SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
June, 03 2016, 12:00pm EDT
Contact:
Perry Wheeler, Greenpeace Media Officer, P: 301-675-8766
Greenpeace Storms Walmart Shareholder Meeting to Call Out Failures on Human Rights
Greenpeace flew its thermal airship and drove a mobile billboard truck around Walmart's annual general meeting this week to highlight the company's failure to address ocean destruction and potential human rights abuses in its tuna supply chain. The airship featured banners that read, "Walmart: Clean up needed in the tuna aisle" and "Save oceans.
FAYETTEVILLE, AR
Greenpeace flew its thermal airship and drove a mobile billboard truck around Walmart's annual general meeting this week to highlight the company's failure to address ocean destruction and potential human rights abuses in its tuna supply chain. The airship featured banners that read, "Walmart: Clean up needed in the tuna aisle" and "Save oceans. Protect workers." The mobile billboard truck broadcasted graphics about Walmart's destructive Great Value canned tuna, which is supplied by Thai Union -- the largest tuna company in the world and owner of Chicken of the Sea.
"Walmart can no longer hide the very real threat of labor abuse and ocean destruction with its insufficient policy statements and greenwashing," said Greenpeace Senior Oceans Campaigner David Pinsky. "Shareholders and customers now know that Walmart is ignoring the possibility of horrific abuses of workers throughout its supply chain as it continues selling cheap canned tuna from seafood predator Thai Union."
Greenpeace is campaigning against Walmart for its sale of destructive and unethical canned tuna. Walmart has shirked its responsibility to adopt improved procurement policies and address the potential human rights abuses and rampant ocean destruction connected to Thai Union seafood. Greenpeace is calling on Walmart to demand more sustainable and ethical tuna from Thai Union or reject its products entirely.
"Walmart represents roughly one quarter of U.S. canned tuna sales and must use its buying power to clean up the exploitative tuna industry," said Senior Oceans Campaigner Jackie Dragon. "Walmart has a responsibility to take care of its own workers and ensure the fair and ethical treatment of those who bring products to store shelves. Ignoring the treatment of Thai Union tuna industry workers raises concerns about Walmart's standards throughout its entire supply chain."
Walmart has faced increasing pressure to address labor issues in stores and throughout its supply chains. United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) was also in Fayetteville to call on Walmart to provide a $15 living wage, predictable schedules, accommodations for health needs, and respect for all workers. Greenpeace stands in solidarity with the labor union in urging the retail giant to treat workers fairly from sea to factory to stores.
"Walmart is the world's largest retailer," said Randy Parraz, UFCW Campaign Director for Making Change at Walmart. "It is unacceptable that some workers in the US are paid so low they struggle to put food on tables and workers in Thai Union's supply chain abroad are subject to abuse. Walmart can and should do better."
A Walmart employee working with UFCW's Making Change at Walmart campaign who has encountered difficulties moving up and getting paid what she is worth spoke to a resolution on the AGM floor today. She urged Walmart to take responsibility for human rights abuse of workers and environmental impacts throughout its supply chains. The resolution, noting Walmart's connection to Thai Union, asked investors to vote for strong public commitments and policies from the retailer on canned tuna.
Over the last month Greenpeace activists have disrupted Thai Union's operations at multiple points in its supply chain. At Walmart stores in the U.S. and Canada, activists removed all Great Value and Chicken of the Sea canned tuna products from store shelves and interfered with their sale by hiding and pushing the products in carts around the store. Activists on Greenpeace's Esperanza ship removed and destroyed dozens of fish aggregating devices (FADs) -- destructive fishing gear that damages entire ecosystems -- from boats that supply Thai Union in the Indian Ocean. The ship crew also confronted a controversial vessel at the heart of Thai Union's supply chain and used spray paint to black out high-powered lights used for a fishing method linked to overfishing. And activists in France shut down and rebranded a Thai Union factory for 14 hours to prevent trucks from coming or going.
Walmart failed Greenpeace's 2015 U.S. canned tuna ranking for its sustainability and labor issues. The retailer also scored a mediocre 5.47/10 in Greenpeace's ninth edition of Carting Away the Oceans, which ranks retailers on seafood sustainability.
