Almost two dozen news sources have covered Wal-Mart’s annual shareholders meeting that took place in Arkansas on Friday. The fact that so many news sources - and they’re mostly even REPUTABLE news sources - have covered the meeting is noteworthy itself. No other company receives so much media coverage just for holding a meeting. No other company’s meeting is hosted by Queen Latifah, either, but that’s another story.
Wal-Mart Meeting Features Musical Star Power [NW Arkansas Morning News]
There was a common topic among attendees of the Wal-Mart shareholders meeting as they filed out of Bud Walton Arena Friday morning - and it sure wasn’t about the purple tie Lee Scott was sporting.
What would Sam say? [Benton County Daily Record (Ark.)]
As Rob Walton, chairman of the Wal-Mart Board and son of the late Sam Walton, looked out at the audience gathered at Bud Walton Arena on Friday morning, he answered that question with confidence.
Wal-Mart employees whoop, holler at annual meeting [Reuters]
This year’s four-hour sound-and-light presentation, held on Friday, featured Wal-Mart’s top brass as well as performers like Master of Ceremonies Queen Latifah and country star Tim McGraw.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Jun09
WAl-Mart Sucks
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
This article appeared originally on The Huffington Post:
Wal-Mart’s Dog and Pony ShowIt’s Wal-Mart Week in Bentonville, Arkansas and the retail giant is throwing its annual celebration for 20,000 of its workers and shareholders, complete with concerts by stars like Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, and Journey. All this serves to distract shareholders from Wal-Mart’s failure to address the chronic problems that negatively affect their image and result in obstacles to growth into new geographic and demographic markets A Handshake with Sam [PDF], an agreement of common principles with Wal-Mart first released in 2006, offers a roadmap out of this crisis.
Polling that we conducted last fall shows that 28 percent of all consumers developed a more negative opinion of the company over the previous twelve months. And there are plenty of real examples to demonstrate this. Just in the past 12 months, Wal-Mart has had to back out of 69 communities, including Chicago, where their poor business and labor practices were front and center.
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Posted by David Nassar, Executive Director | Permalink
In considering our coverage of Wal-Mart’s 2008 shareholders meeting, we might as well start off talking about the big thing on everyone’s minds: Miley Cyrus did not appear. While some may say that shareholder meetings are about discussing company business and voting on resolutions that could potentially make a difference in the lives of millions of Wal-Mart employees, we all know that’s not true. Wal-Mart’s shareholder meeting is really just about self-congratulation, and big A-list musical acts.
The company didn’t disappoint. Wal-Mart executives and board members spent almost four hours patting themselves on the back and providing enjoyable, quality entertainment to the 15,000+ guests gathered in Bud Walton Arena. Our colleagues back at the Wal-Mart Watch home office have more coverage and commentary of all the events. And in case you’re wondering, yes, those are flying trapeze artists in picture #2.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Welcome again to this year’s liveblogging of the Annual Shareholders Meeting. The meeting will be starting shortly. Meanwhile, check out our full coverage in the run-up to the meeting here: http://walmartwatch.com/blog/cat/shareholders_meeting
7:55: Our colleagues, B and A, who are at the meeting just messaged us: “They’ve got a rock band warming up the crowd followed by a laser light show with trapeze acrobats!”
8:02: How could such a notoriously cheapskate company be willing to shell out so much money for this extravagant circus performance? More importantly, why is this happening at SEVEN IN THE MORNING???
8:05: NO!!! QUEEN LATIFAH PUT AWAY THE TOXIC FLIP FLOPS!
8:08: Is this the MTV Video Music Awards or the Shareholders Meeting? Is Wal-Mart trying to reach out to a new urban demographic...?
8:11: Does the Queen really think CFLs are going to save all of Wal-Mart’s environmental problems?
8:13: Wal-Mart is giving back to the community yall, especially to their frenemy best friend, China, for disaster relief.
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Posted by Media Team | Permalink
As is so true in so many parts of the country, Wal-Mart is a mixed blessing for the residents of northwest Arkansas. On the one hand, it brings many jobs to an otherwise sleepy part of the country. On the other hand, it brings...Wal-Mart. Tips for avoiding - or blending in - the Wal-Mart shareholder meeting crowds from the people who know best - Arkansas residents.
