Has anyone seen the Wal-Mart movie? There's a trailer for it here: http://www.walmartmovie.com/ PBS also did a Frontline piece on Wal-Mart that showed its practices.
While its true that other companies and corporations are profit mongers and unscrupulous pariah, they are no where near the scale that Wal-Mart is. It isn't just the mom and pop store that are going under. Because of Wal-Marts demands for lower prices, Rubbermaid and Masterlock had to shut down many plants and fire all the people that work there. GE, Levi Strauss, and Dial soap had to close American plants, and shift work to overseas. Wal-Mart is also the largest corporation in the world.
I do understand that because of finances, or logistics, some people are forced to shop there. But in Tampa, there are two stores that are offering $4 drugs, Wal-Mart and Target. Will most people go to Target where the cost of other goods is higher, but the company is ethical? Or will they go to Wal-mart to save a few bucks?
Walmart DICTATES to corporation the prices of goods they have PLENTY of power and money to provide for the employees they just chose not to.
Nobody holds a gun to a salesman's head and makes him sell to Walmart.
I should know, I built a company that manufactures and sells stuff and I've had to walk away from high-volume deals that looked like they *might* be good if *everything* went right and the customer reordered. But any little problem could have you selling your product for cost or less. I don't like to gamble. When I sell my products, I'm much happier to sell less and get a fair profit on every sale. Besides, it's way easier to maintain high quality when you're producing less and you have the time and money to find and fix quality issues when they happen.
Back in the 80's there was a saying in the computer peripheral business.. "The quickest way to go broke is to get a big order from IBM". So there's nothing new about Walmart's behavior. Let the Chinese build their stuff and let the people that don't know/care buy it.
Believe it or not, there are good markets for specialty stuff of all kinds that can be made in the US for a profit. But it's not stuff that will ever sell in Walmart.
and that is the biggest hoax walmart has pulled in my opinion.. they sold it under "american made" remember the flags in the stores? then did a double run and told the companies do this or we are going to china! granted they could say no but it is the largeszt retailer in america nad it would have meant lost jobs and certainly some serious cut backs.
tupperware claims Walmart did them in , some claim they played hard and dirty. Was it needed? well it is business for sure but do not come off as Mr retail americana in the process when you have a plan that murders any and nearly all competition. at least Walmart is not playing to love the red white and blue now they would get in trouble but in the 80's they did and that is how they did build it up to come up here north , with the super stores.
and that is the biggest hoax walmart has pulled in my opinion.. they sold it under "american made" remember the flags in the stores? then did a double run and told the companies do this or we are going to china! granted they could say no but it is the largeszt retailer in america nad it would have meant lost jobs and certainly some serious cut backs.
I certainly do. And I remember trying to go back and find an American-made ceiling fan. All made in China. Of all the duplicious stuff Walmart has been accused of, the great Made-in-America switcheroo was the worst.
"We continually hear about the shrinking middle class. It's shrinking because immigrants that lived in a cardboard and tin shack in their country can come here and live in a real apartment with electricty, plumbing, heat and AC. Work less eat better, and "free" health care.
What we consider poor, and under-privledged, they consider middle class. They even have a car!! Unheard of in their country except wealthy people.
SO business owners can get workers for 5.00 an hour who are happy to get it. It pulls down all wages."
I think you may have a valid point regarding those who are willing to work for such low wages, but I am not convinced it is a problem resulting from immigrants. The part of the country I live in, certainly has immigrants, but not an overwhelming number of them. Additionally, a decent number of the immigrants here are college educated and/or business owners. I'd say the bulk of the employees I see working at Walmart, McDonalds, Burger King, etc. are U.S. Born and raised.
Will most people go to Target where the cost of other goods is higher, but the company is ethical?
and you know this how??? Has anyone, PBS?, targeted Target??? anyone gone after them??? Did you know Target is owned by a French company? Did you also know they banned the Salvation Army from their entry last year.... no bell ringers!! I don't know that Target is more ethical than wally. None of us know.
And ethics are a matter of interpretation anyway. It ....ed me off that they banned the SA but I still bought some stuff there. I admire those who can afford to boycott wally, and I admire the ones that can't afford to, but do, even more.
