7gen Bloc

Back in Montreal in the early nineties I worked at Wal-Mart for a month or so. Since I was an MBA student, I made it my second duty to watch management practices at the famous retailer. In human terms those were peripatetic, especially the treatment of part-timers - who were the majority of employees working full-time weeks.

Now that it is abundantly clear that Wal-Mart's policy was to cheat on its employees, the picture accompanying this article fits its image really well.

But Wal-Mart tries to remake this outward image by changing its logo to "sunnier" and more modern one (can be seen here, and also by placing new stores into more architecturally attractive, non-box-like buildings.

Whether the facelift will work is hard to say. Back in the nineties the machine-like consistency and the (somewhat, sometimes) lower prices attracted to Wal-Mart tens of millions of economically-pinched consumers. I think that the broadening of stagflation in the country, just announced by Warren Buffett, might drive consumers to Wal-Mart far more than any "green" or "friendly" imagery, thus, in a sense, rewarding the monster company for still being what it is, new logo or not.

The greatest irony is that Wal-Mart's image could be changed in a few month if only its brass dropped its top-down, inhumane approach to dealing with its own people: after all, Wal-Mart has about a million of employees in the United States alone, and if a million people suddenly started speaking well about their own company (right now they don't) – that'd be an awful lot of good word of mouth circulating around month after month, year after year…

Andrei Vorobiev

Hooray for more union-sponsored tripe! Considering how many millions of people are employed by Wal-Mart, 70 lawsuits is hardly notable. And if some woman isn't grown up enough to go to the bathroom before soiling herself, no matter what her manager tells her, that is clearly her problem. I believe that Wal-Mart skimps on breaks and makes people work off the clock, because EVERY company does that! And as for "people who make so little", let's review the facts -- most Wal-Mart employees are totally unskilled and yet start at well over minimum wage! Can we get real here? Why must SG continue to recycle this crap?

They stink! In TN Wal-Mart is called "the welfare store." There are more people who do NOT want the store than do want it. Wal-Mart, I think, pushes and forces their way into towns where they are not wanted. I don't know if they are making threats or ultimatims or what in order to get themselves into towns, but they are doing something unethical.

The year that my mother and I both worked for the company we witnessed unconscionable things. For one, Wal-Mart often discrimminates against white people. We witnessed people who did absolutely nothing to earn a buck and no matter what they did, their jobs were spared. Other people were harassed like crazy and false complaints were setup against them. I witnessed two department managers being fired for absolutely no reason, and other employee's too. The personnel manager was a liar, cheat and a thief. She was finally caught in her shenanigans and fired but later retrieved her job back. Imagine that.

Once, a crackpot manager with no communication or people skills humiliated me in front of a mentally sick customer who stirred up a scene at the front of the store because her claim was that she did not like my "tone" or my "eyes." I treated her like a normal person and in return I was jumped on.

If you stop a customer at the door for walking out with unpaid merchandise, then you are in trouble. If you let customers walk out with unpaid merchandise then you are still in trouble. It's a no-win situation............depending on WHO you are.

Management complains about everything and they waste no time putting down employee's in front of whiny, spoiled customers who know they can treat an employee in the poorest manner and get away with it.

While working for another retailer later on, I occasionally had customers who thought they could throw fits in order to get their way........such as "name their price" for an item and then dare me to check it out, and when they did not get their way, they would stomp their feet and huff and puff then say "Well, that's why I don't like to shop here. The customer is always right. You need to learn that. That's why I like to shop at Wal-Mart."

Well, my reply is...........then GO TO WAL-Mart, you brat. One thing I cannot stand is adults behaving like spoiled little children. If you do not like the price of something, do not throw a friggin' tantrum!!!!!! There is an adult way to go about things vs. stomping your feet and demanding to have your way. It has been my experience that MOST PEOPLE LIE. It is very sad, but true. This was not true thirty years ago, but it is true today. Stores are losing millions of dollars because of thieves. LIARS ARE THIEVES, too.

So if you shop at Wal-Mart and you wonder why the employee seems so unhappy, you know now that it is because they work for a miserable company.

Wal-Mart deserves the lawsuits and many more of them. I used to have stock but gave it up because it kept going down and down. Despite the company pushing new stores here and there, I still expect to see the company close up entirely one day. Just my opinion about it.

AR
Tennessee

First, I'd like to ask why anyone who would actually defend Wal-Mart would be interested in Seventh Generation and their newsletter at all? I can't wrap my head around that one. Just because there are only 70 lawsuits doesn't meant that those 70 lawsuits aren't on behalf of thousands or even millions of Wal-Mart employees. They weren't 70 lawsuits filed by just 70 employees. It's called a Class Action Lawsuit. Look it up.

I am proud to say that my family have not graced the whooshing automatic doors of a Wal-Mart store in better than 7 years now. They are a wasteful, greenwashing, dishonest, and irreputable company that I don't care to pay for cheap, tacky, wasteful, and tainted products. It is ridiculous to me that they continue to push their way into economically desperate towns across the country, and I wish I believed I would see their downfall in my lifetime.

I agree with lemurian and want to thank them for their post. I strongly believe that there is more to the story concerning the woman who supposedly soiled herself because a manager wouldn't let her use the bathroom. I do not see how anyone in their right mind who had to use the bathroom would not just go to the bathroom despite what someone told them.

