Complaint of the Day

Complaint of the Day:

Walmart is the devil. I said it, let it spoken across the land that I have laid down the gauntlet against the world's largest corporation, the Minions of Bentonville, Ar.

Walmart, the world's largest company and perveyors of all things marketable at rock bottom prices, is the source of many ills not only in this country, but abroad as well. While marketing itself as a family run, down home option for Middle America, Walmart denies its workers collective bargaining rights, unionization, health care in many cases, livable wages and ethnic and gender equality in pay.

After being sued by women employees for not giving equal pay to women in management level positions and being caught by the Federal Government for not only hiring undocumented workers, Walmart is going on a public relations offensive.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=509&ncid=509&e=5&u=/ap/20050113/ap_on_bi_ge/wal_mart_scott_3 ">

You see, behind all those wonderfully cheery commercials where Granddad talks about his lovely job being a Walmart Greeter and the His-panic family talks about their son following in the family tradition going to work as a third-generation Walmart employee, we have come to find out that Walmart isn't exactly what it seems.

Surprise, surprise is actually an exploitive Megacorporation that while marketing itself as a keystone in Middle America, does the bulk of it's business with, hold your breath... communists (China), and keeps its prices down by underpaying and stripping benefits from its workers.

In fact, Walmart singlehandedly costs California taxpayers in the 10s of millions of dollars each year because Walmart employees, who lack benefits must draw from Medical to cover what Walmart won't in health services. In cases throughout the country, Walmart was caught using illegal immigrants as cleaning crews in many of their stores.



These immigrants later complained that while working for their contractors and Walmart they were withheld pay, not paid for overtime, and sometimes locked in their stores at night to clean, without a way to leave.

Now comes the news of Walmarts offensive to rebuild its image in the country. Quoting the AP article: "The company took out more than 100 full-page newspaper ads Thursday, outlining the wages and benefits it pays its employees and the good the Bentonville-based company says it brings to communities."

Let's be honest here, most people are still willing to shop at Walmart, no matter what reputation they have. That repuation has been duely earned by Walmart and it's subsidiaries like Sam's Club, because its profit and success are tied to it's ruthlessly efficient business practices and its great negotiating position. I don't shop at Walmart because of these practices, I send my cash to places like Target or Ralph's even though I know they too have unethical business practices.

I just want to point out that as American's buy into this "All-American" business, they should know that Walmart's success has more to do with communist China then with Middle America. Sorry, red states, but you are commie lovers :)

Read this for more background: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45855-2004Nov12.html ">