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How NOT to start a revolution

Gothamist recently posted about activists who appeared to be protesting Wal-Mart but were slyly handing out Wal-Mart-sponsored flyers. Thing is, those apparently Wal-Mart-sponsored flyers were in fact sponsored by critics Wal-Mart Watch. Confused? Yes, and so, I imagine, were many people who got the flyers and mistook them for some kind of change of heart by Wal-Mart.

The flyers quote Sam Walton favorably and describe reforms critics WISH Wal-Mart would do without making clear that Wal-Mart hasn't actually done then.

“If you want people in the stores to take care of the customers, you have to make sure you are taking care of the people in the stores.” - Sam Walton
WAL-MART WILL AGGRESSIVELY WORK to ensure that employees are never mistreated through practices such as illegal firings, "off-the-clock" wage violations, intimidation, sexual harassment, violations of child labor laws, or discrimination of any sort. And Wal-Mart will justly compensate each associate with a family-sustaining wage that will enable the associate to raise a family without having to rely on public assistance.

So maybe Gothamist doesn't need to correct itself after all. The flyers weren't endorsed by Wal-Mart, true, but they work as feel-good advertising for Wal-Mart regardless. Someone, please, Wake Up Wal-Mart Watch and kick 'em a good swift kick in the head!

Diskonte Macht Frei

There will be no criticism of the great and powerful Wal-Mart! The corporation sent a cease-and-desist notice to Walocaust. They also sent a similar cease-and-desist to CafePress, which immediately stopped selling the Walocaust T-shirts. (No surprise...)

Wal-Mart claims that the Walocaust site dilutes their trademarks and is likely to cause confusion. There is no way that anyone in the U.S. would possibly think that any of this was approved of by, or is associated with, Wal-Mart. But it does say a lot about Wal-Mart's self-image. And, I suppose, its plans to take over Europe.

Fortunately, Walocaust proprietor Charles Smith isn't taking this lying down. He went to Lawrence Lessig for counsel, and now, through Public Citizen, has filed a complaint against Wal-Mart in federal court. I can't wait to hear Wal-Mart argue that Nazi imagery is indistinguishable from their own trademarks.

Citizen Wal-Mart

So a kid places a tack through a picture of George Bush and photographs his hand making the "thumbs down" sign next to the picture, then sends the film to be developed at Wal-Mart. You may be able to guess what happens next. Wal-Mart flags the photo and calls the police. And the police contact the Secret Service, who show up at school asking questions.

Full story at The Progressive.

(Via Radar)

Wal-mart: Helpless victim of dastardly monopoly

Poor Wal-Mart. The company with an internal economy larger than all of Ireland is moaning that it isn't big enough to compete with a UK grocer. In fact, Wal-Mart has called for an antitrust investigation of U.K. chain Tesco, arguing that it has too large a share of the U.K. grocery market.

What's the matter, Wal-Mart? Afraid of a little competition? Maybe Wal-Mart should use its profits to form a standing army to invade stores that dare to sell anything on Wal-Mart's shelves.

(Thanks, Iain)

And while we are on the subject of Wal-Mart, the company is jumping into the hard liquor market. To goose sales, they plan on putting the liquor next to the guns. The liquor move appears at odds with Wal-Mart's puritan reputation; alcohol is not permitted at any company sponsored events. When asked about this seeming contradiction, a Wal-Mart spokesman did not say, "We don't let people shoot each other at the company picnic either."

Wal-Mart pitches Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Papers reports:

National discount retailer Wal-Mart is so interested in opening a store in New York City, and specifically Brooklyn, they’re willing to change their big-box-store image, executives said at a June 30 meeting with Brooklyn reporters.

"Willing" to change their image? I wonder what they'll sacrifice: the labor-abusing community killing? The sex discrimination? Or the craven profiteering?

Sources say Wal-Mart officials are willing to make concessions on the sex descrimination and evidence tampering but are vigorously defending the right to commit labor violations and to gut local businesses.

