Wal-Mart Uses Its Might to Block Port Security

Wal-Mart and its Washington, D.C., lobbyist, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), have systematically undermined America’s security by working to defeat or weaken rules to make America’s seaports and supply chains safe from terrorist attacks. A new report by the AFL-CIO’s Jason Judd, Unchecked: How Wal-Mart Uses Its Might to Block Port Security, documents their efforts since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to ensure that “security requirements should not become a barrier to trade.”

With $11.2 billion in profits last year, Wal-Mart is RILA’s biggest and most influential member by far. Wal-Mart counts on the trade group’s representation in matters ranging from Maryland’s state law requiring large employers to pay minimal amounts for workers’ health care to challenges of other countries’ zoning and investment laws before the World Trade Organization.
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