Wal-Mart Extends Its Influence to Washington

[babylonsister]

Wal-Mart Extends Its Influence to Washington
Under Siege, Retailer Engages Opponents

By Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 24, 2007; Page A01

When Conservation International wanted to educate the world about Brazil's indigenous Kayapo Indians, whose Amazon home is threatened by deforestation, it brought an unlikely advocate to Washington: S. Robson Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart Stores.

A partnership between Wal-Mart, reviled by labor unions and their allies as the enemy of the little guy, and an environmental nonprofit group was unthinkable just a few years ago. Critics had long accused Wal-Mart of treating its workers badly and crushing independent businesses with its mammoth stores. Its relentless focus on low prices has been blamed for the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and deadly pollution in underdeveloped countries. To some, Wal-Mart symbolized capitalism at its worst.

For years, the company ignored the attacks, content to hunker down at its headquarters in remote Bentonville, Ark. But as sales began to slow, efforts to expand were blocked and the chorus of critics spread to lawmakers in Washington, the retailer realized it had to act. The partnership between Walton and Conservation International is part of a radical new approach that Wal-Mart calls engaging the opposition.

The environment is the first front.

"It was never part of the conversation before," Walton said during an interview in which he was accompanied by Conservation International's chairman Peter A. Seligmann and Kayapo chief Megaron Txucarramae. "And it's part of every conversation now."

The overarching goal is to improve the company's image so it can operate unhindered by the automatic opposition its reputation has inspired. It also had a specific legislative agenda spanning issues such as normal trade relations with China and the number of hours truck drivers are allowed to work. In its attempt to make its desires known, it has transformed its lobbying force from a humble two-man shop to a $2.5 million operation that employs some of K Street's heaviest hitters.

Campaign donations from Wal-Mart's political action committee to federal candidates jumped from $135,750 during the 1998 election cycle to $1.3 million in 2006 -- the biggest increase and largest amount of any retailer or retail trade organization, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It has added consultants ranging from a whitewater guide to a former presidential adviser to court the activist groups that have been Wal-Mart's most vocal opponents.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112301927.html?hpid=topnews

[brentspeak]

1. This is no surprise, as the people who run Conservation International are a bunch of neoliberals

Conservation International is not exactly Greenpeace.

[lame54]

2. My Walmart post is in this weeks Duzy's

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2334957&mesg_id=2334957

[Selatius]

3. Ah, so they have followed British Petroleum's route of "green washing" themselves.

Wal-Mart is the reason why labor unions were invented in the first place.