Greenpeace on Wednesday sent an investor briefing to top Walmart shareholders to detail concerns over Thai Union tuna. To access a media briefing on Walmart's canned tuna issues, please click here: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Walmart-Thai-Union-Canned-Tuna-Briefing.pdf
For photos and b-roll footage of the airship and billboard truck in Fayetteville, please click here: https://photo.greenpeace.org/collection/27MZIFJJ42LZ1
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
+31 20 718 2000LATEST NEWS
'Children Are Dying': UN Human Rights Chief Demands Trump End Economic Assault on Cuba
"The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable," said Volker Türk.
Jun 09, 2026
The United Nations' top human rights official on Monday implored the Trump administration to immediately lift its oil embargo and economic sanctions on Cuba as the island faces a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian emergency, with dire fuel shortages causing rolling blackouts, disrupting food supplies, and buckling hospitals.
“The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement. "Children are dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies and medicines. This is unacceptable. These sanctions must be lifted immediately."
Türk noted that key medical services on the island—including oncology and maternal health—have been severely damaged by US economic warfare this year and over the past decade, causing infant mortality to surge and childhood cancer survival rates to fall, among other impacts. The UN rights chief's office noted that "essential medicines are in critical short supply, with supply levels down to about 30%."
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged the shortages in an interview released Monday, saying that "we have very effective programs to care for children with cancer; today, these programs are limited by a shortage of medications and supplies, and as a result, the survival rates of these children with cancer are declining."
In his Monday statement, Türk also pointed to the sanctions' impact on the island's food supply, much of which is imported. Fuel shortages caused by US President Donald Trump's embargo—imposed in late January following his administration's abduction of Venezuela's president—have led to "a reported 60% decrease in food production and spikes in the costs of basic food items," according to the UN.
"Such severe sanctions packages that target entire sectors of an economy and produce broad, indiscriminate, and harsh effects on populations are incompatible with basic principles of international human rights law,” said Türk. "Cuba faces increasing isolation. Companies are leaving. Fewer airlines fly to the country. It is almost disconnected from international payment systems. Rising summer temperatures risk increasing the spread of vector-borne and waterborne diseases. The hurricane season further increases exposure."
"This creates a perfect storm for social and economic deterioration and suffering for the Cuban people," he warned.
The UN official's statement came amid fears that the Trump administration is preparing for a military assault on Cuba, which the US president has repeatedly threatened in the months following the illegal bombing and invasion of Venezuela.
"Cuba is next, by the way," Trump said in late March.
Politico reported in late May that the Pentagon is putting "building blocks in place" for an invasion of Cuba, "positioning the troops and weapons needed for the US to launch a military attack."
"All it needs is a final go-ahead from Donald Trump," the outlet reported.
The US military buildup and escalating economic warfare have led Democratic lawmakers to call for swift passage of a war powers resolution to prevent Trump from launching yet another military operation without congressional approval.
"Trump's belligerent foreign policy is creating new wars and conflicts across the world. As our country is already embroiled in a new war with Iran, the president has now set his sights on regime change in Cuba,” Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), a lead sponsor of the resolution, said last month. "This administration is rushing toward another disastrous war, putting countless American and foreign lives at risk."
Keep ReadingShow Less
GOP Blasted for 'Handout to the Superwealthy' Private Jet Owners Slipped Into Air Safety Bill
"Oh look—Republicans helping private-jet billionaires avoid paying taxes," said one Senate Democrat. "If only they worked that hard for consumers."
Jun 08, 2026
Nearly a year after congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump made private jets tax-deductible in last summer's budget package, they're again trying to push through legislation that would benefit people rich enough to own personal planes.
Members of Congress have been working on an air safety bill since a military helicopter collided with a passenger plane over the Potomac River last year, killing dozens of people. Early Monday, Politico reported on "a little-noticed" provision on private jets that was slipped into legislation passed by the House of Representatives in April, but not included in the Senate version.
The debated provision stems from the Federal Aviation Administration's 2020 requirement that aircraft adopt a satellite-based tracking technology called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out.
"Private aircraft owners go to great lengths to hide their aircraft from us," Jeff Prang, the assessor for California's Los Angeles County, told Politico. "This data helps us to identify where those aircraft are located."
Prang said that since the beginning of the year, the data has helped his office find an additional 1,000 aircraft in the county, with a total assessed value of $3.5 billion. Private jets in California are subject to sales tax and a 1% annual property tax, so "that's $35 million in local property taxes that aircraft owners had been avoiding," he explained.
