On April 18th a meeting was arranged by the Maharastra Chamber of Commerce, inviting Wade Rathke, founder and Chief Organizer of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, to speak on the impact of Wal-Mart in the US. Rathke addressed a crowd of about thirty, including members of the press to apprise local business owners of Wal-Mart’s business model and what that model would mean for small businesses and small-scale industries in a city like Mumbai, India’s financial capitial.
The meeting was also attended by Member of Parliament Eknath Thakur, Shiv Sena, the former President of the Maharastra Chamber of Commerce. MP Eknath Thakur, was keen to address take up the issue of predatory pricing in Parliament and use examples of US law, particularly the Patman Act as a template to bring before Parliament.
The exchange between Wade Rathke and the Maharastra Chamber of Commerce in Industry and Agriculture along with members of the Federation of Associations of Maharastra was an instructive dialogue and testament to how established business houses in India are facing the same threats that small businesses, cooperative stores and hawkers are facing and figuring out ways to cope.
The FDI in Retail Campaign has increased its range to go beyond opposing foreign direct investment in retail. The campaign has expanded its reach to take on domestic and foreign retailers, including recent partnerships like that between Wal-Mart and Reliance.
To read more about this change, see the following article from the Economic Times.
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