Belle... my my aren't we condecending... In case you didn't know... there are all kinds of people in this world, many are doing well to keep it together at all. What they look like isn't high on their list of concerns. All is not sweetness and light for most people in this world. You should be ashamed.
Come on, y'all.... I didn’t say ALL Wal-Mart customers fit that profile and certainly didn’t intend to indicate that, especially since I said I do shop there myself. Heck, I’ve even been on a three day bender before, but was too tired to leave the house.
It’s my perception that Wal-Marts attract a less than stellar element of society, perhaps it's due to the quick decline of the quality in surrounding neighborhoods and their property value, the increase in crime and just the casual observances of the parking lot and the customers. Maybe it's only the case in Mississippi and Florida where I've lived, but I think it's more prevalent than that.
In Orlando, the local police blotter indicates that the crime rate in a 5-square-mile area of MetroWest jumped more than 70 percent in the first year after Wal-Mart's arrival in August 2001. Traffic accidents rose 31 percent, property crimes 110 percent, robberies 231 percent and car thefts 56 percent, according to the Orlando Police Department. [Orlando Sentinel, January 27, 2003]
One study analzyed 32 Wal-Mart Stores and 32 Target Stores within 10 miles of each other. The average police incidents in 2004 for each of the Wal-Mart Stores was 770. The average police incidents for the Target Stores during the same period – 170. Crime at Wal-Mart Stores is 353% higher than that of Target Stores. Furthermore, the rate of “serious or violent” crimes at Wal-Mart stores is 6 times the rate of those at Target Stores. I won’t even go into the economic impact this has on the community, police departments and tax payers.
You can go here to see how much crime there is at your local Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart Crime
The Wal-Marts that are most successful are generally located in rural and small towns where they have run off any serious competition and there isn’t any other choice for consumers. I know when I go home to Mississippi to visit, we always have to go to Wal-Mart if for no other reason than to see folks because that’s the only place left to shop, so that’s where everyone is. They are also more successful in MSA’s where income levels are lower than the national average. In more urban, larger areas where Target and other stores provide viable competition, they aren’t near as profitable.
Even most of the “name brand” things they sell are cheaper/less quality made knock-offs made especially for Wal-Mart. These are things the manufacturer would never sell in a more reputable store or one that prides itself on selling quality products.
LOW PRICES OR FRAUD?
Furthermore, they aren’t really the low price leader that many people think they are. It’s a perfect example of yelling the lie loud enough and long enough and folks will eventually believe it. Besides that, they frequently charge more than the price posted on the shelves, so whether folks realize it or not, they are paying as much if not more than if they had shopped elsewhere.
86.7% of the Wal-Mart stores sampled in California failed to meet the federal standard for pricing accuracy. 84.6% of the Wal-Mart stores sampled in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana failed to meet the federal standard for price accuracy.
In Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana, 6.4% of all of the items purchased for the study were priced incorrectly. In California, 8.3% of all of the items purchased for the study were priced incorrectly.
In the IL, MI, IN study the mean value of the difference between the actual price and the stated price for items overcharged was $1.33. In the CA study the mean value of the difference between the actual price and the stated price for items overcharged was $1.09.