The Wal-Martians are coming [Fayetteville Free Weekly]
Every year, like the swallows returning to Capistrano, thousands of Wal-Mart shareholders descend on the world headquarters here in Northwest Arkansas. This week as Fayetteville and all of NWA is bracing for the invasion of Wal-Mart shareholders—popularly know in these parts as Wal-Martians—for the annual Wal-Mart Shareholders meeting, city, regional and yes, company pride is bustin’ out all over. It’s also a heyday for protestors who think that Wal-Mart should be thinking more like Burger King and doing things their way. In other words, everyone is here.
As Wal-Mart associates from all over the world converge on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, where the activities are centered, conversations between associates usually start with a little bragging—“In my state….”
So what do they brag about? Here is a sampling of some of the bragging rights Wal-Mart associates may be sharing.
In Rhode Island, the smallest of the 50 states, there are only two super centers, seven discount stores and a lone Sam’s Club? But those Rhode Island Wal-Mart full time hourly wage associates earn $11.43 an hour. Wal-Mart Stores spent $552 million for merchandise and services in the tiny state during the last fiscal year.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
More photos from northwest Arkansas, courtesy of your on-the-ground bloggers. For commentary and more photos, check out our Flick stream here.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
As usual, Wal-Mart will opt this year to make its shareholder’s meeting a celebrity pep rally instead of a honest discussion of how to make the company a better and more successful business.
Last week we asked Wal-Mart Watch members to submit topics they wanted to hear discussed at the 2008 Wal-Mart Shareholder’s Meeting. Hundreds more responses have come in the past few days - check out some of the submissions.
We continue to be impressed with how substantive the responses are, especially the ones from current Wal-Mart employees. Thanks to all for participating - and click here if you haven’t yet and would like to.
Better treatment of their employees. They advertise “save money live better” on their ads but their employees are struggling trying to make ends meet with higher prices and their wages being frozen. A person could work there for 10 years and not get another raise no matter how much the prices go up on food and gas. Treat their employees as people and not a number on their profit and loss sheets.
Wal-Mart could be instrumental in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by insisting that products are not over-packaged, or that packaging is fully recyclable.
Wal-Mart employees deserve to make a living wage and have benefits so the public is not subsidizing their health care and cost of food for children via free and reduced price lunch programs.
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Posted by Eric Bull | Permalink
In recognition of Wal-Mart’s 2008 Annual General Meeting, Wal-Mart Watch today re-released “A Handshake with Sam.” The document was originally announced in 2006 as a proposed agreement of shared principles concerning Wal-Mart’s moral responsibilities based on the highly regarded ideals of its founder Sam Walton.
Each of the seven common sense Handshake principles - such as respecting human dignity, providing employees with quality affordable health care, using market power to improve rather than depress wages and buying local first - are based on business and ethical principles supported by Sam Walton’s writings in his autobiography, “Made in America.”
“Two years later, despite a massive public relations effort to convince people otherwise, Wal-Mart’s current business practices still do not reflect Sam Walton’s principles,” said Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director David Nassar. “Wal-Mart still fails to pay all of its employees a family-sustaining wage; fails to ensure that all employees and their children have quality, affordable health insurance; fails to use its market power to improve supplier conditions and wages; fails to buy a significant amount of products locally; fails to pay its fair share to communities by continuing to rely on tax-payer funded programs, tax dodges and tax subsidies to inflate its bottom line, and it still faces the nation’s largest workplace gender discrimination lawsuit,” he added.
The 2008 Wal-Mart Shareholders’ Meeting offers an opportunity for the company to address these issues. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart will opt instead for an elaborate display of celebrity performances to entertain and effectively distract its shareholders and employees. The meeting occurs just weeks after Wal-Mart was essentially shut out of America’s third largest city - Chicago - because it refused to pay a higher wage.
To offset Wal-Mart’s lack of substantive discussion of its business practices at the upcoming meeting, Wal-Mart Watch asked its supporters for input regarding topics they would want Wal-Mart to consider. To date, hundreds of responses have been submitted and posted on the organization’s blog from concerned citizens - the majority of which requested first and foremost an honest discussion on Wal-Mart’s wages, benefits, and increasing trend of overseas sourcing.
“We still believe Wal-Mart can be a positive market force if the company returns to Sam Walton’s principles,” said Nassar.
