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Opinion Pieces
More than a Feeling
The Nation, 6/19/05
Liza Featherstone gives a short description of Wal-Mart's racism in hiring truck drivers.
Tackling Wal-Mart takes Oregonization
The Seattle Times, 7/06/05
Floyd McKay argues in the Seattle Times that Wal-Mart can be stopped in local towns through organization.
The Costco Challenge: An Alternative to Wal-Martization?
WakeUpWalMart.com, 7/06/05
Moira Herbst discusses Wal-Mart’s business model compared to Costco’s business model which provides better pay and benefits to their employee’s then does Wal-Mart. The better compensation allows for a more efficient and loyal workforce that is more productive.
Martha Burk’s Speech at Wal-Mart’s Annual Meeting
Martha Burk introduces a resolution from United for a Fair Economy which more than 15% of shareholders accepted. The resolution calls for Wal-Mart to disclose the distribution of stock options by the gender and race of stock option recipients.
Reports
Wal-Mart Board of Directors Profiles
Wal-Mart Watch, 2007-2008
As our nation's largest employer and most financially successful company, Wal-Mart is
a singular American institution. It occupies a unique position in our world by virtue of its size, reach and responsibility for the livelihoods of 1.8 million workers and the needs of billions of consumers.
New Research Shows Wal-Mart Rigs the System to Skip Out on $2.3 Billion in State Taxes
Citizens for Tax Justice, April 16, 2007
This report shows how Wal-Mart avoided billions of dollars in state taxes since 1999.
Wal-Mart’s Tax Avoidance Schemes
Wal-Mart Watch, March 2007
Corporate tax loopholes are having a profound effect on state revenue collections, and mounting evidence demonstrates that for many years Wal-Mart aggressively has pursued them in order to avoid paying state taxes. The legality of certain tax schemes differs state to state and certain strategies are extremely complex, but the underlying results are the same: they have saved Wal-Mart from paying hundreds of millions of dollars in state taxes.
WALMART: Real Wage
and Turnover
Study
Wal-Mart Alliance for Reform Now (WARN), November 2007
Through a public records request, WARN obtained copies of reports of employee
quarterly earnings filed with the State of Florida by employers for purposes of determining
unemployment compensation tax liability. Data provided was for the first quarter of 2005. The
names of both the employees AND the employers are exempt from disclosure, but the number of
employees and the distribution of their reported earnings alone provided sufficient information to
allow WARN to infer which report was Wal-Mart’s.
UnCHECKED: How Wal-Mart Uses Its Might to Block Port SecurityAX
AFL-CIO, April 2006
Almost every press story written and news show aired since the Dubai Ports World battle began has trumpeted the gaping holes in our seaports’ security
systems. But few ask: Why are U.S. ports so poorly protected nearly five years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001? Why has the government spent just $630 million—less than 4 percent of the $18 billion-plus we have spent since 2001 on airport security—
to make our ports safer?
The Wal-Mart Tax: Shifting Health Care Costs to Taxpayers
AFL-CIO, March 2006
As job-based health coverage
declines and employers shift growing
costs onto employees, workers
are turning to taxpayer-funded programs
such as Medicaid to get care
for themselves and their families. Medicaid is
wrestling with explosive cost growth, with total
federal and state spending in 2006 expected to
be 58.7 percent greater than in 2000.1 Medicaid is
the fastest-growing expense for most states,
accounting for 16 percent of state budgets, on
average. States’ spending on the program is
expected to increase 8.1 percent this fiscal year.2A
American Pays, Wal-Mart Saves
WakeUpWalMart.com, February 2006
This report is a comprehensive analysis of reported state, federal and company data regarding Wal-Mart’s health care.
Low Prices at What Cost?
Wal-Mart Watch’s Annual Report for 2005
Everyone loves a bargain, and Wal-Mart’s “always low prices” draw millions of Americans to its stores. In fact, 8 in 10 Americans shop at Wal-Mart’s stores. Is Wal-Mart really such a good value, or do consumers pay in other ways? For the first time, the staff of Wal-Mart Watch answers this important question. Drawing on a wide range of research, the 2005 Wal-Mart Watch Annual Report tells the whole story behind the largest corporation the world has ever seen.
Shopping for Subsidies
Good Jobs First
This report looks into the lucrative tax breaks and subsidies that Wal-Mart receives while it expands and creates new stores. Subsidies are normally justified to attract new businesses to spur growth, but most of Wal-Mart’s business comes from stealing customers from businesses already established in the area.
Importing Danger: How Wal-Mart’s Massive Imports from China Threaten America’s Food Supply
Wal-Mart Watch
Wal-Mart imports the vast majority of the products it sells – including much of its food – from overseas, particularly China. This means less regulation, poorer oversight and untrustworthy supply sources for America’s food, in addition to the loss of American jobs.
Statistical Analysis of Gender Patterns in Wal-Mart Workforce
Richard Drogin, Ph.D., February 2003
This report shows the pay gap between men and women at Wal-Mart. The study has some important finds. Women tend to have lower turnover rates, have higher performance ratings and work more years at Wal-Mart then their male counterparts; but are still paid less then men and are not adequately represented in higher-level positions such as management.
