Walmart is rolling out a global program to benefit women but it won’t help their own female U.S. retail employees.

Recently Walmart made our unofficial list of workplaces that are unfriendly to women. For years, the company has been fighting the largest class action gender discrimination lawsuit in history. In June 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there was no evidence of a centralized corporate conspiracy by Walmart to discriminate against women, so they decertified the class action and cast the individual claims back into the lower courts. These cases are still pending. Now Walmart has turned around and announced an ambitious, global initiative to benefit women.

On September 14, Walmart unveiled their Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative. Emphasis on global, and add “external women.” Nowhere in Walmart’s entire we-love-women press release or dog-and-pony webcast did the phrase “female Walmart U.S. retail workers” ever come up. Of course, any corporate lawyer would caution against this while the individual discrimination cases are pending, but it was the pink elephant in the room during the entire presentation.

President and CEO Mike Duke listed four goals the company has set toward making “…Walmart the best place for women to work at all levels.” The company plans to develop and advance women leaders, build a pipeline of women talent, promote inclusion, and invest in women externally. Duke made clear that the rest of the discussion would focus solely on the fourth goal, although the first three were crying out for discussion and elaboration.

As far as things go for women outside the organization, Walmart is committing to an enormous program. In their press release, Walmart details plans through 2016.

1. Over the next five years, the company will source $20 billion from women-owned businesses in the U.S. and double sourcing from women suppliers internationally.
2. New programs will help 60,000 women working in factories that supply products to Walmart and other retailers develop the skills they need to become more active decision-makers in their jobs and for their families.
3. Successful retail training programs will be scaled to help 200,000 women receive job training and education internationally. In the U.S., Walmart will help 200,000 women from low-income households gain job skills and access higher education.
4. The company will work with major professional service firms and merchandise suppliers with over $1 billion in sales to increase women and minority representation on Walmart accounts.
5. The company will support women’s economic empowerment programs with more than $100 million in grants. Funding will come from the Walmart Foundation and donations directly from Walmart’s international businesses.

Frankly, it sounds great. Women and women-owned businesses could use a benefactor like Walmart. But how can a company claim to support women and families around the world while ignoring the concerns of their own female employees and fighting them in court? More than 1.5 million women joined the original class action claim. Every company has dissatisfied employees, but this should be a red flag the size of Texas. Yet Walmart acts as though none of it ever happened as they proclaim their admiration and respect for women and deny any correlation between their legal problems and the announcement of this program. Not only do they not publicly acknowledge any issues within their own organization, they are mandating that the companies they work with promote women to work on Walmart accounts. That’s pretty bold.

Despite the many questionable business practices that have come to light in recent years, Walmart is a very smart company. The Walmart C-suite knows that women are good for more than just cheap(er) labor – women also make the vast majority of household buying decisions. Duke acknowledges that globally, women control $20 trillion in annual spending. Repairing its image and convincing women that it cares about women and families to cement customer loyalty in one fell swoop is a very shrewd move.

This might be a shamefully soulless PR stunt, yet it’s one that could benefit hundreds of thousands of women worldwide. Should we embrace it? If it was another company who had a proven track record for supporting and promoting women within their own organization, all the way down to the line workers, there would be no doubt. But considering Walmart’s disregard for women in its lower ranks, this fervent support for women rings hollow. Maybe someday they might even come back to those first three goals. As Dr. Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations told Walmart, “The world will be watching.”

image: Melissa Wall

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A weekly roundup of EcoSalon’s top stories.

For some women, skirts inspire feelings of love mixed with hate. EcoSalon West Coast fashion correspondent Rowena Ritchie writes in Skirting The Issues, “Hemlines are the litmus test of fashion history as a cultural study.” Do you agree?

If you’re like most people, you have a mountain of reusable bags that we hope you’re using and not just stockpiling to show how green you are. EcoSalon Editor-in-Chief, Sara Ost pens in her column The Insider’s Guide To Life: the Revolution Will Not Be Bagged, “Most of the time, I’m just amused by how relentless the bag pushers are. Rather than sigh in irritation during my moments of canvas bag forgetfulness, I’ve actually taken to forgetting my reusable bags on purpose just to see if I can be allowed out of the store without a bag for my chives or new d’Orsays. No one has called me crazy to my face. But their eyes say it all.”

We women have all had bad bosses, but your ex-heavy isn’t anything compared to these featured in senior editor Andrea Newell’s article, The Five Worst Companies For Women To Work At. Newell features “Five organizations that have recently been on the wrong end of allegations and legal action by women for gender discrimination and other unfair practices aimed primarily at female employees.”

