Walmart Watch, formed in the spring of 2005, is a joint project of the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, a nonprofit organization studying the impact of large corporations on society and its advocacy arm, Five Stones. The Walmart Watch group is based in Washington
[Barbaro, Michael. "A New Weapon for Wal-Mart: A War Room." New York Times 1 Nov. 2005. Www.nytimes.com. Web.] with the claimed goal to challenge
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
to become a better employer, neighbor, and
corporate citizen in order to improve the wages, health benefits, and treatment of workers.
One of Walmart Watch's initial attacks against Walmart was setting up an automated phone system that called 10,000 people in
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
in efforts to find individuals who would share secrets about the practices of Walmart on their workers. As a result of this automated phone system attack, Walmart Watch created a 24-page report revealing the company's wages and benefits. Walmart Watch's goal was to get the inside scoop on Walmart's practices, in hope that they would be less than respectable, to show the public the "ugly truth" behind Walmart.
Backers and funding
Walmart Watch was originally funded by the
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...
(SEIU), and is today part of
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...
. According to the ''
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', Walmart Watch is mainly funded by Five Stones, a 501(c)(3) organization that received $2,775,000 in 2005 from the SEIU. The SEIU reportedly gave Five Stones $1 million in 2004 to start Walmart Watch.
Reasons for opposition
Walmart Watch obtained a copy of a Walmart draft memo which suggested ways to cut employee benefit costs. Walmart Watch asserts that the memo portrayed workers' wages and benefits as being too low. The memo proposed ways to reduce spending on workers' benefits without damaging the reputation of Walmart. Specifically, one proposal suggested that Walmart begin hiring more part-time workers because they would not be bound to offer the same benefits as they do for full-time workers. This would also help Walmart cut costs by being able to pay workers a part-time wage rather than a full-time wage. Therefore, Walmart Watch took action by exposing this internal draft memo to the public to illustrate the worsening conditions of Walmart employees.
Projects
During the period of November 13–19, 2005, Walmart Watch sponsored "Higher Expectations Week" to highlight its campaign to reform Walmart. It reported over 300 supporting organizations. "Higher Expectations Week" was a nationwide campaign that held thousands of events during the week. Some events consisted of town hall meetings with elected officials present as well as religious leaders giving sermons. Walmart Watch wanted to address the public through events that respectable public figures supported. The biggest event of the week was the screenings of the film ''Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price'', produced by
Robert Greenwald. There were 3,500 planned screenings of the film nationwide. Labor Unions participated in "Higher Expectations Week" such as
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...
,
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...
, and
United Food and Commercial Workers
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...
. Liberal groups also participated in the weeklong campaign such as
Sierra Club,
United for a Fair Economy
United for a Fair Economy (UFE) is an American left-leaning nonprofit organization. Co-founded by Chuck Collins and Felice Yeskel in 1995, it describes itself as "raising awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corru ...
, and
Pride at Work
Pride at Work (P@W) is an American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group (LGBTQ+) of labor union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaini ...
. In addition local affiliates of
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
,
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...
,
ACLU, and
NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...
were also supporters of the events.
Effects on Walmart
Walmart Watch's actions, geared toward influencing Walmart to alter its
business practices, negatively effected Walmart financially as well as their reputation among consumers. By November 2006, Walmart's stock suffered from the negative publicity and was down 30 percent since 2000. In addition, Walmart's sales growth was 3.1 percent lower than their competitor, Target, at 1.5 percent.
[Gimbel, B. (2006, November 28). "Attack of the wal-martyrs." ''Fortune'', pp. 1–6.] The financial losses continued into 2007 when Walmart shares were priced at $43.16, an 81-cent drop.
Two separate polls reported a decrease in Walmart's popularity among consumer after the negative publicity brought about by Walmart Watch. McKinsey & Co. reported that 2–8 percent of consumers no longer wanted to shop at Walmart.
