Is it time to re-think shopping at Wal-Mart?

[Floogeldy]

If I heard correctly on the radio, Wal-Mart is giving $12 million to the Clinton-Bush Katrina fund and has given $2 million to the Red Cross. In addition, the Wal-Mart family is contributing $5 million.

Personally, I can't justify going there because I'd have to walk 8 miles to get a fucking new pair of underwear.

However, in light of these circumstances, should I suck it up and shop there?

[baldguy]

1. The masters throw stale bread crust to the peasants.

And we should be thankful.

[Kire]

20. exactly

[trogdor]

53. Stale, moldy bread.

Heard this on NPR this morning. Other business of similar size are paying their employees for up to several weeks. Even McDonald's is giving their employees two weeks' pay. Walmart? TWO DAYS...unless they can find a Wal*Mart at the evacuee's location for them to get their asses back to work (sound of whip cracking). Yep, Wal*Mart blue smockers get boned in the ass again.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

2. Oh yeah go for it ...................

[Merrick]

3. Not to impugn the sincerity of their donations...

but considering the unscrupulousness of the way they do business and treat their employees and the people abroad who manufacture their goods, I'd have to speculate that a major reason they're giving that money (and likely making sure its as widely broadcast as possible) is revealed by your question - they're using the opportunity to improve their image and win over new customers.

course I'm an awfully bitter and cynical individual. say hi to grandma Mrytle at the door as she works her 3rd hour of overtime off the clock.

[WCGreen]

4. Me too... Fuck walmart....

That is about one day of profits....

Fuck Walmart...

[BlueJazz]

10. Amen...Fellow Duer..They can stick the whole amount (in Pennies)

..up their filthy asses.
These bastards Fuck over everybody from Distributor to the average working person and then give .0009 of their profit and THEN have the gall to try to be all "Sweety-Touchie-Feelie".

I'd like to meet the Mother-Fuckers in an Alley with about 10 other crazy-ass DUer's such as myself.

Oh..did I mention that I kinda' don't care for them? :)

[In_The_Wind]

15. I never shop at Wal-Mart

[Deja Q]

63. Bingo. The identical principle applies to Microsoft.

Another bloodthirsty company, that one...

[gmoney]

5. Nope...

They're contributing for the sake of public relations... $12 Million is nothing to them. They'll just raise the price on tomato soup or something to make it up.

If they had opened up the stores in the impacted area and given away most of the stock (food, clothes, shoes, diapers, etc.) instead of waiting for the stores to be looted and then complaining about it, I MIGHT consider entering a WalMart if my life depended on it.

IF WalMart had not been among the FIRST to start jacking up prices at their gas pumps, I might buy gas there if I was towed there on empty.

WalMart feeds on poverty and creates poverty... I'd say they have a lot of blood on their hands for all the poverty they've helped generate in LA and MS and the rest of the south.

[jmowreader]

22. They don't even need to raise the price of tomato soup

They can deduct the whole thing from their taxes. Granted, a $12 million or $50 million or whatever it will be when it's over deduction doesn't put the whole thing back in their pockets, but it will return quite a bit of it.

The rest of it they'll get back in goodwill--the papers will be full of "Wal-Mart gave (fill in an amount) to Katrina relief" and people will shop there because of it.

[Redstone]

6. Not sure about Wal-Mart, but it sure seems like time to reconsider

shopping at Home Depot.

From what I've seen, they've stood up.

I'm sure people will jump on your post and say "they could have given more," but they did give. And that total of $19 million...that's $19 million more than the relief effort would have had if they didn't give.

Redstone

[fudge stripe cookays]

47. No F'in way.

For all the obscene amounts of money they put into Bush's campaign, they're part of the reason this happened, as far as I'm concerned.

It's the LEAST they can do for these poor people.

Not an F'in dime to Home Depot from me.
FSC

[HEyHEY]

7. Look at it this way - how many of the dead....and those stuck in NO...

would have been able to afford to leave...if they weren't working at walmart?

[jpgray]

8. I'm glad they're doing it

But since they were partly responsible for putting these people in such an intractable economic cesspool, I don't feel like a major overhaul of my views is necessary.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. My dear Floog...

The answer is simple and clear: NO NO NO NO...NEVER SHOP THERE!

They are so corrupt and evil....other posters in your thread have made the argument very cogently...

I will supply the heat! :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[KitchenWitch]

13. Peggy, darling

Tell us what you REALLY feel!

:rofl:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

16. ROFLMAO!

You are too funny, my dear KitchenWitch!

I love ya!

"...what you REALLY feel...!" :rofl: :loveya:

[progmom]

11. oh.

i thought you were going to say they're treating their employees like human beings.

i'm impressed at their donation. but i still cannot shop there.

[Iris]

12. On the other thread of the same topic, someone mentioned they laid of NO

workers with 3 days pay.

Not too nice, if you ask me.

In fact, this is just another opportunity in their massive pr campaign that they've been waging for about 6 months now. They even "advertise" on NPR.

[WildEyedLiberal]

14. Wal-Mart donating $12 million is like me donating a quarter

They could afford to feed and clothe every single survivor for a month.

