Former United Nations ambassador and Atlanta mayor Andrew Young will be the public spokesman for a group organized with backing from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that defends the world's largest retailer against mounting attacks from its critics.
Working Families for Wal-Mart, a group of community leaders from across the country, was set to announce Monday that Young will be the chairman of its 16 member steering committee formed in December to counter charges from two union-backed groups that are pressuring Wal-Mart to improve wages and benefits.
Young said he will be a public face for the group, giving interviews and publishing opinion articles defending the company. ''They are some of the best entry level jobs that are available to poor people. And they also make products available to the working poor,'' Young said in a phone interview from Atlanta.
The ordained minister, three-term U.S. congressman and former mayor of Atlanta currently heads GoodWorks International, which pairs corporations and governments on global issues.
Young said he is not being paid but that GoodWorks has a contract from Working Families for Wal-Mart for consulting work. Wal-Mart is the largest financial backer of the group. Working Families for Wal-Mart declined to disclose how much Wal-Mart contributes or what it is paying GoodWorks.
Wal-Mart's critics, including the groups WakeUpWalMart.com and WalMartWatch.com, have attacked the company for not providing more health coverage and for other practices. Maryland's legislature overturned a governor's veto of a bill that would require Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health care or pay the difference into the state's Medicaid fund.
Wal-Mart and other large retailers have had fights with cities over attempts to locate new stores in crowded areas. Critics say the stores compound the problems of congestion. And Wal-Mart is the target of numerous lawsuits, including a pending class action in California in which the company is accused of discrimination against women in pay and promotion.
Young, himself a former union organizer, said he decided to get involved because he believed much of the criticism levied at Wal-Mart by unions was one-sided and wrong.
''The union position is talking about the redistribution of wealth, but they're not talking about generating new wealth. Wal-Mart is generating new wealth when it comes in,'' he said. ''The pluses outweigh the minuses. They do give benefits, they do have health insurance.''