Introducción
La división de Adquisiciones Globales de Wal-Mart fue creada en el 2002 para administrar los negocios de importación directa de Wal-Mart y las adquisiciones directas al fabricante. Adquisiciones Globales es responsable de supervisar la compra de mercancía a miles de fabricas proveedoras en el mundo.
Esa división también es responsable de identificar nuevos proveedores, de formar sociedades comerciales con proveedores existentes, y de administrar la cadena global de suministro de las importaciones directas de Wal-Mart. El objetivo de Adquisiciones Globales es trabajar en asuntos relativos a garantía de calidad, realizar inspecciones a fábricas proveedoras, y suministrar capacitación de estándares de lugar de trabajo para proveedores y fábricas. El equipo de la división es de 1700 personas, localizadas en su mayor parte en Shenzhen con oficinas adicionales en 50 países.
Establecido en 1992 para mejorar las condiciones laborales de los trabajadores de las fábricas proveedoras de Wal-Mart, el Programa de Valores Éticos es una subdivisión de Adquisiciones Globales. El equipo de Programa de Valores Éticos es responsable de verificar el cumplimiento de los Estándares de Wal-Mart para Proveedores, así como de las leyes locales aplicables. El programa coordina la administración y ejecución de auditorías a las fábricas proveedoras de las que Wal-Mart compra directamente y es el importador nominal.
Esta introducción examina los sistemas de procuración y adquisición de Wal-Mart, así como algunos de los problemas con fábricas en China, Bangladesh, y otros países donde su modelo de suministro ha fallado al proteger los derechos de los trabajadores y cumplir con los propios estándares de Wal-Mart.
Como la compañía más grande del mundo, y como miembro de proyectos de estándares laborales tales como la Iniciativa de Comercio Ético (Ethical Trading Initiative) y el Programa Global de Cumplimiento Social (Global Social Compliance Programme), es responsabilidad de Wal-Mart dar un paso al frente y ser un líder e innovador en cuestiones de suministro, como lo ha hecho en cuestiones de menudeo. Al estudiar los diversos casos sobre abusos en fábricas de explotación y Wal-Mart, tres patrones notables salen a la luz:
1.) La incapacidad de Wal-Mart para aplicar sus propios Estándares de Proveedores
2.) La incapacidad de Wal-Mart para implementar un sistema de responsabilidad con los dueños y gerentes de fábricas
3.) La perpetua insistencia de Wal-Mart en conseguir el precio más bajo posible de sus proveedores
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Michael Mignano | Permalink
Введение
Управление международных закупок Wal-Mart было создано в 2002 году в целях осуществления прямых импортных операций и прямых закупок у производителей. Управление международных закупок контролирует приобретение товаров у тысяч предприятий-поставщиков по всему миру.
Это Управление также отвечает за подбор новых поставщиков, поиск новых товаров, установление партнерских отношений с существующими поставщиками и международную сеть прямых импортных поставок Wal-Mart. Цель Управления международных закупок – работать над обеспечением качества, проводить проверки предприятий-поставщиков и обучение в области стандартов организации труда для поставщиков и производственных предприятий. Штаб-квартира управления, насчитывающего 1 700 сотрудников, находится в Шэньчжэне, также имеются дополнительные отделения в 50 странах.
Учрежденный в 1992 году в целях улучшения условий труда на предприятиях-поставщиках Wal-Mart, Отдел деловой этики входит в состав Управления международных закупок. Сотрудники Отдела деловой этики отвечают за проверку соблюдения предприятиями стандартов Wal-Mart для поставщиков, в также положений применимого местного законодательства. Отдел координирует административную работу и проведение аудиторских проверок на предприятиях поставщиков, снабжающих Wal-Mart своей продукцией, а также выступает в качестве формального импортера.
Настоящий обзор исследует систему закупок и снабжения компании Wal-Mart, а также ряд проблем на предприятиях Китая, Бангладеша и прочих стран, где модель снабжения Wal-Mart не смогла обеспечить защиту прав рабочих и соблюдение собственных стандартов компании.
