The Wal-Mart Argument: Are They Evil?

I don’t think Wal-mart is neccesarily evil. I think they are doing what every other company is doing. They are NOT concerned with bringing lower prices to the consumer. They don’t give a rats ass about the consumer. Their one and only concern is to bring higher value to their share holders.

They don’t go out of their way to ruin towns and jobs, but they force suppliers to minimize their costs and the only way to that is to move manufacturing to China.

Wal-Mart is the worst of the worst. Sure there may be one or two companies that match them in any one area, but they are almost always the worst in every category: business ethics, employee violations, slimy marketing, etc.

Biggest class action sexual discrimination in history. 70 lawsuits for labor and pay violations, and they knew there were problems (just search for “Shipley Audit”). They lost the first three lawsuits with damages of $400 million. Just listing all their problems would make this entry longer than the original post.

And they ruin towns on top of everything else. I know a small city (pop. 8500) that nearly closed down after Wal-Mart opened. Home prices stalled and sales dropped off, employment dropped, and 2/3rd of business along the old main drag closed. It would have become a ghost town if it were not for a small but stable (for now) industrial base.

Wal-mart sells a high volume of extremely low grade products that break easily and you are forced to replace on a regular basis. These products are actually manufactured for Wal-mart using sub quality materials….that is the price of low prices.
They use slave labor to make their products, even in America, and pay their employees bottom of the barrel wages.
They do not settle for accidents until the person is recovered to the full extent it is possible. This can take years. One employee was in a wheel chair for years, unable to get a settlement, because they were still in therapy. I myself was injured in Wal-mart by falling merchandise, and know quite well how they operate.
Their employees are worked to the bone, as they under staff, to the extreme. Customers wait in VERY long lines on a regular basis, because there are almost no cashiers.
There is a difference between serving the customer with low competitive prices, and reaming everyone to get those prices that low…including the customer.

Evil! … used to describe anyone or anything we personally do not agree with; and/or that which is making more money than God.

Is Wal-Mart evil? Well… Is Microsoft evil? Is Haliburton evil? Is the US congress evil? Are YOU evil? And what about Bob?

I will most likely get flamed here but…. My Ex-Wife has worked for Wal-Mart for the last 12 years… Prior to my divorce I was pretty involved with her and the 3 stores she worked at.

First off, at least in this area, Wal-Mart pays it’s employees, starting out, a dollar over minimum wage. Hmmm, can’t see much wrong with wages there.

Secondly - My ex has had 3 knee surgeries, plus routing Chiro visits, and a back surgery. Wal-Mart insurance? Paid out comparable to most insurance that most of the companies I have ever worked for. So poor insurance? I don’t think so.

Lets see… another argument - Um, someone said that they work employees without paying them… I have never known this to be the case with any of the employees that I have known that work there. I will admit, there were a couple of mess ups with the time system, but they were quickly remedied.

Benefits to the employees - Hmm… 10% discount on everything (except food) that they buy, yearly bonuses, contributory retirement and matching.

Benefits to the community - the stores here at least, are more than willing to assist with charitable functions and fund raisers, contribute to Childrens Miracle Network and United Way. I have seen the stores here bend over backwards to assist employee families in times of stress, hardship and dire consequences…

Does Wal-Mart put stores out of business? Absolutely, however, So did K-Mart, Target, Menards, Home Depot, B Dalton and others… While I hate to see some of these Mom and Pop shops go under, cause some of them were really nice, it happens. This is the nature of competition folks… It is worth pointing out that I know of no circumstance where Wal-Mart put anyone out of business that sold quality merchandise for a reasonable price.

All companies have issues, the cited sexual harrassment cases? Probably, however, I am sure it wasn’t WalMart policy… there are bad managers everywhere… You can only hire people that apply for jobs… There will always be disgruntled employees… sometimes they are right, but it isn’t the companies fault, they do eliminate problem employees given the chance.

Does WalMart force pricing onto manufacturers? Yep, the sure do, which benefits you and I… everytime you shop there, but folks, WalMart is who they are cause WE, you and I, built them, the offered products we wanted, at a price we wanted and they grew… If you buy a product and it is not to your liking and it breaks too soon… then go to Best Buy or wherever, there is truth in the statement that you get what you pay for. But don’t blame WalMart for catering to your desires…

Bottom line, my experience with them is that they do care, both about their employees and the communities they interact with, their health coverage is average (I work in the IT industry so… hers was comparable to mine), they have a pretty good reiterment plan in place, and overall, not a bad company to work for…. or have around… I shop a lot at walmart… I admit it… but… Face it, I save probably 25% on my groceries and maybe 30% annualized on teh rest of my purchases… That money is a help always…

Wow, a Wal-Mart apologist actually took the time to make some nonsense rebuttals.

