Walmart's pros & cons

Well everyone knows the history of Walmart, but if you don't then let me fill you in a bit.

On May 9, 1950 Sam Walton opened Walton's 5&10 store in Bentonville, Arkansas. His standard for achieving success relied on him making sale prices lower than his competitors and reducing the store's profit margin. In the mid 60's Walton's assistant Bob Bogle had tagged the 5 & 10 store as Wal-Mart permanently. By 1980 Wal-mart was a billion dollar company with stores operating across 28 states.

Today Wal-Mart is a big part of corporate America and lord knows where else. The reason for this article is to discuss and inform people of how much of Sam's standards went out the door when he passed away in 1992.


The Cons

Wal-Mart's health insurance approach

Wal-Mart has one of the worst policies for health insurance in corporate America. Their pay is low and demand is up. Wal-mart encourages employees to get on public assistance, medicaid and public housing to compensate for low wages. They are not shy about this and the average employee struggles to live a prosperous life working at Wal-mart. Most employees spend their checks minutes after cashing it right at their job. Employees have noticed a significant change in Wal-mart's policies since Sam Walton's death. Wal-mart offers health insurance but at a high price of about $75 out of each check but pay an average of $7 an hour. It is not the Wal-Mart that Sam built. Here are some statistics that might shed light on what I'm getting at.

In Alabama: 3,912 children of Wal-mart employees are enrolled in Medicaid

In Arizona: 2,705 workers are on medicaid

In Arkansas: 4009 workers are on public assistance

In Connecticut: 835 workers have children on state health care plan

In Florida: 12,300 workers and their dependants are on medicaid

In Georgia: 10,265 are enrolled in Peachcare for kids.

In Massachusetts: 4,175 workers and families depend on state health care

In Tennessee: 9,620 workers depend on state health care

In Texas: 4,368 children of Wal-mart employees are on state health care

In Wisconsin: 1,255 employees and dependants on Badgecare


In actuality that means that the tax payer pays for what Wal-Mart does not want to pay for. How much does that cost us? 1,558,000,000 is the price tax payers pay to support Wal-mart employees, a multi-billion dollar company.

Most people who work at Wal-mart are not happy. I know people who have worked there for years and only got a $1 raised. Wal-Mart is the most anti-union company in America. Most workers are snooped on and work areas are heavily video tape to persuade employees to not to fight for any rights. here are some startling facts about how they use their power to manipulate. Wal-Mart spends a lot of money making sure their workers never gain any rights.

Wal-Mart spends:

$7000 for Anti-union camera packages per store

$30,000 for a undercover spy van per store

$100,000 to run a 24 hour Anti-Union hot line

$7,000,000 on a rapid response team with a corporate jet (for anti union work)

Lee Scott is the CEO of Wal-Mart is full of BS. Wal-mart has payed out millions in law suits. Most settlements are based on employees getting ripped off on hours they worked. Wal-mart managers are responsible for reducing expenses every month and the only way they know how to do that is with the employees hours and pay. Aside of their health care issues and poor pay Wal-mart is known to discriminate against woman in the workplace. Currently Wal-mart faces one of the biggest suits in America. The company was using illegal immigrants for years to clean their stores for a special low price.

Wal-mart gets funding to enter cities and set up shop. It use to be a community acceptance issue but now it seems like they are everywhere and in some cases are unwanted. Every time they set up shop in a new city, town or providence they threatened the prosperity of family businesses.

Subsidies given to Wal-mart by cities is in the excess of 100's of millions. The city of Missouri received over 31 millions dollars in subsidies, a city who is short on police, schools and many other resources. In Illinois they received 100 million in subsidies and the money was needed for their school system. School programs have been cut nation wide to bring Wal-mart to a town near you. Currently there is nearly 27 million square feet of empty Wal-marts in America, that's enough to build about 30,000 much needed classrooms.


Wal-mart's approach to the environment

Wal-Mart has a lot of BS commercials about how they help the environment but here are some contrary facts;

1999: All new Wal-Mart construction had been halted in the state of Pennsylvania due to state and federal environmental violations

2001: The EPA orders Wal-mart to pay out a $1 million dollar fine for clean water violations in 3 states: Texas, Oklahoma and Massachusetts

2004: Fined 3.1 million by EPA for clean water act violations in 9 states which was the highest fine for a retailer ever.

YOU WOULD THINK THEY WOULD LEARN BY THEN BUT....

2005: Connecticut EPA ordered Wal-mart to pay 1.15 million for clean water act violations in 22 stores statewide.


Notice how some things are cheap at Wal-mart and some are just about the same or more? Wal-Mart uses a price grid that makes some things cheaper but other things more expensive to try to even out the losses. Sam Walton created this store with the buy more , pay less quote. Most employees will tell you that it's more like work more and get paid less. Sure it's good to have a store that haves everything you need all in one place. Sure it's great to have a K-mart and Supermarket type store in one. I bet some of you love the fact that you can get groceries at Wal-mart. Keep supporting their grocery isles and your supermarkets will soon start disappearing too. Keep supporting young kids and under paid Asians across seas working for Wal-mart living like dogs. Wal-mart pays $3 a day for workers at their Chinese warehouses. Do you know why you can buy cheap clothes and toys from Wal-mart? Well, ask the underpaid Chinese employees across seas.

Wal-Mart imported $18 billion worth of goods in 2004 from China. Their outsourcing has effected the American dream drastically. In Bangladesh, India nearly 200,000 woman sew for clothes for Wal-mart. They work 14 hour shifts, 7 days a week and most of them live in poverty and can't even afford a toothbrush. At one location in Bangladesh woman are known to sleep by the factory because they only have a couple of hours and then have to get back to work or they cant afford to take a bus home everyday. These woman have no rights and are beaten when they work under expected performance.

Now we all have seen these Wal-mart commercials where they say they give back to the community right? Well in 2004 Wal-mart employees gave over $5 million dollars for the CRITICAL NEED FUND to help fellow workers in times of need, house fires, hospital bills etc.. The Walton family gave $6000 to that same fund. Compare that to the 3.2 million dollars they gave to political parties in 2004, it's no wonder why they get those subsidies. In that same year the Walton family got a federal tax cut of $91,500.00 per hour. The Walton's live a lustrous lifestyle and it has been the taxpayers and under paid workers that have gotten them to that point. Their expensive jets and numerous houses is the reason why you'll never get a raised. Besides the health care issues, under paid outsourcing, anti-union practices and poor work places conditions there's the problem with Wal-mart security systems. Wal-Mart focuses on protecting their properties rather their consumers. Wal-Mart parking lot violence is a major issue in America. In the US alone within the last 10 years 200 people have died in the parking lots or have been victims in the parking lot and then taking elsewhere. Woman have been raped, people have been robbed and assaulted and Wal-Mart with it's 100's of cameras and security guards are more focused on spying on employees than protecting their consumers.

The Pros

Well how can Wal-mart be beneficial? That depends, are you one of the CEOs? That seems like the only way there is a good thing about Wal-mart. Sure it's cool to buy everything you need at one place but what is the price aside of the price that you pay? Stop Wal-Mart picketing is on the rise across the world. If you shop at Wal-mart and really don't care about the politics then atleast show support for the humanities those picketers are fighting for. Wal-Mart is a monopoly business. They corporate ways effect us all. Write to your congressman, join these picketers and their cause. Cities across the US are banning Wal-Marts from their land, join their fight and vote no on a Wal-Mart near you. Support that and you'll support those local mom & pop shops and local businesses.