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Wal-Mart Steps Up Foreign Inspections

Wal-Mart’s recent decision to increase the number of unannounced inspections may be a first step in improving their efforts to ensure that the working conditions at their suppliers’ factories meet their own code of conduct. And, as Charles Fishman pointed out in his recent book ”The Wal-Mart Effect,” there is plenty of room for improvement: “The factory inspection team did 12,500 inspections, but only 8 percent of them were a surprise. …Still, Wal-Mart reports, 9,900 of the inspections resulted in violations serious enough to either suspend a factory or put it on notice.”

The poor track record exposed by Fishman and others raise serious doubts about Wal-Mart’s long-term commitment to solving this problem. Only time will reveal the level of their commitment.

Their current emphasis on the number and type of inspections still does not clarify what Wal-Mart’s long term goals are with regard to overseas supplier working conditions. The company’s code of conduct has many inadequacies, so any improvements to just enforce it will fall far short of the mark. Wal-Mart needs a full review of its code and the enforcement system.

To conduct this review, Wal-Mart should engage multiple stakeholders, including other retailers, national governments and civil society organizations, to examine the structural causes for workplace conditions. This process should certainly include an examination of their own purchasing practices’ effect on workplace conditions.

Posted by Media Team on Thursday, March 30, 2006

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COMMENTS

PUTTING THIS IN PERSPECTIVE

The Wal-Mart supplier standards program has been in place since 1992. The standards are required to be posted on the walls in factories supplying Wal-Mart, in the local language, so workers themselves can see them. Factory managers are required to sign a copy of the standards, as part of their contract to make merchandise for Wal-Mart.

And yet… 77 percent of those factories failed in 2004, with the factory managers knowing Wal-Mart inspectors were coming, and Wal-Mart found violations it considered serious.

Sources: Walmart’s Report on Supplier Standards
http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=336

http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/2006/03/08/the_walmart_blog_is_walmarts_factory_inspections_program_a_fraud.html

ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, USA
Friday, March 31 at 12:26 AM

Yeah, I’m sure that “The People’s Republic” of China is really concerned with those standards. In fact, it seems like no one is. Is it just for fun, like a game that people are playing? “Hey, let’s see if we can conform to ‘the standards’ - Ha Ha!”

Generic Wal-Mart Wageslave in Michigan
Friday, March 31 at 05:36 AM

Generic:

The name of that “game” you refer to is called Public Relations for Wal-Mart.

ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, USA
Friday, March 31 at 08:00 AM

Wal-Mart’s (satirical) list of standards:

1. Only beat factory workers over 12 years of age, all under
12 should only be slapped around.
2. When threatening workers and/or their families with
death for trying to fight back or unionize, do so in a soft
voice.
3. Point out that their poverty wages could be worse than
they are.
4. Provide a complementary package of soy sauce for the
one bowl of rice that can be bought with the worker’s
salary.
5. When being locked inside of their sweatshop, make sure
that the employees have notified their next of kin what
to do in case they die in a fire, and for possible
replacements.
6. Please provide high-powered fire hoses to spray off the
urine or feces of the employees that had an accident
because they were unable to use the rest room.
7. When beating women workers, make sure to use an open
hand instead of a closed fist.

Generic Wal-Mart Wageslave in Michigan
Friday, March 31 at 10:30 PM

Let’s put this into some real perspective from the POV of those inspectors.

If you will recall, one of the former inspectors was recently terminated by the company for actually writing up too many factories that were failing or had failed to live up to “stnadard”. The Home Office had to spend money sending a security person to tail this guy to various hotel rooms and discovered that the guy and his work partner were meeting in their hotel rooms, so, he reported back to the company that they were doing more than just work, so, they both were fired for breaking the anti-dating policy.

Translated...Write up too many foriegn plants and you might as well get super paranoid that the company will drum up some reason to fire you for it.

Splinter in Columbus, Ohio
Monday, April 03 at 02:22 AM

Yeah, he was fired for writing up too many factories???? That’s a funny one, Splinter. Any documentation?? Or is this one of those famous fallacies that mysteriously appear on WMW in an attempt to discredit the company???

Michael D. in Connecticut
Monday, April 03 at 04:04 PM

Just what I thought would happen...no reply.....

Michael D. in Connecticut
Wednesday, April 05 at 10:39 AM

If I ever step into a wal mart again! I will take a bat and smash things!

unknown in
Wednesday, April 19 at 02:26 PM

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