New Yorkers Say “No” to Wal-Mart

By Lori Har-El
from The Epoch Times - Apr 09, 2005

NEW YORK—“We are wining,” said state assemblyman Brian McLaughlin to a crowd of mostly public and private trade unions representatives last Thursday. McLaughlin’s message was clear: Wal-Mart is not welcome anywhere in the five boroughs of New York City.

McLaughlin led a coalition of unions, immigrant workers, activists, civic leaders and faith-based groups between December 2004 and February 2005 against a Wal-Mart plan to occupy a complex site in Rego Park, Queens. The coalition managed to create enough opposition, causing the site owner to drop Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart, the United States’ largest retailer and employer, operates more then 3,500 stores nationwide with a sales growth surpassing that of Microsoft.

On April 5, Wal-Mart came out with a press release announcing that 62 percent of New Yorkers would welcome the discount retailer into New York City.

According to McLaughlin, “Consumers want low prices but those low prices come with a huge price tag.”

One of the rally participants, a group called Jobs with Justice, took a national online poll in December in which Wal-Mart was voted “Grinch of the Year.”

According to Jobs with Justice, Wal-Mart has created such stringent requirements for qualifying for its healthcare benefits, that many Wal-Mart employees are left dependent on publicly financed medical services, a largely hidden taxpayer subsidy.

According to a study done in California, Wal-Mart workers seek $86 million a year in state aid because of inadequate wages and benefits. In effect, Wal-Mart cleverly shifts a portion of its labor costs to the public.

Angela Lee of Jobs with Justice said that new legislation is being considered in the New York City Council mandating that all employers pay for their employees’ healthcare.

Wal-Mart’s Director of East region Corporate Affairs Ms. Mia Masten said in a statement, “Our jobs pay competitively at a national average of $9.68 an hour ($10.38 an hour in metro markets)—nearly double the federal minimum wage—and offers a wide range of benefits, including health benefits, profit sharing/401(k) savings plans, a discounted stock plan, life and dental insurance, discounts on merchandise, cars and tuition, and help with mortgages.”

However, a February 2004 report, conducted by members of the U.S. House of Representatives found that Wal-Mart associate salaries range from $7.50 to 8.50 an hour. Other subsidies were brought to light in a study conducted in May 2004 by another group at the rally called Good Jobs First. The study subtitled “How Wal-Mart uses tax payers’ money to finance its growth,” found 244 cases in which Wal-Mart retail stores received a total of over $1 billion of taxpayers’ money in state or local economic development subsidies. The study listed ten different subsidies which included free or reduced priced land, infrastructure assistance, property tax breaks, sales tax rebates and even grants of public money. Good Jobs First helps grassroots groups and policy-makers ensure that economic development subsidies are accountable and effective.

“It’s like buying them a gun and saying ‘Shoot us,’” said Pat Purcell of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. Purcell says that Wal-Mart encourages their employees to apply for government subsidies to provide health insurance for their families, pays wages that perpetuate poverty, discriminates against women and makes their profits by outsourcing American jobs.

The true legacy of Wal-Mart is “Lower living standards for hardworking Americans and overseas workers,” said McLaughlin.

Neal Tepel of District 1707 said that what makes Wal-Mart able to give consumers such low prices has to do with an agreement Wal-Mart has with the Chinese Government where instead of employing workers off the street, they just go right into prisons for the cheapest labor.

“It’s a company you have to watch and take action against,” said Tepel.

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