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NEWS & LETTERS, February-March 2006Voices From the Inside OutWal-Mart’s (dirty) new lookby Robert Taliaferro To change opinions about the multi-billion dollar capital enterprise known as Wal-Mart, consumers were inundated with its "Home for the holidays" campaign that included racially and gender diverse spokespersons. It was an effort to detract from the critics of the Walton family, owners of the Wal-Mart dynasty. The Walton family is considered the richest family in the world with a fortune of nearly $100 billion. Though they seemed to support the family-oriented concept of "being home for the holidays" for their consumers, the same comforting policy does not extend to those the company employs. They could not afford to stay home for the holidays due to the need to work for the low salaries that Wal-Mart pays its associates. BIGGEST EXPLOITER Wal-Mart is currently this country’s largest private employer and is not a union shop. It so bitterly opposes unions that it specifically trains its supervisors to deter, report, and oppose any hint of unionization. The resulting lack of representative protections for its workers presents a smiling face to its customers who supply its economic base, but creates a Third World-like work atmosphere for its employees. The company is currently involved in several employee class action lawsuits, including a sex-discrimination suit representing nearly two million women. Additionally several communities have refused to lie down and succumb to Wal-Mart's incursions into their towns. Wal-Mart, much like the private prison consortium Corrections Corporation of America, is known for its low wages, disregard for labor laws, and targeting of poor communities for stores. This has resulted in towns and labor unions uniting to make fighting these new stores a top priority. The past holiday gave Wal-Mart a perfect forum for its attempt to appear more diverse, and in true capitalist style, it seemed to target poor and minorities by depicting popular entertainment icons in those communities as avid fans and Wal-Mart shoppers. Wal-Mart did contribute $20 million of goods and services to the Katrina relief effort with a much better logistical efficiency than the U.S. government could muster in its tepid response to the tragedy, and Wal-Mart now supports a program called "Voices of Color." But, in that process, it also plays both sides against the middle as it also contributes heavily to ultraconservative political action committees. Though supporters of the company will discuss how diverse Wal-Mart has become since the death of its founder Sam Walton, that diversity often does not reach into the depths and pockets of its own workforce who toil long hours with few--if any--protections in place to deter abuse. A large percentage of their workforce is made of people of color, single mothers, and the elderly attempting to supplement Social Security or minimal retirement benefits. WORKING POOR Most Wal-Mart employees cannot afford viable health care despite long hours and injuries incurred on the job. If a Wal-Mart associate is sick, she must provide documentation of a sort that even prisoners do not have to supply, before they can be confident that their illness will not cost them their job. Hillary Clinton, a former board member of Wal-Mart, once noted that the company was "the best America had to offer." All the while, the company was lobbying for more tax breaks for the rich while their "associates" languished in sweatshop-like conditions that, had they occurred in a Third World country, would spark the condemnation of nations, even the U.S. One has to wonder if the artists featured in the "Home for the holidays" campaign were aware of Wal-Mart's policies towards its workers since all of the entertainers featured are avidly protected by agents and unions that do not allow them to be abused by corporate sponsors such as Wal-Mart. This is the same Wal-Mart which systematically refuses those same protections for its employees, especially its associates and greeters, who are required to appear cheerful. |
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