First thing that comes to mind when talking about Wal Mart is jobs. According to Wal Mart.com, Wal Mart alone employs 1.6 million associates worldwide. When talking about jobs, some questions come to mind. First, is wages, it has been said that Wal Marts wages bring down the national average. Yet Wal Mart continues to brag about its wages saying that they are competitive to other retail organizations. ?Wal Marts average wage is around $10 an hour, nearly doubling the federal minimum wage? (Scott). What he doesn?t mention is why the average is so high.
When you first start at Wal Mart your lucky if you make more then $6.50 an hour, and after being there for a few months your pay starts to rise. You only get a raise at 90 days, at a year and then every year after that. You don?t start making money until you?ve been there for years, if you are an everyday, full-time associate at a regular Wal Mart or super center.
Now why is the average so high? Because it includes distribution centers, which starting pay is probably around $10.00 an hour in it?s self, then there is night receiving and over night stock, which gets night differential, naturally making more. It is because of these reasons why the average is so high. But most of its associates are new and only make $6.50 an hour, which doesn?t seem to compare to the average at all. Another claim made by Al Norman, founder of Sprawl-busters.com and author of ?Slam-Dunking Wal Mart: How you can stop super center sprawl in your home town.? is that Wal Mart ?was sued in 32 states for forcing its employees to ?work off the clock??.
At first I didn?t believe this, when I first started all I heard was not to work of the clock with out using a time adjustment sheet or have a manager override the clock in if you want to work early. Which is just a sheet of paper that the associate has to fill out if they worked on a break or walking out, ?you are to get paid for every minute you work?? But just this week my store got rid of the time adjustment sheets entirely, and now the associates have to log themselves on to the computer and clock themselves in if they want to come in early or on a day you weren?t scheduled, with out a mangers approval right away. Instead you clock yourself in and wait a few days after working the shift to see if you were accepted to work early or at all. Raising the question if you really get paid for those hours.
Another question raised with working at Wal Mart is the unionization of individual stores. Most recently the focus has been in Loveland. The store wanted to become a unionized store but when it came to voting the motion failed, miserably. From personal experience I can see why the motion was canceled, according to many employees from the Loveland Store the heat came down hard on those who had planned to vote to become a union. They were harassed and their jobs were threatened. Wal Mart has an ?open door? policy, which means if an associate has a problem with any member of management or another associate, the associate is supposed to feel welcome and free to talk to another member of management. But when it comes to unions, somehow the situation is different.
One night while cleaning an associate found a department manager card discussing unions and how to handle questions concerning them. It said for the manger to thank the associate for asking the question and answering them the best they could, if they couldn?t answer the question they are to tell them it was a very good question and they would get back to them after they find out the answer. But at the bottom of the card we found something strange, it instructed the department manager to tell a higher member of management as soon as possible. It seems strange that the associate is to feel welcome and shouldn?t be afraid to ask questions or talk to management about problems, but when reading cards like that it makes it clear how Wal Mart can be thought of as the evil corporation many claim it to be.
No doubt Wal Mart gives money to charities and does its part to helping out the communities. Through its Good Works initiatives and donations made throughout the year and throughout the country, Wal Mart has given over $170 million dollars. With a record like Wal Mart who can blame them for trying to smooth out the rough edges of this evil corporation. ?Wal Mart?s value can be calculated in jobs, economic growth and charitable partnerships in communities throughout the country.? If this is the case then Wal Mart?s value is based on lies, pushing and shoving and faulty motives. What else can we expect from a multi million dollar corporate machine?
Wal Mart is just another American sugar coated evil that tricks its customers and associates to be loyal and keep money in the pockets of their stock holders. CEO Lee Scott himself says, ?We believe that offering good jobs at fair wages and benefits with unparalleled opportunities for advancement while also delivering world class savings for our 270 million customers is the best way to do right by all our stakeholders.? That sounds great and grand, if that?s where that thought ended, but Scott doesn?t stop there.
If we kept our low prices and raised our average wages and benefits above today?s market levels by a few dollars an hour or so, we would sacrifice a hefty chunk of our profits ? hurting shareholders who ha?ve entrusted us with their savings.
America must be aware of Wal Mart's true intentions, which coming from the mouth of its CEO'?s, its intention is for number one, themselves. They have to watch out for themselves and their shareholders before they can truly watch out for the consumers. Even if California?s attempts seem to be a modern day story of David vs. Goliath, it is good to see that not everyone just deals with Wal Mart taking over the world. So if asked if Wal Mart is evil, my reply is simple. ?Did David slay Goliath??