Click here for a full downloadable version of “A Handshake With Sam”
Click here for Wal-Mart Watch’s complete coverage of Wal-Mart’s 2008 Annual General Meeting
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
This article from Newsweek discusses Wal-Mart’s activist shareholders - but not the ones you think. After years of criticism from left-leaning groups, Wal-Mart is now also being criticized by its conservative base, who believe Wal-Mart’s “progressive" initiatives are getting in the way of running the company. One shareholder thinks the initiatives are not only unprofitable, but useless too, explaining, “Wal-Mart is naive to think incremental compromises will ever really placate liberal critics.”
It’s true that Wal-Mart’s social responsibility initiatives have been less than convincing, but the fact remains that social justice and environmental efforts are consistent with shareholder returns and can ultimately help the company in the long term. Perhaps these shareholders are missing the point, and rather than tell Wal-Mart to return to its old practices, the company should fully commit to and move forward on the promises it’s made.
Is Wal-Mart Too Liberal? [Newsweek]
For investors, most annual meetings are anything but a hot ticket. They’re typically held in small auditoriums and feature an agenda that makes C-Span look like an action thriller. Then there’s Wal-Mart, the Arkansas-based retailer whose shareholder meetings are celebrity-packed, high-wattage showcases. Last year’s gathering featured the comedian Sinbad and musical numbers by Jennifer Lopez and the cast of “High School Musical.” But amid these surprise performances, the most unexpected moment came when shareholder activists were each given three minutes at the podium. Most offered run-of-the-mill liberal criticisms that hit every large company: a Roman Catholic nun urged Wal-Mart to support universal health insurance; several speakers suggested the company rein in executives’ huge paychecks. But from the other end of the spectrum came Peter Flaherty, lambasting Wal-Mart for being too nice to unions, too concerned about the environment and too accommodating to gays and lesbians. “People shop at Wal-Mart because of low prices, not because the company is politically correct,” Flaherty shouted at the crowd.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Health care? Wages? American-made products?
Last week, Wal-Mart Watch members suggested hundreds of serious, thoughtful topics for Wal-Mart to discuss at Friday’s shareholders’ meeting. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart still doesn’t plan to talk about any of them because any serious discussion of issues would interfere with the dog and pony show it plans to perform instead.
We’re still looking for more feedback on what problems Wal-Mart should discuss at its meeting on Friday. Will you help us?
Click here to submit your comments.
To date, most people have written about workers’ conditions - fair pay, affordable health care, and equal opportunity for promotions. But we also received hundreds of comments on a broad range of issues - from product safety to environmental responsibility to questionable labor practices in foreign countries.
The comments came from all over the country, and some were even submitted by current or former Wal-Mart employees. Angela from Maryland wrote:
The high cost of Wal-Mart’s health insurance for employee & child and/or family coverage. I currently work at Wal-Mart.... and will not be able to get insurance for myself or my son because if I do I will not be able afford to take him to daycare and pay for gas to come to work.
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Posted by David Nassar, Executive Director | Permalink
Wal-Mart is on the defensive. Time was, when Sam Walton still ran the company, Wal-Mart didn’t respond to negative publicity. The retailer focused on retailing, not PR, and managed to do ok for itself. But times have changed. As Wal-Mart’s grown in size and scope, the company has used its growing power to cut industry wages and outsource production. As communities across America started fighting back against the company, Wal-Mart could no longer afford to ignore its critics.
Since then, the company has dramatically increased marketing efforts, upgrading its tagline and aggressively promoting “green” products. The fact is, Wal-Mart is changing. And it’s changing because of people like you. Thank you to all of our supporters and allies who have helped hold Wal-Mart accountable - let’s make next year even better than this one.
“For a long time, they didn’t even respond to negative publicity. But so much was being made of in the news from organizations like Wake-Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch that Wal-Mart was forced to focus on public relations.”
What A Difference A Year Makes [NW Arkansas Morning News]
In the days before thousands of Wal-Mart shareholders and employees descend on Northwest Arkansas, construction workers are busy around the home office in Bentonville putting the final touches on the newly renovated lobby.
A fresh coat of paint and some sprucing up of the famously drab home office is a fitting cosmetic touch following a big makeover year for the company, and the upcoming shareholders meeting is all-too-perfect timing for the big reveal.
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Posted by Enviro. Team | Permalink
Wal-Mart’s shareholder resolutions have received a lot of attention this year, with the article below just one example. Wal-Mart’s tradition of avoiding discussion of the shareholder resolutions only highlights the company’s lack of commitment to issues of corporate responsibility. Will the company pay similarly little mind to this year’s resolutions too?