Wal-Mart’s 2006 Annual Report reported that the company faced 57 wage and hour lawsuits. Major lawsuits have either been won or are working their way through the legal process in states such as California, Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. [Wal-Mart Annual Report 2006]
A Pennsylvania court, also in December 2005, approved a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. by employees in Pennsylvania who say the company pressured them to work off the clock. The class could grow to include nearly 150,000 current or former employees. [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 12, 2006 ]
The State of Connecticut, investigating Wal-Mart’s child labor practices after the federal investigation ended, found 11 more violations. In June 2005, Connecticut fined Wal-Mart Stores Inc. $3,300 over child labor violations after a state investigation found that some minors lacked proper paperwork and were operating hazardous equipment at the stores. [“Wal-Mart Is Fined for Child Labor Violations,” Bloomberg News, June 22, 2005]
TAX PAYER HAZARDS
* The estimated total amount of federal assistance for which Wal-Mart employees were eligible in 2004 was $2.5 billion. [The Hidden Price We All Pay For Wal-Mart, A Report By The Democratic Staff Of The Committee On Education And The Workforce, 2/16/04]
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
# In 2005, Wal-Mart reached a $1.15 million settlement with the State of Connecticut for allowing improperly stored pesticides and other pollutants to pollute streams. This was the largest such settlement in state history. [Hartford Courant, 8/16/05]
# In May 2004, Wal-Mart agreed to pay the largest settlement for stormwater violations in EPA history. The United States sued Wal-mart for violating the Clean Water Act in 9 states, calling for penalties of over $3.1 million and changes to Wal-Mart’s building practices. [u.S. Environmental Protection Agency, May 12, 2004, U.S. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 2004 WL 2370700]
# In 2004, Wal-Mart was fined $765,000 for violating Florida’s petroleum storage tank laws at its automobile service centers. Wal-Mart failed to register its fuel tanks, failed to install devices that prevent overflow, did not perform monthly monitoring, lacked current technologies, and blocked state inspectors. [Associated Press, 11/18/04]
# In Georgia, Wal-Mart was fined about $150,000 in 2004 for water contamination. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2/10/05]
WAL-MART AND CHINA
If Wal-Mart were an individual economy, it would rank as China’s eighth-biggest trading partner, ahead of Russia, Australia and Canada. [China Business Weekly, 12/02/2004]
* Workers making clothing for Wal-Mart in Shenzhen, China filed a class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart in September 2005 claiming that they were not paid the legal minimum wage, not permitted to take holidays off and were forced to work overtime. They said their employer had withheld the first three months of all workers' pay, almost making them indentured servants because the company refused to pay the money if they quit. [New York Times, September 14, 2005]
* Workers making toys for Wal-Mart in China’s Guangdong Province reported that they would have to meet a quota of painting 8,900 toy pieces in an eight hour shift in order to earn the stated wage of $3.45 a day. If they failed to meet that quota, the factory would only pay them $1.23 for a day’s work. [China Labor Watch, December 21, 2005]
* Workers from Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Nicaragua and Swaziland brought a class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart in September 2005 asserting that the company’s codes of conduct were violated in dozens of ways. They said they were often paid less than the legal minimum wage and did not receive mandated time-and-a-half for overtime, and some said they were beaten by managers and were locked in their factories. [New York Times, September 14, 2005]
WAL-MART ANTI-UNION POLICY
Wal-Mart closes down stores and departments that unionize
* Wal-Mart closed its store in Jonquierre, Quebec in April 2005 after its employees received union certification. The store became the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America when 51 percent of the employees at the store signed union cards. [Washington Post, 4/14/05]
* In December 2005, the Quebec Labour Board ordered Wal-Mart to compensate former employees of its store in Jonquiere Quebec. The Board ruled that Wal-Mart had improperly closed the store in April 2005 in reprisal against unionized workers. [Personnel Today, 12/19/05]
* In 2000, when a small meatcutting department successfully organized a union at a Wal-Mart store in Texas, Wal-Mart responded a week later by announcing the phase-out of its in-store meatcutting company-wide. [Pan Demetrakakes, "Is Wal-Mart Wrapped in Union Phobia?" Food & Packaging 76 (August 1, 2003).]
Wal-Mart has issued "A Manager's Toolbox to Remaining Union Free,"
* This toolbox provides managers with lists of warning signs that workers might be organizing, including "frequent meetings at associates' homes" and "associates who are never seen together start talking or associating with each other." The "Toolbox" gives managers a hotline to call so that company specialists can respond rapidly and head off any attempt by employees to organize. [Wal-Mart, A Manager’s Toolbox to Remaining Union Free at 20-21]
Wal-Mart is committed to an anti-union policy
* In the last few years, well over 100 unfair labor practice charges have been filed against Wal-Mart throughout the country, with 43 charges filed in 2002 alone.
