Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price

Another strong message by Robert Greenwald of "Outfoxed" fame. Similar to that doc, however, it is a quickly done, and somewhat less than fully polished film. Too shticky at times, it occasionally comes close to a parody of propaganda films, especially when dealing with the lives of Chinese workers. However, there are some moving portrayals of those affected by Walmart, including former employees, and some powerful testimonials by former management who feel betrayed by a company they gave their loyalty to.

I was most shocked by some facts about the Walton family, who are some of the richest people on the planet, and apparently some of the stingiest. You'd think they'd be more generous just for to get positive P.R., even if they couldn't care less about "the little people". For a more sober depiction of the Walmart phenomenon, I also recommend the Frontline documentary "Is Walmart Good for America".

There are some "viewer posts" on this site that are fake. Someone at WalMart's rapid response team is posing as a Wal Mart employee, and providing facts regarding how wonderful Wal Mart is.

One fact I know is that COST PLUS pays its employees a respectable wage, and WAL MART does not. In one study, WAL MART's SAM'S CLUB STORE was found to pay its employees A $11.52 per hour, while COSTCO paid its employees $15.97, 40% Less. (Source: Business Week Online April 12, 2004)

Note: I am NOT associated with any business, labor group, political party, association, or group of any kind. I'm just sick of WAL MART paying its employees disgusting wages, and then paying politicos big money to provide RAPID RESPONSE PUBLIC RELATIONS sound bites, attempting to defend the indefensible. They should start by not lying about who them are, when they post submissions on IMDb.

I wonder how this will play in the Red States, when they see the heartland raped and pillaged by The Walton family. When they see God-fearing, flag-waving patriotic Americans whose lives have been decimated by this Evil Empire in a Big Box. People might think that a documentary like this is the territory of the "Liberal Elite," but the liberals can live in their sophisticated cities where Walmart's presence cannot make quite as big a gaping hole in the local economy...but it is the rural, Bush-voting Red Staters that should be leading the rallying cry against this company. It is especially effective to see ministers preaching about how Walmart's values are not in line with the Christian faith.

Obviously, the creators had an opinion before they started this documentary, but the findings and facts are consistent with what the mainstream media reports about the way this company is run. The long arm of Walmart is dramatic enough without necessitating the filmmakers occasional lapses into melodrama, but the points are well-made and ignoring the facts presented in this film and continuing to support this Goliath in a blue smock could be our undoing-I hope this gets passed around from person-to-person faster than the Paris Hilton sex video and also hope we soon see a documentary on how Walmart collapsed like the Roman Empire.

Trust me, I work there; they have---if you can believe it---gotten WORSE for the workers. They recently (within the last 2 months) changed our dress code---no hats (not so bad), everybody has to wear a blue clone shirt (a little bit worse), no more vests (so we have find other ways to carry the tools required for our job), and, just a couple days ago, no radios on the floor, which have been allowed ever since I started working there over 2 years ago. Also, within the last 2 months (this is the worst), they have decided we need to be to be timed on how long long it takes the stockers to work their freight. I mean, c'mon already, this is WAL_MART---not Ford Motor Company!!! If you want me to do piece work, then pay me piece work rate, not less than $10 an hour. Yup, Wal*Mart's lowering prices, alright---lowering the price they pay their employees (oops, sorry---ASSOCIATES).

I had a generally low opinion of WalMart before, and Brave New Films' documentary only made them seem worse, but I still have questions. WM is well known for persistent, and often illegal, anti-union activity, which is reported in this film. WM is also known for beating down prices, which is not reported. I didn't know that WM has high turnover, or that many stores are purposefully under-staffed.

The sad stories of the losing competitors do not sway me. Mom and Pop operations of all kinds have been giving way to big box operations for many decades. Olive Garden killed my favorite local Italian restaurant, Lowe's is killing my favorite local hardware store and a planned Home Depot will finish the job. That is just competition in the developed world.

What annoyed me were the subsidies and tax breaks that WalMart manages to get from localities. In one case a WM is shown skipping across the town line, abandoning the subsidized big box stores, just before their sales taxes kick in. But more annoying was a lack of perspective: How many big chains and franchises get subsidies? If many do, that would be the logical counter-argument, so I'd like to have gotten the information.

I was also annoyed that WM employees were on public assistance of some kind, but again: How common is this in retail? Do KMart employees get a lot of public assistance? Or not? Apparently there is a lot of crime in WM parking lots. Is there less crime in Walgreen lots, or more? Brave New Films doesn't say. WM sells products from Chinese sweatshops. Hey, even I know they aren't the only ones. WalMart's habit of stockpiling lawn products in the parking lot often leads to toxic runoff, but they aren't the only ones that do that, either.

I still think that WalMart is a very bad employer, and now I know how much of a drain they are on the local economy, but I think Brave New Films failed to demonstrate whether WalMart is all that much worse than the other businesses on the strip, or simply the biggest of a bad lot. Either way, that would be good to know.