Wal-Mart Shareholders Meeting [NW Arkansas Morning News]
At each annual meeting, Wal-Mart and its shareholders propose changes they’d like to see the company make to its policies and procedures. A majority of the outstanding shares must support a proposal for it to be approved.
Company proposals
1. Election of directors - The board recommends the approval of two candidates to the board of directors to replace outgoing members Roland Hernandez and Jack Shewmaker.Gregory Penner, 38, is a general partner at investment firm Madrone Capital Partners and the former chief financial officer for Wal-Mart’s Japan operations and Rob Walton’s son-in-law.
Arne Sorenson, 49, is the chief financial officer at Marriott International.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Shareholders rap Wal-Mart on labour policy [Guardian (U.K.)]
Wal-mart, the US supermarket giant, faces a battle with angry shareholders next week, including UK pensions management company F&C, over a continued ban by US cities on new stores, as well as the company’s failure to comply with international labour standards.
F&C has joined forces with other European pension investors to file the resolution at Wal-Mart’s 6 June AGM in Arkansas. They say Wal-Mart’s poor business reputation is driving away customers and putting their investments at risk. A 2006 study by the US consulting firm McKinsey found that at least 2-8 per cent of customers had stopped shopping at Wal-Mart as a result of the controversy surrounding the company.
US cities including San Diego have introduced laws banning new stores of more than 90,000 square feet: on average, Wal-Mart’s giant Supercenter stores measure 185,000 square feet.
Investors want Wal-Mart to produce a report on the negative social and reputation impacts of its non-compliance with International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions. Wal-Mart has faced allegations of using child labour in overseas suppliers and preventing US employees from joining trades unions.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
This short piece from Supermarket News came out last month, but it’s interesting enough to post late. We’ve got more on each of the resolutions here and here.
Wal-Mart Shareholders Seek Human Rights, Social Impact Reviews [Supermarket News]
Shareholders of Wal-Mart Stores here have proposed that the company establish a human rights committee. Proponents of the proposal, to be voted on at the retailer’s June 6 annual meeting, said in the company’s proxy statement that such a committee “would rectify the failure of corporate governance [to] review and make policy recommendations regarding human rights issues raised by the company’s activities and policies … that damage our brand and thereby long-term shareholder value.” In opposing the measure, Wal-Mart said it already has ethical standards in place that address the treatment of its own employees and those of its suppliers; it also said it believes the board of directors as a whole should continue to be the primary body “to oversee and monitor our actions and efforts in the matter of human rights.”
Another shareholder proposal asks the company to issue a report on “the negative social and reputational impacts” of off-the-clock work and other instances of lowering employee pay or mistreating workers — allegations that have led some consumers to stop shopping at Wal-Mart, proponents indicated. Wal-Mart said it opposes that proposal as well, explaining, “We have vigorously defended ourselves against and consistently denied allegations of non-compliance with legal and regulatory controls in legal proceedings brought against our company based on labor law-related claims. This proposal … proceeds from the assumption our management has not complied with those controls and standards.”
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
More people have written in letting us know what they want discussed at Wal-Mart’s shareholder meeting. To submit your suggestions, go to our speakout page.
- What is Walmart doing to assure that its “organic” products are actually organic?
- The overseeing of human rights and executive compensation, as well as, carrying more made in America products.
My husband and I were sitting in our lawn chairs this Memorial day weekend and he asked me if I remembered where we bought them. I did not, but he said it was Sam’s Club when they were a good place to shop. Wal-mart used to boast about carrying so many American made products, this is not the case anymore. We no longer shop at either store. The last time I was in a Wal-mart was 2005, when I bought some cookies and later found out they were cheaper at the grocery store. - Dear Sir or Madame, I would deeply appreciate it if you would listen to your shareholders on issues like human rights, sexual harassment, sexism and racism in your stores (especially when it comes to promotions). Thanks!
- I think Wal-Mart should discuss how they are going to better the treatment of their employees by providing better benefits to them.