Walmart employs over 2 million associates many of which have no education and would not qualify for a job elsewhere. However, Walmart provides them the opportunity to not only work to support their families but also to make advancement within the company. That doesn't sound like a crappy company to me. I think these jobs tend to attract crappy employees who want to complain about their jobs rather than being grateful that they even have one. If you can't stand adults acting like spoiled children than I would assume that you not stand for the employees at Walmart acting like they are owed something when they are not.

In addition, Walmart has made great strides as a company to lessen their impact on the environment. Stores gave out free reusable bags to customers for Earth day, made it store policy to only sell concentrated detergents, created a private label low-cost CFL bulb to make it more cost-effective for customers to switch to CFL, and is currently experimenting with how to lower the general energy usage in its stores which includes having opened High efficiency experimental stores in places such as Las Vegas. How about you look that up?

angel7249, I am well aware of Wal-Marts efforts to appear more green and employee friendly. One of Seventh Generations favorite little pets is the SPIRIT of organics and green living. Wal-Mart is doing nothing in the SPIRIT of anything but saving their image and lowering their costs.

I have family who work at Wal-Mart because, since Wal-Mart moved in, there aren't any other choices. The grocery stores closed, the mom and pop shops closed, even gas stations have been forced to close. Wal-Mart is all that is left as they work their way through college (not expecting that ANY thing is owed to them and just striving to get to a better place). Still others are forced to work there because, unfortunately, the jobs they worked hard to qualify for are not available in this economy, and the bills still have to be paid.

I feel like there are Wal-Mart cronies lurking around here.

OK, let me first say, i do not believe that WalMart treats it's employees fairly. But come on now....have we ever forced someone to work at WalMart? Has anyone ever said there's nowhere else, you have to work here, you have no choice?
Did we hold a gun to their head? No. This is a free country and people are free to work wherever they choose or wherever they are qualified to work. If we choose to work for a company we can't stand behind, that's our problem. If they couldn't get people to work for them, regardless of the money behind the corporation would they exist?

I don't know of any company that always pays for every second of an employees time. I know a lot of people working for very good companies (including my job) that "require" their employees to work overtime and do not pay them for it-and I'm not talking retail or low-end jobs either, a lot of these jobs are for larger companies with otherwise good compensation-it's just a matter of what you are willing to do. Can I say "no, I'm not willing to do that" ? Yes, and will I keep my job? Maybe yes, maybe no.

And a lawsuit because you crapped yourself while working? are we serious!?! So the next time I'm on the Metro and I'm sick or I've got diarrhea can I sue Metro?

Just a thought...

Stephanie Albert
I don't think I will be shopping there anymore. I don't like the place very much but sometimes go there to get certain things. I don't agree with people being rude about the lady soiling her pants. Has anyone tried to find out if the woman was mentally or physically disabled? I work in special education and notice they hire a lot of disabled people. Not only that, if a person is poor or just not well educated they might be afraid to challenge or go against their bosses instructions and not trust their instincts. Just a thought for those of you who are sticking up for the company. Sometimes poor people need jobs and we all no matter our wealth status have to start somewhere. My first job as a kid was Taco Bell. Doesn't mean I was stupid, I was a kid and needed my first job!

The energy it took for your fingers to press the keys to type the empty words in you comments... could have been better saved for something that would benefit- well, anything. You only accomplished a little thing we call.... IGNORANCE.

It is put in your face that Wal-Mart... or should I now say: "walmart" .. ? Anyway, that they are certainly ...

A) Monopolizing. How do you expect people or even believe that people can just chose where to work? It some places and situations that may be true. If "walmart" has came into your city or town- you would know... "walmart" does almost everything possible to knock out other competitors who are simply just trying to keep good business.

When you have a spouse, children, animals, a home, a vehicle... well, it costs money. In order to make money- you need a job. Beggars can't be choosers. **It is a shame that there are people out there like yourselves or believe that "most walmart associates" have little education, little people skills, and etc.. Expand your brain for a moment. Everyone hits tough spots and everyone has to start from somewhere. There are many very well educated people out there who are simply unable to find a job in their designated field of study. It's an issue with the Economy- and people like you.

B) Do you have children? If you know that there are no other jobs available to you whether it be because or your location, level of education, etc ... Would you want to risk losing your job because you know that the egotistical person ahead of you position really doesn't care about you or the well-being of your family? That he/she knows there are dozens of jobless people out there looking for a way of means and would not hesitate to fire you on any grounds- ethical or non-ethical? Or perhaps that person is in or has been in an abusive relationship and does not have the courage or integrity to stand up to their boss? It is not your place to judge.

Lacy, hmm.. you're right it's not a gun being held to their head that keeps them working at walmart.. It's life, it's needing to come up with the means it takes to survive. Sure, if you want to "crap your pants" on the metro.. go ahead. Its right in your element- ignorance and disrespect.

Angel- Its stereotypical to say that all walmart employees are crappy. They are just everyday people trying to make it through. I have seen many smiling faces upon their faces. And of course... lets applaud walmart for their disguise for really caring.. They give the opportunity for people with no education... well, that is fine but they are still people and should be treated as so.

Lemurian, well- I don't know if your just not as knowledgeable as you'd like to think or if you enjoy just rambling on about topics your not well educated on. "Mandatory Overtime" is always compensated, whether in excess days or money. Most companies believe it or not have the decency to follow through; and if you're right on a few other companies out there--- and hopefully they will soon be discovered as well.

