The Wal-Mart Manifesto

Slate ^ | February 24, 2005 | Timothy Noah

[The Loan Arranger]

H. Lee Scott Jr., the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, argued in a speech yesterday in Los Angeles that Wal-Mart is a force for good in the economy. Scott is hardly the first corporate chairman to echo "Engine" Charlie Wilson's claim that what's good for General Motors is good for America. And many independent observers have noted that Wal-Mart's relentless downward pressure on overhead has been a boon to American consumers. (In a recent New Yorker column, James Surowiecki took this further, arguing that the retail economy has become a sort of dictatorship of the consumer, and that Wal-Mart, which earns only pennies on each dollar of sales, is merely doing what it must to stay alive.)

What's fairly new in Scott's speech (a related ad campaign was launched last month) is Wal-Mart's rising on its hind legs to tell the world that it is good to its employees. I'd thought it was a settled matter that Wal-Mart had achieved its miraculously low prices by squeezing its employees. Not so, said Scott:

Wal-Mart's average wage is around $10 an hour, nearly double the federal minimum wage. The truth is that our wages are competitive with comparable retailers in each of the more than 3,500 communities we serve, with one exception—a handful of urban markets with unionized grocery workers. … Few people realize that about 74 percent of Wal-Mart hourly store associates work full-time, compared to 20 to 40 percent at comparable retailers. This means Wal-Mart spends more broadly on health benefits than do most big retailers, whose part-timers are not offered health insurance.

[GeronL]

Charlie Wilson's claim that what's good for General Motors is good for America

A really bad misquote. He never said that.

[WKB]

You need to be careful about Walmart around here.
They are better protected than illegal aliens :>)

[Textide]

Thanks for pointing that out. After a quick search I found this here.

Actually that's NOT what Engine Charlie Wilson, GM president from 1941-1953, said. Wilson left GM to accept President Dwight D. Eisenhower's appointment as secretary of defense. At his Senate confirmation hearing, Wilson said: "For years, I thought what was good for our country was good for General Motors -- and vice versa."

[goldstategop]

Liberals hate Wal-mart's success. They can't stand that its the nation's largest employer, that it sells more goods than any one else, and that unions haven't succeeded in making inroads into the retail industry giant like they have with other companies. So they conclude Wal-mart is dragging the country down with it. I'd hate to see how success can be branded failure. No wonder liberalism is selling so well in America! (laughing)

(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")

[cryptical]

I think the lefties are really against Walmart. My gf's daughter started spouting off against Walmart the other night, and since the only opinions she seems to have she gets from her little lefty friends, I figure the propaganda campaign comes from that end of the spectrum.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Wal Mart has fought hard against union thuggary. They get my vote for that alone.

[The Red Zone]

OK, so they export the thuggery to China. That's better?

[GeronL]

Here is a story from last year that never got much attention. Chinese workers rioted for MORE overtime.

http://www.asianlabour.org/archives/001832.php

So you can forget the whole leftist spiel about sweatshops, these people want to work

[WKB]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1349161/posts

[Spktyr]

Unions don't vote in China.

[Casloy]

Wal-mart's success is based one thing, and one thing only and that is it's ability to get people to choose to shop in their retail outlets. Everything else is irrelevant and when anyone criticizes Wal-Mart they are criticizing people's right to make free choices.

[The Red Zone]

Virtually the whole stupid state of China is a plantation. Yes, the economic forces may bust them out of that mold some day, but I am not holding my breath.

[goldstategop]

They're party controlled unions. Company unions like the one we used to have in this country. You know - that are controlled by managment and not by the workers they represent. Those types of unions have been outlawed in America since the 1930s.

(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")

[The Red Zone]

A man bites a dog, therefore no dogs bite men.

[GeronL]

I was pointing out how wrong the left is when it comes to these so-called 'sweat shops', those people work there gratefully in most cases, people will line up in third world countries for a job at a factory. They are not forced to do it. Cutting back their hours does not make them happy.

[Spktyr]

Winn-Dixie got run out of Texas long, long before Walmart started selling groceries.

They lost out due to inept management, customer service that wasn't, and hideously unsanitary and ill-lit stores. The last time I saw meat for sale with mold on it was in a WD - and it was moving. I think even the butcher was nauseated by it.

[endthematrix]

The slate linked to the SecDef website that gave some background to the dispute.

"Wilson's nomination sparked a major controversy during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee, specifically over his large stockholdings in General Motors. Reluctant to sell the stock, valued at more than$2.5 million, Wilson agreed to do so under committee pressure. During the hearings, when asked if as secretary of defense he could make a decision adverse to the interests of General Motors, Wilson answered affirmatively but added that he could not conceive of such a situation "because for years I thought what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa." Later this statement was often garbled when quoted, suggesting that Wilson had said simply, "What's good for General Motors is good for the country." Although finally approved by a Senate vote of 77 to 6, Wilson began his duties in the Pentagon with his standing somewhat diminished by the confirmation debate."

[WKB]

I am not going through this again
Good nite

[GeronL]

Unions stopped representing workers a long time ago. 40% voted for Bush and their dues went to Kerry. Some representation. All unions should be banned.