Judges announced today that they are going to allow the lawsuit for wage discrimination for female employees to be put forth to trial.
I’m happy to see this. While I don’t believe this is going to solve anything, it is time that Wal-Mart be hit hard and be advised that they can’t get away with what they want.
I have a different name for Wal-Mart – I call it Slave-Mart myself. Why? Because Wal-Mart alone is our biggest retailer now – and instead of setting a positive example for our country, they are setting it on a negative tone.
Sam Walton would not be happy in today’s era of his company. The main thing he prided himself in was “Made in the USA”. Heck, even as a kid, we would walk into their stores and see the banners overhead where they touted their pride with stocking their shelves with goods made in the USA.
Now, you would be very hard-pressed to find much of anything made in the USA. Oh, I guess cat litter and some shampoos are still made in the USA – which is about the only thing I personally buy at their store.
Sure, maybe some folks would call it protectionism, but I for one like to vote with my wallet. I put a vote of confidence in the American worker and our own industries. I check the packages of items I buy and see if I can find something made in the USA. If not, I’ll spend just a bit of extra time to find one that is – even if it costs a little more. I would rather employ an American worker than a Chinese or Mexican worker.
In my mind, our employment system is based on a multi-level marketing-like system. You have the people that make the products or provide the services. You then have the supervisors/managers that feed off of the work of the workers. It continues up the chain. If we all do not support each other, the first to get cut is usually the folks that actually provide the goods and services to us. We then have the toppling-effect that takes hold of everyone.
Wal-Mart is nothing but a big corporate beast that exercises their muscle and marketing power of goods. Because they are the largest retailer, they can and do play hardball with anyone that wants to sell goods in their stores. They have the salesman come to their offices in Bentonville and sit them in a small office (more like a jail cell I think). They then allow them to sit there and wait a while until a Wal-Mart employee comes in and jews them down on their prices. “Hi there, so I’ve been told about what you want to sell in our stores. If you want to sell in our stores, we will buy X quantity from you for X price. While we realize the information you gave us says that it costs you more to currently produce this product, maybe you should look at your options to get it down to our price.”
And so it goes. Another American company providing American jobs is then forced – by the play of hand of Wal-Mart – to move their manufacturing overseas to meet their demands. How about TV maker RCA that moved their manufacturing overseas just for this reason.
How about the trade deficit now? Oh yes. Our annual trade deficit in 2009 – even at a year with a sour economy – $380.7 billion – which is half of what it was in 2008. At this point, we know that Wal-Mart is the largest importer of foreign goods. Now, how much does Wal-Mart import each year? I wasn’t able to find data on 2009, but in 2006, Wal-Mart imported approximately $27 billion of goods (when the trade deficit was at $235 billion). So they account for over 10% of our trade deficit.
To me, it is obvious. We as Americans wonder “oh my gosh, I can’t find a job and unemployment is so high”. It is time to take a look and figure out why folks cannot find a job and why unemployment is so high. Sure, you may want to blame it on the banks. While the banks may have helped our financial crisis get worse, I still firmly point the finger at places like Wal-Mart and other retailers that force their hand on companies and the cost of their products.
Trade deficits cost American jobs. Companies move overseas to make things cheaper – because we as Americans want things cheaper. More people lose their jobs. It is time to be more responsible as American citizens and to help out our fellow citizens – not the communist Chinese economy. Buy everything you can that has the “Made in USA” label and not another foreign country. This is the same idea of buying locally insstead of somewhere else as you are supporting your local economy. Same thing goes for the USA as a whole – buy American goods and support the American economy.
In my opnion, Wal-Mart as a company is nothing but organized terrorism against our country. They send more and more of our cash overseas and give it to dictators that could – at some point – wage a war against us. Wouldn’t that be a smack in the face – the Chinese come in with ships, planes, and troops all with a label saying “Paid for by the American citizens”.