Являясь одной из крупнейших компаний мира и участником проектов по внедрению стандартов справедливых условий труда, таких, как Инициатива по торговой этике и Глобальная программа соответствия общественным потребностям, компания Wal-Mart просто обязана повышать ставки в игре и быть лидером и новатором в области снабжения, как она это делает в сфере розничной торговли. Изучая различные примеры с участием предприятий, использующих потогонную систему труда, и Wal-Mart, можно проследить три явных тенденции:
1) Отсутствие должного контроля со стороны Wal-Mart за соблюдением собственных стандартов для поставщиков
2) Неспособность Wal-Mart ввести систему подотчетности владельцев и управляющих предприятий
3) Настойчивое стремление Wal-Mart приобретать товары у поставщиков по минимально возможной цене
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Michael Mignano | Permalink
Introdução
A divisão de Procurement global do Wal-Mart foi criada em 2002 para gerenciar as compras diretas da fábrica e os negócios de importação direta do Wal-Mart. O Procurement global é responsável por inspecionar a terceirização de mercadorias de milhares de fábricas fornecedoras do mundo todo.
A divisão também é responsável por identificar novos fornecedores, terceirizar novos produtos, criar parcerias com fornecedores existentes e gerenciar a cadeia de suprimentos global das importações diretas do Wal-Mart. O objetivo do Procurement global é resolver problemas de garantia de qualidade, conduzir inspeções de fábricas fornecedoras e dar treinamentos de padrões do local de trabalho para fornecedores e fábricas. A equipe da divisão de 1.700 funcionários tem sua principal sede em Shenzhen com escritórios adicionais em 50 países.
Fundada em 1992 para melhorar as condições dos trabalhadores nas fábricas fornecedoras do Wal-Mart, o Ethical Standard Program (Programa de padrão ético) é uma subdivisão do Procurement global. A equipe de Ethical Standards (Padrões éticos) é responsável por verificar a conformidade da fábrica com os Padrões do Wal-Mart para Fornecedores além das leis locais aplicáveis. O programa coordena a administração e execução de auditorias nas fábricas fornecedoras das quais o Wal-Mart terceiriza diretamente e é o importador do registro.
Esta cartilha examina os sistemas de terceirização e procurement do Wal-Mart, bem como alguns dos problemas ocorridos nas fábricas da China, Bangladesh e em outros países nos quais houve falha em seu modelo de terceirização em proteger os direitos dos trabalhadores e em cumprir os próprios padrões do Wal-Mart.
Como a maior empresa do mundo e como membro de padrões justos de trabalho, projetos como Ethical Trading Initiative e Global Social Compliance Programme, é responsabilidade do Wal-Mart intensificar sua participação e ser líder e inovadora no âmbito da terceirização como tem feito no setor de varejo. Ao estudar os diversos casos que envolvem péssimas condições de trabalho e o Wal-Mart, surgiram três padrões notáveis:
1.) Falha do Wal-Mart em forçar corretamente seus próprios Padrões de fornecedores
2.) Incapacidade do Wal-Mart em implementar um sistema de responsabilidade com os gerentes e proprietários da fábrica
3.) Insistência contínua do Wal-Mart em obter o menor preço possível dos fornecedores
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Michael Mignano | Permalink
परिचय
वाल-मार्ट के सीधे आयात के कारोबार और फैक्ट्री से सीधी खरीद का प्रबंध करने के लिए वाल-मार्ट का वैश्विक खरीद प्रभाग 2002 में बनाया गया। वैश्विक खरीद विश्व भर में हज़ारों आपूर्तिकर्ता फैक्ट्रियों से वस्तुओं की खरीद के कार्य को देखने के लिए जिम्मेदार है।
यह प्रभाग नए आपूर्तिकर्ताओं की पहचान करने, नए उत्पादों की खरीद करने, विद्यमान आपूर्तिकर्ताओं के साथ साझेदारियों का निर्माण करने, और वाल-मार्ट के सीधे आयातों की वैश्विक सप्लाई चेन का प्रबंध करने के लिए भी जिम्मेदार है। वैश्विक खरीद का प्रयोजन गुणवत्ता आश्वासन के मुद्दों पर कार्य करके आपूर्तिकर्ता फैक्ट्रियों के निरीक्षण करने और आपूर्तिकर्ताओं तथा फैक्ट्रियों के लिए कार्यस्थल मानकों के प्रशिक्षण देना है। इस प्रभाग का 1700 का स्टाफ अधिकतर शेन्ज़ेन में स्थित है जबकि 50 देशों में इसके अतिरिक्त कार्यालय हैं।.