* Since 1995, the U.S. government has been forced to issue at least 60 complaints against Wal-Mart at the National Labor Relations Board. [international Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), Internationally Recognised Core Labour Standards in the United States: Report for the WTO General Council Review of the Trade Policies of the United States (Geneva, January 14-16, 2004)]
* Wal-Mart’s labor law violations range from illegally firing workers who attempt to organize a union to unlawful surveillance, threats, and intimidation of employees who dare to speak out. [“Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart," A Report by the Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 2/16/04]
Wal-Mart & Undocumented Immigrants
In 2003, federal authorities arrested 250 undocumented immigrants who were employed by janitor contracting services and hired by Wal-Mart in 21 states. Many of the janitors - from Mexico, Russia, Mongolia, Poland and a host of other nations - worked seven days or nights a week without overtime pay or injury compensation. Those who worked nights were often locked in the store until the morning. [Wall Street Journal, 11/5/05, CNN Money, “Wal-Mart pays $11m over illegal labor”, 2005]
March 2005, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $11 million to settle federal allegations it used undocumented immigrants to clean its stores. This was the largest immigration related fine ever levied. [CNN Money, “Wal-Mart pays $11m over illegal labor”, 2005 and Wall Street Journal, 11/5/05]
In October 2005, Wal-Mart shut down work on seven stores under construction in North Dakota to check for undocumented workers after two illegal immigrants working on Wal-Mart projects in Bismarck were charged with molesting two 13-year-old girls. [Associated Press, 11/18/05]
It’s my perception that Wal-Marts attract a less than stellar element of society
Hey I resemble that comment......
I most likely will regret this but I just could not pass up the rare opportunity to agree with Belle.
The store is about saving money generally you would find people that need to do that there which would not be those in mink coats. I have not noticed too many Beamers or Mercedes in front of the two here nor will I expect that the new one when finished will have many either. I've been on a three day bender before too Belle ,but eventually I ran out of coca-cola and had to go to Wal-Mart to restock so I could continue.....
I live in a rural area. We have a Walmart 25 miles south of us in a bigger city, which is where we usually shop and go to Walmart and Target about equally.
North of us 20 miles is another Walmart, no Target. We don't shop there as much. When we do, we notice the people there look like they don't go anywhere else and that they don't go there very often. It's really a noticeable change in the culture between the two. It's hard to explain, but the whole town doesn't look like that, just the Walmart shoppers.
Al Poole-You are right. I shouldn't have said that Target is ethical. Its a corporate machine like most others, concerned with the bottom line. What I should have said is that it is more ethical to shop there, than at Wal-Mart. It is the lesser of two evils.
I have no beef with anyone choosing to do what is right in their own eyes... to buy (at wally world) or not to buy ???? that is the question... is it nobler... yada yada yada ... will withholding my 100 to 200 a month spent there really cause them a problem??? Or just cost me more money elsewhere ???
Sure, if we could get 1000's and 1000's of people/consumers to go elsewhere... wally'd change his stripes
they're not gonna shop elsewhere and wally's not gonna change.. to each his own.
I've never been a "union man" type, but in this case I'd like to see some of the benefits a union could bring to those employees, with out the downside of unions. Keep the whole thing in more balance, with out exploiting the situation. Seems like somebody is always getting shafted somewhere... owners, employees, or consumers, rarely is it owners though. They simply raise prices to consumers.
Derailing the thread...
My personal vindetta/cause/boycott.... I won't go to the movies that feature actors who: actively/vocally/$$$ support political agendas I disagree with. Just my personal thing. I don't go to see them, 1st run, second run, rent the video, watch it when it comes on TV. Like you don't shop wally.... I don't give them any of my $$$$ either. It's the same... we're voting with our pocket book. (I have a new one now... NO CITGO gasoline. Not like that's hard here in Tulsa, citgo pulled outta here a couple of years ago. But I'll run out before I buy their products knowingly.)
That is a fantastic thing about our country we do have choice!!!
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VeganXTC
Has anyone seen the Wal-Mart movie? There's a trailer for it here: http://www.walmartmovie.com/ PBS also did a Frontline piece on Wal-Mart that showed its practices.
