Why Wal-mart?
by Elisha Peck
Did
you know?
Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the US. Only the US government employs
more people. 1.7 million people are considered associates in 5,170 stores worldwide.
1.3 million of these employees work in 3,600 US stores.
The average wage
for a full-time associate is $10.17 an hour according to the New York State
fact page. o According to the Wal-Mart Watch website a full-time employee works
34 hours a week, which is an annual salary of $17,000 - below the national average
for retail.
According to the Wal-Mart
facts website, "Wal-Mart does not encourage our associates to apply for
public assistance." Former managers of Wal-Mart say that employees are
encouraged to take advantage of public health care such as Medicaid (Sylvia
Chase/PBS).
Wal-Mart employees were
eligible for $2.5 billion in federal assistance (paid for by American taxpayers)
in 2004 (Harper's Magazine, March 2005).
Wal-Mart acknowledged that
46% of the children of employees are uninsured or on Medicaid (Susan Chambers,
Wal-Mart's executive vice president for benefits).
Walmart
in poor countries
The company also operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, México, Nicaragua, Puerto
Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
Wal-Mart doesn't have to pay workers as much and targets low economies. Countries
such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexio and Nicaragua are all extremely
poor. According to the CIA World Factbook 36% of people from El
Salvador are below poverty line, 50% below the poverty line in Nicaragua, 40%
below in Mexico, 53% below in Honduras, and 75% below poverty in Guatemala (www.cia.gov).
Wal-Mart
opposes public education
According to the National
Education Association:
The late John Walton was the biggest contributor to the
anti-public education movement, which provided tens of millions of dollars to
support it.
Since 1998, the Walton Family Foundation has given more
than $100 million to private organizations that finance vouchers to private
schools, undermine support for public education, and are intended to increase
political pressure for publicly funded vouchers (Mediatransparency.org).
Why not donate to public schools? And why do our communities give subsidies to a company that is not supportive of educating the middle to lower class. What about families that can't afford private schooling? Wal-Mart pays its workers below poverty level so they aren't able to afford better schooling.
Sucking
Taxpayers dry
A Congressional report estimates that every 200-employee Wal-Mart store costs
federal taxpayers $420,750 a year: $36,000 for free and reduced school lunches;
$42,000 for housing assistance; $125,000 for federal tax credits and deductions
for low-income families; $100,000 for Title 1; $108,000 for the federal share
of state children's health program costs; $9,750 for low income energy assistance
(Committee on Education and the Workforce Democratic Staff, House of Representatives,
2/16/04).
Wal-Mart
Shuts Down Unions
According to the Wal-Mart website: "At Wal-Mart, we respect the individual
rights of our associates and encourage them to express their ideas, comments
and concerns. Because we believe in maintaining an environment of open communications,
we do not believe there is a need for third-party representation."
When Wal-Mart learns about a union organizing, a team is sent in from its corporate
headquarters in Bentonville.
Whether
you shop at Wal-Mart or not, we can all demand changes from this company. Interested
in making a difference?
Recently, Mayor Driscoll declared
that he is interested in inviting Wal-Mart into the south side of Syracuse.
Southside Community groups are organizing to oppose this decision. Contact Khalid
Bey, Southside Community Coalition at 315-516-1312. For more information, see:
www.walmartfacts.com, www.walmartwatch.com