Wal-Mart Agrees to Stop Breaking Environmental Laws, Expects Praise

“Imagine what the U.S. economy would be like if every company Wal-Mart’s size agreed to follow the law too!”

Imagine that? 

Ummmm.....I don’t believe that there are any companies other than Exxon-Mobil that are Wal-Mart’s size…

Michael,how’s about some a little RICO enforcement of anti-trust laws to help whittle down these behemoths? They always say obesity creates untold problems!

rdf:  This one’s for you. A prescient article about anti-trusts, from Common Dreams:~~~~~~Published on Monday, January 26, 2004 by the San Diego Union-Tribune
Wal-Mart vs. America’s Middle Class
by James O. Goldsborough

One way to look at President Bush’s amnesty plan for illegal immigrants is through the lens of Southern California’s grocery shutdown. Employers such as Wal-Mart, already under investigation for hiring illegal immigrants and other malpractices, will use amnestied workers to drive wages and benefits down still further.

The grocery business is living on the edge, and not just in California. Traditionally, grocery workers have been able to make a decent living. The wage of full-time unionized clerks averages around $15 an hour – $25,000-$30,000 annually, depending on hours worked. In addition, workers have had health care benefits.

Along comes Wal-Mart, the world’s largest business, whose revenues equal an astounding 2 percent of U.S. GDP and whose power rivals that of the great trusts of a century ago. Specifically, Wal-Mart resembles the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, which in its heyday owned 80 percent of the supermarket business, until Washington used the trust laws to whittle it down to size.

Wal-Mart has the distinction of having four of its Walton owners ranked among America’s 10 richest people, according to Forbes. The Waltons do especially well because their employees do especially poorly, with clerks earning, on average, 40 percent less than unionized workers, and receiving either marginal health care coverage or none at all.

The chain keeps its prices low and owners rich. Last year the five Walton heirs saw their net worth increase from $94 billion to $102 billion.

Wal-Mart’s remarkable growth raises this question: How will blanketing the nation in supercenters affect our communities? In 1948, the A&P;’s abuses were flagrant enough that the government used the Robinson-Patman Act to enjoin the company from using price discrimination to drive smaller grocers out of business.

But antitrust vigor has faded in our globalized world, allowing mastodons to stroll the Earth again. Happy with low prices, Wal-Mart customers don’t connect those prices to the demise of neighborhood stores, the influx of illegal immigrants or the use of foreign suppliers to replace U.S. companies.

Antitrust law once saw its goal as “the organization of industry in small units that can effectively compete against each other,” as Judge Learned Hand wrote in U.S. v. Alcoa, 1945. Today, we have moved away from that view, but to where? Wal-Mart has replaced the A&P;as the grocery leviathan changing the face of whole communities. Is this right?

In economic theory, the answer is, yes. In economic theory, pure competition drives down prices and everyone benefits: consumers with lower prices, owners with greater profits, workers with higher wages.

In the real world, competition is never pure, which is why antitrust legislation was written. The risk to society was that Standard Oil, Alcoa or the A&P;would lower prices to drive competitors out of business.

And then raise prices.

Antitrust laws were one protection against rapaciousness, and organized labor was another. With unions, tycoons like Andrew Carnegie, George Pullman and Henry Ford no longer could dictate wages via goon squads.

Taken together, antitrust legislation and organized labor helped to modulate business practices and create the American middle class.

Where will Wal-Mart find minimum-wage workers for its new supercenters, to help lower its prices, break the unions at traditional stores and drive those stores out of business?

hat’s where Bush’s illegal immigrant amnesty comes in. Under his plan, illegal immigrants can be legalized if an employer sponsors them. Wal-Mart, already gaining national attention for its labor abuses, will be the first sponsor in line. Here are three current charges against the company:

A government investigation accuses it of employing illegal immigrants. A group of illegal immigrants is suing it for discrimination. A third case involves the company’s so-called “lock-in” policy, under which employees are locked into stores overnight, a policy that has led to several accidents.

Communities are wrong to focus solely on the benefits of Wal-Mart’s low prices. Low prices come at a social cost vastly outweighing their benefits.

Then it will be too late.

© Copyright 2004 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

hey folks quit nitpicking everything wm does when you dont say shit when your favorite stores violate the same laws and do the sam shit you bitch at wm for

hey ddrb how about your rich slob buddies at costco who are too dam cheap and lazy to give full time work to everyone so they can make a decent living?got anything to say on that.by the way i know what site i am on and i dont care what you think if you continue to downgrade wm i will continue to downgrade you favorite high cost stores that sell the same cheap crap from those china slaveshops wm does.