While its true that other companies and corporations are profit mongers and unscrupulous pariah, they are no where near the scale that Wal-Mart is. It isn't just the mom and pop store that are going under. Because of Wal-Marts demands for lower prices, Rubbermaid and Masterlock had to shut down many plants and fire all the people that work there. GE, Levi Strauss, and Dial soap had to close American plants, and shift work to overseas. Wal-Mart is also the largest corporation in the world.
I do understand that because of finances, or logistics, some people are forced to shop there. But in Tampa, there are two stores that are offering $4 drugs, Wal-Mart and Target. Will most people go to Target where the cost of other goods is higher, but the company is ethical? Or will they go to Wal-mart to save a few bucks?
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Jim
Nobody holds a gun to a salesman's head and makes him sell to Walmart.
I should know, I built a company that manufactures and sells stuff and I've had to walk away from high-volume deals that looked like they *might* be good if *everything* went right and the customer reordered. But any little problem could have you selling your product for cost or less. I don't like to gamble. When I sell my products, I'm much happier to sell less and get a fair profit on every sale. Besides, it's way easier to maintain high quality when you're producing less and you have the time and money to find and fix quality issues when they happen.
Back in the 80's there was a saying in the computer peripheral business.. "The quickest way to go broke is to get a big order from IBM". So there's nothing new about Walmart's behavior. Let the Chinese build their stuff and let the people that don't know/care buy it.
Believe it or not, there are good markets for specialty stuff of all kinds that can be made in the US for a profit. But it's not stuff that will ever sell in Walmart.
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pond
and that is the biggest hoax walmart has pulled in my opinion.. they sold it under "american made" remember the flags in the stores? then did a double run and told the companies do this or we are going to china! granted they could say no but it is the largeszt retailer in america nad it would have meant lost jobs and certainly some serious cut backs.
tupperware claims Walmart did them in , some claim they played hard and dirty. Was it needed? well it is business for sure but do not come off as Mr retail americana in the process when you have a plan that murders any and nearly all competition. at least Walmart is not playing to love the red white and blue now they would get in trouble but in the 80's they did and that is how they did build it up to come up here north , with the super stores.
now nothing freaking matters .
they own it no doubt.
Im lovin the back lash tho.
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Jim
I certainly do. And I remember trying to go back and find an American-made ceiling fan. All made in China. Of all the duplicious stuff Walmart has been accused of, the great Made-in-America switcheroo was the worst.
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Ductape
Well known oxymorons
Military intelligence
Dry beer
Union ethics
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coolchef
i have said befor that i don't like wally world but to be fair they seem to be a good neighbor
last month my club held a fund raiser for one of our local charities
we raised $2,000,63 i talked to the wally manager and they are going to match it
who knows??
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Abigail
"We continually hear about the shrinking middle class. It's shrinking because immigrants that lived in a cardboard and tin shack in their country can come here and live in a real apartment with electricty, plumbing, heat and AC. Work less eat better, and "free" health care.
What we consider poor, and under-privledged, they consider middle class. They even have a car!! Unheard of in their country except wealthy people.
SO business owners can get workers for 5.00 an hour who are happy to get it. It pulls down all wages."
I think you may have a valid point regarding those who are willing to work for such low wages, but I am not convinced it is a problem resulting from immigrants. The part of the country I live in, certainly has immigrants, but not an overwhelming number of them. Additionally, a decent number of the immigrants here are college educated and/or business owners. I'd say the bulk of the employees I see working at Walmart, McDonalds, Burger King, etc. are U.S. Born and raised.
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Al Poole
Vegan...
and you know this how??? Has anyone, PBS?, targeted Target??? anyone gone after them??? Did you know Target is owned by a French company? Did you also know they banned the Salvation Army from their entry last year.... no bell ringers!! I don't know that Target is more ethical than wally. None of us know.
And ethics are a matter of interpretation anyway. It ....ed me off that they banned the SA but I still bought some stuff there. I admire those who can afford to boycott wally, and I admire the ones that can't afford to, but do, even more.
Belle... my my aren't we condecending... In case you didn't know... there are all kinds of people in this world, many are doing well to keep it together at all. What they look like isn't high on their list of concerns. All is not sweetness and light for most people in this world. You should be ashamed.
