N.Y. Council Members Tell Walmart to Stop Donating in City

A majority of the New York City Council is demanding that Walmart and the Walton Family Foundation stop funding local charities, terming the grants a ploy to blunt criticism of Walmart’s workplace practices and win support for its effort to locate stores in the city, the New York Post reports.

“We know how desperate you are to find a foothold in New York City to buy influence and support here,” says the letter, address to both the company and the foundation and signed by 26 of the 51 council members. “Stop spending your dangerous dollars in our city.”

Walmart announced last week that it distributed $3-million to New York nonprofits in 2013, including $1-million to the New York Women’s Foundation, which promotes economic opportunity for women and girls. The retail giant has sought to open a store in the city for more than a decade but has faced strenuous opposition, particularly from labor groups.

Nonprofit recipients of the company’s largesse denounced the council’s demand, and a Walmart spokesman said the firm has “no intention of cutting off the support we provide” to New York organizations, the Post also reports.