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Workers from Four Continents Sue Wal-Mart in US
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On September 13th 2005 a lawsuit against US retail giant Wal-Mart
was filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles on behalf
of workers from Wal-Mart's supply chain in different parts
of the world. The workers are charging that Wal-Mart failed
to meet its contractual duty to ensure that its suppliers
pay basic wages due; forced them to work excessive hours seven
days a week with no time off for holidays; obstructed their
attempts to form a union; and made false and misleading statements
to the US public about the company's labour and human rights
practices.
Because
Wal-Mart has a "Supplier Standards Agreement"
with its suppliers that includes adherence to its code of
conduct, the suit alleges that Wal-Mart has a contractual
obligation to the workers, who are supposed to benefit from
the workers rights provisions found in the code. As part
of its obligations under the supply contract, and in its
promise to US consumers, Wal-Mart says it will monitor supplier
factories to ensure compliance with its code of conduct.
However, the complaint states, "because Wal-Mart's
system limits factory inspections to those conducted by
internal Wal-Mart auditors, or relies upon consultants paid
for by Wal-Mart, it is far from effective and allows rampant
violations to continue."
Those bringing the suit against the retailer include garment
and toy workers at its suppliers in China, Bangladesh, Indonesia,
Swaziland and Nicaragua who were not paid the legal minimum
wage, were forced to work overtime, and in certain cases
were denied the right to organise. According to the complaint:
Workers in California are also part of the suit. As employees
of California businesses that compete with Wal-Mart, they
argue that they were forced to make wage and benefit concessions
to allow their employers to try to compete with Wal-Mart.
It is argued that the cases from outside of the US that
form part of this suit could not be heard in the workers'
home countries due to fear of reprisals, lack of independent
legal systems and corruption. The workers' legal team includes
the US-based International Labor Rights Fund.
To read the full complaint and learn more about this lawsuit,
see the ILRF website: www.laborrights.org
