Rob Walton -- heir to the Walmart fortune -- thinks he’s entitled to be Chairman of Walmart’s board forever and is campaigning to be re-elected. That’s bad news: under the Walton family’s management, Walmart has a track record of treating its workers and the law with disdain.
Walmart is the single largest employer in the world, with 1.4 million employees in the US alone -- but more than half of them earn less than $25,000 a year. From his perch at the top of the richest family in America,Rob Walton refuses to share his $147 billion net worth with the workers who built Walmart and created his family's wealth.
You can put an end to Rob Walton’s reign. Walmart’s largest institutional investors, Vanguard and Fidelity, are voting right now.
Tell Vanguard and Fidelity to vote against the election of Rob Walton to the board of Walmart.
Under Rob Walton’s leadership, Walmart has violated labor law and acted unethically, including a massive scheme to bribe public officials in Mexico that was uncovered by the New York Times. Walmart actively blocked efforts to upgrade safety in Bangladesh following a disastrous factory fire last year that killed over 117 workers.
Everybody pays the price for Walmart’s low-wage business model that Rob Walton loves. American taxpayers foot a massive $6.2 billion bill for government assistance, like subsidized health care and food stamps, that Walmart workers are forced to rely on because they earn so little. On the other side, Walmart’s CEO’s $25 million/year pay packet is 1142 times bigger than the average pay of its workers. We can’t address poverty in a serious way unless big corporations like Walmart get serious about paying their workers and workers in their supply chains a living wage.
As if that wasn't enough, Rob Walton has been in charge while Walmart has become one of the fastest growing polluters in America. In spite of Walmart's commitment to environmental sustainability, the company’s self-reported greenhouse gas emissions have increased 14% since 2005.
A vote against Rob Walton from Walmart’s biggest investors will send a strong message to the company.
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For more information:
Rob Walton's bio, the Walmart 1%
Letter from Walmart workers to investors, Organization United for Respect at Walmart, May 20 2014