“Specifically, Wal-Mart resembles the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, which in its heyday owned 80 percent of the supermarket business”

Wow, comparing the old A&P;which “owned 80 percent of the supermarket business” to Walmart’s current 8-9% share of the industry.  Yep, I’d say it’s a fair comparison.  Nice work ddrb!

“Beware of that profound enemy of the free enterprise system who pays lip-service to free competition - but also labels every anti-trust prosecution as a “persecution.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, speech in Chicago, Oct. 28, 1944.

“The propagandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.” Aldous Huxley, The Olive Tree (1937)

WalMart- We may not be the only American cemetery, but apparently we are the largest.

Mary: Apparently you chose to do some whittling of your OWN,parsing the most instructive portion of the quote--. “Specifically, Wal-Mart resembles the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, which in its heyday owned 80 percent of the supermarket business, until Washington used the trust laws to whittle it down to size. “

“The propogandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human."Aldous Huxley,The Olive Tree(1937)~~~~~~~~~~~~~Another Huxley meme on dehumanization of society,Brave New World:Plot of Brave New World :...............................
Aldous Huxley’s most outstanding work, Brave New World, was largely regarded as an instant classic because it was so unlike anything when he wrote it and still stands the test of time today. The futuristic look at civilization in some ways is more relevant today than ever before, as the once alien world has begun to resemble the world of today. The story begins in a post-world holocaust in the year 632 A.F. (After Ford) with a director giving an upper-class group of Alpha students a tour in London of a human embryo factory called the Hatchery. The director explains the fertilizing, decanting, and conditioning process to produce thousands of nearly identical embryos assigned for various caste groups of the World State. At infancy, the elite Alphas are designed to be attractive, intelligent leaders, while the Betas under them are slightly less attractive and intelligent as compared to the Alphas. Next in descending order are the Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Like the others, the Epsilons are programmed with chemical treatments and brainwashing techniques to be happy with their position in life and to only mingle with members of their own caste system, in this case, Epsilons are stunted and stupefied with vaccines and whose roles are to menial labor and live on reservations. To keep order in the “Utopian” World State, all forms of strong emotions, desires, and human relationships have been removed from society. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Now what was Ken saying about brainwashing?

I know this makes you uncomfortable in the WalMart/Edelman ‘war room’ but…

“Like the others, the Epsilons are programmed with chemical treatments and brainwashing techniques to be happy with their position in life and to only mingle with members of their own caste system, in this case, Epsilons are stunted and stupefied with vaccines and whose roles are to menial labor and live on reservations.”

...was not ‘intentional’ by ddrb as an actual description of your condition.

ddrb,

“In 1948, the A&P;’s abuses were flagrant enough that the government used the Robinson-Patman Act to enjoin the company from using price discrimination to drive smaller grocers out of business.”

“in its heyday owned 80 percent of the supermarket business, until Washington used the trust laws to whittle it down to size.”

And, what size and share of the grocery market does A & P hold today?  Seems the government whittled it down alright!!

ddrb most grocery workers you neglected to mention are part time and cant get full time work and enough hrs to get off welfare,food stamps and govt assistance programs.you have to work there numerous yrs sometimes 10 to 20 to get full time work and quality living wages.most grocery workers ddrb dont get decent wages.that article was fronm 2004 and full of ufcw union b.s.how about ddrb the rich ass slob ceos of union grocery and their refusal to give full time work to all and quality living wages too.got anything to say on that?

my lies are plain.all union jobs pay better and that is why wm doesnt want them around.they have better benefits and contracts and wm must try and ruin union labor and cause more strikes so that nobody gets decent wages or benefits anywhere.im all for that.i hate being paid a decent wage.ihate benefits and people treating me right.i love wm and the messed up lies i tell have only the ignorant to believe in them.dont go into a union store and ask them about their wages and benefits because you will know that i am so full of shit that even a septic tank could not keep up with me.no person ever got full time work except at wm.only wm pays living wages and the newspapers and other people who say different are all liars.

A&P;- 80% market share
Walmart - 8-9% market share

ddrb’s DELUSIONAL comparison of A&P;to Walmart as SIMILAR examples of anti-trust and that that Walmart is next on the government’st list for anti-trust action.... PRICELESS!

