Strangechord

Today was National Wal-Mart Day of Action. Events took place at more than 40 Wal-Mart locations nationwide. The AFL-CIO and other unions launched the events and the following is taken from one of their newsletters.

Simply put, Wal-Mart is a corporate outlaw. It violates human rights and is viciously anti-union. The NLRB has issued over 40 complaints against the company in more than 25 states for illegally denying workers their right to support and form a union. Wal-Mart faces an ever-increasing number of lawsuits for discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, and race. Lawsuits regarding illegal pay practices — changing time records and forcing employees to work off the clock — are mounting. Wal-Mart buys products from countries where human rights abuses are rampant and sweatshops and child and forced labor are common.

The truth of the matter is, Wal-Mart really is despicable. If you do nothing else to protest corporate atrocities, at least stop giving your money to Wal-Mart. I remember that within two years after the giant store opened in Fairfield, Iowa where I grew up, both local department stores that had been there for decades closed down. Wal-Mart rides into small towns across America and wipes out local businesses and therefore local economies, and intentionally leaves people with nowhere else to shop (no choice but to shop Wal-Mart). The myth that the store has “always the low price, always” is just that, a myth. According to a research study I came across, Wal-Mart places its 1500 or so lowest-priced items at the front of the store - items people tend to know the price of such as toothpaste and TP. Deeper into the store are approx. 80,000 high-profit items. And as local competition decreases, Wal-Mart’s prices begin to climb. It’s also well-documented how often they throw items that were made in China in bins bearing huge “Made In America” signs.