Wal-Mart has been sown to pay less than what used to be the prevailing wage when they open a new store in a community. They also keep a high percentage of people on part time so they do not have to pay them full benefits. If they paid their people a living wage, why don’t more employees sign up for the health benefits? Simple, because they can’t afford it.

It is not sexual harassment, it is sexual discrimination. Do you understand the difference? Hopefully it is not a official policy, but the massive numbers prove it is a embedded fact of the corporate culture. It stands out even if you look at it on a percentage to balance out thefact that they are the largest employer in the US.

Search for stories on the “Shipley Audit.” Someone in the company knew there was a problem for a couple of years, which is why they did the audit in the first place. My take is that fixing the labor violations would have affected financial results for the local managers so they ignored it. It seems to be corporate policy that it is cheaper to pay awards than to fix problems.

People saying they save as much money in the ads by shopping at Wal-Mart is B.S. One of the main marketing scams is “Opening Pricepoint.” They advertise cheap prices on some items but then have higher prices on the items that people are more likely to buy.

Based on one of Wal-Mart’s ads on how much a family could save shopping there, I figured out that family of four would have to spend $38,000 at the store. That is almost the entire after tax wages of a couple working at entry level jobs at Wal-Mart. What about rent? Are they going to live rent free in the store? It brings to mind the analogy of the old “Company Town” where people get locked into a lifestyle.

I will say it again, there may be a store or two you can give as an example where they are as bad as Wal-Mart in one area, but there is no other store that is as bad so many categories. I have not counted but I think I could provide a list of 40 differences instances of Wal-Mart doing bad things *BESIDES* the class action sexual discrimination and the class action pay/lunch/break-time suits. A preliminary list: child labor violation, disabled employee abuses, hiring illegal aliens and paying below minimum wages and in some cases locking them in the store, fined by the US Treasury for trading with banned countries that support terrorism, highest rates of employees on indigent health care.

what ever Walmart does, PEOPLE DON’T CARE! a local Walmart competitor was described in the paper as paying people to write the paper and work for the defeat of a local group of solons who wanted the company to comply with local zoning for a new store. they sued one of the local commissioners. he countersued and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. the company pays “contributions” to the Atty General and other pols to get a past the laws. etc. the end result is that people still fill their parking lot. even my wife continues to shop there.

just google Wal Mart’s “dead peasant’s tax” practice with their staff, that should give you an idea of the sort of stuff corporations are up to.

People who work for walmart, should take the time to learn the labor laws of their state. If they are being asked to work overtime, or are not given the opportunity to upgrade to full-time when openings become available, document the practice, and send copies to your state attorney. You can keep it anonymous but be sure to document every detail of what you see happening.

For those in extremely small towns where walmart is the only option for supplies it is very difficult to find alternatives. For the few small vendors that are left, make certain you and your neighbors try to favor them over walmart wherever possible.

For those running stores in such areas where walmart comes in, try to do that extra to locate and offer American products, or products with better value in useful longevity and superior warranties. You may not be able to compete by price, but if you have products you can stand by, you may be able to keep a loyal customer base. Walmart gets people in with loss leaders, with the hope that while they are there, they also buy products with the higher margins. Identify a few of the higher margin products that leave room for you to compete and discretely let your customers know you have it cheaper.

If you look at the boxes of the products sold by walmart, especially in the electronics department, those units are made specifically for walmart, they may lack features or have different warranty terms.

Walmart used to advertise that they select American companies whenever and where-ever they can, but today you would be hard pressed to find many.

The problem is not so much walmart, but a much bigger problem in that our government has forgotten who they work for and who is actually paying them. Every government mandate and restriction makes it harder for a company to justify staying in or doing business with this country. It is not the availability of lower wages that attracts companies away, they would much rather stay and pay higher wages for greater productivity and lower shipping costs, but high taxes and increasing compliance costs add immutable overhead costs. Why stay if there is someplace else without those high overhead costs?

How will the government continue to operate when the rich company owners that hire us decide it isn’t worth paying the high taxes and dealing with the compliance headaches anymore?

