The head of a civil rights group praised Walmart, Target and Koch Industries Wednesday for their hiring policies, saying they were providing an example to other businesses by not demanding that job applicants reveal past criminal convictions.
Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, singled out the companies for praise during a press conference Wednesday calling for a prohibition on federal contractors requiring job applicants to disclose any prior criminal convictions. Activists have dubbed the effort “ban the box,” in reference to the check-off box often included in employment applications. They argue the practice unfairly discriminates against minorities.
“We should really give a tip of the hat to Walmart, to Koch Industries and to Target as three of our nation’s largest employers, who have demonstrated both the courage but also the smart idea of really banning the box, and that has had not negative affect whatsoever on their employment practices. In fact, it has helped to expand employment opportunity and [provide] a broader array of talent for their company to consider. Certainly, those industries would not adopt policies that hurt their bottom line,” Henderson said.
He went on to praise their “civic engagement and commitment to fair play in the workforce” and said the federal government should follow their example. The conference is a coalition of more than 200 civil, human and labor rights groups.
The praise was noteworthy because both Walmart and billionaires David and Charles Koch, who run their namesake company, have long been targets of liberal activist groups. Organized labor has fought a running battle to unionize Walmart, funding activist groups such as OUR Walmart and Wake-Up Walmart to organize protests against the company and mount public relations campaigns against it. The Kochs, who are major funders of conservative organizations, have been similarly targeted by labor groups.
Several of the unions that have been active in the movements against both are also members of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, such as the AFL-CIO labor federation, the Service Employees International Union, the United Food and Commercial Workers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
This is not the first time a civil rights organization has broken with liberal groups over the Kochs. Last year, the United Negro College Fund was criticized by AFSCME for accepting a $25 million gift from the Kochs. Michael Lomax, the fund’s president, told the union to get over it. “For over 70 years we have never had a litmus test and we have asked all Americans to support our cause,” he said.
President Obama has held events at Walmarts, much to the consternation of his liberal allies.
