Labor leader Stuart Appelbaum with Council Speaker Christine Quinn at the October 2009 National Equality March in Washington. (FACEBOOK.COM)

Stonewall to the Barricades Against Walmart

BY PAUL SCHINDLER

As the war over Walmart continues to rage in New York City, the Stonewall Democratic Club has voted to back the effort to keep the low-cost mega-retailer out of town.

In a resolution adopted following a January 26 presentation by Stuart Appelbaum, the out gay president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, the gay political group noted that the chain receives only a 40 percent grade from the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, compared to perfect 100 percent scores for other big retailers such as Macy’s and Costco.

HRC credits Walmart, the number two ranked company in the Fortune 1000, with a sexual orientation nondiscrimination policy, but none covering gender identity and expression. Same-sex partner benefits are limited to bereavement, relocation, and employee assistance programs, and there only where required by law, the Index shows.

No transgender-related health benefits are provided, and mandatory diversity training includes sexual orientation, but not gender identity.

The company does have marketing, advertising, and sponsorship programs geared to the gay community and has an officially recognized LGBT employee group.

HRC deducted 15 points from Walmart’s score in its evaluation of whether the company is a “good corporate citizen,” a subjective measure based on issues not otherwise scored by the Index.

Stonewall noted that Mike Duke, the company’s CEO, signed a petition to outlaw adoption by gay and lesbian parents in his home state of Arkansas, where that issue has been particularly contentious. The club also pointed out that more than 100 Walmart stores have carried a children’s book suggesting that the “sin” of homosexuality can be overcome through counseling.

“Walmart’s values are not our values and they are certainly not New York’s,” Stonewall said.

Steven Restivo, a Walmart spokesman, challenged the club’s assessment in comments to the Daily News, noting the LGBT employee group the company recognizes.

On February 3, the City Council held a hearing on the company’s efforts to penetrate the New York market with a store in East New York, Brooklyn. Councilmembers, including Speaker Christine Quinn, were harsh in their criticism of the company’s treatment of its employees and the potential impact a Walmart store could have on a neighborhood’s smaller businesses. A report issued last month by City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio found that for every job a new Walmart store creates, 1.4 jobs are lost elsewhere in the surrounding neighborhood.

The hearing, which lasted for four hours, drew a huge audience, also outspoken in their opposition to the chain moving into the city.

Walmart itself declined to appear at the hearing, and is instead waging a massive public relations effort to build public support to counter the opposition of elected officials and union leaders. That effort has enlisted Bradley Tusk, a former aide to impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich whom Mayor Michael Bloomberg recruited to run his 2009 reelection campaign.