Truth about WalMart?

[bradhurley]

So the real problem isn't Wal-Mart, but Chinese manufacturing. Wal-Mart is being duped by unethical Chinese executives.

It's more complicated than that, obviously. If Wal-Mart weren't driving prices so low, the Chinese executives could, in theory at least, pay the minimum wage and provide good working conditions for their employees. But since Wal-Mart demands the low prices, the Chinese factories cut corners at workers' expense in order to retain their contracts with Wal-Mart.

[bradhurley]

Ok - I don't pay them fifty yuan, but whenever we have a external safety audit coming up, we DO send around a "likely" question and answer email to help refresh personnel's memory. I really don't see anything wrong with that.

Missy

You mean you have to remind your workers that they work a 5-day week instead of 6 or 7, that there are enough toilets for everyone, and that they aren't forced to work overtime?

There's nothing wrong with a cheat sheet, but when it's basic stuff like this you have to wonder, don't you?

[bradhurley]

Here's some more from that article:

In China, as everyone in the business told me, 'counter compliance' has become a sophisticated art. Companies keep two sets of payrolls--one for inspection and another that records the real hours the workers put in and the real wages they are paid. Inspectors like Jane Trevor spend their days in the factory, photocopying documents to cross-check with production volumes, then hang around outside after dark to see if the workshop lights stay on beyond the admitted hours.

Trevor said that there was 'massive falsification' of factory documents and that people like her had to cope with too many factories, each with a high turnover of workers....

...Compliance is an expensive process that is aimed at protecting the brands from activists. But the fact is, that for all the pressure the brands say they exert, workers today in the Pearl River Delta are earning less in real terms than they were a decade ago, according to Chinese State Council figures.

[izzarina]

I think it should be pointed out that this article is about the documentary - not the documentary itself and the author makes this clear from the first.

Thank you for pointing that out Susan. I had forgotten to mention that, and it was part of the reason I posted this to begin with. I was hoping that someone who saw it would post about the documentary. Did anyone catch it per chance?

[izzarina]

And sometimes I even shop at the local "mom and pop" stores that Walmart has supposedly put out of business.

I am assuming that you have quite a few Mom and Pop shops in your vicinity? And you know of loads of them as well that are still thriving?

[FJohnSharp]

For the record, I avoid Wal-Mart as well, but I don't hate them. I favor Target, simply because Wal-Mart already has tons of customers. Target will appreciate my business more, plus it's not packed 24/7.

Target has better quality dress socks.

I have a limited agenda.

[missy]

"There's nothing wrong with a cheat sheet, but when it's basic stuff like this you have to wonder, don't you?"

Well, I often have to remind people what the emergency number is (it's four numbers, not three)!

I do see your point. Again, I'm not a big fan of Wally World - but I also know the, ah, forgetfullness of people. Even after being trained about something 20+ times.


Missy

[bradhurley]

I'm not really against Wal-Mart; if they weren't doing what they do, someone else would be doing it.

It's a nearly inevitable result of the fact that we're trained to buy things with the lowest price tag, which is a really stupid way to be a consumer.

In 1990 I bought five compact fluorescent light bulbs for about $20 apiece and used them to replace five incandescents (that were probably less than $1 apiece). And yet that was a really smart decision because I'm still using all but one of those compact fluorescents today, 15 years later, and they've more than paid for themselves in the electricity savings (they use a fraction of the energy that incandescents do). You can get a 40% return on investment by replacing incandescent lights with compact fluorescents, and a 27% return on investment by replacing an old fridge with a more efficient one. Try getting rates like that in the stock market...it's not easy. See http://hes.lbl.gov/hes/profitable_dat.html for more examples.

In 1982 or 83 I bought a Braun alarm clock for my bedside. Sure, it cost more than the cheap ones I could have bought at Woolworth's, but I've never had to replace it -- it's still there by my bedside. I've knocked it over on the floor countless times but it just keeps going.

I buy most of my clothes from Patagonia. The prices are outrageous, but you know what? I'm still wearing Patagonia clothes that I bought in the mid-1980s and they're holding up fine. I end up spending less overall on clothes (about $150-$200 every two to three years, but then, I'm a guy) because their stuff lasts longer and never really goes out of style.

Anyway, these are just examples: if more people started thinking about the total cost of ownership, they wouldn't waste their money buying cheap stuff that they'll just have to replace in a few months or years when it breaks or malfunctions, or appliances that drive up their electricity bill by consuming a lot of energy. And if the demand for cheap stuff declines (yeah, right), companies like Wal-Mart might not be so inevitable.

[Wormdiet]

It's a nearly inevitable result of the fact that we're trained to buy things with the lowest price tag, which is a really stupid way to be a consumer.

Thank you Brad. You made my day.

By helping me rationalize the purchase of a new flute that will cost approximately one part of my anatomy.

