On Monday, Wal-Mart announced that it would undertake a number of new measures in response to mounting criticism against the company with Wal-Mart’s Chief Executive H. Lee Scott Jr. stating that for Wal-Mart “there is virtually no distinction between being a responsible citizen and a successful business. They are one in the same for Wal-Mart.” Among the promises made by Wal-Mart are improvements in its monitoring of suppliers’ labor abuses (Wal-Mart was recently sued over this issue), supporting an increase in the federal minimum wage, improving its employee health care plan, and increasing the energy efficiency of its truck fleet and its stores while also reducing the amount of solid waste it producers. The pledges were made in a sixteen-page speech delivered to Wal-Mart executives and shareholders.
Wal-Mart’s increasingly organized opponents greeted the announcement with great skepticism and dismissed it as “publicity stunt.” The notion that Wal-Mart, who currently pays its full-time associates an average of $14,000 per year, or $1,000 below the federally defined poverty line, would support an increase in the minimum wage seems unlikely. In Tuesday’s New York Times, Scott stated, “even slight overall adjustments to wages eliminate our thin profit margin.” Moreover, as recently as this month, Wal-Mart’s PAC and lobbyists declared their “opposition to any wage hike.” Similarly, Wal-Mart’s new healthcare plan is being criticized by opponents as offering nothing new and doing nothing to make health care more affordable to its employees. An internal Wal-Mart memo obtained by the group Wal-Mart Watch, shows that Wal-Mart is actively trying to limit health care costs, including discouraging “unhealthy applicants” in order to save money. According to the memo, 38% of Associates enrolled in Wal-Mart’s health care plan spend an average of 16% of their income on health care as a part of plans that have deductibles of as much as $1,000.
Activists around the country are planning a week of sustained activities against Wal-Mart from November 13 to November 19. The week, dubbed “Higher Expectations Week,” is organized by a coalition of over 400 organizations. As a part of the week locally there will be a screening of the new film “Wal-Mart: Low Cost at a High Price” on November 16 at 7:00pm at the Wealthy Theatre.