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Belle
Come on, y'all.... I didn’t say ALL Wal-Mart customers fit that profile and certainly didn’t intend to indicate that, especially since I said I do shop there myself.
Heck, I’ve even been on a three day bender before, but was too tired to leave the house. 
It’s my perception that Wal-Marts attract a less than stellar element of society, perhaps it's due to the quick decline of the quality in surrounding neighborhoods and their property value, the increase in crime and just the casual observances of the parking lot and the customers. Maybe it's only the case in Mississippi and Florida where I've lived, but I think it's more prevalent than that.
In Orlando, the local police blotter indicates that the crime rate in a 5-square-mile area of MetroWest jumped more than 70 percent in the first year after Wal-Mart's arrival in August 2001. Traffic accidents rose 31 percent, property crimes 110 percent, robberies 231 percent and car thefts 56 percent, according to the Orlando Police Department. [Orlando Sentinel, January 27, 2003]
One study analzyed 32 Wal-Mart Stores and 32 Target Stores within 10 miles of each other. The average police incidents in 2004 for each of the Wal-Mart Stores was 770. The average police incidents for the Target Stores during the same period – 170. Crime at Wal-Mart Stores is 353% higher than that of Target Stores. Furthermore, the rate of “serious or violent” crimes at Wal-Mart stores is 6 times the rate of those at Target Stores. I won’t even go into the economic impact this has on the community, police departments and tax payers.
Wal-Mart Crime Report
You can go here to see how much crime there is at your local Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart Crime
The Wal-Marts that are most successful are generally located in rural and small towns where they have run off any serious competition and there isn’t any other choice for consumers. I know when I go home to Mississippi to visit, we always have to go to Wal-Mart if for no other reason than to see folks because that’s the only place left to shop, so that’s where everyone is.
They are also more successful in MSA’s where income levels are lower than the national average. In more urban, larger areas where Target and other stores provide viable competition, they aren’t near as profitable.
Even most of the “name brand” things they sell are cheaper/less quality made knock-offs made especially for Wal-Mart. These are things the manufacturer would never sell in a more reputable store or one that prides itself on selling quality products.
LOW PRICES OR FRAUD?
Furthermore, they aren’t really the low price leader that many people think they are. It’s a perfect example of yelling the lie loud enough and long enough and folks will eventually believe it. Besides that, they frequently charge more than the price posted on the shelves, so whether folks realize it or not, they are paying as much if not more than if they had shopped elsewhere.
86.7% of the Wal-Mart stores sampled in California failed to meet the federal standard for pricing accuracy. 84.6% of the Wal-Mart stores sampled in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana failed to meet the federal standard for price accuracy.
In Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana, 6.4% of all of the items purchased for the study were priced incorrectly. In California, 8.3% of all of the items purchased for the study were priced incorrectly.
In the IL, MI, IN study the mean value of the difference between the actual price and the stated price for items overcharged was $1.33. In the CA study the mean value of the difference between the actual price and the stated price for items overcharged was $1.09.