The best thing government can do is decrease the cost of doing business so the companies can afford to employ more people, and then the people can afford to buy more things, thus increasing the money available to the government.

Ensuring growth is the only way government can afford to operate. Any other condition creates a slow death spiral.

It is said that you can set a tax rate, and the money collected from that tax will only approach that percentage of the Gross Domestic Product. If the tax rate is too high your GDP will decrease, if the rate is low then the GDP will grow as will the amount collected. The trick is selecting a tax rate that will maximize the rate of growth without introducing instability.

Exo

I, too, have worked for Wal-Mart; I have also worked for the firm which does their inventories.
As with anything else, there are people in local management and employees who are evil and unchangable. There are also some/many who are wonderful human beings. My wife and I have met and worked with both kinds. The past manager in our little hamlet was one of the most gracious, hard working, consciencious people we have ever known. His staff loved him dearly. When the big “Super Center” was built, he decided to retire. (As with most hard working, decent folk; his health was almost totally depleted, as was that of his staff. Corporations don’t care how much they destroy the lives and/or health of their chattel, … as long as the shares continue to ripen and split.)
When he retired, he was replaced by a scumbag so bad that he had been fired from a major city Wal-Mart, but rehired and sent to an out-of-the-way tiny town. There he made life and business havoc. His was one of the three worst stores we have inventoried in seven states. This was the guy chosen to “run” our new, larger outlet.
This lethargic blob continued to let the store slip down the slope until there were very few good people left. Most chose to leave the store, but continue with Corporate as store setup personell. Finally, the lazy creep was “allowed to quit”. Now the new manager is fighting an uphill battle to clean up the store, its operation; replace the shaven-headed, tattooed drones with quality workers.
Corporate does not care, … unless and until the bottom drops off.

My big concern with Wal-Mart has been the historic tendency to find a product they wish to sell. A close personal friend is just now entering into this procedure. Here’s how it has been observed to work:

This friend works for a company who manufactures a scope for hunters. They were doing “OK” for several years. One day they were contacted by Wal-Mart who offered a very sizable contract for a greatly increased quantity of their product. They are overjoyed and are excitedly planning on expanding their business, building more facilities, and hiring more people to handle the increased demand. That’s JUST GREAT! American business is growing, spurred on by corporate American capitalism.

The unseen, and too oft ignored, downside is the other effect of Wal-Mart corporate policy. Here’s how it works:

This company, in working to increase its facilities, hire more people, beef up its transportation/delivery system, and all the other nuances required to meet the new demand, must borrow heavily, betting on the fruits from its expansion. Wal-Mart continues to “fulfill” its contract, so the first couple of years are looking really good.

Then the loans come due. Interest must be paid. Fuel prices are nearly crippling the delivery system. Insurance, FICA must be paid on all those employees. None of these costs to the producer can be delayed.

Suddenly, the company is faced with such high costs that they realize they can no longer produce the individual item at the same rate as before and still make a profit. When Wal-Mart comes around to offer a new contract, they reject the higher costs per item and require that company to produce the same amount or even more for the same charge, … or less than the original contract.

The company buckles under the pressure, their employees are layed off or terminated, their facilities lie dormant, the taxes the community has grown accustomed to receiving falter and disappear. Result: entire communities are devastated, not from some foreign warlord, but from aggresive domestic capitalism.

I have not seen any producer yet be able to recover from such eggregious behavior. They are so bankrupt, they can’t return to their former business. They feel personally responsible for the collapse of their home town(s).

Did I tell this to my friend? Yes. Did he, and that company heed it? No. Will they fall? Watch and see.

Most of you are right by saying that we have made Wal-Mart what it is today, so STOP buying there. I have. I have compared the prices and the value and found spending a little more somewhere else is worth it. Even though some of the food prices are lower, overall they are the same if you buy for the month.

Wal-Mart tried to put too many stores in our area and I fought it tooth and nail. We were going to have one every 5 miles between 2 counties and 4 cities. It was rediculous and unnecessary.

Thanks to the economy and a 3 year fight just to get the first preliminary approval from the county they decided it was too costly to add yet another store when they were going to close the nearest one at midnight because of cost.

Unfortunately there are too many robots that watch ads and follow the crowd. We will always have Wal-Mart but we can make conscious decisions to slow them down.

Buck the system and speak your mind. Don’t VOTE? Don’t Complain!