BOYCOTT WAL-MART (Why I am, and why you should)

I've said that I didn't like Wal-mart for several years now but I kept going right back to them because they were cheaper. Well - I've had enough and am trying to cut Wal-mart out of my life. I'm not 100% successful yet but I'd guess last month I was about 75% successfull. It's hard to find a better buy on diapers and wipes, but for everything else I'm trying to shop around (e.g. Fareway, Hy-vee, Dollar General, Campbell's, etc.). I hope this makes you think about your shopping.

Here are some Wal-mart facts to consider:

> Wal-Mart is the biggest employer in 25 states. They set the standard for wages and labor practices.

> Wal-Mart employs 1.4 million workers worldwide and over 1 million in the United States. More than half of Wal-Mart’s U.S. employees leave the company each year.

> In 1970, the country's largest employer was General Motors, with 350,000 workers. Overwhelmingly union, they earned $17.50 an hour plus health, pension and vacation benefits and cost-of-living increases. Today, the country's largest employer is Wal-Mart, with over 1 million US workers. They earn an average hourly wage of $8.00, with no defined benefit pension, and inadequate health care.

> 2007 study found that the opening of a single Wal-Mart store lowers average retail wages in that county nearly 1%. In the general merchandise sector, wages fell by 1% for each new Wal-Mart. And for grocery store employees, the effect of a single new Wal-Mart was a 1.5% reduction in earnings.

> Money spent at Wal-Mart does not stay in the community: In Virginia, for example, 60 cents of every dollar spent downtown, stays downtown — compared to just six cents for every dollar spent at a big-box stores like Wal-Mart.

> Wal-Mart forced local small businesses to close: Studies in Iowa showed that some small towns lost up to 47% of their retail trade after 10 years of a Wal-Mart store moving in nearby in the mid 1990’s.

> In 2005, Wal-Mart real-estate manager Jeff Doss spoke about an oft-cited remark by company founder Sam Walton that Wal-Mart would not build stores in towns if the residents did not want them. “Were that the case,” he said, “we’d never build a store anywhere”.

SOURCES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

http://www.ufcw.org/take_action/walmart_workers_campaign_info/facts_and_figures/index.cfm http://wakeupwalmart.com/downloads/factsheets/wmt-community-impact.pdf