People walk into your house and say, “You have the most original house of anyone I know.” After they say this, you scan your room overflowing with tropical plants, vintage lamps, a worn-in couch with Danish Mid-Century side tables and think to yourself “Huh?” Christiane Lemieux, founder and creative director of DwellStudio and author of Undecorate, would call your eclecticism a “Love of imperfection and penchant for surprise and unusual juxtapositions.” In Color Outside The Lines, Shelter Editor Leigha Oakes shows us how to break the rules.

Are there vegetables you always see at your farmer’s market or grocery store that you want to try out but are afraid of? In Vanessa Barrington’s Green Plate column, 5 Spring Vegetables To Love Right Now, five of those veggies are tackled with ease.

Image: cogdogblog

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Gender bias still thrives in some workplaces.

Women are still fighting battles in the workplace, including unequal pay, low numbers in the C-suite, sexual harassment, and, in some cases, even rape and assault. Here are five organizations that have recently been on the wrong end of allegations and legal action by women for gender discrimination and other unfair practices aimed primarily at female employees.

KBR

Jaws dropped when KBR was voted number 46 on a list of the best companies for work for by Woman Engineer magazine. The company has been sued several times by female employees alleging sexual assaults and sexual harassment by KBR employees. In addition, the company required employees to sign contracts that took away their constitutional right to bring civil action in the event of sexual assault or other grievance – instead, forcing them to agree to confidential and binding arbitration. That practice is now being scrutinized by the U.S. Senate, which estimates that 30 million Americans have unknowingly signed away their legal rights with similar contracts.

Perhaps the most famous case is Jamie Leigh Jones. After only four days on the job, Jones was drugged and raped by seven U.S. contractors in 2005. Afterward, she was held captive by two KBR guards in a shipping container. She fought for over four years for her day in court as a result of her employee contract (Republican leadership infamously came to the defense of KBR). Her attorney, Todd Kelly, has represented five former KBR employees who have alleged sexual assault or harassment and told ABC News some 40 women have contacted his office about alleged incidents while they were working for KBR.

Walmart

It began with Betty Dukes. After years of being passed over for promotion, she and five other female employees filed a federal discrimination suit against Walmart in 2001. The women allege there is a centralized culture biased against women in the organization and cite more than 100 specific instances of discrimination. 80 percent of Walmart hourly workers are women, while less than one-third of managers are women. The plantiffs claim that Walmart favors men for higher pay and promotions.

The case has grown into a landmark fight as the women have become representatives for 1.5 million female employees who also claim to have been victims of discriminatory practices at the largest employer in the U.S. Together they are bringing a massive discrimination suit against the retailer.

Arguments reached the U.S. Supreme Court in March 2011, where the justices will determine if the suit can move forward as a class action. Walmart claims these were isolated incidents, not a widespread company attitude against women. If the case remains a class action and the plaintiffs win, it could have a big impact on how employers throughout the country treat female employees in the future. If the Supreme Court dismantles the class action, each woman would be left to fight their own case individually, which is much less expensive for Walmart and a bigger uphill battle for the women. The court’s decision is expected by summer 2011.

Goldman Sachs

In September 2010, Goldman Sachs, home of the 10,000 Women initiative, was sued by three former female employees who allege discrimination in pay and advancement. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that in the complaint, one of the former employees said, “Men at Goldman Sachs are viewed more favorably, receive more compensation, and are more likely to be promoted.” After one former employee reported being kissed and groped by another male employee, she was punished by hostile attitudes and her career suffered. In the meantime, the male colleague she accused was steadily promoted and his compensation increased by more than 400 percent.

There are very few women at the director and partner level, compared to lower levels at the firm, but Goldman Sachs counters by claiming that their numbers are comparable to and even better than many other financial firms. In March 2010, a former vice president at the firm also filed suit claiming bias. After she gave birth and chose to work part-time, she claims that she was pushed onto the “mommy track” and eventually fired.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals

In May 2010, after a six-week trial, a jury found Novartis guilty of discriminatory practices against women. Twelve women, representing 5,600 women, alleged that women were discriminated against in pay, promotions and pregnancy-related issues.

Kate Kimpel, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told Swissinfo.ch, “Novartis had a corporate culture that expected female sales reps to be ‘available and amenable to sexual advances’ from the doctors they met while marketing drugs. ‘To add insult to injury, Novartis paid those same women less, wouldn’t promote them into management, and punished them if they got pregnant.’”

During the trial, the plaintiffs presented testimony about a district manager who showed female workers pornographic images and invited them to sit in his lap. Novartis’ lawyer Richard Schnadig explained, “He was an embarrassment to the company. He wasn’t that bad a manager. He was just terrible with women.”