I agree with Stephanie Albert. I feel some people are being very rude about the woman soiling herself. Perhaps the woman IS disabled or there could be another good reason that we just cannot see. I also don't understand why we must point fingers and look down our noses at those who may not have an education or for whatever reason have found they actually don't have very many good choices in their lives. Wal Mart does in fact put many companies out of business and has a myriad of unethical practices. People should stand up and speak out when they are being treated unfairly or those around them are. I say THANK YOU SEVENTH GENERATION!

Wal Mart has put a lot of smaller stores out of business and I feel that this has effected our economy by putting people out of work. Yes, maybe the employees make above minimum wages but do know their employees are not treated well. Used to work for them years ago when Sam was still alive. Do know the store has gone down hill since it is now a cooperation. I feel they are running a dictatorship of sorts as they advertise customer satisfaction, but have found this not to always be true. I used a Kibbles dog food that was good for my dogs teeth, they do not handle it in Emporia, Ks, when I asked them to try to get it the manager informed me they would not ship to this store from Bentonville warehouse. This is upsetting that it can be bought in Springfield and Bolivar, Mo but not in Kansas. Why would or should that be? This is why I say they are a dictatorship. If they dictate to their customers why would they not treat their employees in the same or worse manner.
In my jobs was always told the customer is always right not matter what even if they are wrong. What has happened to that in the world of super stores.
Thank you for letting me vent on the SEVENTH GENERATION

I'm glad for all you folk who have either had it well enough that you've never had to sell your soul for a bit of bread or have the emotional and mental fortitude to recognize and remove yourself from a degrading situation, but the reality is there are people who either by nature or environment have less or are "less" than you. If you have never experienced what it's like to fear losing your minimum wage job because you wouldn't be able to afford your child's medicine, or feed your family, or afford the cost of transportation to get you to a better job, then it's hard to expect you to have empathy for anyone in this situation. To better understand how people come marginalized in our society, or impotent to "change their lot", I highly recommend the book Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich. It will allow you to 'walk a mile in your neighbor's shoes'.

Angel 7249 writes incredulously, "I do not see how anyone in their right mind who had to use the bathroom would not just go to the bathroom despite what someone told them", and in the very next paragraph defends Wal-Mart with "Walmart employs over 2 million associates many of which have NO EDUCATION AND WOULD NOT QUALIFY ELSEWHERE [emphasis added]." Did you not just answer your own question? Did you not belie your own belief in 'a sh***y job is worth sh*****g on myself for because it's the only one I'm going to get'. Unfortunately, there are a lot of Americans who feel the same hopelessness in their situation. And, yes, while it's our own individual responsibility to dig ourselves out of these ugly situations, or develop a life philosophy that allows us to flourish in these situations, it is not conscionable, it is not noble that any company exploit human weakness for profit.

As for the woman who soiled herself, please read her side of the story below; the complete article can be read here.

"Braun’s troubles began after she returned to Minnesota. At the Apple Valley Wal-Mart, she worked in several different departments before running the Radio Grill. At first, she enjoyed the work. “I treated that place like my own kitchen,” she says. “I did it all willingly. I’m not afraid of work…never have been.” Not long after she started in Apple Valley, Braun had learned she needed to have gallbladder surgery. After the procedure, Braun suffered some relatively common side effects that required her to take frequent bathroom breaks. Braun’s supervisors initially said they would accommodate her needs, but that’s not what happened. “I’d get in a pinch, be there all alone, and soil myself, ruin my clothes,” Braun recalled. “I’d feel so degraded. Sometimes I wouldn’t have clothes with me, and the manager would say ‘We have clothes here for sale. Get your purse and go buy yourself some.’ They didn’t care.”

The Jugggernaut that is Wal-Mart is not the only soulless corporation out there, but for me it's become a symbol of an antiquated model of business that treats its human resources as something to be used up at the least amount of cost for the most amount of profit. This model is outdated, simply because it doesn't take into account in the bottom line the human, or spiritual component.

I loathe Wal-Mart. I have an agenda. The treatment of employees is just one face of this seven-headed hydra. What really gets under my skin is the hypocrisy. I remember I used to love shopping at Wal-Mart during the "Made in the USA" era. I remember the banners, the red, white, blue, the packaged patriotism. And I felt good shopping there, because I was supporting my neighbor, whose job at the manufacturing plant produced the goods I bought. Now, it's a veritable scavenger hunt to find anything "Made in the USA" at Wal-Mart. They have sold out the very principle they built their empire on. Most of the products are now Made in China or Made in [insert name of third world country here]. Those products ARE seductively cheap (oh, and inexpensive, too), but they are cheap because there are no regulatory standards for labor, safety, environmental impact. How many times to we have to be knowingly poisoned by foreign imports to realize that outsourcing does have a downside? And by the way, all those low paying service jobs that Wal-Mart offers are not enough to fill the vacuum left by the higher paying factory jobs they drove away when they decided to outsource to countries with atrocious human rights records.

I haven't bought from Wal-Mart in about 4 years. I understand if you are in a position and can't afford anything else. But I consider each dollar I spend a vote for the values that I hold. I try to buy American (or free trade). I try to buy locally. I want to support my neighbor. I want to support companies that don't just use their employees as labor, but encourages them to reach their potential as a whole human being. I want to support companies who are part of the community, who make a real effort to improve their community, not just to offer a pittance as a PR opportunity. I want to support companies that align with my values and STILL make a profit. Capitalism isn't bad. Capitalism without soul, heart and morality is just simply greed.