Wal-Mart’s Pay Gap
Institute for Policy Studies, Sarah Anderson
This report focuses on the pay gap between Wal-Mart’s extremely wealth CEO’s compared to the workers of Wal-Mart’s foreign suppliers. The report discusses the abysmal working conditions and low wages of Wal-Mart’s suppliers, such as 17 cents an hour for workers in China compared to the lucrative lifestyles of CEO’s such as Lee Scott Jr. who was paid about 8.4 thousand dollars an hour.
The Economic Impact of Wal-Mart Supercenters on Existing Businesses in Missippi
Kenneth Stone, Georgeanne Artz, Albert Myles
While there is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that existing businesses are harmed by the growth of supercenters, there has been little academic research in the field, owing to a general lack of reliable data. A recent paper by Andrew W. Franklin examined the impact of Wal-Mart supercenter entry on the concentration of grocery stores in metropolitan areas. While he found little evidence that supercenters affect the concentration in larger metropolitan areas, he did report that Wal-Mart’s market shares were highest in lower income and smaller metropolitan areas
Impact of the Wal-Mart Phenomenon on Rural Communities
Farm Foundation, Professor Kenneth E. Stone, 1997
There is strong evidence that rural communities in the United States have been
more adversely impacted by the discount mass merchandisers (sometimes referred to as
the Wal-Mart phenomenon) than by any other factors in recent times. Studies in Iowa
have shown that some small towns lose up to 47 percent of their retail trade after 10 years
of Wal-Mart stores nearby.
Welcome to Wal-World
The Multinational Monitor, Andy Rowell, October 2003
"Country by country, the world is discovering the great value of shopping at Wal-Mart," says John Menzer, president of the international division of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer. Menzer's vision is one where Wal-Mart becomes a global brand, just like McDonald's or Coca-Cola, monopolizing the global retail market. People in the United States may be used to the sight of Wal-Mart in their communities, but not so the rest of the world. But all that is about to change.
Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town
PBS
STORE WARS: WHEN WAL-MART COMES TO TOWN takes a look at the populist spirit that engulfs a small Virginia town when retail giant Wal-Mart comes knocking, blueprints in hand. The ensuing debate, which pits neighbor against neighbor, illustrates the struggle between conflicting versions of the American dream. A truly American story, STORE WARS is about the right of a community to determine its own future.
Wal-Mart’s Sweetheart Deal
TomPaine.com, Jonathan Tasini, 2/16/05
Wal-Mart may be the most visible offender of good workplace practices—it's the retail giant progressives love to hate, with good reason. Exhibit A: In a recent deal with the government, Wal-Mart agreed to pay a small fine for breaking child labor laws, with the understanding that next time the feds want to investigate, the retailer will be warned ahead of time. Jonathan Tasini says we can't reform the corruption of the corporate landscape overnight, but a Safe Workplace Act would at least mandate true punishments for offenders—not sweetheart deals.
The Wal-Mart Manifesto
Multinational Monitor, an interview with Al Norman
Al Norman achieved national attention in the United States in 1993 when he helped stop Wal-Mart from locating in his hometown of Greenfield, Massachusetts. Since then, he has created Sprawl-Busters and served as a consultant to community groups around the United States and the world that are trying to stop the expansion of Wal-Mart and other big box retail developers. "60 Minutes" called Norman "the guru of the anti-Wal-Mart movement."
Wal-Mart and the Economic Destruction of Black Communities
The Black Commentator, Margaret Kimberly
The retailing giant Wal-Mart must be nirvana for Black people. Its commercials, full of sentimental background music, soft focus photography, and earnest looking real people give the impression that it is just short of heaven on earth. I have seen commercials showing a Black mother exhorting her daughter to pursue a career at Wal-Mart. In another we are told that the Crenshaw area of Los Angeles was saved by Wal-Mart. By occupying an empty space Wal-Mart brought jobs, hope, love, respect, and good karma to this community. A discount store had accomplished what urban planners, academics, and politicians could not.
Wal-Mart, a Nation Unto Itself
The New York Times, Steven Greenhouse, 4/17/04
We already know that Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer. (If it were an independent nation, it would be China's eighth-largest trading partner.) We also know that it is maniacal about low prices. (Some economists say it has single-handedly cut inflation by 1 percent in recent years, saving consumers billions of dollars annually.) We know that its labor practices have come under attack. (It charges its workers so much for health insurance that about one-third of them do not have it.)
Wal-Mart’s Culture of Crime and Greed
TomPaine.com, Jonathan Tasini, 3/30/05
Thomas Coughlin, the Wal-Mart vice chair who was recently dismissed for padding his expense account, is not just a public relations problem for the retail behemoth. He's a product of the Wal-Mart corporate culture. He's also not alone: Numerous other execs have been dismissed recently for various corporate crimes. Jonathan Tasini says that manipulation, greed and wrongdoing in the name of profit are as much a part of the Wal-Mart business model as are those low, low prices.
Books
The Case Against Wal-Mart by Al Norman (Sprawl-Busters)
The Hometown Advantage by Stacy Mitchell
Selling Women Short by Liza Featherstone
How Superstore Sprawl Can Harm Communities National Trust for Historic Preservation
In Sam We Trust by Bob Ortega (1998)
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
"Inside the Leviathan" by Simon Head (review of related books, NY Rev. of Books, 12/04)
by Greg Spotts
Up Against the Wal-Marts: How Your Business Can Prosper in the Shadow of the Retail Giants by Don Taylor and Jeanne Smalling Archer
Movies
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price Brave New Films, a Robert Greenwald film
Is Wal-Mart Good for America? Frontline
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