U.S. Armed Forces

In February 2011, two men and 15 women, veterans and active-duty service members, filed a federal lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department of Defense of permitting an armed forces culture that does nothing to prevent rape and sexual assault. When crimes are reported, they mishandled the cases, violating the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights. The New York Times reported that the suit specifically names Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, claiming they “ran institutions in which perpetrators were promoted and where military personnel openly mocked and flouted the modest congressionally mandated institutional reforms.” In addition, they failed “to take reasonable steps to prevent plaintiffs from being repeatedly raped, sexually assaulted and sexually harassed by federal military personnel.”

The plaintiffs claim that soldiers that make any sort of complaint in the military are likely to experience retaliation and have nowhere to turn for help. In this oppressive climate, many sexual assaults are not even reported. Even attempts at sexual harassment and assault education were mocked. Plaintiffs related an incident where a soldier stripped naked and danced on the table during a break in a class on the prevention of sexual harassment and assault. Another incident involved two men who raped a woman, videotaped it, and distributed the tape to her colleagues.

In 2005, Congress mandated the creation of a task force on military sexual assault, but by 2008 the Government Accountability Office (GAO), determined that it had spent $15 million but could not substantiate any proven results. In 2009 reported sexual assaults went up 11 percent, according to the Department of Defense, resulting in one third of the women serving in the military reporting having been sexually assaulted. Even the Pentagon admits that these probably only represent about 20 percent of actual incidents. The Daily Beast reports that female recruits “are now far more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed in combat.” Women aren’t the only victims in this case. More than fifty percent of those who are diagnosed with Military Sexual Trauma are men.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Susan L. Burke, stated, “You should not have to be subjected to being raped or sexually assaulted because you volunteered to serve this nation.”

We’ve got a long way to go, baby.

Image: cinnamon_girl

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Rather than raise our voices, we girls at EcoSalon prefer to write about it, because if you need to scream, my guess is you aren’t so certain what you have to say is worth hearing.

And really, who wants to hear a grown woman roar?

In the past few months at EcoSalon, women have taken center stage with subjects ranging from brazen to, well, more brazen. If only we could change the world with our steadfast, unwavering commitment to talking about what matters.

Oh yeah, we are.

So what have we been discussing lately with regards to women? The question should be, what haven’t we?

We talked about getting older – why welcoming 30 and reaching for 40 with gusto is a reason to celebrate. Although with age comes the need to decide short versus long…hair, that is.

Is there ever a good time to talk about infertility? But we did. Then we tossed around the wild proposition that we don’t need a baby to feel happy and fulfilled. The horror! Which brings us to contraception and the dirty, sexy pill.

While we’re on the subject of sex, we want our cake, and to eat it too. I mean, why should we have to choose?

Speaking of choices, why are being pretty and smart mutually exclusive? We can have it all! Right?

Wrong. It’s time to face the cold, hard truth. Our fantasy lover is not showing up to sweep us off our feet, because he doesn’t exist. Reality checks can be so annoying.

And so is the office flirt who makes her way to the top using her sexy. But it seems she’ll pay the price once she gets there.

Sticks and stones – but names can be controversial. Gal, chick, girl, lady or ma’m? You decide.

And finally, it’s a relief to know that there are at least nine things we don’t need in order to be happy, and that after all this talk, a little silence and a good book can be a girl’s best friend.

Images: squacco, sleepishly, Vivian Chen, quinn.anya, Samdogs

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If you are well acquainted with EcoSalon, you know we don’t shy away from controversial issues. In fact, we welcome them. Rarely is there one right answer, and remaining open-minded in the face of difficult discussions is what EcoSalon strives to achieve.

And 2010 was no exception. It was indeed a stellar year for serious and many-sided environmental discussions. We hope you enjoyed the controversy, I mean year, as much as we did!

Here’s our greatest hits list for 2010:

GINK (Green Inclinations, No Kids) – Want to help the environment? Stop procreating. Turns out, going childless is the greenest choice of all. GINK describes women who decide not to have kids for any number of reasons, but mainly they consider the childless choice a huge gain for the environment. And furthermore, did you know that women can find peace, contentment and even happiness sans baby? Amazing!

Gulf Series – The BP Oil spill last April was tragic and terrifying to witness from afar, but when one of our writers traveled to the Gulf of Mexico and reported back, we got much more than we bargained for, including the devastating details of the aftermath and cleanup.

