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Fri Aug 22 2008

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Waging war with Wal-Mart
by Greg Goodlander
in Journal issue September-October 2004
September 21, 2004

Recently I had the pleasure of attending a family reunion in a small town in the Northwest corner of Arkansas. Being in the Ozarks allows one to appreciate some of America’s natural beauty. We were in the retirement community of Bella Vista, just north of Bentonville. Never heard of it? Bentonville is the world headquarters of Wal-Mart. That’s right, I was in the belly of the beast.

One evening my vegan brother-in-law and my vegetarian wife decided it was time to purchase some food for our rented townhouse. We were told the only place to go would be the community market. We were thinking a community market would be like our very own in Clintonville, Ohio. As we pull in, my wife quickly points out that it is in fact, a “Wal-Mart Community Market.”

After reluctantly entering and shopping, we went to the checkout line. The other two quickly said, “We’ll be outside.” Alone with the cashier, I was saddened and distraught by feeling forced to give money to Wal-Mart -- not unlike the feeling of a progressive voting for John Kerry.

Talking with the cashier, I asked him if he liked his job, and he said he hopes to get over to the warehouse -- “better money.”

I asked, “Are you union in the warehouse?”

He stopped, looked at me, and looked away to continue the business transaction.

I continued, “You aren’t even allowed to say the word, are you?” I was joking but he seriously looked at me, and shook his head: No.

Why should we be reluctant to shop at Wal-Mart? What could possibly be so bad about a store that makes products affordable to families struggling financially? I realize that Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club usually offer the best prices. However, there is a huge price that is paid in order for their products to be so cheap. That price is found in the erosion of a community’s economic viability, the alleged sexism that prevails within the company, anti-unionization efforts, and some of the lowest paid employees in the country.

As progressives, we fight to reduce anything that is divisive or oppressive. We believe in equality, fairness, and justice. However, at Wal-Mart, 65% of the company’s hourly employees are women, but these workers earn 37 cents an hour less than male hourly employees for the same work. This means women working at Wal-Mart make on average 4.5-5.6% less than men for the same work. Even female executives suffer discrimination, as is exemplified by the average male senior vice president at Wal-Mart making $419,435 a year, while the four women senior vice presidents earn an average of $279,772.

Wal-Mart’s discrimination against women is evidenced in advancement practices. A statistician’s study found that “women waited an average of 4.38 years to be promoted, compared to 2.86 years for men.” Considering that females have a majority of the workforce, they surprisingly constitute only 14% of the managers. Additionally, Wal-Mart managers have allegedly forced female managers to have lunch meetings at Hooters as well as required them to visit strip clubs while on business.

When doing business with Wal-Mart one supports such practices by providing the financial support for the company to thrive and fight the myriad legislation brought against it. This can be expensive considering that the company was sued 4,851 times in 2000 – or about once every two hours. Much of this litigation has recently been given the status of a class-action lawsuit, creating the “largest workplace-bias lawsuit in US history.”

Wal-Mart’s economic effect on a community is detrimental. As Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club enter a community, their prices are so low that they force other local businesses to close. It is cheaper for consumers, and easier. As a result, they cease going to businesses that are locally owned and pay employees higher wages. The deteriorating effects of this can be found in a detailed report from the University of California-San Diego.

A worker’s right to choose to form a union is one that has been challenged on numerous occasions in Wal-Mart’s recent history. To quote the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), “From 1998 through 2003 the National Labor Relations Board has filed more than 45 complaints accusing Wal-Mart managers in more than two dozen stores of illegal practices, including improperly firing union supporters, intimidating workers, and threatening to deny bonuses if workers unionized.”

When a consumer benefits from the low prices of Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club, she or he is ensuring and supporting the means Wal-Mart uses to maintain such low costs -- low labor costs. One way of doing this is to overwork minors. An audit, now sealed, shows a plethora of child-labor law violations where minors worked more hours than legally permitted.

Low labor costs are implemented through low wages. Regular employees are paid far less than what Wal-Mart can afford to pay, and entirely too little for the demands of modern day America. A Washington Post article states that, “According to a study by Forbes, Wal-Mart employees earn an average hourly wage of $7.50 and, annually, a princely $18,000.” Compare that with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which places the average grocery worker’s hourly wage at $10.35.

As a consumer, what can you do? Obviously, you could shop elsewhere. The UFCW represents workers from Kroger, Meijer, and Kohl’s. The UFCW also provides information to “Adopt A Store,” where you or your organization can regularly shop at a local Wal-Mart and get to know store workers. This could lay the groundwork for unionizing. The UFCW website provides more detailed resources and information on how to do this correctly, legally, and with success. Finally, you could inform your family and friends about this issue.

Greg Goodlander is a French teacher in the Columbus Public School system. He is the Outreach Coordinator for the Democratic Socialists of Central Ohio.

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