[AuntieM1957]

17. that amount of cash is a mere pittance to the Waltons

put into perspective, it's not that much.

And they made their fortune creating misfortune for others.

Blood and tears on that cash - I won't be WalMart shopping anytime soon.

[MrScorpio]

18. Let's see when they stop preventing their workers from organizing

No sleep 'till Brooklyn

[BlueIris]

19. I haven't been able to cross a WM threshold since 2002.

That's not going to change just because they're feigning generosity and presently look only slightly better than *.

[Clintmax]

21. I reconsidered going to Wal-Mart a LONG time ago...

Don't spend your money there, Foogledy. They are MAJOR red supporters, they treat their employees like shit, and they put small mom and pop business OUT of business. They can go straight to hells as far as I'M concerned!

[Bridget Burke]

23. I commend them for the contributions.

But I still won't shop at WalMart.

[ScreamingMeemie]

24. If they start treating their employees with more concern and stop

being a parasitic monster eating up Mom and Pop businesses...then perhaps, but good on them for the donations.


They also need to get rid of their inventory by half so you can actually get throught the aisles with a cart.

[SarahB]

25. Does it change how they treat their workers?

[JimmyJazz]

26. Right now, I don't have a choice. Sorry. But, it's the only department

store within a reasonable distance of my house. Target and the others are 25 miles away and I certainly can't afford the gas to drive to those places.

[Allenberg]

31. No need to apologize

We all have to do things we wouldn't ordinarily do in order to keep our heads above water. :hi:

[Iris]

39. Right. And this is also why so many of us hate Wal-Mart.

They dominate a lot of rural markets, leaving many with no choice.

Besides, saving gas is good.

[xmas74]

50. JJ, we are in the same boat.

Kmart is 30 minutes away and Target is almost 50 minutes away. If my daughter needs something for school (always at the last minute, of course) then Walmart it is. We can only afford to go to the other places if we have a full trip planned(day trip to Kansas City means I can shop at Target). I just can't afford to run there on a whim.

[ET Awful]

27. Hell, if they paid a living wage to their employees, there's probably

a few hundred in New Orleans that would have been able to get out ahead of the storm instead of living well below the poverty line because they work for Wal Mart.

[kwassa]

28. WalMart is also giving only 3 days pay to the affected employees

where Walmarts are closed or damaged by Katrina.

Harrah's casino has guaranteed 90 days pay, for starters

[Bluzmann57]

60. Three Days Pay?

Three friggin' days pay? If the power ain't back on, and the water is still there and so on and so forth, how in the hell are these people supposed to go back to work after three days? Gee, their generosity is overwhelming. :sarcasm: Well, I haven't set foot inside a Wal Mart in this century and won't start now. Three days pay when a person can't go back to work. Well maybe state unemployment benefits will be more than Wal Mart pay anyway. But of course, we can't have these able bodied people collecting money for nothing now, can we?

[ikojo]

29. No, a few gestures in a time of need

do not absolve them of the wrongs they continue to commit against working people.

They would do better if every employee was covered by health insurance and if every employee received a living wage of at least $10.00 an hour.

This is guilt money plain and simple.

After all how many of the victims were Wal-Mart employees? That would be an interesting statistic.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

30. $74.5 billion in 2004 Sales

Their response to Katrina amounts to .02% of their 2004 earnings.

Let's just put that Nobel Peace Prize nomination on hold, shall we?

[Rabrrrrrr]

43. Basing it on sales is misleading

Base it on profit.

Not that I'm apologizing for WalMart, but if you're going to compare how much they made versus how much they're giving, one should do so honestly.

[DS1]

32. No

[pippin]

33. Another No Here

For all the profits they make and the taxes they don't pay their contribution is peanuts.

Nope! Shop elsewhere!

[ucmike]

34. just heard on cnn

that walmart employees relocated as refugees will be given jobs in whatever local walmart they end up near. at least they are doing something for their employees.

they have also suspended gun and ammo sales at stores near the disaster areas.

i try not to shop there.

[mitchum]

61. I also saw that same puff piece passed off as a news/human interest...

story. Had the grateful employee going on about "how good they are to her" Wal-Mart is now preying on the EVEN MORE desperate for their workforce.

I have never spent a penny with them, and never will.

[blondeatlast]

35. I'll put my revulsion on simmer for the time being. I still won't shop

there.

I'll turn the heat up when they use this as an excuse to freeze the minimum wage yet again.

[LynneSin]

36. Pigs will fly out of my buttocks before I shop at Wal-Mart

the money they gave was a pittance. ANd mind you that was the Clinton-Bush Sr. Katrina fund.

And after Katrina has come & gone they'll still be paying their employees minimum wage and making them work maximum hours+ while hawking products made with slave wages over in a 3rd world country.

If Wal-Mart wants my business they'll give their employees a working wage and offer affordable health insurance so my tax dollars AREN'T being used as the Wal-Mart Health Insurance plan (Don't get me wrong - I'm glad that our govenment can help but damnit - those Walton Kids are each worth several billion dollars!).

But hell - if you want to support Wal-Mart because they tossed a few peanuts from their Multi-Billion dollar industry then go for it!