Wal-Mart Facts
EMPLOYER CRIMES
Wal-Mart’s 2006 Annual Report reported that the company faced 57 wage and hour lawsuits. Major lawsuits have either been won or are working their way through the legal process in states such as California, Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. [Wal-Mart Annual Report 2006]
A Pennsylvania court, also in December 2005, approved a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. by employees in Pennsylvania who say the company pressured them to work off the clock. The class could grow to include nearly 150,000 current or former employees. [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 12, 2006 ]
The State of Connecticut, investigating Wal-Mart’s child labor practices after the federal investigation ended, found 11 more violations. In June 2005, Connecticut fined Wal-Mart Stores Inc. $3,300 over child labor violations after a state investigation found that some minors lacked proper paperwork and were operating hazardous equipment at the stores. [“Wal-Mart Is Fined for Child Labor Violations,” Bloomberg News, June 22, 2005]
TAX PAYER HAZARDS
* The estimated total amount of federal assistance for which Wal-Mart employees were eligible in 2004 was $2.5 billion. [The Hidden Price We All Pay For Wal-Mart, A Report By The Democratic Staff Of The Committee On Education And The Workforce, 2/16/04]
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
# In 2005, Wal-Mart reached a $1.15 million settlement with the State of Connecticut for allowing improperly stored pesticides and other pollutants to pollute streams. This was the largest such settlement in state history. [Hartford Courant, 8/16/05]
# In May 2004, Wal-Mart agreed to pay the largest settlement for stormwater violations in EPA history. The United States sued Wal-mart for violating the Clean Water Act in 9 states, calling for penalties of over $3.1 million and changes to Wal-Mart’s building practices. [u.S. Environmental Protection Agency, May 12, 2004, U.S. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 2004 WL 2370700]
# In 2004, Wal-Mart was fined $765,000 for violating Florida’s petroleum storage tank laws at its automobile service centers. Wal-Mart failed to register its fuel tanks, failed to install devices that prevent overflow, did not perform monthly monitoring, lacked current technologies, and blocked state inspectors. [Associated Press, 11/18/04]
# In Georgia, Wal-Mart was fined about $150,000 in 2004 for water contamination. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2/10/05]
WAL-MART AND CHINA
If Wal-Mart were an individual economy, it would rank as China’s eighth-biggest trading partner, ahead of Russia, Australia and Canada. [China Business Weekly, 12/02/2004]
* Workers making clothing for Wal-Mart in Shenzhen, China filed a class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart in September 2005 claiming that they were not paid the legal minimum wage, not permitted to take holidays off and were forced to work overtime. They said their employer had withheld the first three months of all workers' pay, almost making them indentured servants because the company refused to pay the money if they quit. [New York Times, September 14, 2005]
* Workers making toys for Wal-Mart in China’s Guangdong Province reported that they would have to meet a quota of painting 8,900 toy pieces in an eight hour shift in order to earn the stated wage of $3.45 a day. If they failed to meet that quota, the factory would only pay them $1.23 for a day’s work. [China Labor Watch, December 21, 2005]
* Workers from Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Nicaragua and Swaziland brought a class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart in September 2005 asserting that the company’s codes of conduct were violated in dozens of ways. They said they were often paid less than the legal minimum wage and did not receive mandated time-and-a-half for overtime, and some said they were beaten by managers and were locked in their factories. [New York Times, September 14, 2005]
WAL-MART ANTI-UNION POLICY
Wal-Mart closes down stores and departments that unionize
* Wal-Mart closed its store in Jonquierre, Quebec in April 2005 after its employees received union certification. The store became the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America when 51 percent of the employees at the store signed union cards. [Washington Post, 4/14/05]
* In December 2005, the Quebec Labour Board ordered Wal-Mart to compensate former employees of its store in Jonquiere Quebec. The Board ruled that Wal-Mart had improperly closed the store in April 2005 in reprisal against unionized workers. [Personnel Today, 12/19/05]
* In 2000, when a small meatcutting department successfully organized a union at a Wal-Mart store in Texas, Wal-Mart responded a week later by announcing the phase-out of its in-store meatcutting company-wide. [Pan Demetrakakes, "Is Wal-Mart Wrapped in Union Phobia?" Food & Packaging 76 (August 1, 2003).]
Wal-Mart has issued "A Manager's Toolbox to Remaining Union Free,"
* This toolbox provides managers with lists of warning signs that workers might be organizing, including "frequent meetings at associates' homes" and "associates who are never seen together start talking or associating with each other." The "Toolbox" gives managers a hotline to call so that company specialists can respond rapidly and head off any attempt by employees to organize. [Wal-Mart, A Manager’s Toolbox to Remaining Union Free at 20-21]
Wal-Mart is committed to an anti-union policy
* In the last few years, well over 100 unfair labor practice charges have been filed against Wal-Mart throughout the country, with 43 charges filed in 2002 alone.
