Tag Archives: Wake Up Walmart

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Labor Violations, Bogus Standards in WalMarts Chinese Supplier Factories – via China Labor Watch

In a new investigation from the China Labor Watch (CLW), “Wal-Mart’s Road to Sustainability: Paved with False Promises?”, the CLW reports on the Wal-Mart’s extreme exploitation of foreign factory workers – amongst many other egregious acts they’ve detailed.  

The CLW has found, as a result of investigations from April to June of this year, that violations at one of Wal-Mart’s suppliers, the Huasheng Packaging Factory, include:

• Elaborate system to cheat Wal-Mart audits.

• Some workers make only $0.51/hour, 60% of the minimum wage.

• Poor working conditions: workers inhale large amounts of paper particles and other debris.

• Twelve workers live together in cramped dorms

• Workers not paid overtime wages.

• During busy period, workday is 11 hours or 77 hours per week, and overtime is mandatory

Please help us by taking action and voicing your concern about Wal-Mart, and please continue reading for more from CLW’s press release.

This is merely the latest, and one of the most grievous, examples of Wal-Mart saying one thing and doing another, in their long running anti-labor track record.  Americans cannot continue to support the world’s largest retailer while it remains in support of some of the world’s worst labor standards.

CLW has also written a letter (pdf) to Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke, and you can read their full report here (pdf).  

CLW also reports that recent violations at another facility, the Hantai Shoe Factory – who they began investigating in July of 2008, also include:

• Overtime only paid up to Wal-Mart’s limits. When overtime surpasses the limit, extra wages are not paid until the following month.

• Workers forced to lie to Wal-Mart inspectors.

• 5 hours overtime daily. If workers request not to work overtime once, they will be denied any overtime for a month.

• Disguised layoffs to avoid paying severance payments to workers. Workers are abused by management or switched to undesirable jobs until they quit voluntarily.

The CLW’s press release goes on to conclude:

“These issues represent only a portion of the problems CLW has discovered in these two factories. In nearly 10 years of investigating Wal-Mart’s Chinese supply chain, CLW has identified these same violations at the majority of Wal-Mart’s suppliers. In terms of labor violations, Hantai is one of Wal-Mart’s better factories and Huasheng is one of its worse, yet no where are Wal-Mart’s standards actually met.

As the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart has the ability and responsibility to implement higher standards. CLW Executive Director, Li Qiang, stated, “Wal-Mart’s Social Responsibility standards are merely a public relations gimmick and have not actually been implemented; they are a cost-free way to improve public perceptions of Wal-Mart.”

Although Chinese workers lack recourse against abuses suffered in Wal-Mart’s supply chain, the world can condemn Wal-Mart’s unethical behavior.

The China-U.S. Economic and Strategic Dialogue, which opened in Washington today, will focus on economic, environmental and security cooperation. CLW calls on senior officials of both governments to encourage multinational companies to improve labor conditions in their supply chains and promote effective implementation of China ‘s Labor Contract Law.”

Health Care

Walmart’s $4 Drugs Coming From Indian Company Whose Products Have Been Banned In US and Canada

Walmart, in one of their worst ways of prioritizing prices above qualities to date, turns to a foreign drug supplier, Ranbaxy Laboratories, LTD, who has repeatedly been investigated by the FDA and the DoJ for “inadequate” safeguards against contamination, falsification of records and submitting false information to the FDA.  

On top of that, just eight months before the FDA inspected Ranbaxy’s Paonta Sahib plant and found significant violations, Walmart awarded the company a “Supplier Award” for improving shipping times and performance.

In a new report on our website, we detail their multi-year spanning violations, DoJ investigation, Congressional Investigation, and list out all of the drugs made at the facility in questions.  Additionally, we detail their recent violations below.  

2009 Violations

In Feb 2009, the FDA halted a review of importation applications for generic drugs manufactured at Ranbaxy’s Paonta Sahib plant owned by Ranbaxy Laboratories, LTD, the Indian generic drug manufacturer, “due to evidence of falsified data.” According to the FDA press release, Ranbaxy “falsified data and test results in approved and pending drug applications.” Not only were seven different examples of false statements made by Ranbaxy to the FDA in their warning letter – this was the third time the facility had run afould of fed Food and Drug laws.  

The FDA did include a caveat in its release, stating that the agency “has no evidence that these drugs do not meet their quality specifications and has not identified any health risks associated with currently marketed Ranbaxy products.”  But just a week after the FDA announced it was halting review of Paonta Sahib applications, Canada announced it was “quarantining” all drugs produced at the Paonta Sahib plant.

2008 Violations

Previously, in September 2008, the FDA issued warning letters to Ranbaxy regarding “significant deviations” from FDA standards for the manufacture of drugs sold in the United States. According to an FDA press release, the agency also banned the importation of any Ranbaxy drugs produced at the company’s Dewas and Paonta Sahib plants.

According to the release, the Dewas plant’s cross-contamination prevention program was “insufficient.” These programs are designed to prevent cross-contamination between different types of drugs. The plant also used “inadequate” sterilization procedures and performed “inadequate failure investigations.” According to the FDA release, failure investigations are performed “to address any manufacturing control or product rejection to determine the root cause and prevent recurrence.” The Paonta Sahib plant had “inaccurate” records regarding cleaning and maintaining of its equipment and “incomplete” records.

Deborah Autor, director of the Office of Compliance at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, announced that the “severe violations” had led the FDA to ban importation of drugs from these plants and to deny any new drug import applications for drugs manufactured at these plants.

Before the warning letters were sent and the sanctions put in place, Ranbaxy had the opportunity to rectify the problems at the Dewas and Paonta Sahib plants; however, the company’s “response failed to adequately address multiple, serious deficiencies.”

Again – please read our full report at Wake-Up Wal-Mart.

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Thinking of shopping at Wal-Mart this Holiday Season?

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If you are, I’m sure the Chinese will be psyched.

Wake Up Walmart, who I’m working with, has a great new video up highlighting the perils of supporting the Bentonville behemoth.

In their quest to cut costs, Walmort outsources more and more jobs overseas. It’s come to the point where 70% of Walmart products are now made in communist China. “In the race to the bottom, Walmart gets ahead and the middle class falls behind,” the ad warns.

I know I’m just kind of preaching to the choir about how ugly Walmart’s business practices. But in the spirit of the holiday season, I’d like to invite you to do one of three things:

1. Send this ad to your friends and family. Walmart’s low prices are deceiving and in this struggling economy, a lot of good people might be fooled. It’s important that we get the word out about the high cost of these low prices.

2. Visit WakeUpWalmart.com today and learn how you can help. With the election over, if you have time to join the good fight, we could always use your support.

3. Blog about how the Obama administration should have a say in curbing Walmart’s ugly business practices. This isn’t only a case of a corporation out of control; it’s a case of worker abuse, shoddy environmental practices and an active union-busting agenda.

We’re fighting for more than just winning elections. We are fighting for a more progressive America.

In this time of economic peril, it’s more important now than ever. I urge you all to join the fight and send a strong message to Walmart!