Easy enough to figure out how lousy WalMart is, folks.

Compare what we're hearing about Wal-Mart/Walmart culture versus cultures in other companies. Even people like me who are nuts for Apple, Inc. products know the history of how Steve Jobs became so possessed about the products he made the work environment extremely uptight and intense. It has been said that Jeff Bezos made a great culture at Amazon.com. One bulletpoint from their values statement: "Innovation: If you don't listen to your customers you will fail. But if you only listen to your customers you will also fail."

On the positive side, the 7/8/08 airing of ABC's Nightline had a story about Zappos.com, an online shoe company headquartered in (of all places) Las Vegas, with "the absolute best company culture." Tony Hsieh, the head of the company, has a regular-sized cubicle in the middle of a batch of other cubicles. His salary is $36K a year, he wears the comfy clothes others in his company wear (tshirts!), "owns about 10 pairs" of shoes (even though that's the product that created the company), provides free food in the cafeteria and free vending machines as well as 100 percent of medical and dental benefits. Why? He believes in "building a company where people love to work and customers like doing business. Do that, he says, and the rest will follow."--abcnews.com.

And "last year Zappos made a 5 percent profit."

Advice to the cruddy managers at WalMart from so many of the world's religions and non-religions: Follow the Golden Rule and treat everyone the way you want to be treated (not just your customers; include employees).

I love that there are women who work at my local Walmart with thier little blue vests over their burka-like religious clothing and that the man at the front doors is a guy with down syndrome. I don't see anyone like that in the other stores, little local ones or big chains. My extended family will not shop walmart for ethical reasons, but they are always impressed with the great things I buy there. Things like environmentally better baby wipes and diapers, dish soap and more. Are the clothes at Target, Fred Meyer or non-chain stores made by adults in America or aren’t their products also created in job desperate third world countries? Of course I don't want child or slave labor. I buy local or fair trade when I can but I doubt those who hate walmart and refuse to shop there are really only buying from companies with perfect records. There are problems with big chain stores and our consume-focused culture but I think some people think that hating this one store, no matter their improvements or qualities makes them somehow more ethical, environmentally aware or better champions for the poor. It's not the big bad wolf, it's just a company with employees and management who are individual people with all the interests, desires, faults and virtues of any individual person. And if you haven't been to the store in 5, 7 or 15 years how can you complain about it's products or people????

But no matter how it turns out, Nancy Braun says she will always miss Wal-Mart. “I wish I could have stayed working there,” she says. Now living in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and selling insurance at a cell phone company, she tries to attend the trial whenever possible. When she’s in Hastings, she occasionally makes a stop across the street from the courthouse to do some shopping—at Wal-Mart.

Those are quotes from the article referenced earlier about Nancy Braun. Here's the link.

If the woman who soiled her pants working there still likes Walmart and shops there why are you so determined to call them a monster?

What planet do you come from? Your statements could apply to hundreds of similarly large industries, retail or otherwise. You have a bone to pick, and that's fine. I have no problem with people choosing not to shop at Wal-Mart or condemning their management policies. But some of us live in the real world, and just because I don't agree with your point of view does not make me ignorant. A huge majority of people in the real world, paid hourly or on salary, contribute "unpaid" hours to the companies they work for. Occasionally these companies are sued for compensation from a disgruntled ex-employee. It's business as usual. And it is a fact that most Wal-Mart employees are not college-educated. I don't have the time to pull up the stats at the moment but I'm sure a google search will assist you in finding them. However, no one, even educated people, are entitled to a perfect working environment. Many people hate their jobs and the companies they work for. The crusade against Wal-Mart is fostered by unions, plain and simple. But not everyone is pro-union, choosing rather to champion right-to-work laws, fair taxes and strong local economies.

And to make a point that neither of us touched upon before, in some small communities Wal-Mart is the only retail store offering organic produce, organic baby food and clothing, energy efficient lighting and appliances, etc. I shop there specifically for those things (and not much else). If I had the choice (which I do not, as I live in rural Iowa), I'd prefer to shop at Target or some similarly economical but more ethical store. Regardless, to me, it is more important for people to have the option of feeding their families healthy food and clothing their babies in non-fire-retardant pyjamas than to nitpick about what companies may or may not be forcing employees to soil themselves. Do you disagree?

Basically I think it's wrong to support this blind crusade against a company that is actually making strides in the "green" market. So what if Wal-Mart doesn't want to be bed-buddies with SG? There are other green companies willing to bite the bullet to broaden their markets and allow lower-income people to have the option to make better buying decisions that ultimately jive with our own intentions -- to make the world cleaner, safer, cooler, healthier, etc. for EVERYONE. Is that such a bad thing?

I agree the Wal-Mart doesn't treat its employees or suppliers quite right. Yet, I live about an hour and a half from Wal-Mart HQ, and there are a lot of Wal-Mart devotees in my area. When my time got a Wal-Mart Supercenter, people were excited to get the jobs there.

Towns welcome Wal-Mart with open arms here, as they are typically the single largest local sales tax generator for parks, transportation, etc. This is because Wal-Mart offers many products that previously small town residents/suburban residents could only buy in the central city. The outlying communities are reaping huge benefits while the central city is stagnating.

