Richard, my reponses to your 4 points:
1.
>This to me is really an unwise request from either yourself or some
>committee. It is only disruptive and intimidating.
>
>No business in their right mind would publically give out the names of
>all their suppliers. The business opposition like vultures would
>destroy the company in a matter of days. Wal-Mart would come to an
>end. You put them in a lose-lose situation !
Businesses will follow their bottom line. If Wal-Mart's behavior
sufficiently damages its image among consumers, Wal-Mart's sales (or
Nike's, or Guess', or etc.) will be threatened and they may decide they
have to clean up their act. The National Labor Committee (which leads this
campaign) has been amazingly successful at getting lots of people to
question these corporate images over the past 6 years it has taken this
approach.
As for Wal-Mart's competitors getting an edge from this information --
Wal-Mart objects to releasing the info on these very grounds you cited.
But the truth is that these competitors are already contracting with these
same factories anyway. Workers in these factories will show you clothing
labels from their factories' runs, and they come from all sorts of brands.
Wal-Mart brands, Arizona, Bugle Boy, Levi's, etc., etc. are all made in the
same factories.
2.
>If you want to accomplish the same goal, rather through your
>intelligencia determine which companies use child labour/sweat shop
>production methods and who they sell to. Then politely inform the
>company(s) they sell to that they will have to stop buying from "xyz"
>company, failing which, you then lead a public campaign against them.
How do you propose to find out where all these companies' (contractors')
factories are? For people living in high-consuming countries of the North,
companies like Wal-Mart are the pivotal pressure points in this struggle.
Wal-Mart knows where the factories are, Wal-Mart places orders with them
and helps make their existence possible, and the consuming public makes
Wal-Mart's existence possible. And it's not just one or two contractors
that repress and oppress their workers this way -- it is systemic. You've
got to undermine the processes of the system, not just a contractor here
and there. (And Wal-Mart is just about the biggest actor in the system.)
Furthermore, the workers in those factories want their jobs and don't want
the plants closed for lack of business; they want the conditions changed.
Thus, this slogan of activist sweatshop workers: "Empleo si, pero ... con
dignidad!" (Employment yes, but ... with dignity!) This Season of
Conscience campaign has to take direction from the sweatshop workers
themselves, because we must be in solidarity with them.
3.
>There also should be a representative of concerned citizens working
>with Wal Mart on this issue, not someone trying to lead public emotion
>with a "let's overthrow the regime" attititude. This is very
>unprofessional.
Several community groups where I live are preparing to do just this with
local Wal-Mart management.
4.
>Why is this group picking on Wal-Mart anyway? What about all the
>other department stores in the US? It sounds to me as if the
>opposition is behind this one already ! !
As I said in the original message, Wal-Mart is hardly the only offender.
But you get results by focusing your efforts.
>
>Just my opinion folks !
>
>Rick
>
>
>>>> Dale W Wimberley <dale.wimberley@vt.edu> 11/18 11:50 PM >>>
>Hi folks! Please forward this to other organizations and individuals
>who
>may want to participate (and pardon any cross-postings). - Dale
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Please contact Wal-Mart this Friday, November 20, and ask them to
>release a
>list (including addresses) of all their supplying factories worldwide.
>This is a national call-in day for the 1998 Holiday Season of
>Conscience to
>End Sweatshops and Child Labor.
>
>Contact info: 1-800-WAL-MART (1-800-925-6278) or 501-273-4000
> E-mail cserve@walmart.com
> Fax 501-273-4894 (caveat: last month they had their fax
> disconnected)
>
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Many little people in many little places making many little steps will
change the world. - Brigitte Hauschild, Nicaragua
(If you can translate this sentence into languages other than Spanish,
German, French, or Russion, please contact Brigitte at
cwalter@nicarao.apc.org.ni)
Dale W. Wimberley
Department of Sociology
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University