वाल-मार्ट की आपूर्तिकर्ता फैक्ट्रियों में कामगारों के लिए स्थितियों में सुधार लाने के लिए 1992 में स्थापित नैतिकता मानक कार्यक्रम वैश्विक खरीद का एक उपप्रभाग है। नैतिकता मानक दल लागू स्थानीय कानूनों के अतिरिक्त आपूर्तिकर्ताओं के लिए वाल-मार्ट के मानकों के फैक्ट्री अनुपालन की जाँच करने के लिए जिम्मेदार है। यह कार्यक्रम उन आपूर्तिकर्ता फैक्ट्रियों में आपूर्तिकर्ता फैक्ट्री लेखा-परीक्षाओं के प्रशासन और निष्पादन का समन्वयन करता है जिनसे वाल-मार्ट सीधे स्रोतीकरण करता है और यह रिकॉर्ड का आयात करता है।
इस प्राइमर में वाल-मार्ट की खरीद और स्रोतीकरण की प्रणालियों की जाँच की गई है और साथ ही चीन, बांग्लादेश, और उन अन्य देशों की फैक्ट्रियों की जाँच की गई है जिनमें उनका स्रोतीकरण मॉडल कामगारों के अधिकारों की रक्षा करने और वाल-मार्ट के स्वयं अपने मानकों पर खरा उतरने में असफल रहा है।
विश्व की सबसे बड़ी कंपनी होने के नाते, और नैतिकतापूर्ण व्यापार पहल तथा वैश्विक सामाजिक अनुपालन कार्यक्रम जैसी उचित श्रम मानकों की परियोजनाओं के सदस्य के रूप में, वाल-मार्ट की यह जिम्मेदारी है कि वह अपने खेल में आगे बढ़े और स्रोतीकरण की प्रक्रिया में एक अग्रणी और नवोन्मेषक बने जैसा कि इसने खुदरा उद्योग में किया है। कठोर श्रम वाले प्रतिष्ठानों में उत्पीड़न के विभिन्न मामलों और वाल-मार्ट का अध्ययन करते समय, तीन उल्लेखनीय स्वरूप दिखाई दिए हैं:
1) वाल-मार्ट की स्वयं अपने आपूर्तिकर्ता मानकों को पर्याप्त रूप से लागू करने में असफलता
2) वाल-मार्ट की फैक्ट्री मालिकों और प्रबंधकों के साथ जिम्मेदारी की प्रणाली को लागू करने में असमर्थता
3) वाल-मार्ट का आपूर्तिकर्ताओं से न्यूनतम संभव कीमत पर माल लेने के लिए लगातार ज़ोर दिया जाना
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Michael Mignano | Permalink
简介
沃尔玛的全球采购部创建于2002年，管理沃尔玛的直接进口业务和工厂直接采购。 全球采购部负责监管全球数千家供应商工厂的商品供货。
该部门还负责鉴别新供应商、寻找新产品货源、与现有供应商建立伙伴关系以及管理沃尔玛直接进口的全球供应链。 全球采购部的职责是解决质量保证问题，对供应商工厂进行检查以及为供应商和工厂提供工作场所标准培训。 部门1700名员工主要位于深圳，另外在50个国家/地区设有办事处。
道德标准计划是全球采购的一部分，制订于1992年，旨在改善沃尔玛供应商工厂的工人条件。 道德标准团队负责验证工厂是否遵守沃尔玛的供应商标准以及适用的当地法律。 该计划协调管理和执行对沃尔玛直接采购供应商工厂进行的供应商工厂稽核，且是记录的输入者。
这篇短文自查了沃尔玛的采购系统，以及中国、孟加拉国及其它国家/地区的工厂出现的一些问题，在这些国家，他们的采购模式无法保护工人的权益且达不到沃尔玛自己的标准。
作为全球最大的公司以及公平劳动标准计划（如道德贸易运动和全球社会责任计划）的成员，沃尔玛有责任在采购领域建立它的游戏规则并成为领先者和革新者，如同它在零售行业取得的成就一样。 然而在研究涉及血汗工厂和沃尔玛的各种案例时，发现了三种值得注意的情况：
1.) 沃尔玛没有充分执行它自己的供应商标准
2.) 沃尔玛无法实施与工厂老板和经理之间的责任系统
3.) 沃尔玛继续坚持从供应商那里获得最低廉的价格
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Michael Mignano | Permalink
Introduction
Wal-Mart’s Global Procurement division was created in 2002, to manage Wal-Mart’s direct import business and factory direct purchasing. Global Procurement is responsible for overseeing the sourcing of merchandise from thousands of supplier factories worldwide.