My specific problem is that there are so few local options (as in my town has grown mainly since 1980, so it's big-box/strip mall/fast food land), and I have to travel 15 miles for other options. That irks my green side because I have to emit more carbon emissions to shop elsewhere.

Until recently, Wal-Mart was the only store in town offering organic options (they've since backed of some), CFLs, and some other natural products. And despite the many negatives, I bet there are a lot of people who have bought CFLs and organic foods simply because they saw them out Wal-Mart - no way would they go to the health food store 20 miles away. Now we have Lowe's providing some "green" options too like recycled paper towels.

We're too poor, too few, and too uneducated to have a Costco, Whole Foods Market, or World Market in our metro area of 400,000. We have 15 Wal-Mart Supercenters, 3 run-down K-marts, and 1 regular Target that gets overwhelmed on the weekends.

So I have something of a love-hate (well, like-hate) relationship with Wal-Mart. I shop away from there whenever I can, but there are times that I do shop there.

I have worked at Walmart for two years now and I have to agree with every thing that everyone has said. My wage is comparable to what I made while working at our local hospital. My coworkers have good and bad days as I do. Management can be both cooperative and uncooperative. They can also be arrogant and condesending at times. I have applied at other retailers, but their health insurance is too expensive and I really need it. We are a university town and employ alot of students over the winter. We also are glad to offer low prices to our elderly customers who sometimes have to chose between medication and food. I have a college education but in our town, their are no jobs in my field. And since our grown children and grandchildren live here, we don't wish to move. I do get frustrated with some of our management staffs behavior at times. And some of the policies are questionable. Yes, Walmart does push out the mom and pop stores and our downtown area has struggled to stay alive. Yes they do discriminate. My husband also worked there. At his two years, he was making more than I do now. He now has a disability and isn't allowed to come back to work there. We'd like to get a lawyer but have been told by one that Walmart retains most lawyers in every town they open in so it is harder for an individual to sue them. I hope something better comes along for me but until then, you'll find me reluctantly doing the Walmart cheer each and every morning. k.

Duchess, I suppose I let my aggressive anti-walmart tendencies get the better of me. When I started writing, it was more in response to the sadness I felt when I read in the other posts the summary judgment of the lady who couldn't control her bladder, an embarrassing and humiliating situation for an adult. The lack of compassion...or even the lack of willingness to stop for a moment and consider what set of conditions would be possible for one human being to relinquish the natural governance of their own body to another human being, discouraged me. That's what prompted me to write; being able to take a whack at Wal-Mart was just a bonus - when I see something with claws and scales and a slithery tail, I call it what it is - a monster. But then I think that any business that vampirizes human beings of their best years, leaving the scuttle for the family and little time for meaningful growth of the individual, is monstrous.
But I'm curious, why didn't you include this part of the quote in your post - "She enjoyed the other employees, the customers, and the idea “that there was always something to do, always a way to keep busy. I worked my way up—that was a big deal for me. When I quit, I felt defeated.” It clearly indicates why she liked the store she worked at, she felt that labor gave her purpose - but did not as far as to say she "likes Wal-Mart". My question would be if she liked it so much, why did she quit? Why does she feel defeated? Is it because she is a decent person that was trying to do a decent job? Perhaps she saw the good in Wal-Mart and felt it was worth fighting for. I don't know, I don't know Nancy Braun, so I can't say for certain. But I did have a classmate in my business class, a mother of three who worked for Wal-Mart in a rural, economically depressed area that I can attest was a decent, hard-working, person. She was considered a half time employee, although she would routinely work 40+ hours, being called in unexpectedly and having to arrange child care off the cuff. She hung on, hoping to be made full time, with the carrot of health care for her children being dangled in front of her. When after months this never materialized, my friend asked the management why, to which they replied it would not be cost effective for them. In other words...they wouldn't have to pay for her and her dependent health care. I urged her to contact BOLI, but she was afraid to, as other employees had already been fired for "stirring up trouble".
So maybe she shouldn't have gotten knocked up with three kids she couldn't afford...and let's say her predicament is entirely within her responsibility...even if that is the case, IT IS NOT RIGHT FOR CORPORATIONS TO TREAT PEOPLE LESS THAN THEY WOULD EXPECT THEIR MOTHER, OR THEIR DAUGHTER, OR THEIR BROTHER TO BE TREATED. Just because people allow themselves to be victimized, doesn't mean that the victimizer taking advantage of them is RIGHT. Just because something IS, doesn't make it RIGHT.
If Nancy Braun still chooses to shop at Wal-Mart, that is her business. Maybe she chooses to for the myriad reasons described in other posts, or maybe she feels her complaint has been addressed. But mine hasn't, namely that of the hypocrisy or using patriotism and "greenwashing" as a means to an end, not in a value in and of itself.
And yes, I can complain about the products and the people (or more appropriately management practices), even though I haven't BOUGHT anything in 4 years, because I don't have blinders on; I read local newspapers featuring articles about the citizens trying to stop Wal-Mart from coming in, I watch national news, Frontline specials about Wal-mart and corporate responsibility, and occasionally I venture in to see if my views still hold true. Yep, they do.
I read recently in "Rediscovery the Soul of Business", a collection of essays, that earlier in our history, civilization's greatest buildings were churches, when religion was the governing force of society. Then came huge government structures and palaces when civilization came into the Age of Reason...now our grandest buildings are allocated to commerce and "busy"ness. Is this what we value most? Is consumerism our golden calf?
Wal-Mart has become for me symbolic of this rampant consumerism that we are being consumed by. We are working harder for more stuff but less quality in our lives. Something in society is a bit unbalanced, and yes Duchess I know that society, as well as corporations are made of individuals, of you and me, and all our hopes, hangups, fears, dreams, cruelties and humanity. I'll be looking in my own deep dark closet to see to what degree I'm contributing to a life that is less than ideal, and I'll hold Wal-mart to the same measuring stick. Will you?