- Fair treatment of all employees, including equal pay regardless of gender and race and equal health opportunities. Review of how the Shank issue was handled and how Wal-Mart can better its tactics to prevent future public outrage. Wal-Marts impact on small business owners and its abuse of monetary power to gain more land for its stores. Wal-Marts treatment of factory workers who are undoubtedly working in sweat-shops and the like. And finally, I want Rob Walton to think about how he can best apologise to the millions of people he directly or indirectly affects with the poor choices he makes on a daily basis.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Sinbad, the voice heard in this video, hosted Wal-Mart’s shareholders meeting and included in his introduction a tirade against Wal-Mart’s customers. The company has long been cited for poor customer service - a fact often blamed on the company’s shoddy treatment of store employees. Sinbad’s diatribe plays in to a corporate culture of self-congratulation and customer bashing, something which Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton sternly warned against. This video came out shortly after last year’s meeting; Wal-Mart did not comment.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
This clip, from the Canadian documentary Wal-Mart Nation, shows just how little consideration Wal-Mart gives its shareholder resolutions. The proponents of the resolutions all have a vested interest in raising the company’s stock price AND profits, yet Chairman of the Board Rob Walton seems uninterested in the proposals.
It’s in Wal-Mart’s own best interest to listen to these resolutions, yet the company fails to do so. What would YOU say to Wal-Mart’s executives? Click here to speak out.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Two days ago, we asked our readers what Wal-Mart should discuss at its annual shareholders meeting. We’ve already gotten hundreds of responses, with issues ranging from health care to expansion practices to the company’s green campaign. Go to our speakout page to add your own thoughts. Here’s a sampling of what we’ve already received:
- The high cost of Wal-Mart’s health insurance for employee & child and/or family coverage. I currently work at Wal-Mart in Mt. Airy MD and will no be able to get insurance for myself or my son because if I do I will not be able afford to take him to daycare and pay for gas to come to work.
- Better health care and wages for your employees. Shame on you for paying all these celebrities money to be at your board meeting when that money could be spent on your employees.
- Expand the “Green” program by building all new Wal-Mart buildings to be LEEDs energy efficient certified!
- I am a shareholder and concerned with two issues. I’m unimpressed with the scheming that management devises to evade treating its employees fairly, equitably and humanely. I am also unimpressed with the inordinate dependence on Chinese-made goods, some of which have been shown to be very harmful. What is management doing to address these two issues?
- Is is possible for Wal-Mart to return to it’s previous vote of confidence in America by stocking, selling and promoting products made in America (I mean the 50 states), They have the power to re-ignite the American economy by selling US products. A move like this would provide jobs for US workers and would make Wal-Mart look like a hero. Can Wal-Mart stop supporting China and their poorly made and often times dangerous products? Be a hero Wal-Mart. -buy and sell American made products!
- An honest discussion of Wal-marts goals for growth and whether these are sustainable. For instance, does Wal-Mart really need to get into New York City? Do they really need a market in Japan? I personally liken Wal-Mart to a cancer because cancer is a system which has broken off from the whole and is only interested in its own growth. This describes Wal-Mart perfectly.
- Have a Heart, leave Schnecksville , PA alone. You took our factories and our small stores, and are ruining our small towns. Get lost in PA.
- Walmart is planning on opening a store in Blacksburg, Virginia right next to a school in a residential neighborhood. Town council was tricked by Fairmont developers and is bringing the case to Virginia Supreme Court. Why start off on the wrong foot? There is pleanty of room in rural Southwest Virginia to find another site. Sincerely, Karin Gregory.
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Posted by Media Team | Permalink
This is the fifth 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).
Proposal number 10 on Wal-Mart’s 2008 shareholder proxy urges the company to study the effect of its reputation for irresponsible social practices on long-term profits. The resolution, sponsored by F&C Investments and corporate accountability group As You Sow, would require Wal-Mart to issue a report to shareholders on the negative social and reputational impacts of the company’s non-compliance with the International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions and standards on workers’ rights. The proposal would also require the report to include the board’s recommendations and actions taken to improve compliance with the ILO standards.
What has Wal-Mart done to harm its reputation?
Wal-Mart has long been criticized for treating its U.S. workforce poorly and underpaying its employees.
In the last few years, Wal-Mart has cut personnel expenses, despite the human cost of such actions. For instance, the company has capped wages for its lowest-level Associates and forced more employees into part-time status. It also moved to force out older workers by prohibiting employees with back or leg problems to sit on stools while working. Many employees have also decried the company’s scheduling system which forces workers to be available for shifts 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.
Allegations of unethical sourcing practices, environmental degradation and corporate misconduct have also dogged Wal-Mart’s reputation. Several human rights groups have come out against the company’s use of sweatshop labor, and Wal-Mart’s big-box retail style has long been synonymous with environmentally-damaging suburban sprawl.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
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