The division is also responsible for identifying new suppliers, sourcing new products, building partnerships with existing suppliers and managing the global supply chain of Wal-Mart’s direct imports. The purpose of Global Procurement is to work on issues of quality assurance, conduct inspections of supplier factories, and provide workplace standards trainings from suppliers and factories. The division staff of 1700 is mostly based in Shenzhen with additional offices in 50 countries.
Established in 1992 to improve conditions for workers in Wal-Mart’s supplier factories, the Ethical Standard Program is a subdivision of Global Procurement. The Ethical Standards team is responsible for verifying that supplier factories are in compliance with Wal-Mart’s Standards for Suppliers and local law. The program is in charge of the administration and execution of supplier factory audits in supplier factories from which Wal-Mart directly sources and is the importer of record.
This primer looks at Wal-Mart’s procurement and sourcing systems, as well as some of the problems with factories in China, Bangladesh, and other countries where their sourcing model has failed to protect the rights of workers and to live up to Wal-Mart’s own standards.
As the world’s largest company, and a member of fair labor standards like the Ethical Trading Initiative and Global Social Compliance Programme, it is Wal-Mart’s responsibility to step up its game and be a leader and innovator in the sourcing realm as it has done in the retail industry. While studying the various cases involving sweatshop abuses and Wal-Mart, three notable patterns emerged:
1.) Wal-Mart’s failure to adequately enforce its own Supplier Standards in the factories
2.) Wal-Mart’s inability to implement a system of accountability with factory owners and managers
3.) Wal-Mart’s continued insistence on getting the lowest price possible from suppliers
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Michael Mignano | Permalink
SweatFree Communities, an anti-sweatshop activist group, went undercover in Bangladesh to examine working conditions in Wal-Mart’s supplier factories. The resulting report (PDF) paints a heart-wrenching portrait of the poverty and abuse that make Wal-Mart’s low prices possible.
BusinessWeek’s article on SweatFree’s findings is equally troubling. The piece highlights problems at Wal-Mart that enable sweatshops: preannounced factory inspections mean managers can hide violations, and fewer corporate reports on the state of its supply chain means Wal-Mart executives are turning a blind eye. Wal-Mart also tried to suppress SweatFree’s report, alone a worrysome fact. SweatFree Communities Executive Director Bjorn Claeson is quoted in the article saying, “Wal-Mart has incredible economic muscle in that country. If it takes the leadership position as a retailer and works with other brands, there is no question that it can really have an impact.”
Wal-Mart Supplier Accused of Sweatshop Conditions [BusinessWeek]
The world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), is being accused of buying school uniforms that were made under extreme sweatshop conditions at a factory in Bangladesh.
The JMS Garments Factory in Chittagong, Bangladesh, produces school uniforms that are sold in Wal-Mart stores under the Faded Glory brand name. A report from SweatFree Communities, an anti-sweatshop activist group based in Bangor (Me.), found that workers at the factory work up to 19-hour shifts to finish Wal-Mart’s orders under tight deadlines; are made to stand for hours as punishment for arriving late to work; and are frequently subject to verbal abuse and kicking or beatings. Some workers earn as little as $20 each month, the group says—even lower than the country’s legal minimum wage of $24 per month.
The report is based on interviews with more than 90 workers conducted away from the factory in workers’ homes by a Bangladeshi nongovernmental labor research organization on behalf of SweatFree Communities, a five-year-old nonprofit group funded by activist foundations such as the Solidago Foundation, CarEth Foundation, and Presbyterian Hunger Program. The group works to get commitments from schools, cities, and other employers to buy goods with employee rights in mind.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Wal-Mart has, unsurprisingly, been the target of more lawsuits than one can count over the years. The company’s treatment of its workers and “save money at all costs” mentality has resulted in a flood of legal challenges ranging from single plaintiff suits to multi-million dollar class actions. Dukes v. Wal-Mart is of course one large example (the largest class action in American history, actually), as are the myriad wage/hour/overtime class actions the company faces.
At Wal-Mart Watch will be focusing on one of these stories each week, highlighting those cases that warrant further attention because of the light each sheds in its own way on how Wal-Mart does business.
A seventy-seven year old Nevada resident is suing Wal-Mart for their unlawful, discriminatory employment practice which caused him to be terminated from his position. Mr. Gold was hired on as an electronics cashier for an unfinished Wal-Mart store. Construction at the Wal-Mart was still being finished up in January, when employees were brought in to stock the store. In February of 2008, Mr. Gold reported to work like usual; little did he know that this would be his last and most embarrassing day at Wal-Mart.
