Corporate Responsibility: Using Wal-Mart to Change the World

Changing the World Through Wal-Mart 

Zoriah's Photojournalism

In 2006 a case of forced child labor came to light. About 300 children were found to be working for  The Harvest Rich Factory in Bangladesh, making clothing for companies like Hanes and Wal-Mart, while being beaten, overworked, and underpaid. Since many incidences like  The Harvest Rich Factory have come to light, corporate responsibility has become more important to consumers and companies. In 2006, the companies involved ignored a report from the National Labor Committee, and went so far to say that they could not find any children, and that the workers were just malnourished. Thugs came to working towns and harassed children and families into keeping what they knew to be true to themselves. With pressure from law-enforcement and consumers, Wal-Mart has begun to change their image and hopefully their ethics since 2006.

Large businesses have an impact on the environment, jobs, human rights, and global markets, but they don't always act with global issues in mind. Corporate responsibility is a call to wealthy corporations to do what is legal and ethical. The marginalization of human workers, increased negative impact on the environment, and the eternal goal of wealth, form a trifecta that negatively impacts the world in which we live. These are all huge problems that crop up in popular media, forming activist groups and spreading knowledge, but not enough is being done to hold greedy corporations accountable. Most Americans know that children are being used to produce the products we buy, but not all know that the conditions under which they work make them modern day slaves or the impact the use of forced labor has on competing "good guys". Because so many large corporations are cutting costs with child labor overseas, products made legally are more expensive. When business owners are utilizing safe building, taking into account environmental standards, and paying their workers legal wages, prices increase and profit decreases. Slave labor is controlling our market, and companies that use is are creating political, environmental, and economic issues, however, it is impossible to get rid of them. For example, Wal-mart plays a huge role in the global economy. An estimated 2,000,000 people work for Wal-mart worldwide, operating under the names Walmex in Mexico, Seiyu in Japan, and ASDA in the U.K., just to name a few. Instead of giving up on these companies, consumers and activists should harvest the power of influential companies to create social, environmental, and economic justice. In 2013, Wal-Mart has created a new Global Responsibility Report that explains how they have reduced waste, fed the poor, and worked on women's rights. Under the Ethical Sourcing tab, Wal-Mart acknowledges slave labor, forming alliances with activist groups like Free The Slaves. Through work with Wal-Mart, a company with seemingly endless resources, forced labor can be greatly diminished.