Someone forwarded this commentary on Wal-Mart to me via email, and I found ALOT of this information to be shocking at very sad. It seems Wal-Mart Corp. is not the company they 'claim' to be in their ads....
![]()
Proving that consumers NEED to educate themselves about the stores they frequently patron...just sharing this info w/you all as an FYI.
The owners of one of America's premiere retail corporations is comprised of
five of the ten richest people in the world, all from the same family. Their
personal wealth eclipses $100 BILLION dollars. Last year the companies CEO
was paid a cool $11.5 million, more than the annual salaries of 765 of his
employees combined! The company's profits are over $7 BILLION annually. In
these difficult economic times how do they do it?
- This company runs ads featuring the United States flag and proclaims 'We
Buy American'. In 2001 they moved their worldwide purchasing headquarters to
China and are the largest importer of Chinese goods in the US, purchasing
over $10 BILLION of Chinese-made products annually. Products made mostly by
women and children working in the labor hell-holes China is famous for.
- Their average employee working in the US makes $15,000 a year, $7.22 per
hour!
- These employees gross under $11,000 a year.
- The company brags that 70% of their employees are full time, but fails to
disclose that they count anyone working 28 hours a week or more as full
time.
- WalMart refuses to stock Emergency Contraception at its pharmacies
- There are no health care benefits unless you have worked for the company
for two years.
- With a turnover rate averaging above 50% per year, only 38% of their 1.3
million employees have health care coverage. -In California alone it's
estimated that the taxpayers pay over $20 million annually to subsidize
health care benefits for these employees who get none from this behemoth
corporation.
- According to a report by PBS's 'Now' with Bill Moyer, their managers are
trained in what government social programs are available for these
'employees' to take advantage of so that the company can pass on those costs
to you and me. It allows them to not only keep their $7 BILLION in annual
profits, but to do so by substituting benefits they refuse to provide with
benefits paid for with taxpayer dollars.
- This company holds the record for the most suits filed against it by the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A lawyer from 'Business Week' (not
exactly the bastion for supporting Labor) said, 'I have never seen this kind
of blatant disregard for the law.' They had to pay $750,000.00 in Arizona
for blatant discrimination against the disabled! The judge was so incensed
that he also order them to run commercials admitting their guilt.
- The National Labor Relations Board has issued over 40 formal complaints
against the corporation in 25 different states in just the past five years.
The NLRB's top lawyer believed that their labor violations, such as illegal
spying on employees, fraudulent record keeping, falsifying time cards to
avoid paying overtime, threats, illegal firings for union organizing etc.,
were so widespread that he was looking into filing a very rare national
complaint against the company. (The company contributed $2,159,330.00 to GW
Bush and the GOP in 2000 and 2002. The NLRB attorney was replaced when
President Bush took office.).
- Nearly 1 MILLION women are involved in the largest class-action suit every
filed against a corporation. Although women make up over 65% of this
corporations work force only 10% of them are managers. The women who have
become store managers make $16,400 a year LESS then the men.
- The corporation took out nearly 350,000 life insurance policies on their
employees. They did not tell the employees and then named the corporation as
the beneficiary. They are now being sued by numerous employees, and although
the corporation has stopped this practice of purchasing what is known as
'Dead Peasant Policy's', a company spokesperson stated, 'The company feels
it acted properly and legally in doing this.'
- They force employees to work after ordering them to punch out. In Texas
alone this practice of 'wage theft' is estimated to have cost employees $30
million per year. Wage theft or 'off-the-clock' lawsuits are pending in 25
states. In New Mexico they paid $400,000.00 in one suit and in Colorado they
had to pay $50 MILLION to settle one class-action case brought against them.
In
Oregon a jury found them guilty of locking employees in the building and of
forcing unpaid overtime.
- With 4,400 stores they practice 'predatory pricing.' They come into a
community and sell their goods at below cost until they drive local
businesses under. Once they have captured the market the prices go up.
- Locally owned and operated businesses put virtually all of their money
back into the community which helps keep the local economies vibrant. This
corporation sucks the money out of the local community, decreases wages and
benefits and ships the profits out of state.
- This company doesn't buy locally or bank locally. They replace three
decent paying jobs in a community with two poorly paid 'part-timers'.
- In Kirksville, Missouri when this company came to town, four clothing
stores, four grocery stores, a stationary store, a fabric store and a
lawn-and-garden store all went under. Eleven businesses are now gone.
(The above information can be found in 'Thieves in High Places', James
Hightower, The Penguin Group, New York, NY, 2003 p. 166 - 193.)
Now you know how they can claim, 'Always low prices.' Wal-Mart is the
largest corporation in the world, larger than General Motors and ExxonMobil.
Wal-Mart will reap over 250 billion in sales in 2003, which is larger then
the entire gross national product of Israel and Ireland combined. It has
over 1.3 million employees. It sells more groceries, jewelry, photo
processing, dog food, and vitamins than any other chain in the world.
Wal-Mart is owned by the Walton family. They will also never see a dime from
my wallet again.
Please feel free to circulate this memo to everyone on your email lists.
Only we, the citizens of this great country can stop this race to the
bottom.
''Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world;
indeed it is the only thing that ever has.' Margaret Mead, Anthropologist
Happy, healthy and safe New Year to all.
Brian Dawe
Lincoln County
Democratic Party Chair