The Wal-Mart store was nearing completion, so much so that employees were putting the finishing touches on stocking the store shelves for the grand opening. Yet, one problem remained. Wal-Mart had not yet finished the plumbing system in the building, forcing employees on the clock to use an outdoor port-o-potty.
On February 28, Mr. Gold, needing to use the port-o-potty, headed toward the building’s exit. Stopped at the door by a Wal-Mart supervisor, Mr. Gold was ordered to go back to work. Mr. Gold explained that he needed to use the restroom, but again was told that he needed to return to work.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Christina Clark | Permalink
Today, the Financial Times reported that Wal-Mart is expanding its overseas expansion. Well color me surprised! Currently, international sales constitute 26% of the company’s net sales and this is while Wal-Mart is lowering its capital expenditures. In layman’s terms, this means that they’re slowing growth- or rather, they are being forced to by the market. So in order to sustain the company, Wal-Mart is looking to conquer new markets abroad. Thankfully, Asia and Eastern Europe are still up for grabs!
Wal-Mart readies for overseas expansion
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is embarking on a further round of international expansion on the back of a systematic overhaul of the way it runs its business, which is expected to deliver more than $100bn in sales this year.
The retailer is actively exploring a first move into Russia and neighbouring countries, while preparing to open its first wholesale warehouse stores in India next year in a joint venture with Bharti Enterprises.
Wal-Mart already has operations in 13 countries, which accounted for 26 per cent of its net sales last year.
Wal-Mart’s international square footage growth rate is now above that in the US, where it has now slowed the expansion of its profitable Supercenter format in the face of market saturation.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Vasudha Desikan | Permalink
This is the third in a series of posts on Wal-Mart’s 2008 shareholder resolutions. The full list of resolutions - and Wal-Mart’s statements regarding them - can be found in the company’s 2008 proxy here (PDF).
Resolution #7 on this year’s proxy proposes the establishment of a human rights committee at Wal-Mart. Below, the details of the proposition, why Wal-Mart’s shareholders would benefit and how the company has reacted to the proposal.
Wal-Mart’s Public Image Problem
Reports of human rights violations have dogged Wal-Mart for years - particularly in the company’s supplier factories, most of which are overseas. These violations have thoroughly damaged Wal-Mart’s reputation, with everyone from U.S Senators to Wal-Mart employees to factory workers themselves speaking out about the inhumane conditions in Wal-Mart’s supplier factories. Bama Athreya, director of the International Labor Rights Forum, testified before Congress on the issue of toy safety, explaining that “Wal-Mart bears a lion share of responsibility for pushing the toy industry to a place where worker health and safety are basically nonexistent.”
Wal-Mart also holds the ignominious title of being the only company investigated by Human Rights Watch for its domestic labor practices. The group’s 2007 report labeled Wal-Mart’s union-busting policies a violation of basic human rights, saying:
It pursues its anti-union agenda relentlessly, often from the day a new worker is hired, devoting considerable time and resources at all levels of the company to the anti-union drumbeat.
The constant stream of allegations have damaged Wal-Mart’s reputation and in turn, its profits. In 2007, a Bank of America analyst’ report found that Wal-Mart’s profits had suffered as a result of organized labor’s opposition to the company and its unethical labor practices. The report noted that the union’s campaign “has cost WMT [Wal-Mart] real estate sites in key locations, adversely impacted comp store sales to some degree, and has distracted m management from focusing on its retail strategy. Additionally, Lee Scott now spends a large amount of time improving WMT’s image domestically and abroad, and WMT has been forced to focus advertising dollars on defending their brand.”
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Research Team | Permalink
A shocking new report from the Solidarity Center exposes a laundry list of worker abuse at Wal-Mart supplier shrimp processing factories in Thailand and Bangladesh. The report, titled “The Degradation of Work: The True Cost of Shrimp,” includes dozens of interviews with workers detailing “Sexual and physical abuse, debt bondage, child labor and unsafe working conditions.”
Once again, this is another sad example of Wal-Mart’s unconscionable lack of oversight of its suppliers. All it would take is more inspectors and more inspections - something Wal-Mart could easily afford. But the company simply refuses to pay the costs. Given the relentless cost-cutting pressure Wal-Mart puts on its suppliers, without proper oversight - abuses like this are all but inevitable.
And remember that in the past few years Wal-Mart has repeatedly tried to convince the public it is legitimately interested in selling sustainable seafood - and shrimp in particular.