BRAVO! I painstakingly read each comment and I have to say your comments, thoughts and convictions reflect mine 100% Although I am not an eloquent speaker, my values and sense of right from wrong are passionately felt. THANK YOU for expressing what I so profoundly agree with in my heart. I am also thankful that I am fortunate enough to have a myriad of other choices living in a large metropolitan city, but understand and do not hold blame for those who do not.

very, very interesting blog and a good debate, indeed.

i recently bought my bike at walmart because i had no other store from which to buy it, but other than that i refuse to shop at walmart.

aside from the concern about employee rights violations, i have made a committment not to shop at walmart because they are a huge, wasteful corporation who threatens not only small businesses in america, but small business elsewhere in the world.

their stores consume a hideous amount of energy, especially because most are open 24 hours, and while the corporation claims to be "going green," they still sell GE food and petroleum-based cleaning products and polyester clothing. not only that, but the amount of plastic bags they dump into our environment daily is frightening.

to me walmart is just a sad reminder of the ills of our culure -- that it is wasteful, capitalistic, and threatens the ecology of our planet each day.

to enter into walmart and hear the constant "beep, beep, beep" of the cashier's scanners, to see those horrid florescent lights, to witness the flood of humanity in there scrambling to buy more and more stuff.... well, mostly it just makes me want to run away out into the country and kiss the ground and hug a tree...

a few months ago i bought my bike at walmart (i don't have a car and need the bike for transportation). guess what, i had to return my purchase within a matter of days, because the bike was terrible. the man in the bike department, who assembles the bikes, told me personally that walmart throws away all returned bikes. they don't fix them and re-sell them. not even if they were bought at noon and returned at 5 pm. how wasteful. how disgusting.

i cannot be a part of that, can you?

Wow. talk about agressive when people have a different opinion than you. I have to sincerly apoligize for the world you live in-it sounds like a horrible place where society and the people around you dictate your life.

You see, while you were jumping to conclusion you didn't realize some things. The most important is that life is what you make it and ONLY what you make it. I choose to live a life with choices, and I am the only one who has to be happy with them and OK with the consequences that results because of them. Yes, I do have a family, and yes, that influences some of my choices. Also, what you don't realize is that I'm speaking from EXPERIENCE not ignorance.

I grew up in one of those small towns where me (and my family) had to work anywhere and everywhere to survive. I've been working since I was 13 years old...I worked 6 days a week in the summer and the maximum allowed by law during the school year. Why? because I needed school clothes, I needed lunch food, I needed shoes and bus money and my family could not provide it. I had to help pay bills sometimes or help to pay to repair the family car so my Mom could get to work. None of this was caused by a lack of effort or education but for lack of good jobs. I had a father who worked from 4am-10pm at anything he could find, he would even volunteer for menial tasks on top of all this work if they would give him dinner for his family or that new bike that my baby brother wanted. My mother worked 8 and 9 hour days and then came home and took care of us.

And Walmart did come in and a lot of small companies went out of business-not just because walmart's a huge monopoly but because they brought products that consumers wanted and previously had to bus or drive 60 miles to get.

But do you know what I learned from all this? You ALWAYS have a choice, no matter what. You can choose to live without something you want or you can go and get another job or a 3rd job or go barter or trade. Do we sometimes have to do things we don't want to do, don't like to do? Yes, absoulutly-this is true no matter where you work and no matter what you do. It's how you do it that makes a difference. If we choose to work somewhere with horrible people then we are also choosing to deal with those horrible people.

Would I work at Walmart if that was all I could find? Yes, I would. And it would be MY CHOICE and I would have to live with that choice.

How did I deal with all this myself? I choose to move. I now live (and have for the past 11 years) several hours away from my family in an area where there are opportunities and their are jobs and where I can support myself doing jobs that I can like.

Like I said at the beginning, I've choosen to live in a world with choices. I make the choices and the opportunities, I do not wait for them to arrive. Maybe I'm just naive but I'd like to think that more people live in my world than in yours.

I see that someone else posted this before, but I feel it should be said again - if you want to learn why Wal-mart (or Wal-Marx as I like to call it) is a negative influence on local communities and American production as a whole, go watch this FRONTLINE documentary story -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FRONTLINE:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Big picture - Wal-Mart aggressively drives down prices from their suppliers, which puts American based factories (who can't compete with Chinese prices) out of business. Smaller picture - Wal-Mart does the same thing to small local stores who go under because they can't keep customers after a Wal-Mart has moved in. Add to this the well documented fact they treat their employees poorly and I ask, why the hell would anyone want to support this cycle?

First of all, I would expect that the world's largest retail employer would have some issues - that's life. But I have to say that I have an extremely intelligent friend that works for Wal-Mart and has loved it for the last 20 years. He knows that there are some problems (what employer doesn't have problems), but he is generally happy about working there. They provide for his family as well as thousands of other families. Can you imagine how many people would be unemployed if Wal-Mart closed their doors?!
Oh yeah - for those of you who think only idiots work there - my tri-lingual, professional mom worked there for extra cash a few years back and loved it!

