Making Change at Walmart’s (MCAW) Director Randy Parraz issued a statement on Feb. 6 in response to President Trump’s selection of Walmart CEO Doug McMillon to participate in his “Women in the Workforce” discussion.
“It is beyond comprehension that President Trump would appoint Walmart CEO Doug McMillon to help lead a discussion about women in the workforce. There are over 70 million working women in the U.S. and the President has completely shut them out of the conversation. Choosing the CEO of Walmart to lead this discussion, just adds insult to injury.
“To be clear, Walmart has a track record of being a female-unfriendly workplace by underrepresenting women in leadership positions, implementing insufficient sick day policy, and providing irregular work schedules.
“And under Walmart CEO Doug McMillon’s leadership, numerous human rights violations have been reported against workers, many of whom are women who work in overseas factories that supply Walmart products. According to a May 2016 report released by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, supply chain workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, and Indonesia are reporting sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions, low wages, denial of benefits, and forced overtime that has resulted in ‘mass fainting episodes resulting from over exertion, exacerbated by inadequate nutrition.’
“How much evidence must there be before it becomes clear that Walmart has no credibility when it comes to working women?
“Given the facts, it’s particularly ironic that President Trump chose Doug McMillon to lead a discussion about what to do with women in the workplace. If Walmart wants to improve the conditions for working women – perhaps they should start with their own workforce first.”