Michael D.,

Welcome back!

Mary: Evidently,youre doing the tired old illusionist/delusionist trick,again! (And badly)Maybe Matt can loan you some ADD medication to help you focus on your reading comprehension.(Oh,and maybe putting the pom-poms aside while you do it,might be less distracting.

...to help whittle down these behemoths?

...until Washington used the trust laws to whittle it down to size.

Anyone notice a pattern, here?

And, what size and share of the grocery market does A & P hold today?

Today’s A&P;(which, ironically, is majority-owned by a German firm) is a 447-store chain operating only in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the U.S.

ddrb’s DELUSIONAL comparison...

That, my friend, is the most accurate thing I have read on this thread, so far…

BBRD: Evidently you haven’t read your post above.Sleight of hand? Slight of mind. It is NOT my comparison-it is an illustration in an article written by James Golsborough. I repeat,your comprehension skills have been compromised. To wit:"Along comes Wal-Mart, the world’s largest business, whose revenues equal an astounding 2 percent of U.S. GDP and whose POWER rivals that of the great trusts of a century ago."~~~~~Did A&P;revenues equal 2% of the GDP in THEIR heyday?

Today’s A&P;(which, ironically, is majority-owned by a German firm) _________VERY ironic considering WalMart got their weiner schnitzled in Germany and was an abject ,costly failure there. Then there’s America’s King of beers,Budweiser,now owned by Belgium.Belgian Bud?

Then there’s America’s King of beers,Budweiser,now owned by Belgium.Belgian Bud?

I was wondering how long it would take before Bud would enter the discussions, here.

Next thing you know, old “what’s her name” will be giving us “6 degrees of Wal-Mart” for Anheuser-Busch, too…

...and was an abject ,costly failure there.

My dear academic wanna-be, Germany/South Korea is so yesterday—get over it, already!

VERY ironic considering WalMart got their weiner schnitzled in Germany and was an abject ,costly failure there.

Not really - A&P;(GAP) has a German majority owner, because they couldn’t afford to “go it alone” in the competitve supermarket biz.

You know, unions, and that sort of thing which goes with the territory…

Like the Bud thing, today’s foreign investors are getting well-known chunks of Americana at a significant discount.

Need proof?  During the past year, A&P;sold (or closed) all their stores in the Detroit and New Orleans areas to local/national competitors, so they could retreat to the Northeast.

Like the Bud thing, today’s foreign investors are getting well-known chunks of Americana at a significant discount.-bbrd~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Americana?You mean like the bleating sound of American dollars weakened by WalMart’s symbiotic relationship with China, (and its refusal to revalue its currency?)Or American dollars shoring up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,when most of the investors were actually Belgian and Japanese ,according to Market Watch? Or the subprime meltdown-American homes being repossessed,but funded by Japanese and Indian investments?The list goes on .Is it true that the last bit of Americana-our currency-will be printed in China?

“Not really - A&P;(GAP) has a German majority owner, because they couldn’t afford to “go it alone” in the competitve supermarket biz”..bbrd~~~~~~~~~~~WalMart couldn’t “make it go” at all.

“Matt Kistler, head of Wal-Mart’s sustainability programmes, said the initiative would enable the retailer to provide “a reliable supply of wood products that come from responsibly managed forests”. “Just like those “responsibly managed “sweatshops.

...Walmart - 8-9% market share...

Wal-Mart’s global market share is 8.6%, Mary. Do you happen to know the Beast’s domestic share? Retail? Grocery?

Local Grocery Retailers Slip as Wal-Mart Gains Market Share

The (6/3/08) study shows that, while Wal-Mart has maintained its No. 1 spot among all adults nationwide, with 16 percent saying they shop at Wal-Mart most frequently, regional chains are slipping.

Click on my name for the source.

Oh, well:
http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/2008/06/03/local-grocery-retailers-slip-as-wal-mart-gains-market-share/

Michael D.-

Good to see you around. Brings back the memories of when this blog was fun. Still fighting the good fight?

size has nothing to do on how a company operates michael d.to use the bs excuse to pick on wm because of just size sorry is lame and shoots down credibility especially when stores you all favor do the same things you degrade wm for.

Brings back the memories of when this blog was fun.

Oh, I don’t know, Someone, I find reading your stuff highly amusing. I consider you the Rodney Dangerfield of Anti Wal-Mart blogs.