More stories: Wal-Mart Nation, The Race To The Bottom l Organizing Wal-Mart

REPRINTED FROM "LABEL LETTER" May-Aug. 2003
By Terry Kramer, Secretary-Treasurer, (UFCW Local 1546 (Chicago)

There is no good reason to spend even one hard-earned dollar at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. Most union members know that this company does not deserve your business and your shopping trip won't benefit the workers or the community.

Picture yourself in need of some items for a family gathering. You're out running errands anyway, so you think, "What's the harm?" and you stop at Wal-Mart. There's one in nearly every town, even if residents spent months or years trying to keep it out of their community. It's not hard to find a Sam's Club, either, which is another non-union Wal-Mart-owned chain.

You pass the shuttered downtown area, where once thriving businesses that served local customers for generations now sit silent and empty. They were driven out by Wal-Mart's deep discount pricing due to its powerful control over suppliers who must cut prices to the bone... or else! You recall the huge tax breaks Wal-Mart demanded and received from your elected officials. Your schools have fewer tax dollars, but Wal-Mart is doing fine. Why, you wonder, did the world's richest company receive a tax break?

As predicted, traffic and crime have risen since the Wal-Mart opened, requiring more time and effort by your local police. As you avoid potholes, you wonder why Wal-Mart won't pay its share for road repairs and increased patrols. Some neighbors and friends have lost jobs since Wal-Mart came in, and you think back on a UFCW member explaining how research shows that for every two jobs created by a Wal-Mart, the community loses three others. The jobs lost to Wal-Mart are often union jobs with benefits, security, a pension and more. To make matters worse, Wal-Mart in recent years, has hired non-union contractors right here in Illinois to renovate and construct several of its stores. Another insult to America's working families. It's starting to hit home now.

Inside you go to the clothing aisles to see where the items were made. Unlike their "Buy American "-themed TV ads, you find coats, gloves, shoes, shirts and more made in China, Bangladesh and other foreign lands. You've seen the "60-Minutes" and "20/20"
reports exposing Wal-Mart as one of the largest importers of goods, often from nations associated with sweatshops, child or forced labor.

You find many more foreign labels in the toy, auto and housewares sections. Finally, you go to get the items you came to buy. You come to the checkout with your paper plates, film, batteries and candles, with more in your cart.

You stopped at the meat case for pre-packaged meats (since the meat cutters in Texas voted to organize, Wal-Mart did away with in-store meat cutting and wrapping). You've picked up detergent, light bulbs, oil, toothpaste and pop--all of which could have been bought instead at a union store. The cashier is a woman, as are 80 per-cent of Wal-Mart employees. She earns an average of $3 less per hour than UFCW members at union supermarkets, even though Wal-Mart is the most profitable retailer.

Your open wallet reveals a union prescription card, which you close when you realize that over 60 percent of Wal-Mart workers can't afford the company's expensive yet meager health plan, despite Wal-Mart's ability (but refusal) to offer decent insurance that working families badly need. Wal-Mart has a 50 percent annual turnover rate.

The $17.58 you spent here won't be around long either, because each day Wal-Mart sends all deposits from all stores to its Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters. None remains in the local economy.

You leave the store, assuring yourself that it was only a few items. Who got hurt? That's what you ask yourself as you pull away from the Wal-Mart lot. The answer suddenly comes to you as you meet your own eyes in the rear view mirror.

As a trade unionist and a working person, if you think Wal-Mart is not your problem, please think again. Wal-Mart (and Sam's Club) do not deserve the business of union members until every worker in these stores is covered by a union contract of their own.

Help Wal-Mart workers rise up to UFCW standards by encouraging them to organize as union members. But, in the meantime, please don't reward Wal-Mart (and Sam's Club) with one dime of your business