Wal-Mart’s Everyday Low Standards. Look Who’s Subverting U.S. Port Security

by Tula Connell, Apr 26, 2006

A few weeks ago, we released a report that got the attention of all those who care about the nation’s port security.

UNCHECKED: How Wal-Mart Uses Its Might to Block Port Security documents how the corporate monolith and its Washington, D.C., lobbyist, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), have systematically undermined America’s security by working to defeat or weaken new rules to make America’s seaports and supply chains safe from terrorist attacks.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney wrote “Wal-Mart’s Dirty Secret Is Out,” an op-ed published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the RILA countered with an opinion piece  stating it “would be irresponsible” to move forward with the AFL-CIO’s recommendations to increase security.

Cartoonist Dan Horsey depicted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (see above) what David Groves from the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) put into words in an e-mail alert last week:

Plain and simple, Wal-Mart and RILA are putting profits before American security. And that’s a big reason why the federal government has spent just $630 million—less than 4 percent of the $18 billion-plus we have spent since 9/11 on airport security—to make ports safer.

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