News

Geneva, 6 June 2014

Ahead of today’s Walmart annual general meeting, shareholders are being asked to appreciate the scale of the company’s global failures and demand change from new CEO Doug McMillon. In Mexico, bribery and corruption allegations have continued without any accountability within Walmart being made public; over $400 million spent by Walmart so far on these investigations.  Investors should also be concerned about Walmart's performance across Latin America, including Brazil where it may face fines running into millions of dollars.

UNI Global Unions General Secretary, Philip Jennings said, “Doug McMillon has a big job on his hands to steer Walmart onto a responsible path. The Walmart mould has been broken, through allegations of corruption, mismanagement and the application of a 20th century model to 21st century challenges. From Davos to Washington, Berlin and beyond the message from leaders is changing: we need a global living wage to drive growth. Inclusivity rather than pandering to the 1% and the outdated Walmart model is what will pull us out of crisis and that is why “Including You” will be the theme of UNI’s World Congress in Cape Town in South Africa later this year.

“Walmart you are living in the past, it’s time to move on. Walmart shareholders take that message to Doug McMillon. Demand Walmart workers receive a fair wage for a fair day’s work. Walmart stop the rot before it’s too late.”

The UNI Walmart Global Union Alliance is out in force this week to highlight the level of abuse going on across the Walmart global network.

A brief summary of some of Walmart’s lowlights across the globe:

·         Brazil - Investors should be concerned that Walmart has a number of pending fines at local and national levels in Brazil which could amount to more than US10 million US dollars.  Walmart is on record in its first 2014 Quarterly Report that the company is receiving far more than the anticipated number of worker claims.

·         Mexico – Calls for Walmart’s Chairman of the Board, Rob Walton to stand down are increasing over the company’s failure to deal transparently with widespread corruption allegations which were first brought to light in 2012 by a New York Times investigation. Investors should be aware the Walmart brand has been permanently damaged by its activities in Mexico.

·         India – There is widespread opposition in the country to Walmart entering the market because of fears it would put smaller India retailers out of business. Investors should understand that the Walmart model is not wanted in India by the majority of the public, small businesses, traders and vendors. If India’s e-commerce regulations are changed to allow Walmart and other retailers to sell to individual consumers and sell through the “back door”, these laws will be challenged.

·         Bangladesh – Investors should demand that Walmart pay full and fair compensation to the victims of the Rana Plaza building collapse and the Tazreen fire: to the children who were orphaned, to the injured workers, and to the families of the people who were killed. UNI and its partners are calling on Walmart to pay a total of $17 million to the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund. As the largest buyer from Tazreen, it’s urgent that Walmart immediately pay $5 million to the Tazreen victims. Walmart should sign onto the legally-binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, an agreement between more than 150 companies with UNI and IndustriALL global unions and ten Bangladeshi unions.

For more information go to www.remakewalmart.org