* Since 1995, the U.S. government has been forced to issue at least 60 complaints against Wal-Mart at the National Labor Relations Board. [international Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), Internationally Recognised Core Labour Standards in the United States: Report for the WTO General Council Review of the Trade Policies of the United States (Geneva, January 14-16, 2004)]
* Wal-Mart’s labor law violations range from illegally firing workers who attempt to organize a union to unlawful surveillance, threats, and intimidation of employees who dare to speak out. [“Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart," A Report by the Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 2/16/04]
Wal-Mart & Undocumented Immigrants
In 2003, federal authorities arrested 250 undocumented immigrants who were employed by janitor contracting services and hired by Wal-Mart in 21 states. Many of the janitors - from Mexico, Russia, Mongolia, Poland and a host of other nations - worked seven days or nights a week without overtime pay or injury compensation. Those who worked nights were often locked in the store until the morning. [Wall Street Journal, 11/5/05, CNN Money, “Wal-Mart pays $11m over illegal labor”, 2005]
March 2005, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $11 million to settle federal allegations it used undocumented immigrants to clean its stores. This was the largest immigration related fine ever levied. [CNN Money, “Wal-Mart pays $11m over illegal labor”, 2005 and Wall Street Journal, 11/5/05]
In October 2005, Wal-Mart shut down work on seven stores under construction in North Dakota to check for undocumented workers after two illegal immigrants working on Wal-Mart projects in Bismarck were charged with molesting two 13-year-old girls. [Associated Press, 11/18/05]
Source of the above information: Wal-Mart Facts
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WhiteDove
Hey I resemble that comment......
I most likely will regret this but I just could not pass up the rare opportunity to agree with Belle.
The store is about saving money generally you would find people that need to do that there which would not be those in mink coats. I have not noticed too many Beamers or Mercedes in front of the two here nor will I expect that the new one when finished will have many either. I've been on a three day bender before too Belle ,but eventually I ran out of coca-cola and had to go to Wal-Mart to restock so I could continue.....
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bowtwi
I live in a rural area. We have a Walmart 25 miles south of us in a bigger city, which is where we usually shop and go to Walmart and Target about equally.
North of us 20 miles is another Walmart, no Target. We don't shop there as much. When we do, we notice the people there look like they don't go anywhere else and that they don't go there very often. It's really a noticeable change in the culture between the two. It's hard to explain, but the whole town doesn't look like that, just the Walmart shoppers.
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VeganXTC
Al Poole-You are right. I shouldn't have said that Target is ethical. Its a corporate machine like most others, concerned with the bottom line. What I should have said is that it is more ethical to shop there, than at Wal-Mart. It is the lesser of two evils.
As far as charitable contributions, Target gives 3 times as much as Wal-Mart does. http://www.jimgilliam.com/2004/12/target_d...han_walmart.php
Target is not owned by a French company. It is owned by the Target Corporation, and which was once Dayton Hudson. It is in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. http://sites.target.com/images/corporate/a...ry_timeline.pdf
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/t/target-viet.htm
I think Belle's post covers the rest.
Me too.
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Al Poole
I have no beef with anyone choosing to do what is right in their own eyes... to buy (at wally world) or not to buy ???? that is the question... is it nobler... yada yada yada ... will withholding my 100 to 200 a month spent there really cause them a problem??? Or just cost me more money elsewhere ???
Sure, if we could get 1000's and 1000's of people/consumers to go elsewhere... wally'd change his stripes
they're not gonna shop elsewhere and wally's not gonna change.. to each his own.
I've never been a "union man" type, but in this case I'd like to see some of the benefits a union could bring to those employees, with out the downside of unions. Keep the whole thing in more balance, with out exploiting the situation. Seems like somebody is always getting shafted somewhere... owners, employees, or consumers, rarely is it owners though. They simply raise prices to consumers.
Derailing the thread...
My personal vindetta/cause/boycott.... I won't go to the movies that feature actors who: actively/vocally/$$$ support political agendas I disagree with. Just my personal thing. I don't go to see them, 1st run, second run, rent the video, watch it when it comes on TV. Like you don't shop wally.... I don't give them any of my $$$$ either. It's the same... we're voting with our pocket book. (I have a new one now... NO CITGO gasoline. Not like that's hard here in Tulsa, citgo pulled outta here a couple of years ago. But I'll run out before I buy their products knowingly.)
That is a fantastic thing about our country we do have choice!!!
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