National NOW Times >> Summer/Fall 2005 >> Article

Spotlight on Wal-Mart's Shameful Practices

By Holly Cowart, Communications Intern

NOW's campaign will be featured in "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices," a film produced by Robert Greenwald ("Outfoxed"), which is the result of a collaborative effort by progressive organizations to expose the effects of Wal-Mart's unfair business practices.

Three years ago, NOW launched an aggressive grassroots "Merchant of Shame" campaign, calling out the world's largest retailer as bad for women and bad for people of color. Today, Wal-Mart is facing the largest gender discrimination suit in history, with 1.6 million female plaintiffs.

"Wal-Mart has institutionalized discrimination against women and people of color in its business practices," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "NOW is pleased to be part of an effort to highlight these injustices at the nation's largest employer and one of the wealthiest companies in the world."

Host a Screening

NOW activists are encouraged to host screenings of the film on Nov.16 as part of a grassroots distribution effort. Greenwald's Brave New Films, which released "Outfoxed" and "Uncovered," is planning to bypass traditional media gatekeepers by distributing the film directly to individuals. Activists can learn how to obtain a copy of the film at www.walmartmovie.com. Greenwald hopes the screenings will be the first step in a massive mobilization.

"Wal-Mart is systematically destroying the fabric of our nation, pretending to be the great American workplace while at the same time showing thinly-veiled contempt for working families, small business owners and the very people it employs," said Greenwald.

Gender discrimination is not the only offense. Wal-Mart also contributes to our nation's health-care crisis by offering health care insurance that only three out of five employees can afford, even coaching workers on how to obtain state-provided health care coverage intended to assist the poor.

Wal-Mart passes on the cost of their "low prices" to the taxpayer by paying wages so low the average employee is paid less than the national poverty level. Often, workers must rely on social safety programs to feed their children and heat their homes. The House Committee on Education and Workforce estimates that one Wal-Mart employee costs federal taxpayers $2,103 a year in benefits, for a total of $2.7 billion annually — less than one-third of Wal-Mart's stated profits of $9 billion.

Wal-Mart doesn't stop at the mistreatment of its workers. The company also mistreats consumers by refusing to carry emergency contraception, also called the "morning-after pill," which can prevent pregnancy if taken soon after a sexual assault or unplanned or unprotected sex. As the fifth-largest distributor of pharmaceuticals in the U.S., Wal-Mart is often the only pharmacy in town. The company claims that they are not forcing their conservative political agenda on communities, noting that "not all of their stores have pharmacies." But only 22 of 3,100 stores do not have pharmacies.

"NOW is dedicated to shedding light on Wal-Mart's unfair and discriminatory business practices," said NOW Executive Vice President Olga Vives. "We will continue to demonstrate and organize until Wal-Mart is a safe and fair workplace for everyone."
The success of NOW's actions has been evident in Wal-Mart's recent ad campaign, including the corporation's full-page ads in the New York Times and recent touting of new diversity initiatives.

You can join NOW activists and schedule a showing of "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices," and you can also be part of the growing calling for corporate responsibility by joining NOW's Wal-Mart National Day of Action on the day after Thanksgiving. Watch www.now.org for details or sign up for our action alerts at www.now.org/actions.