High costs low prices: Why Wal-Mart should not be supported

When most people picture prison, they don’t see endless shelves of food, clothing, toys, cleaning products, and other basic household goods, but for almost two hundred and fifty immigrants locked overnight in a Wal-Mart this was the case.Though extreme, this is consistent with the Wal-Mart corporations focus on money over people, the workers were shut in to do janitorial duties off the clock. In California there are 167 Wal-Marts, 35 Sam’s Club’s and 9 distribution centers, who knows how many people were exploited to keep these stores running. Wal-Mart’s corrupt corporate culture and unfair labor relations should not be supported.

Wal-Mart Inc. is the worlds largest retailer, setting the national and international standards for the corporate industry... According to the documentary , Wal-Mart : The High Cost of Low Price, directed by Robert Greenwald, the five members of the Walton family are worth approximately eighteen billion dollars a year each, yet...Only one percent of their total wealth is donated to charitable funds, Bill Gates donates fifty-eight percent. If five of the ten wealthiest American’s don’t support charitable causes, will the next generation of corporate executives follow in their footsteps? Likewise, Wal-Mart employees donate more than their significantly wealthier employers. Employees donated five million dollars to the Critical Need Fund, established to aid fellow Wal-Mart employees in times of crisis, the Walton family donated six thousand. If representatives of a company as wealthy as Wal-Mart cannot demonstrate philanthropic behavior, their business is not worth monetary support.

The corporation’s stance on safety and security, as well as their actions to prevent it, are extremely dangerous... Eighty percent of crimes at Wal-Mart occur in the parking lots, and an unintentionally released crime report conducted by the Wal-Mart corporation discovered a way to completely eliminate parking lot crimes, at a relatively low price, but they illegally withheld this information. Rapes, murders, abductions, could be completely eliminated in these expansive parking lots, yet this greedy company has chosen not to care for it’s number one priority, the customer.If the most powerful corporation’s policy places finances over employee and customer welfare, what kind of a message is being sent to other businesses around the world?

Wal-Mart Inc. has done very little to support the average employee, and has participated in some exceptionally careless labor practices... According to wakeupwalmart.com, in 2004 Wal-Mart Inc. spent 1.5 billion dollars on healthcare, and 1.4 billion dollars on advertising, an accurate depiction of the company’s emphasis on healthcare. Clearly, image and revenue is as important as the health and well being of the employees.Because a significant number of employees cannot afford the healthcare system created by the company, they are encouraged to go on welfare, managers are supplied with local welfare agencies by the corporation. The amount of Wal-Mart employees relying on welfare costs taxpayers 1.5 billion dollars nationally, and eighty six billion dollars in California. Wal-Mart would rather have the average citizen, who’s money they are allegedly saving, cover the health expenses of their workers.To lower costs, Wal-Mart has purposely not supplied it’s stores with enough money to hire an adequate amount of workers. This has resulted in store managers using whatever means necessary to get all tasks taken care of. In 2003 one store was found guilty of hiring illegal immigrants, and locking them in over night to do janitorial work. This is an extreme example of the pressure managers are under to cut labor costs.

On walmartfacts.com, the company claims that, "They might be right for some companies but there is simply no need for a third party to come between our associates and their managers," in regard to unions. This is the lighter version of their dislike for unions, a system created to protect the American working man. The anti-union package at each store costs seven thousand dollars, more then they spend on security. In addition, there is a twenty-four hour anti-union hotline and rapid response team with a corporate jet which costs over seven million dollars. This sizable anti-union program directly contrasts their claim that they are not anti-union. Also, it shows that the company is well aware of it’s questionable business practices, since the amount of money it spends to protect their image is excessive.  Though Wal-Mart contends that there main priority is to deliver low costs to their consumer, they have done so by exploiting the very people in which they claim to help.

One hundred and seventy six million people shop at Wal Mart every week. The top reason people shop at Wal-Mart is the low prices, something few companies can compete with. Regular Wal-Mart shopper Kelly King stated " It is the employees choice to work there," a common argument amongst shoppers. Many argue that since there has been so much negative media concerning the company Wal-Mart has taken steps to improve their corporation. Studies have shown the average amount of money saved shopping at Wal-Mart does not balance out the public expense. Also, many employees work there because it is their only option, and because they work their they can only afford to shop there. Much of Wal-Mart’s defense for it’s actions is ineffectual. Since the negative press surrounding their healthcare system was so great they have created less expensive healthcare plan. Yet this decrease in costs of the healthcare detracts from an increase in costs of premiums, which are between one thousand and three thousand dollars.

To prevent the dominance of Wal-Mart’s corrupt corporate culture and unfair labor relations support for their company should be eliminated. A company that places finances over employee and customer care does not deserve support. A company that’s image outweighs the basic freedoms of our constitution does not deserve support. A company that is extremely wealthy but donates very little does not deserve support. We must be stronger than low prices and stop Wal-Marts monopolization of the public, industry and economy.

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