Gyre Series – Plastic pollution is collecting in the earth’s waters. It’s a catastrophic problem and one that we followed first hand (well, almost) while sailing the South Atlantic Gyre. Actually, Stiv Wilson, one of our editors, went on the adventure and yes, he lived to tell us all about it. In fact, the saga continues.

Politics versus Science – It was a big year for politics and science, with solar panels reappearing on the White House, emails leaking with twisted facts and figures, and a newly elected Republican Congress and the resurgence of climate change denial. One battle after another. We faced the Global Warming deniers and naysayers but in the end it seems, Americans still trust science. Phew!

Fur? Leather? Vegan? Oh yes! – Debate and controversy ran rampant in the fashion arena this year, and no one came out wrong. The fur versus leather discussion continued, while vegans consistently said no to anything animal. But if anything artificial and man-made only adds to the mess we’re in, why not wear fur? So many questions, all sorts of answers. In the end it comes down to personal preference and hopefully, an earnest attempt to pay attention to the planet.

Gender & Sexism – 2010 was also a big year for the ladies, or wait – is it gals or women or dames? It was a big year, as in, we’re still not making as much, still being asked why we’re not married and having babies, and still can’t be both smart and pretty. Further complicating the matter, green itself has been accused of sexism! How’s that for progress, eh?

Apple – One of the most anticipated events of the year was the launch of the iPad. We also saw a plethora of eco-friendly iPhone covers, and others made of rosewood, plants and bamboo. But no matter how green our gadgets, will we always wonder whether we can live without them? Yep, probably.

Food Revolution – 2010 saw schools saying adios to junk food (and Sara Palin getting mad about it), urbanites saying yes to farming, and more discussion about the problem that is the global food system. In other news – the concept of being a foodie rose in our consciousness this year, as people became increasingly fascinated with culinary culture and great cuisine. From food carts to all things pork to urban wineries, the foodie has arrived – your table is ready!

Electric Cars – It was a year to remember for the electric car. With the new EPA fuel efficiency labels meaning business, car manufacturers did the same. It seems everyone who’s anyone had an entry into the electric lineup – Mercedes and BMW, the Nissan Leaf (which was already sold out in the U.S. by July) and the Chevy Volt. And it appears we’ll be seeing more charging stations in the next year as well. Good thing!

Gorgeous Green Living – 2010 was full of talk about prefab, small spaces and McMansions, but EcoSalon saw a subtler, deeper theme at play: how green, vintage and good taste combine to make gorgeous living. We immersed ourselves in all areas of art and design and garnered loads of green lessons from what we found. We researched and scoured the web to bring you design insights, ideas and inspiration. Because in these not-so-stable times – when we can control our spaces, our immediate surroundings, but not much else – a visceral dose of art and color and gorgeous is oh-so-wonderful.

and last, but definitely not least…

We decided that Green Needs to Grow Up – It cannot be coddled nor supported uncritically. We owe it to ourselves and our future generations to insist upon good standards and good products in green. So when things like deodorant and amusement parks announce they are green all over, we investigate. We’re tired of greenwashing and false advertising, and you should be, too.

Images: Deepwater Horizon Response, kevindooley, Stiv Wilson, NASA Goddard Photo and Video, jessjamesjake, xjyxjy, Robert Scoble, bokchoi-snowpea, Lisa Cohen (via Living Inside), CoCreatr.

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Imagine a world without women. No, it’s not the tagline for some gloomy successor to Atwood’s feminist dystopia in The Handmaid’s Tale – it’s about us. We live in a world where women are dying, frequently, at ages above and beyond expected natural mortality rates. Women live longer and often healthier lives than men but only in Western societies. Elsewhere, that’s simply not the case. Throughout Asia and North Africa, women are in need of our help.

Indian economist Amartya Sen, writing in The New York Review of Books in 1990, called these women – all 100 million of them – the ‘missing women’.

Almost two decades later, the women are still dying. In fact, in  2005  the United Nations put the number of “˜missing women’ at 200 million or higher. And more recently, two researchers looking at population statistics, confirmed that the ratio of women to men in developing countries remains way below the norm.

More importantly, the researchers found that the “˜women’ were not dying, as previously assumed, in the first four years of life. Instead, the majority of the “˜missing women’ were much, much older.

One could argue that it’s simply a result of biological, social, environmental, behavioural, and economic factors. But, more likely, they died and are still dying because they live in a world where they are totally undervalued. A world where they often have unequal access (as compared to men) to medical care, food,  or social services. A world where, to many, it’s acceptable to neglect, abuse, and attack women – emotionally, physically, and sexually.  A world where gang rape of children is rampant.

In this day and age, it’s hard to comprehend that this form of gender discrimination still happens. But, sadly, it does.

Images: babasteve

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