Wal-not so s-Mart demanding low prices and low standards

First a little history.
Only a little...not much more is needed at this point.

In 2004 Wal-Mart established a "global ethics office" to enforce 10 principles, including to "never manipulate, misrepresent, abuse, or conceal information" and "never act unethically -- even if someone else instructs you to do so." As a result Wal-Mart employees have access to a confidential hotline to report abuses.

In October 2005, CEO Lee Scott announced a long-range plan to use 100 percent renewable energy at the company. For starters, Wal-Mart is working on a new store design that will reduce energy use by 30 percent in the next three years and plans to double the fuel efficiency of its truck fleet -- one of the largest in the world -- by 2015.

Then, earlier this year, Wal-Mart rolled out expanded benefits for its workforce, which management claims are among the best in the retail sector.

All this sounds pretty noble.

Until you take into consideration the information provided in an October 2005 New York Times article that revealed that 46 percent of chain’s US employees’ children are uninsured or on Medicaid.

Not to be outdone on the labour issue, Wal-not so s-Mart has also been fined repeatedly for violating the Clean Water Act, including $3.1 million in 2004 for failing to contain runoff at construction sites. Not enought? How about the corp's decision to hire Eugene Scalia, former solicitor of the Department of Labor and son of U.S. Supreme Court associate justice Antonin Scalia, to defend the corporation against three whistle-blower lawsuits; or the recent US federal charges laid against vice chairman Tom Coughlin for embezzling $500,000 to buy, among other things, supplies for his hunting dogs and a couple cases of Smirnoff. (When he was accused, Coughlin claimed he used the money for union busting. Nothing better than guns and booze when dealing with the working-poor masses.)

Now, Wal-Mart the Canuck Corp is raising the bar -- no really. In a story from the StarPhoenix, out of Saskatoon, Wal-not so s-Mart is attempting to remove members of the province's Labour Relations Board under charges of bias conduct.

click on the link....it's worth the read: