Socially responsible investors appear in no mood to ease the pressure
on retail giant Wal-Mart, despite its dramatic recent announcement that
it will adopt a range of CSR measures.
Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a
coalition of 275 institutional investors that control assets of more
than $110billion (£63bn), have filed seven resolutions on CSR-related
issues, while others have tabled four more. Last year Wal-Mart faced 11
resolutions on social and environmental topics.
Equal opportunities, racial discrimination, product safety, healthcare
insurance and executive pay are among the subjects on which resolutions
have been filed this year.
David Schilling, director of the global corporate accountability
programme at ICCR, said the continued high number of resolutions
reflected scepticism that Wal-Mart would honour the social and
environmental pledges its chief executive Lee Scott made in late 2005
(EP7, issue 7, p3). However, the ICCR said it also felt there may now
be a better chance of achieving its demands.
