• Health Canada claws back requirement for industry to provide agricultural workers access to pesticides safety information

  • Security guards join union – UFCW 1006A

  • International Labour Organization adopts first-ever code of practice for growing aquaculture sector

  • Uber drivers in Victoria ratify first-of-its-kind union contract

  • UFCW Canada calls for ban on surveillance pricing

  • Great Canadian Food Products – Stand up for Canada

  • The National Defence Fund

  • Migrant Food Workers deserve permanent residency: Demand Pathways Now!

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DIRECTIONS 10.06: Walmart "Greenwash" splashes Vancouver Games

 

Vol. X No. 6 Feb. 15, 2010

Walmart “Greenwash” splashes Vancouver Games


Walmart’s travelling “Green Business Summit” touched down in Vancouver last week, just in time to cash in on the media frenzy that is part and parcel of the Olympic Games. It was a clever and fitting PR move for the Arkansas-controlled multinational that is trying to show the world it is serious about corporate social responsibility (CSR). The problem for Walmart is that a lot of people aren’t buying it – and there is plenty of reason to doubt the world’s largest retailer.

Since pushing its way into Canada in the mid-1990s, Walmart has fuelled urban sprawl in a huge way, adding dozens upon dozens of big box stores to the Canadian landscape. From a global perspective, Walmart is responsible for creating more than 20.8-million tons of greenhouse gasses every single year.

“A commitment to CSR also includes a serious commitment to respecting human rights and the rule of law,” says UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley. “But, since arriving in Canada, Walmart has done everything in its power to discourage its associates from exercising their rights as Canadian workers.”

In fact, while Walmart executives were in Vancouver telling the world how committed their corporation is to CSR, Walmart lawyers were busy in Montreal trying to shut down an award-winning website that has committed the last seven years to talking about labour rights.

To help Canadian workers, conscientious consumers, and community members keep it real when it comes to Walmart and CSR, UFCW Canada recently added a “Greenwash” section to the Walmart Workers Canada website. The new page is located at www.walmartworkerscanada.ca/greenwash, and is dedicated to offering workers, consumers, and community members some perspective when it comes to Walmart’s supposed new-found love for Mother Nature and its “commitment” to other aspects of corporate social responsibility.

Activists are encouraged to help keep it real by telling their friends about the Greenwash page and by using their twitter and facebook accounts to share “Mike’s Walmart Blog.”
 

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