Just forwarding something I received - I make no judgment on its efficacy.
Best to contact those who are actually involved in the campaign.
FYI, this is my academic area of expertise - I understand your
reservations completely.
jk
On Thu, 19 Nov 1998, Richard Ragland wrote:
> 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 !
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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 ! !
>
> 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)
>
> What this campaign is NOT:
> * It is NOT a boycott
> * It is NOT an effort to have Wal-Mart "buy American"
>
> What this campaign IS:
> * An effort to make Wal-Mart accountable to us - the consumers of
> these products - and to make Wal-Mart's own Code of Conduct
> independently verifiable
> * An effort to promote a LIVING WAGE for workers in the Third World
> and
> in the US - an effort to stop US and overseas workers from being
> pitted
> against each other by RAISING the wages and conditions of THIRD
> WORLD
> and US sweatshop workers
> * An effort to create a space in which workers can empower themselves
> - "Employment yes, but ... with dignity!"
>
> The goal of the 1998 Season of Conscience (the People's Right to Know
> Campaign) is to press Wal-Mart to release the list of all its
> suppliers
> worldwide, so that human rights and religious groups can begin to
> check
> working conditions at these factories. This would give consumers a
> way to
> discern which products were made in factories where workers' human
> rights
> were respected. Wal-Mart has a record of contracting with factories
> that
> use child labor (for example, 13-year-olds in Honduras and 10- to
> 12-year-olds in Bangladesh), and with factories where workers are
> abused
> verbally, physically, and sexually at jobs paying subliving wages for
> very
> long work hours, where unions are repressed. Wal-Mart contracts with
> suppliers in at least 49 countries.
>
> Many other U.S. companies besides Wal-Mart have relied on sweatshops
> or
> child labor, but the 1998 Season of Conscience focuses on Wal-Mart
> because
> it is the world's largest retailer. If Wal-Mart releases information
> on
> its suppliers, it will be easier to get these other companies to
> follow.
> Such information is essential to establish a system of independent
> monitoring of factory conditions - a key to stopping worker abuses.
>
> We need AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE to contact Wal-Mart this Friday.
> PLEASE
> PASS ON THIS MESSAGE to other individuals and e-mail lists who may
> want to
> participate in the campaign. Future Wal-Mart call-ins are scheduled
> for
> December 18 and January 29.
>
> The People's Right to Know Campaign is spearheaded by the National
> Labor
> Committee (NLC), the same organization that successfully pressed
> Kathie Lee
> Gifford to act against the child labor used to make her clothing line.
> The
> NLC, originally founded in 1981 to support endangered workers in El
> Salvador, is backed by many labor unions, religious groups, and human
> rights organizations.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> For general information or for copies of campaign materials, contact:
>
> National Labor Committee
> 275 7th Avenue, 15th floor
> New York, NY 10001
> (212) 242-3002
> Fax (212) 242-3821
> E-mail natlabcom@aol.com
> www.nlcnet.org
>
> NLC has materials to assist with a wide variety of Wal-Mart actions.
>
>
> Dale Wimberley
> Sociology, VPI & SU
> Coalition for Justice, Blacksburg, Virginia
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*****************************
Judi A. Kessler
Department of Sociology
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Office:
Institute for Social, Behavioral & Economic Research
(805) 893-5427
6500jk@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu
*****************************