Wal-Mart Wins "Public Eye Award" For Irresponsible Corporate Behaviour

On 26 January 2005, the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Berne Declaration and Pro Natura presented the first "Public Eye Awards" for irresponsible companies at an event designed to coincide with the WEF called "The Public Eye on Davos". The winner of the Public Eye Award 2005 for corporate irresponsibility in the category of labour rights is US retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. that was nominated by the Clean Clothes Campaign for poor working conditions in Wal-Mart's clothes supply factories all over the world.

Others nominated for the labour rights category are BP, North Sails/GST/Boards&More, Stallion Garments and Tchibo.

Aisha Bahadur of Civil Society Research and Support Collective

At the awards ceremony, opening remarks on corporate accountability and the Millennium Development Goals were done by Christopher Avery, director of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, England, and Mary Robinson, chair of its Advisory Network and Executive Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative. Noreena Hertz did the keynote speech on corporate accountability and economic globalization

At the awards ceremony, Aisha Bahadur of Civil Society Research and Support Collective(CSRSC), a group based in South Africa spoke of conditions in the factories producing for Wal-mart, based on her research experiences in Southern and East Africa. This research was conducted with the Africa regional office of the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) Clean Clothes Campaign, a Dutch multinational research organisation SOMO and The Solidarity Centre.

For more information on the nomination and the speech see the website:
http://www.evb.ch/index.cfm?page_id=3339

Awards were given in three other categories human rights, environment, and taxes. The award in the category of human rights went to The Dow Chemical Company. The corporate group, which was nominated by Greenpeace Switzerland and the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, refuses to assume accountability for the consequences of the world's largest chemical disaster in Bhopal, India, which has caused more than 20,000 casualties since 1984. In the taxes category the winner is KPMG International for developing tax saving models and is encouraging its clients to engage in aggressive tax avoidance. KPMG International was nominated by the Tax Justice Network.

"The Public Eye on Davos", took place for the sixth time this year, is organised by the Berne Declaration and Pro Natura as an alternative event to the WEF. The two organisations are convinced that public discussion and pressure are needed in order to make corporate groups act in a more accountable way. "Our Public Eye Awards are meant as a reminder to members of WEF and other large corporate groups that the public expects them to be responsible stewards of the environment; insists on their respect for human rights and labour rights; and does not tolerate tax avoidance", says Matthias Herfeldt of the Berne Declaration. Being the beneficiaries of economic globalisation, they are urged to assume their responsibility and introduce sustainable business strategies instead of enforcing tough choices at the expense of local communities and the environment. The theme of the WEF 2005, "Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices", has to be interpreted to meet the needs of society.