I donot understand why this WalMart article is on Seventh Gen's newletter. I recall reading a past newletter that you had decided to sell in WalMart. Have things changed?

I have stopped going to Walmart, for several reasons:
They remodeled the one nearest me by moving several smaller, older, local businesses out of the strip mall next to them and tearing it down. The traffic jams in that stretch of Hwy 13 were already bad, with so many people going in and out of Walmart parking lot. The Hwy had to be redesigned and torn up for months while our city and state and national hwy people accommodated the store's expansion. Now that it is finished, it is one of the most dangerous intersections in our city.
The little businesses that were moved out, mostly failed because they could not afford to relocate. The part of the strip mall that was left lost all of its tenants. Think of the people whose businesses were hurt, people whose life dream was to have their own business. Well, I learned years ago that this country is really not the wonderful place to start your own business that everyone thinks it is. Everything is against the small businessman. Next reason: the new Walmart is huge, vast. I can't walk all over the place looking for the items on my list. Who knows where they will be this week? Things are moved around to keep the customer wandering, because he/she makes more impulse buys that way. I just am not young enough to hike all over like that, or to spend 2 hours trying to find 8 items.
Next: the merchandise they carry is no longer of good quality. It is some kind of generic cheaply made junk, and most of it is from China. I am not too happy with China these days. It is clear from the news that China is too young and inexperienced and greedy to take the time to investigate how to manufacture goods in a safe way, from materials that are safe, and without destroying their part of planet Earth. There is a lot of knowledge in the world about damage to the environment and flora and fauna. Maybe the industrialized nations should negotiate an educational program for the Chinese, before we start loading our homes and clothing our children with stuff containing who-knows-what. Next,I spent my 30 year working life at Southern Bell, as an operator. My father was a machinist trained in a government apprentice plan. My mother worked for the National Bureau of Standards (its old name). And my grandfather and uncles worked in coal mines, steel mills, on railroads, and in glass houses. They grew up with labor unions. My husband and I both belonged to Communications Workers of America, the telephone co. union. Without the unions, working conditions would have been pretty awful for all of them, and us. In truth, working conditions would have been like your respondents have described conditions in Walmart, and worse. For some years, it seems that labor unions are out of style, no longer needed. Awake and be aware: they serve a purpose. Freedom isn't free, and safe, clean, comfortable and decent working conditions aren't free either. Yes, Walmart does do good things for people and for the community. I believe they do just as much as they have to do to keep from being buried in lawsuits and bad publicity. Which is not a surprise. That is the way most of big business operates. Besides, it is tax deductible. Next, I remember when we first had a Walmart store. It was clean. The aisles and shelves were organized and well stocked. There were employees to help you find things. There were cashiers in the checkout lanes. Not any more. That huge new super store is a rat's nest. The merchandise is randomly heaped around. Looking for a certain size or color is hopeless. If you can find a towel in your color, there will be no washcloths to match. Many items are not price-marked. Things are shifted from one aisle to another almost weekly. The Grocery dept. is no better. Trying to find your brand or flavor or size is hopeless. And there seems to be some planned obsolescence program in effect. Find a household product that works, and in 2 weeks it has disappeared, and you have to settle for something else. I could go on, but I am sure you have had enough of me, just as I have had enough of Walmart.
One of thearticles I read recently about living green, and changing our lifestyles to make life sustainable on our planet would eventually entail that we revert to smaller cities and towns, drawing their food and other needs from local sources, working closer to home, or at home. We will have to stop growing cotton here, shipping it overseas to be spun and woven, then to another country to be dyed and another to be cut, and still another to be sewed, before it is finally shipped back here for us to drive miles to the big mall to buy our shirts and pants.
Myself, I am ready for it. That 30 years I worked? I drove 45 minutes 1 way to work every day. For a good third of those years, I worked a split shift, so I went to work for 4 hours in the morning, drove home, did housework, and drove back to work for another 4 hours in the evening, and then home again. 3 hours a day in a car, max 45mph. No, I didn't love my job. I endured it for the sake of my husband and children. It was the best money and benefits I could get with the education and skills I had. I was a directory assistance operator. A target for every customer who knew I had no choice but to put up with rudeness, obscenity, and insults. And a target for my manager, whose tenuous hold on her job depended on getting every last
ten thousandth of a second of speed out of her crew. But we did have a union. She could not berate me in front of others, and if she did berate me in private, I could ask for a union steward to be present whenever it was time for a conference. The union saw to it that we got regular breaks and lunch times, and that we could, when necessary, follow the established rules to leave our headsets and go to the restroom. We had to take turns, we had to sign out with the time, and sign in with the time. I averaged 3 minutes from that sign in/out sheet down the hall and back. I was faster than some. Yes we worked full time. The telephone company is 24/7, in a very real sense that most people will never understand. When there was a hurricane, if it was close to land, or made landfall, operators did not go home. We remained in the building. Every one who was off was called in. And you had to be there. You see, the Public Service Commission that watches over utilities and other public service companies, watched over us, too. Phone service is a basic need, and we had to be there to fill it. We worked holiday, weekends, floods, snowstorms, icestorms, both locally and all over the country. I don't think anybody under 30 understands what holding down a job in a public service business really is. I do know that my husband's business can't find people that age who know how to be at work on time, and stay until the shift is over, or come to work on Monday morning, or stay until quitting time on Friday. They don't know how to behave with the public, or apply themselves. Even when business is slow, they have no idea of using the time to clean up or organize the tools or the supply room, or clear up the backlog in their inbox. So, if people who work at Walmart find themselves being pushed, maybe they need it.
No longer goes to Wally World.

