Global corporations don’t get much bigger than Walmart and McDonald’s. We all know how disrespectful these two mega-companies are to their own workers – using poverty wages and unpredictable scheduling. But two new reports uncover how these companies also worsen conditions for workers down their supply chains:

• Golden Veneer: How McDonald’s Empty CSR Policies Failed Workers at Taylor Farms tells the story of workers at two fruit and vegetable processing facilities outside San Francisco who called McDonald’s for help when their employer, Taylor Farms, a McDonald’s supplier, was violating key provisions of the McDonald’s Supplier Code of Conduct, including suppressing the right to freedom of association. Rather than helping the workers, McDonald’s pulled its orders after a quick, secretive factory audit that ultimately led to workers losing their jobs and a heightened anti-union campaign from management. You can read more in the report, or by checking out the story in the Huffington Post.
• Walmart at the Crossroads: the Environmental and Labor Impact of Its Food Supply Chain, a report by the Food Chain Workers Alliance, a close ILRF partner, assesses the labor conditions of workers in Walmart’s food supply chain as well as the company’s environmental impact worldwide. Walmart’s influence on both suppliers and distributors in the food chain gives it incredible power in the global food system. Unfortunately, the report finds that Walmart and its suppliers have routinely violated its own code of ethics.

Together we can hold these corporations accountable for their poor behavior all the way down their supply chains. Please help spread the word about McDonald’s malfeasance at Taylor Farms, and sign this petition to pressure Walmart to use its market influence to help, rather than exploit, the workers who produce the goods on its shelves.