Fortunately, many local groups are organizing against Wal-Mart. Check out Wal-Mart Free NYC, Brooklyn's Wal-Mart No Way, and the Neighborhood Retail Alliance, for example. For the latest news on Wal-Mart's misdeeds, I find Wake-up Wal-Mart and New York-based The Boxtank the most helpful.

But step one is to simply call 311 and tell Mayor Bloomberg's people that you oppose Wal-Mart in New York. It takes a few seconds. Painless!

Wal-Mart to employees: shut up and put a bandage on it

I thought we covered all of Wal-Mart's major offenses in our feature last year, but apparently I was wrong. Adding to its growing record, Wal-Mart aggressively disputes workers' compensation claims; as the Portland Phoenix reports, in Maine Wal-Mart fights 94 percent of them.

Fighting valid workers' comp claims appears to be a cottage industry at Wal-Mart. By pressuring employees that can't afford health insurance, Wal-Mart can settle legitimate claims at a discount. Washington State suspended Wal-Mart's right to self-administer workers' comp claims because of findings similar to Maine's. If the retail giant doesn't have a similar record in other states, chances are it's because other states aren't checking.

Maybe we should change our t-shirts to read, "Sprawl-Mart: Always Lowering Settlements."

Wal-Mart's latest expansion

No longer satisfied with being the world's largest retailer, largest grocer, third largest pharmacy (so far) and (eventually) largest bookseller, Wal-Mart is moving into a new sector: church.

In recent years Wal-Mart has hosted dozens of its employees' weddings. My heart breaks for Beverly McCutcheon, who got married at an upstate New York store. She has so internalized Wal-Mart's draconian labor policy that is almost seems romantic that her friends are economically imprisoned at work during normal wedding hours. Says Ms. McCutcheon,

We're a very close family here. All my co-workers are friends. They couldn't get the day off. So, I brought the wedding to Wal-Mart.

It is no mystery why Wal-Mart is more than happy to host the wedding. Ms McCutcheon again:

I think everybody should get married at Wal-Mart. What better place to get married. I can shop when I'm done.

Yes, why follow up the ceremony on the happiest day of your life with camraderie and dancing when everyone can just get back to work and you can pick up a new garden hose. Word is that Barbara and her new husband are honeymooning in the housewares department during her Monday lunch break.

(Thanks, Iain Aitch!)

A field guide to recycled Wal-Marts

Wal-Mart is notorious for moving into small towns, aggressively driving competitors out of business, then packing up and leaving once headquarters decides the superstore sales aren't super enough. Towns are then left not only with an attenuated local economy, but a gigantic box of a building.

Julia Christensen has documented how some places have dealt with the remnants of big-box stores such as Wal-Mart, turning them into churches, medical centers, even court houses. Her project reminds me of Liz Clayton's Not Fooling Anybody, which does a similar thing for for fast food restaurants and other chains.

Wal-Mart: Working hard to invent new sleazy things to do

Like Wal-Mart's previous crimes aren't bad enough, it seems they're restocking returned electronics and selling them as new. They may not stop doing this any time soon, but I bet after this news story, they'll at least erase the child pornography first.

Justice delayed may work after all

A couple of weeks ago I had a small seizure when I read that Wal-Mart was given a slap on the wrist for violating child labor laws. Apparently I wasn't the only one.

The 15-day notice provision in the settlement that seemed insane to me also irked Rep. George Miller (D-CA), and he requested an investigation by the Department of Labor. It turns out that what the administration flack called a "standard" agreement was, in fact, unprecedented -- particularly in the case of a recidivist labor law violator like Wal-Mart. The Department of Labor's Inspector General has opened up an investigation into this sweetheart deal.

Wal-Mart is probably readying papers for a lawsuit claiming that they weren't given 15 days notice of the inspection into the terms of the settlement agreement.

(via AFL-CIO Voice@Work Update mailing list)