Westhill Consulting took a poll over a two-year period of Walmart's overall favorability. The results showed that Walmart's favorability decreased by 8 percent along with consumers developing a negative opinion of Walmart. The negative publicity resulted in 11 percent of consumers to change their shopping habits and 9 percent to purchases less.
The release of and mass viewings of the documentary, ''
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price'', during "Higher Expectations Week" brought the issue of gender discrimination, directed toward female employees, to the forefront in 2007 leading to Walmart facing a class action lawsuit. In February 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided, in a 2-to-1 ruling, that the lawsuit would proceed as a class action on account of the 1.5 million female employees, who claimed they were denied higher pay and company promotions. The lawsuit eventually developed into a United States Supreme Court case, ''
Wal-Mart v. Dukes''.
Walmart's response
In an attempt to reconcile its image, Walmart banded with Edelman Public Relations to create an opposing advocacy group,
Working Families for Wal-Mart
Working Families for Walmart is an advocacy group formed by Walmart and the Edelman public relations firm on December 20, 2005. It has been used to praise Walmart in a show of opposition to union-funded groups such as Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart ...
, on December 20, 2005. The goal of this advocacy group was to show Walmart in a positive light to society by highlighting Walmart's charitable contributions and corporate social responsibility initiatives. However, the group was criticized for not being an actual grassroots organization due to its funding by Walmart.
Merge
Walmart Watch decided to merge with a fellow union-backed anti-Walmart group, Wake Up Wal-Mart, in 2009 and the two groups will be consolidated under the name WakeUpWalMart.com. Both of these groups have the same goals of pressuring Walmart to raise worker wages and improve worker benefits. Meghan Scott, spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, stated that it would be optimal to merge the two groups in order to improve their efforts against the world's largest retailer.
Walmart Watch members
* Andrew Grossman
Grossman is the founder of Walmart Watch and served as the executive director with the goal to challenge the world's largest business to be a better corporate citizen. Since Grossman and Walmart Watch challenged Walmart, Walmart has launched an environment initiative and endorsed the
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
. In 2007, Grossman left his full-time position with Walmart Watch and took on a consulting role. David Nassar, former chief of staff, was chosen to fill the position of executive director.
* David Nassar
Nassar initially served as chief of staff for Walmart Watch then in 2007, Andy Stern, board chairman, chose Nassar as the best candidate to fill the position of executive director. Prior to being appointed as executive director of Walmart Watch, Nassar worked as a field organizer and manager on domestic and international campaigns, managed pro-democracy programs for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Yemen, Lebanon, and Jordan, and managed SEIU's New Hampshire for Health Care campaign.
* Andy Stern
Stern serves as the chairman of the Walmart Watch Board in addition to being the president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a union that funds Walmart Watch.
* Tracy Sefl
Tracy Sefl
Tracy Sefl is a communications specialist with expertise in media and issue advocacy. In 2012, she and her colleagues were awarded “Public Affairs Campaign of the Year” from the American Association of Political Consultantsbr> ''The New York T ...
serves as the communication director for Walmart Watch. She acts as the spokeswoman for Walmart Watch by responding to newspapers and reporters in regards to the actions of Walmart.
See also
*
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
*
Criticism of Walmart
The American multinational retail chain Walmart has been criticized by many groups and individuals, such as labor unions and small-town advocates, for its policies and business practices, and their effects. Criticisms include charges of racial ...
*
Wake Up Wal-Mart
Wake Up Wal-Mart was a campaign founded by United Food and Commercial Workers Union. It is based in Washington, D.C. and is often critical of the business practices of Walmart, the world's largest retailer, and the largest private employer in th ...
*
Working Families for Walmart
Working Families for Walmart is an advocacy group formed by Walmart and the Edelman public relations firm on December 20, 2005. It has been used to praise Walmart in a show of opposition to union-funded groups such as Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-M ...
*
Business ethics
References
{{Reflist
External links
WalMartWatch.comMaking Change at Walmart
Walmart
Change to Win Federation
Labor disputes in the United States
2005 establishments in the United States
Walmart labor relations