Skip to content


Wal-Mart Facts.Com

Facts and truth really don’t have much to do with each other. –William Faulkner

For the past couple of weeks, every time I visit CBS news, a large banner ad at the top of the window piques my interest: Wal-Mart Facts.com! Get the facts!

Well, I happen to crave fact, especially when it involves America’s favorite discount retailer, home of every-day low wages, vicious union busting, and taxpayer subsidized health “benefits.”

The mere existence of Wal-Mart Facts.com shows that the ruminations of dissent regarding the community repercussions and business practices of this corporate gorilla are trickling into the mainstream. Numerous books that discuss the downside of having a Wal-Mart in every community have been recently released, so Wal-Mart seeks to defend themselves with this site “to provide our associates, customers, supporters and friends a place to get complete, timely and accurate information”.

Wal-Mart Facts.com is plastered with images of happy, diverse associates, all smiling in their spiffy blue smocks. A whole section of the web site is devoted to their associates, because “At Wal-Mart, we believe a job is about more than work and wages.” Indeed! Jobs at Wal-Mart are ultimately about cutting costs for you, the consumer, who certainly doesn’t want to pay extra so that Wal-Mart associates can live in luxury. 

Oh, Wal-Mart Facts.com lists some of the fantastic salaries and benefits that the Wal-Mart work force receives, such as “Wal-Mart’s average full-time hourly wage nationally is $9.68 an hour.” Who in their right mind thinks that this is a livable wage? This is not a wage that can support a family, not a wage that a Union would settle for, and certainly not a wage that can replace a factory wages, which is what many Wal-Mart employees would be earning had not Leviathans like Wal-Mart forced manufacturers to go overseas in order to meet the cheap wholesale prices that Wal-Mart demands. Though the wage is framed as being generous on the site, the fact is: Wal-Mart wages are pretty darn pitiful.

Regarding Unions, we learn: “They may be right for some companies but there is simply no need for a third party to come between our associates and their managers”. While I do not support Unions in every sector of society, the fact is that when dealing with a billion-dollar company that employs 1.2 million associates and has the power to drive down wages for millions of workers of their competition, a Union is necessary. What stops Wal-Mart from taking advantage of their workers? What power do these workers have? Are we supposed to trust Wal-Mart when they say: Wal-Mart’s position on unions. It’s all about taking care of our people. If we do that and do what is right for our communities, we will be fine. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Who will be fine?

Browsing through this site and its sanitized corporate speak that addresses dozens of issues and allegations against Wal-Mart, it is evident that Wal-Mart has a huge effect on nearly everything in American society. They are pop-culture gatekeepers that “does not carry music that has the “parental advisory” label which warns parents about explicit lyrics… to provide music selections that we believe our customers want to buy.” They are “the world’s most efficient consumer empowerment machine… The Wal-Mart model of operating at the lowest cost and passing the savings on to the customer has had the effect of raising the standard of living for millions of Americans.” Yes, but at what cost for America?

Posted in Americana.

Tagged with , , .