Wal-Mart to bring questionable oversight to U.S. warehouses
The retailer will audit labor conditions, using system similar to one that that oversaw Bangladeshi fire factory
Topics: Walmart, Bangladesh, Factory fire, Labor Rights, Strikes, News
Following an unprecedented wave of strikes throughout its U.S. supply chain at the end of last year, Wal-Mart has introduced a new plan for audits of labor conditions in its U.S. distribution centers. As Josh Eidelson highlighted Thursday for the Nation, the plans, which are similar to audits in place for Wal-Mart’s distribution centers overseas, have been widely panned by labor groups.
Reportedly poor, unsafe working conditions in the retail giant’s U.S. warehouses led last year to repeated strikes and threats of legal action by subcontracted workers. According to Eidelson, however, labor groups are unimpressed by Wal-Mart’s response — namely that Wal-Mart would employ the system it uses to monitor international distribution warehouses to monitor U.S. ones. The move seems particularly striking in the wake of a deadly fire in one of Wal-Mart’s Bangladeshi distribution centers in which 112 workers died. Via the Nation:
Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com. More Natasha Lennard.
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