[susnfx]

Of course that's the sensible way to buy things, but then there's reality. There have been weeks, even months (thank God not recently), when I've had $30 to buy groceries for two people for two weeks - or $20 to buy a new blouse desperately needed. The reason a huge number of Wal-Mart customers shop there is because they can't afford to go anywhere else. I don't shop at Wal-Mart because there isn't one near me, but even if there was I wouldn't shop there because I dislike the crowds and jammed-in feeling of the merchandise and the stores in general. A few years ago I wouldn't have had any choice.

Susan

[The Weekenders]

Hmm... the anti-everything rabble went after Starbucks a few years back. I guess Starbucks is big, but nothing on the scale of Walmart, right?

When you get so big that your activities approach that of a sovereign nation, everything you do will be scrutinized and criticized.

I am no fan of 'em but like I say, just being that big is a sin in some circles. And how can you condemn them without condemning the conditions that led to them existing? The solution, provided in the original screed, is definitely grass-roots opposition and public awareness.

Hard to play the blame game, yet I don't want to exonerate their corporate leadership either.

Buy less and of higher quality is a starting point. Great show about "Affluenza" back in the early 90s.

[Azalin]

Well, to me this isnt about Wal-Mart, but about capitalism. What Wal-Mart is doing is being one of the most successful american company, and I'm sure 90% of all american, canadian or Europeean companies just *wish* they had Wal-Mart's success. Some profit-oriented companies might be influenced by the fact that what they're doing results in underpaid jobs in developing countries, but that's only a few. In some ways, China doesnt have much choice, because if they can't offer what american giants want, the giants will close the factories and bring the jobs to another country.

I believe that in the long run, the market will balance itself, and many bubbles will burst.

[Lorenzo]

I think the truth about Wal-Mart depends on who you ask.

If you are the city (or county), they'll probably think Wal-Mart is great because of the extra $300-600,000 dollars a year they contribute to the General Fund through sales and property tax.

If you ask some of the other Marts, like K-, and Bi- (at least in small towns of 50,000 or less) they'll not like WalMart locating nearby at all. I asked the owner of a carpet store (family owned), who is just down the street from the new Home Depot here in town, if he'll survive okay. He said business has imporved. When Wal-Mart came to town, K-Mart had to lay off about 13 employees. Bi-Mart closed one of their two location also. Now, WalMart has attracted a couple dozen small business nearby.

I see some of the NIMBYs who fought Wal-Mart the hardest occasionally sneaking into buy a few items. People who swore they'd never shop there. I never mention it. One lady in particular, the anti-WalMart leader, suddenly realized it was an easy walk to get diposable diapers for the new one.

If everyone would buy a whole bunch of "Made in China" items from WalMart, then return them because they were made in China, WalMart would get the message real quick. Imagine millions of dollars passing back through the refund account every weekend. That would throw them! I think Sam Walton always believed in selling merchandise made in the US of A. The China connection is a more recent thing. Lots of stuff from Mexico too.

[cowtime]

Our county fought Wal Mart and lost. They were able to get around existing zoning laws and locate in an industrial park created for manufacturing businesses.

I do shop at Wal Mart on occasion, simply because there is no where else to shop, unless I want to drive almost an hour for some odd purchase.
I do not buy groceries there, since I do have alternatives for that, thank goodness.

[Jeferson]

Walmart quashes workers who stand up for themselves, as we've seen in Quebec this year. The article posted below was run back in Feb, when Walmart first announced its intentions to shut down the Walmart in Jonquiere after the workers voted to unionize.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/09/news/in ... rt_canada/

The kicker? Having given the employees three (if I remember correctly) weeks' notice, Wal-Mart closed the doors of the store on April 30, a week early, claiming merchandise had run low on the shelves. The management chap told the press that it was a courtesy to the employees, who would now be paid for that week while they were out looking for work. Pretty thoughtful, eh?
Jef
Wal-Mart Closing Unionized Store (February 9, 2005)

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Wal-Mart is closing a store in Quebec that was closest to reaching a union contract after the retailer could not reach an agreement with the union representing workers there.

After months of negotiation with representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Wal-Mart (Research) said it will shut down its store in Jonquiere in the spring.

"It's a deeply disappointing day for us," Wal-Mart spokesman Andrew Pelletier told CNN. "The store in Jonquiere has been struggling for sometime economically, and in our view the union's demands failed to take into account the fragile condition of the store."

The company did not disclose how many workers will be affected, but said they would be offered "very generous packages which will far exceed what is required by law," including severance pay and career counseling.

Wal-Mart said it met nine times with union officials in recent months, but that those efforts did not result in an agreement.

The company said in a statement that the union walked away from the bargaining table on Feb. 1 and asked for arbitration.

A spokesman for United Food and Commercial Workers Union of Canada did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Workers at another Canadian Wal-Mart in the city of St. Hyacinthe are unionizing and the company plans to challenge the process.

Under fire in the United States for its employment practices, the world's largest retailer announced last year that it was overhauling its practices on pay, promotions, diversity and how cashiers are notified of their breaks. In 2003, Wal-Mart was accused of hiring illegal immigrants through a contractor and underpaying those employees.