[jmm]

37. That's $19 million of the best advertising dollars ever spent

If the corporation really cared about people it would start with it's employees and give them a decent wage and benefits.

[Orsino]

38. They'll take those millions back out of their wage-slaves...

...and the communities they infect. Nothing interrupts the cash flow back to Bentonville.

This campaign is good PR, but it only works because we remain mostly ignorant of the sheer amount of money they make every day, next to which seventeen million isn't all that much.

[China_cat]

64. I wonder how much they'll recoup from the

dead peasants' insurance they have on workers in the areas who have died. Bet they get back more than they give.

[huskerlaw]

40. Nope

they want to rebuild the affected areas so they can re-open their stores (some 123 had to close, at least temporarily) and make far more than $19 million back in a day.

Nothing charitable about it, IMO.

[Zuni]

41. shop as much small, locally owned businesses as possible

Wal-mart devours small business. No matter how much they give now, they still can devestate local economies

[CBHagman]

42. If you have other choices, why not go elsewhere?

I realize it is harder and harder to find local businesses to patronize, given that large corporations run nearly everything -- the coffee shops, the department stores, the pharmacies, etc.

However, given that you have to make a special effort to shop at Wal-Mart, I'd suggest looking closer to home, using online or catalogue shopping, and the like.

Charitable giving is pretty much the norm with large corporations. They'd better be embarrassed if they DON'T give.

Anyway, try:

www.buyblue.org

www.unionmade.com

[Arkana]

44. The only reason I go there is because it's close--even then, I try

to avoid it and go somewhere else.

For example, I avoid the SuperCenter grocery store and go to Price Chopper instead.

[skygazer]

45. Don't be impressed by the window dressing

First of all, in light of their actual worth, it's peanuts.

Second of all, as a charitable donation, it's a tax writeoff anyway.

Third of all, they may make charitable donations to impress the populace but until they start paying their workers a decent wage, providing decent health care and ending their discriminatory practices against women and minorities, I will never set foot in one.

[jobycom]

46. I will shop there.

They are making the recovery here in Mississippi much easier. They got supplies and food and jobs and commerce down here faster than almost everyone else. They've been telling employees that they have jobs at any store they want, in any city they want.

They've come through. I won't forget that. Home Depot, too.

[annonymous]

48. Sorry, but one grand gesture on their part doesn't cut it.

There are more than enough black marks on their record to offset this donation to hurricane victims. I haven't shopped at Wal-Mart in three years and I don't intend to now.

[annonymous]

49. Sorry, but one grand gesture on their part doesn't cut it.

There are more than enough black marks on their record to offset this donation to hurricane victims. I haven't shopped at Wal-Mart in three years and I don't intend to now.

[MadHound]

51. No, what they are giving is merely for show, not terribly substansive

They are throwing out crumbs to those who are most in need. Hell, one branch of the Walton scum(the Lauries, Bud Walton's daughter) donated 25 million dollars to the University of Missouri, all in order to get the university to build them a monument to vanity(also known as a new basketball arena). They got the naming rights to this new arena, and named the damn thing after their daughter Paige, who didn't even attend the University of Missouri.

The name was quickly taken down after it came to light on Sixty Minutes that Paige darling paid off her roomate to do her homework. Pathetic, but the people of Columbia were glad that the plan misfired.

[xmas74]

52. I was ready to point that out.

[AllegroRondo]

54. They spent more than that fighting unions last year

[JI7]

55. they should give money because it's the right thing to do

it shouldn't be viewed as something that deserves to be rewarded. the horrible policies are still in place no matter what and THAT is why we don't like them.

[gizmo1979]

56. How many of those poor people

worked at wal-mart?They are a poverty creator.Never shop at wal-mart.Target isn't much better but at least they have Slurpee's!

[kick-ass-bob]

57. No.

just because they donated a little money?
please.

[madrchsod]

58. the only good thing i can think of is

that if walmart would have been in charge of relief i`m guessing alot of what happened would`t have. after all they have the largest distribution system in the united states.there is a distribution center with in one days drive in the majority of the cities in the united states

[Kire]

59. wal mart will pay Hurricane affected employees 3 days pay

this was forwarded to me by email

> Hi,
>
> A radio report this morning was addressing actions some larger employers
> were taking to help their employees who were impacted by Katrina.
> The Casinos will keep salaries going for 90 days; Grumman shipyards will
> also keep paying and maintaining health insurance for an extended period;
> McDonalds with give all employees two weeks salary; and finally, the
> radio report ended by revealing, without further comment, that Wal-Mart
> "the nations largest retailer" will pay its effected employees salary for
> three days.
>
> Perhaps there needs to be a nationwide campaign to "adopt a Wal-Mart
> employee" since the bastards in Bentonville see no need and feel no
> responsibility except possibly to advise their, now former, employees how
> to apply for public assistance.
>
> Based on past performance it is impossible to be surprised.
>
> dms

[China_cat]

62. The math on that is the equivalent

of you sticking a dollar bill in a homeless person's hand and then telling everybody how generous you are.

It has a long way to go before it's even a drop in the bucket compared to the BILLIONS in earnings.