The Truth will prevail, But only if we Demand it from Congress!
9-11 Inside Job and Neocons Hacked 2004
Tapes Reviewed by ABC News Show Clinton As a Loyal Company Woman
By BRIAN ROSS, MADDY SAUER and RHONDA SCHWARTZ
Jan. 31, 2008—
In six years as a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors, between
1986 and 1992, Hillary Clinton remained silent as the world's
largest retailer waged a major campaign against labor unions seeking
to represent store workers.
Clinton has been endorsed for president by more than a dozen unions,
according to her campaign Web site, which omits any reference to her
role at Wal-Mart in its detailed biography of her.
Wal-Mart's anti-union efforts were headed by one of Clinton's fellow
board members, John Tate, a Wal-Mart executive vice president who
also served on the board with Clinton for four of her six years.
Tate was fond of repeating, as he did at a managers meeting in 2004
after his retirement, what he said was his favorite phrase, "Labor
unions are nothing but blood-sucking parasites living off the
productive labor of people who work for a living."
Wal-Mart says Tate's comments "were his own and do not reflect
Wal-Mart's views."
But Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and other company officials often
recounted how they relied on Tate to lead the company's successful
anti-union efforts.
An ABC News analysis of the videotapes of at least four stockholder
meetings where Clinton appeared shows she never once rose to defend
the role of American labor unions.
The tapes, broadcast this morning on "Good Morning America," were
provided to ABC News from the archives of Flagler Productions, a
Lenexa, Kan., company hired by Wal-Mart to record its meetings and
events.
A former board member told ABCNews.com that he had no recollection
of Clinton defending unions during more than 20 board meetings held
in private.
The tapes show Clinton in the role of a loyal company woman. "I'm
always proud of Wal-Mart and what we do and the way we do it better
than anybody else," she said at a June 1990 stockholders meeting.
Clinton would not agree to be interviewed on the subject but now
says she no longer shares Wal-Mart's values and believes unions
"have been essential to our nation's success."
The videotapes do show that Clinton used her role to push for more
environmentally friendly policies and better treatment of women.
"We've got a very strong-willed young woman on our board now; her
name is Hillary," said Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton at a 1987
stockholders meeting in describing Clinton's role in pushing for
more women to be hired in management positions.
Critics say Clinton's efforts produced few tangible results, and
Wal-Mart is now defending itself in a lawsuit brought by 16 current
and former female employees.
"I don't doubt the sincerity of her efforts, but we don't see much
evidence that conditions for women at Wal-Mart changed much during
the late 1980s and early 1990s," said Joe Sellers, one of the
lawyers suing Wal-Mart on behalf of the women.
Wal-Mart declined to comment to ABC News about the lawsuit, but the
company has said previously that it is confident it did not
discriminate against female employees.
According to the New York Times, Sen. Clinton "maintains close ties
to Wal-Mart executives through the Democratic Party and the tightly
knit Arkansas business community." The May 20, 2007 article also
reported that her husband, former President Clinton, "speaks
frequently to Wal-Mart's current chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr."
and held a private dinner at the Clinton's New York home in July
2006 for him.