You know every time I go to a Wal Mart I come back with a story to tell. Either from looney customers to disgruntled employees. Name it I've seen it, for a while my husband and I would go to Wal Mart for entertainment no joke! We would go there when we are bored to make fun of people. Mean I know but hey its the truth. I'm happy to report that I have been Wal Mart free since January. We decided to stop going because my husband and I witnessed an awful case of child abuse in plain site of an employee. The mother of this child was even talking about it in a tone that seemed like bragging to a Wal Mart employee. This woman had a child who she said had a 102 fever and phenomonia. There was no confusion I was standing right next to her and I could clearly see there was something wrong with the child. I was upset the cashier did not report this since it seemed they knew each other personally. From that day forward we dont shop at Wal Mart or Mirastar gas station, and I have CPS on speed dial just incase I witness another injustice. I believe in Zero Tolerance for any type of child abuse.

I worked for Walmart for 12 months. I saw attrocities there, and that is why I left. as far as the woman soiling herself rather than going to the rest room, I saw this happen at my store. If a door greeter or cashier has to go to the bathroom, the managers have told them that they will wait until they are relieved before they go or be fired. If you are feeding a family...you wait, and if you wait long enough, well, you soil yourself.

Sure, they pay above minimum wage, but if you are a college student (which I am), they treat you like shit. There were numerous occasions where I was told that regardless of the fact I had been cashiering for 8 hours (of my 6 hour shift), but I would be there until my work in my area was done - and if I'd listened, I would have been there until 5AM with 8AM classes...The management team at large does not care about the employees.

I got a kick out of this guy. I saw him just outside of Bend, OR. He said he did this every day. When I asked him why, he said that he had to do penance.

Yes, Wal*Mart is the devil, we all know this. That said, I have have a college education, have worked for Wal*Mart in 2 different stores for a total of 8 years, and I really enjoy it. I have never been forced to work off the clock, miss a meal break, or been forced to soil myself. Yes, there are crappy stores with crappier management. But there also good stores with management who care about their employees.

Granted, they have become a bit stingey with full-time status (and thereby, a few benefits), but I am still able to get health insurance for myself at a reasonable price. I don't have children and my husband can get insurance through his job.

If you don't want to shop there, that's fine. But if you live in a rural area, that is about the only option you've got when you need cold medicine in the middle of the night (or something more inportant, like toilet paper...)

All I ask is that you do not take your bitter frustrations out on the store associate who dares to ask you if they can help you find something. Remember, they ARE the neighbors you claim to be angry at the "Wal*Mart monster" for....

If walmart wants to change their image they will pay the fines and back wages. Until they do their "new image" is just so much talk.

In Washington state the company did not supply their workers with health insurance while posting enormous profits. Their workers had to go on state basic insurance or buy their own policies.

Several of my friends have worked for the company and were paid so little that they still qualified for state aid. This again as the corporation posted record profits. This corporate mentality creates sweat shops and ill treatment of employees in other countries; something that most of us find abhorent, and yet we allow it and back it with our hard earned incomes.

We vote with our dollars and until I can see that Walmart's actions coincide with their words I will purchase what I need elsewhere, even if the price is a bit higher. My vote is NO.

Okay yea so Wal-Mart sux. WHAT ARE YA GONNA DO ABOUT IT? You cannot buy the "essentials" from any other store for less money. I personally don't buy groceries from there because the food spoils to fast. On the other hand though, they buy their gasoline from the U.S. For someone who owns a SUV, the whole three cents off thing helps a lot. we get a GALLON of gas free. YEA WHOOO HOOO right?!! I agree about the whole welfare personna too! What is up with the whole "I don't own a mirror" look for their employees? They sell clothes at lower prices right? Better get off this soap box that I bought at WAL-MART!!!

essentials are,
shelter,food,water,heat, and clothing.
I don't like or need wal-mart for my essentials.
I buy locally produced food, filter my own water, burn wood for heat, and get my clothing at second hand stores. I have been doing this since before I knew what a wal-mart was. I will continue to do so until my demise.

To clarify, Seventh Generation does not sell its products to Wal-Mart.

Wal-mart is known for paying people to write positive things about them in blogs. So, for those confused about why those comments might end up here, see:

THE WAL-MART FAKE BLOG CONTROVERSY
Bloggers on Working Families for Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart's Jim and Laura: The Real Story
Working Families for Wal-Mart?
Front Group's Fake Blog Just One of Wal-Mart's Recent Woes

This article has been posted at a critical time to draw customers away from Wal-Mart and in all due reason. Just before this was posted Wal-Mart started hopping on the "green" bandwagon and looking for new vendors who could support this.

Specifically they looked for household chemicals with non toxicity ratings and biodegradability. And since then there has been a competitor in Wal-Mart stores reaching fairly high volumes competing with Seventh Generation.

But please don't take this post wrong, I have nothing but Seventh Generation laundry supplies and other products they make. I like them for the most part. However I do believe in competition and will try the less expensive Wal-Mart counter offer, but that's just being a good consumer, nothing more.

This was a cheap shot. Expand your mind.