The House provision states that the data "may not be used by any person, government agency, or other entity to identify aircraft for the purpose of obtaining revenue from the owner or operator of such aircraft" without permission.
If passed, billionaires will "get to fly private and pay NO taxes," Americans for Tax Fairness Americans warned on social media Monday. "This is a handout to the superwealthy—and we're going to pay for it."
Also responding to reporting, John Loftus, editor at large of the right-wing Daily Caller, suggested the policy could harm Republicans who are at risk of losing control of one or both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections.
"It's annoying and wrong that private jet owners dodge taxes. This is a great political issue for Democrats because they like to portray those with money as responsible for all ills in American society—$35 million in tax revenue for California is a drop in the ocean (and would likely get wasted anyway)," Loftus wrote. "Republican lawmakers trying to carve out this loophole in a midterm election makes them look sneaky and unconcerned with the issue on 99% of the population's mind: inflation."
Although Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is not up for reelection this cycle, he, too, noted the reporting: "Oh look—Republicans helping private-jet billionaires avoid paying taxes. If only they worked that hard for consumers."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Under Right to Record Act, People Could Sue Federal Agents for First Amendment Violations
“Without recordings, we wouldn’t know the truth of what happened to Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, Marimar Martinez, George Retes, and so, so many others,” said one of the bill's sponsors.
Jun 08, 2026
A pair of congressional Democrats on Monday introduced legislation that would protect the constitutional right to legally record federal agents and open the door to civil compensation for people whose rights have been violated.
Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut introduced the Right to Record Act, which according to Frost's office, "establishes the right to sue individual law enforcement agents if they violate First Amendment rights, including the right to record, observe, or peacefully protest."
“The First Amendment defends the right to assemble, protest, and record government officials in public," Frost said in a statement.
No federal agent is above the Constitution. My bill, the Right to Record Act, with @blumenthal.senate.gov strengthens your First Amendment right to record, observe, and peacefully protest — and gives you the power to sue federal agents who violate those rights.
[image or embed]
— Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@frost.house.gov) June 8, 2026 at 2:24 PM
"That right has never been more important. In cases like the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, officials and their allies tried to paint the victims as threats despite evidence showing otherwise,” the congressman said, referring to two people shot and killed during the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Operation Metro Surge anti-immigrant blitz in Minneapolis.
"Without firsthand recordings, those false narratives might have become the official story, which is why the Right to Record Act is so important," Frost added. "It would protect the public’s ability to expose the truth without fear, giving individuals a legal path forward if an officer does violate their constitutional rights.”
In the same statement, Blumenthal said that “over the last year, I’ve investigated dozens of cases of Americans brutalized by agents of their own government, and across the board, video footage corroborated their testimony—showing the world what they experienced and making sure that justice was served."
"Without recordings, we wouldn’t know the truth of what happened to Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, Marimar Martinez, George Retes, and so, so many others," the senator continued.
Martinez, a US citizen, was shot five times by a US Customs and Border Protection agent last October in Chicago while going to donate clothing to her church. Officer body camera footage showed that DHS officials—who labeled Martinez a "domestic terrorist"—lied about events leading up to the shooting.
Retes, who is also a US citizen, is an Iraq War veteran who was violently arrested last July during an immigration raid on his job site and subsequently jailed for three days.
"The right to bear witness has never been more important," Blumenthal said in his statement Monday. "I’m proud to work with Congressman Frost on bicameral legislation that will strengthen the right to record, observe, and peacefully protest—creating real enforcement tools for the protections of the First Amendment that lay the foundation for our democracy.”
Recording federal law enforcement agents in public is protected First Amendment activity, as long as the recorder is not interfering with the officers' duties. Federal courts have repeatedly upheld this right.
"The right to observe and record law enforcement is fundamental to our democracy," Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel with the ACLU—which has endorsed the Right to Record Act—asserted Monday.
"We can't hold our government accountable if we can't see for ourselves what they're doing in our communities," she argued. "Observing and filming allows people to create an independent record, share information with their communities, and demand better from our government."
"Protesting for what we believe in is a core American value, and observing and filming government activity can drive the protest movements that spark change," Leventoff added. "All of these rights are squarely protected by the First Amendment, and we're hopeful that Congress will codify them into law by enacting the Right to Record Act."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular