Dear Mr. Tester, I read your email post with interest. I'm enclosing an excerpt of my script. Should you wish to view my background information, I have an enormous backlog of articles, studies, etc. which I would be more than happy to share with you. (Just say the word--I have a couple dozen email articles in my drafts folder already addressed to you! :) Frontline has also created a documentary on Wal-Mart--many economists who have studied them feel that they actually prey upon the most economically vulnerable.
I also recommend "Nickled and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich--she chronicles what happened to her while she was working at a Wal-Mart. Finally, I do shop at many discount shops to stretch my dollars---just not Wal-Mart. Is that luxury? Feeling "testered", Elizabeth Dickinson West Side Wal-Mart is the most sued corporation in America. It has been charged with racketeering, mail fraud, wire fraud, racial and sexual discrimination, refusing to pay workers compensation/social security, refusing employees rest and meal breaks, locking employees in overnight off the clock, preventing officials from enforcing wage and immigration laws and cheating immigrant janitors out of wages. But the list doesn�t stop there. In Walmart�s own internal audit, it reveals that there were 1371 child labor law violations in one week at 25,000 Walmart stores. Some of the worst abuses occurred when a diabetic cashier unable to break for a meal fainted, and cashiers prevented from taking a break urinated on themselves. A former federal labor department head calls the sheer volume of these violations �a source of great concern.� So when a Wal-Mart store announced plans to move into an old K-Mart site in St. Paul, Minnesota, citizens and labor groups were alarmed. A group called the Midway Citizen Consumer Community Coalition or MC4 started organizing Bernie Hess-- �With Walmart moving in, we felt there was a need to so some basic organizing in the community to pull together labor unions, people who live in the community, small business owners, faith based communities, show we have expectations. We want them to come in on our terms and be responsible. v.o. Some people believe that low wages are inevitable, that a big employer has to pay lower wages in order to be able to offer lower prices. Chris Conry an organizer from the Food and Commercial workers disagrees. In fact, taxpayers are often unknowingly subsidizing the low wages. Walmart has been known to encourage its employees to supplement their wages by applying for various forms of public assistance. There are a lot of myths about Walmart. Fact: Only 1% of Walmart goods have the lowest prices. According to studies conducted by universities in Iowa, Vermont and Arkansas, only about 1% of the the 75,000 products Walmart carries have the lowest prices. graphics �Only 1% of Walmart products are at lowest price� You might also think Walmart generates tax revenue for the community. But many cities have discovered that Walmart uses more tax money than it generates. The increased cost of roads, water and sewage, often exceeds the sales and property tax revenues generated by the new Walmarts. Fact: Cost to taxpayers for roads, water, sewage is more than Walmart�s payment of sales and property taxes. Even some Business Week magazine economists believe Wal-Mart�s entry into a community doesn�t result in any net increase in jobs and tax revenue Often small businesses who can�t compete with the prices leave. And its not just small businesses who can�t compete. Over the last ten years, over 25 chains have been forced into bankruptcy by Walmart. Walmart also tends to detroy local higher paying jobs paid by similar employers who feel forced to cut their wages to compete. This is called � a race to the bottom�. Furthermore, when you shop at Walmart, most of the money will leave the state. If you shop at a local business, that local business will spend three times as much in the community as Walmart. Money which stays in state enriches the state. Graphics Fact: Local businesses spend three times more in the community than Walmart does. Finally, all those Walmart ads may be having you thinking that Walmart gives a lot to the community in donations and charities. Local businesses donate four times as much to charity as Walmart does relative to overall sales. If a Walmart is coming to your community, what can you do about it? If you believe Walmart engages in unfair business practices, you don�t have to shop there. If you want to share your concerns with a customer representative, call Walmart at 1-800-Walmart. If you want to find out what Walmart employees and other communities are doing to organize against Walmart, check out www.walmartyrs.com Anybody working a full-time job deserves to be able to afford the basics-- food, shelter and health care. Wal-Mart�s wages don�t even begin to make that possible for most of their associates. When you shop at Walmart, you may save a little money now, but it�s guaranteed everybody will pay more later. What kind of bargain is that? _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
