discriminates against women. It cites Dukes v. Wal-Mart, which was certified on June 21st, 2004 as the largest class action lawsuit of all time. In Dukes v. Wal-Mart, 1.6 million current and former female Walmart employees are suing the company for denying them promotions and paying them less than men. Their claims are substantiated by the fact that in 2001, women earned 5-15% less than men for doing the same jobs. Under the common ideals of social justice, people of all genders and sexualities will be treated the same.
Blight and Cost to Taxpayers
Wake Up Walmart alleges that Walmart comes with a high cost to taxpayers because they refuse to provide adequate medical coverage and pay to their employees. For example, in California it is estimated that public assistance provided to Walmart employees costs the state government $86 million a year. In Ohio this was estimated to cost $44.8 million per year. The company itself admits that it owes billions of dollars in taxes. Wake Up Walmart points out that given the current state of the economy and the government deficits, this is particularly serious. In addition, Walmart receives government subsidies. Since the 1980's, the company has received an estimated $1.2 billion. This is an example of how the corporate world is intertwined with the power elite and the governing bodies of the United States. Only with such close ties to power could an incredibly profitable company receive completely unnecessary subsidies.
Accomplishments
It is difficult to track the accomplishments of Wake Up WalMart, because they are not the only organization which opposes the company. However, it has been documented in polls that the public image of WalMart has been declining in recent years, for which Wake Up WalMart has been partially responsible3. The organization has also become more familiar in the public eye, especially when it gained the official support of Barack Obama and John Edwards in pushing for better sick leave policies4.
Corp Watch
Corp Watch does this... and is the shit....
Corporate Accountability International
Corporate Accountability International is cool
Multinational Monitor
Founded in 1980 by Ralph Nader, Multinational Monitor is a non-profit magazine which tracks the activities of corporations in order to strive for corporate accountability and public awareness of their activities 2. The magazine also features content on other social justice issues such as
References
2. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/unreasonableman/nader.html
4. http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/nov2006/db20061116_897533.htm
