May 29, 2005
Religious investors ask Wal-Mart to review social, economic policies
By Tracy Early
Catholic News Service
NEW YORK (CNS) -- A group of religious orders and other investors is asking the retail giant Wal-Mart to assess the company's policies and practices in light of their "social, environmental and economic sustainability."
A resolution filed for shareholder action said Wal-Mart, which will hold its annual stockholder meeting June 3 in Fayetteville, Ark., is facing widespread "negative public perceptions" about its operations.
"Wal-Mart's business success is dependent on its domestic and global workers receiving a sustainable living wage to meet their basic needs, and the environmental viability of the communities in which the company operates," the resolution added.
The Shareholder Association for Research and Education, an agency based in Vancouver, British Columbia, said in a report earlier this month that Wal-Mart activity had drawn concern in Canada as well as the United States. The agency helps pension funds build sound investment practices that protect beneficiaries but also contribute to a "just and healthy society."
In reaction to union organizing efforts, Wal-Mart closed a store in Quebec after "a short round of negotiations" with "the chain's first North American unionized bargaining unit," the report said.
"The danger for shareholders is that some cost controls could undermine key relationships with employees, customers, suppliers and communities," according to the agency's director, Peter Chapman.
For the Wal-Mart resolution, the lead filer is the United Methodist Board of Pension & Health Benefits, and co-filers include the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Mich., the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Sisters of Charity, Benedictine Sisters, Congregation of the Holy Cross, Presbyterian Church, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and a Vancouver agency, Ethical Funds.
According to the Shareholder agency, Wal-Mart has asked shareholders to vote against the resolution. The company said it plans to prepare a report like the one requested but wants to do it "only in the form and at the time that is in the best interests of the company and its associates and the communities and customers we serve."
Religious investors also filed resolutions with Wal-Mart this year on equal employment and on the sale of violent video games to children.
Wal-Mart is not alone in drawing the attention of the church-related investors, but is only one of dozens of companies that are being challenged in stockholder resolutions.
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