NoDownriverWalMart.org

Why Wal-Mart Is Bad for Downriver

While on the surface, a new Wal-Mart store might seem like a good idea, Wal-Mart hurts local businesses, and is bad for communities.  Read below to see what a new Wal-Mart will do to Downriver:

Bad for Downriver Businesses

Wal-Mart is notorious for putting small businesses out of business and crippling local communities.  Can Downriver afford more empty storefronts?

Wal-Mart not only undercuts local businesses, but their wages are so low that they suck money out of the local economy, as their workers have a harder time buying local goods and services.  Studies have shown that when Wal-Mart enters a market, ALL retailers in the area see a decline in sales that range from 10-34%! 

For more information on Wal-Mart’s impact on local businesses click here.

Wal-Mart Attracts Crime

While crime may occur in any retail outlet, Wal-Mart attracts a disproportionately very high amount of crime.  Wal-Mart parking lots across the country are crime magnets, as a recent study showed that Wal-Mart stores are experience 6 times more “serious or violent” crimes than nearby Target stores.

The Wal-Mart in Taylor for example had police dispatched 630 times between October 1st 2003 and October 20th 2005!!!  That’s an average of almost 6 police dispatches a WEEK!  The cost to taxpayers for responding to these crimes?  Over $43,000!  These crimes included assault and battery, vehicle theft, child abuse, suicide, larceny, hazardous conditions, and hit and run accidents!  See the Taylor Wal-Mart police report for yourself!

Wal-Mart hires illegal immigrants

Wal-Mart has been busted on several occasions for hiring illegal immigrants to clean their stores– even going so far as to lock them in the store!  Wal-Mart recently paid the largest immigration violation fine EVER, when it paid $11 million to the federal government to settle illegal immigration cases!  For more information, click here.

Wal-Mart is a poor employer

The average annual wage for a Wal-Mart associate is $13,861, which is over 5% under the federal poverty line!  Also, with over 775,000 employees uninsured, ad with wages so low their workers will qualify for many public assistance programs.  A new store will cost federal taxpayers $420,750 a year in welfare programs!  For more info on the cost to taxpayers, click here.

Wal-Mart has recently been busted for sexual discrimination, as they were part of the largest sexual discrimination class action lawsuit in US history!  While women make up two thirds of their associates, few get promoted, as only one third are managers and only 10% are store managers!  For more information about Wal-Mart and gender discrimination click here.

Wal-Mart is also a HUGE violator of child labor laws.  Children are often forced to work late, forced to violate their work permits, and go without breaks or meals!  For more information about Wal-Mart and child labor violations click here.

One proposed Wal-Mart is rumored to go up where a Farmer Jack, a union employer with good wages and very good benefits once stood.  We all know Wal-Marts stance on unions though– they close stores that try to organize, fire workers who want a union, and have hundreds of unfair labor practices filed against them across the nation.  For more info on Wal-Mart’s anti-union policy click here.