Let’s not forget two things:
1) Sustainability doesn’t just mean plants, animals and the environment. It also means people.
2) The big talk is meaningless unless you’re investing the time and money to make sure that the changes actually happen.
*View a PDF of the full report here.
Report alleges abuse in Asia shrimp industry [CNN.com]:
Workers in Southeast Asia’s shrimp industry suffer regular abuse and sometimes live in what amounts to virtual slavery, a human-rights organization said Wednesday.
Sexual and physical abuse, debt bondage, child labor and unsafe working conditions are common in Thailand and Bangladesh’s shrimp processing factories, the Solidarity Center said in a 40-page report.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Eric Bull | Permalink
Dec04
The Wal-Mart Connection
Amidst the holiday shopping season and on the heels of massive toy recalls, products manufactured in China are a hot topic. In recent Congressional hearings, blame was cast on entities ranging from the CPSC to manufacturers to the Chinese government. Oddly, retailers and specifically Wal-Mart were rarely mentioned.
With Wal-Mart as the nation’s largest toy seller and China’s seventh largest trading partner, it is disturbing that the behemoth retailer takes no responsibility for the negative impact of its cost pressures on manufacturers. For years manufacturers have shifted jobs overseas, where labor is cheaper and safety regulations are lax. The result is no secret: Wal-Mart’s cost pressure on manufacturers and the Chinese factories which supply them is manifesting itself in the form of both unsafe working conditions and unsafe products.
As the Mattel toy recall drama unfolded this summer, our Hong Kong-based organization, Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), released a report regarding appalling worker conditions at five toy factories in China. Kam Long toys, one of the surveyed factories and a direct supplier to Wal-Mart, was found an unsafe and inhumane workplace for thousands of Chinese toy factory workers.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Jenny Chan | Permalink
From The Independent:
Bangladeshis making cheap clothes for Asda, Tesco and Primark are paid as little as 3p an hour, according to a report that claims to reveal the grim truth about Asia’s sweatshops.
Basic pay in factories that cut and sew fabric for budget chains could be just £8 a month for an 80-hour week, investigation for the charity War on Want found.
Overtime payments of around £3 a month meant some workers were receiving just £11 a month for a seven-day week - 3.1p an hour. On top of that, workers complained that joining a trade union was banned and bosses cheated them of overtime pay. Beatings and sexual harassment were also said to occur.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Vasudha Desikan | Permalink
From CBC:
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is promoting a corporate code of conduct that it calls one of the strictest in the industry. But an investigation by Radio-Canada, the French-language service of the CBC, casts doubt on the company’s capacity to enforce that code in dealing with Third World countries.
Much of the clothing purchased by Wal-Mart is made in poor countries like Bangladesh. It was with the intention of preventing abuse in the workplace, especially the use of child labour, that Wal-Mart introduced its code of conduct. It specifically says the company will not deal with any supplier that employs children under age 14.
For fewer than $50 per month, workers in Bangladesh knit, sew and pack clothes for sale around the world, and some garments end up at Wal-Mart stores in Canada.
Wal-Mart said it tries to inspect all of the factories that work on its orders. But with literally thousands of subcontractors around the world, Wal-Mart may not be able to enforce its own corporate code of conduct and get rid of labour practices it says are unacceptable.
Posted by Vasudha Desikan | Permalink
My father came back a couple of weeks ago with a suitcase full of presents from Bangladesh. We were in the living room and he unpacked scores and scores of colorful saris and shalwar kameezes. He then reached into suitcase number two and pulled out a stack of plastic wrapped T-shirts. “I got these from your uncle’s factory,” he said with pride in his voice. “They export these to Europe! They even export to Wal-mart!”
I hesitated. My dad was so proud that his Bangladeshi relatives owned clothing factories in Bangladesh. You could hear it in his voice because as far as Bangladeshi standards are concerned, they had made it because they were exporting to Wal-Mart.
I didn’t know what to say, really, to my dad about that. In my Western frame of mind, I would never be caught dead in a Wal-Mart, I save up money to purchase sweat-shop free clothes from American Apparel, and think that Kathy Gifford was bad when her line of clothing was discovered to be made by children. But looking at it from my dad’s point of view, these were his family members that pulled themselves up by the bootstraps from the village to owning a large factory in the big city of Dhaka. They own property. They export to Europe. They have huge contracts with Wal-Mart. They are khubi boro loak, “very big people.”
Posted by Vasudha Desikan | Permalink
View Wal-Mart Watch's videos on YouTube