Wal-Mart, and how they are rolling back on America.

I wrote this speech a year ago ( I updated parts of it) And won 8th in the state of California. This speech is about how Wal-Mart is destroying America. If you saw my three part series, this is the same thing on one big section. If you want to read it in sections, check out my blog. You may also want to see "McNickled and McDimed." That is the speech I wrote this year. I am now 5th in the state.

    A virus is sweeping across our nation. On appearance, it seems to benefit our lives, but in the long run, it may destroy the lives of millions. Job by job it kills the American dream. This epidemic has created 1.6 million jobs (CBS market watch), most of which pay below poverty level wages. In its rampage, it has destroyed manufacturing jobs that paid decent wages and it has killed small businesses and large corporations alike. Wal-Mart is infecting the United States, and is rolling back on America.                     

            Wal-Mart has been spreading virtually unchecked since founder Sam Walton’s Death in 1992 (encyclopedia).  It has become a 312 billion dollar company( Los Angeles Times). Wal-Mart has metastasized beyond its original identity as a discount warehouse of consumer goods to the mega one-stop shop that it is today, which is why journalist Geoffrey Colvin writing for Fortune Magazine asked, “Will we all work for Wal-Mart?”(Norman 1)

            Why would working for Wal-Mart be a problem? Well for one thing, you probably won’t be in the ranks of the employed for long. Wal-Mart has the largest turnover rate in the United States. Over 630,000 Wal-Mart employees will quit this year(6). Why would that many people quit? Because Wal-Mart does not provide a living wage for its workers. The majority of its employees earn just over $8 an hour (Featherstone 11), which wouldn’t be so bad if you were working a 40 hour week job with benefits and some occasional paid overtime, but Wal-Mart’s idea of full time work is 28 hours a week( Norman 8). Wal-Mart knows that they do not pay their employees enough to live on and even admitted to Los Angeles Times Reporters Abigail Goldman and Nancy Cleeland that a full time employee could not support a family on Wal-Mart wages (Los Angeles Times). Wal-Mart even shows its employees how to apply for welfare to make up for its shortfall. California Assemblywoman Sally Lieber found documents with the Wal-Mart seal that had instructions on how to apply for food stamps, Medi-Cal and other welfare services (Featherstone 14). In fact, according to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the U.S. House of Representatives, Wal-Mart employees collected over 1 and a half billion dollars in welfare last year (Norman 9). In other words, the United States government, and by extension, your tax dollars and mine, subsidize Wal-Mart’s hefty profit margin. That’s a hidden fee no one should have to pay for a multibillion dollar company.

            Once upon a time in these United States the textile industry and manufacturing jobs provided a wealth of skilled employment opportunities to America’s workforce.  Levi Strauss Jeans were once proudly made in America, but when Wal-Mart started selling its Faded Glory brand at a sweatshop price, Levi had a hard time staying in business. Wal-Mart finally agreed to sell Levis under one condition: they had to manufacture them cheaper(29). Salaries of 13 dollars and hour an hour and 40 hour workweeks drove the cost of production up and the profit margins down, which meant the Levi’s product did not fit the Wal-Mart model (CNN). So, Levi shut down all 63 of its production sites in the United States. Now my Levi’s bear the tag, “Made in China”, and they are one of Wal-Mart’s hottest sellers(Norman 29).

  It’s Hard to blame people for shopping at Wal-Mart. It seems we all have to stretch our dollars these days. Chastity Ferguson is a good example. She’s a hotel cashier who makes $400 a week in Las Vegas, Nevada and shops at her local Wal-Mart Supercenter.  After all, she has four children to take care of and saves money when she shops at Wal-Mart. But she might reconsider if she knew about Kelly Gray, who lives just across town. Kelly Gray is a mother of five and lost her job at Raley’s grocery store when it went out of business after Wal-Mart opened its supercenter. She earned $14.68 an hour with a pension and a family health insurance plan. When she lost the job she described it as if someone had broken into her home, and had stolen something important from her (Los Angeles Times). Shopping at Wal-Mart doesn’t come cheap after all.

California has not been overrun by the Wal-Mart Supercenters yet, and has kept them at bay with zoning laws( Los Angeles Times). But the convenience appeal of the super center is becoming harder to combat. A super center combines the Wal-Mart warehouse with a grocery store and other consumer services. Local grocery stores are caving in to the pressure. Their workers receive $19 an hour and benefits, but if grocery stores have to drop their prices to compete with Wal-Mart, then they will not be able to afford the union pay scales. The Southern California grocery store strike two years ago was over this very issue: reduction in pay and benefits – not to non-union Wal-Mart levels, but a significant compromise nevertheless (Los Angeles Times). The 4 and a half month strike finally settled, but the workers are worse off now that Wal-Mart’s standards are dictating the industry at every level: production and retail( Znet). Wal-Mart threatens over 250,000 union jobs in California alone (Los Angeles Times). Over 13,000 grocery stores have closed their doors since Wal-Mart entered the industry. Many of those stores were unionized(Norman 50) .

            Wal-Mart will claim that it is not anti-union, yet its actions say differently. On February 9th of this year, a Canadian Wal-Mart was on the verge of becoming the first Wal-Mart to Unionize. What was Wal-Mart’s response? To shut down the store, eliminating 190 jobs (Associated Press). Wal-Mart would rather close its doors than have organized labor.

            Liza Featherstone, a writer for The Nation, stated that “Wal-Mart is a grave threat to unionized workers’ jobs. It threatens all American ideals that are at odds with profit – justice, equality and [fundamental] fairness.” (14) What can be done to stop Wal-Mart before it bulldozes everything in its path?  Since California often leads the country in progressive legislation, and becomes the national exemplar, I advocate To the California State Legislature pass a bill that will require retail corporations that employ over 15,000 people in California to do the following three things: first, have a set minimum wage of 13 dollars an hour; second, offer a 40 hour a week job to at least 60% of their employees; and third, pay 80% of their employee’s health insurance premiums.  A middle class will struggle to exist if large corporations pay its employees $8 an hour with no benefits, and this bill will prevent them from doing so.  Retail corporations that employ 15,000 people make enough profit to follow these regulations. Wal-Mart employs over 15,000 people in Los Angeles County alone (Laedc).

            What Kind of company is Wal-Mart? It is a company that exploits its workers and shows them how to apply for welfare (Featherstone 14). A company that exploits more overseas labor than any other company in the United States, while shutting down middle class manufacturing jobs (Los Angeles Times). A company that is sexist, and is now facing a class-action lawsuit from over 1.5 million employees and ex-employees for denying promotions to women and paying them less than men (USA Today). A company in which 630,000 of its employees are not insured (Norman 12). A company whose CEO said on national television that a child slave labor at Wal-Mart’s production site in Bangladesh is fine with him (Norman 26). A company that is sued more than any other in the United States (Norman 18). A company whose idea of full time work is 28 hours a week at just over $8 an hour(Norman 8, Featherstone 11).  This is a company that does not care for the livelihood of its workers, or for the welfare for the people of the United States. This is a company for which unrestrained profit is its only motive. Companies like this need regulation, and my proposition will provide a better living for millions of Americans and help to re-establish the middle class that is rapidly disappearing. Wal-Mart and companies like it are killing the American Dream, but our democratic government can change that. Otherwise we might as well follow activist Al Normans sarcastic advice and re-write our pledge of allegiance to say: “I pledge my income to the store of the United States of Wal-Mart, and to its stockholders for whom it expands. One Workforce, underpaid, with Barbie dolls and cheap underwear for all.”(Norman i)