Image by R.xR. Anderson via Flickr
Brave New Films on Nov 26, 2014
The film exposes Wal-Mart’s unscrupulous business practices through interviews with former employees, small business owners, and footage of Walmart executives.
(2:22) – How Walmart Destroys Communities – Whether it’s a family rum hardware store or a small eye glass store, when Walmart opens in small towns like Middlefield, Ohio long established, independently run stores are hurt. The Hunter family open H&H Hardware in 1962. When a new Walmart was build in town, they were driven out of business.
(15:22) – How Walmart Profits from Poverty (And Sticks Taxpayers With The Bill) – Walmart stores are frequently short staffed, not because they can’t find workers but because they want to save on their labor experiences. This comes from the top, the corporate doesn’t budget enough money for payroll. Because Walmart doesn’t pay fair wages, their employers need to go on public assistance programs.
(25:13) How Walmart Rolls Back Worker’s Rights – Walmart is one of the most anti-union companies in America. Store managers keep an eye on employees they suspect are either sympathetic to unions or are active union organizers.
(33:56) – Walmart Cheats Workers – It is estimated that they cheated workers out of $150 million dollars. Walmart would teach managers how to digitally change people’s time cards as not to pay overtime and reduce store experiences.
(44:35) -Subsidies – The subsidies Walmart gets from city governments takes funding away from public schools. When Walmart opened stored in Denver, they got $1.7 million in city subsidies, if the money had gone to the Denver Public Schools system, they wouldn’t had have to shut down three schools. Subsidies also give Walmart an unfair business advantage over small, locally owned stores that offer better pay and benefits for their workers.
(54:46) – Environmental Ruin -In Belmont, North Carolina, a Catawba Riverkeeper noticed that runoff from herbicides and pesticides was flowing into the river and polluting the town’s drinking water. It was only after the local news aired a report on the water contamination that a local manager moved those toxic substance to a better storage site. The company’s main offices were unresponsive.
(1:00:10) – Imports From China – In China, factory workers can live in dorms owned by Walmart – workers pay rent and utilities. If they move out of the dorms, to live in a place not connected to Walmart, they still have to pay rent for the dorms. Workers work in factories with poor ventilation. They are told to lie to inspectors about how many days they work: six, when they really work seven days a week. All of this to make less than $3 a day.
(1:12:33) – Greed – Lee Scott, the CEO of Walmart made $27,207,799 in 2005 when, the average Walmart hourly sales employee made $13,861 annually. The family who owns Walmart, the Waltons, is one of America’s wealthiest family, yet they barely give anything to charity. They are worth $102 billion.
(1:16:10) – No Security – Kidnappings, robberies, and car jackings…80% of crime that occurs at Walmarts in California takes place in the stores’ parking lot, yet most of the stores’ security officers are posted within the store. As early as 1994, Walmart knew that it had issues with its’ parking lot security, but they hid these internal reports. They also knew that adding roving patrols in parking lots greatly reduce crime.
(1:25:06) – Taking Control – Walmart is a powerful corporation! However, we can beat them. Two communities, one in Arizona and another in Southern California did just that! They stopped a Walmart from coming into their communities.
ABOUT BRAVE NEW FILMS: Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films are at the forefront of the fight to create a just America. Using new media and internet video campaigns, Brave New Films has created a quick-strike capability that informs the public, challenges corporate media with the truth, and motivates people to take action on social issues nationwide. Brave New Films’ investigative films have scrutinized the impact of U.S. drone strikes; the war on whistleblowers; and Wal-Mart’s corporate practices. The company’s films have received more than 56 million views online.
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Walmart Protest 2014 – Richmond, CA
Jim Geraghty on Nov 28, 2014
Black Friday
Walmart Vs. The World:
Putting One Of The Worst Climate Criminals On Trial
Walmart’s war on workers is a war on the planet and the people who depend on it. Join us on Black Friday as we condemn Walmart as one of the planet’s worst climate criminals, destroying land and life from Richmond to Bangladesh. We’ll stand side-by-side with Walmart workers organizing for $15/hr, full-time work, and the respect they deserve. #walmartstrikers
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Updated: Nov. 29, 2014
Walmart workers protest corporate greed, demand decent wages
RT on Nov 29, 2014
Employees and activists are calling on Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, to improve wages and other practices, accusing it of “bullying” those who want better work conditions. It is the third year that such protests have taken place on Black Friday.
see also:
http://blackfridayprotests.org/
Shopping ’til we all drop at Wal-Mart
from the archives:
Wal-Mart Workers Arrested at Yahoo! Headquarters After Civil Disobedience
Class Struggles in Crisis: From Wal-Mart to the State
Open Letter to Mike Duke, CEO of Walmart by Ralph Nader
Fight Back, Live Better by Alan Maass + Wal-Mart Workers in 12 States Stage Historic Strikes
Dandelion Salad 
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A docufilm certainly worthwhile watching.
Thanks, peskyvera. Yes indeed, an important documentary for all to watch.
Reblogged this on Puppet Master's Slave Market.
Updated: added a short video of protesting Wal-Mart workers in CA.
Added another video Nov. 29, 2014 of the protests.
Reblogged this on Dolphin and commented:
As much as I have been made aware of Walmart’s unethical behavior, I still learned something today about the true impact on our wages, our independence, their welfare status of avoiding taxes in the billions. I avoid them like the plague, but as we saw in the video, my choices to buy elsewhere are limited by the other stores still in existence and there are times when I have no choice (like when the Kroger water filter machine breaks down for the umpteenth time). We had another long time store closing its doors in this small town’s downtown area just this month. They were the last of their breed with the higher quality clothing. I especially value higher quality goods because they last–which means less going to landfills; they wear better (a sewer especially appreciates well-constructed clothing–a talent that I am afraid will be lost in the coming generations). And when one sees the impact around the world–with the workers in China and India — one sees how truly destructive Walmart is–we have to take that into consideration when buying cheap plastic crap from Walmart. Doing unto others as we would have done to us is part of this–why I would not cave in to the bank that would give me free checking as long as I began online banking–this would eliminate a human being’s job (not to mention security issues, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog). And people tend to feel helpless, but as they talked about in the video, Walmart would like us to think we’re helpless.
What if nobody shopped at Walmart?
Where would they get their billions?
Thanks for your comment and reblogging, dolphin.
About banking: move your money to a locally owned and operated credit union.