Boycotting Wal-Mart

Boycotting Wal-Mart

Introduction

Global retailer Wal-Mart has been the object of many boycotts since the beginning of the 21st century. Once a small chain of regional stores founded by Sam Walton, the retail giant has stirred up fierce opposition among some groups over several aspects of its operations.

Boycotts originally started in Ireland as a form of protest against an overbearing landlord. In the 1960s boycotts gained in popularity as they were used as a means to an end for political purposes. While generally boycotts have increased in the years since, statistics are not usually available to show whether or not they are truly effective.

Christian Right Boycotts

In 2005, religious groups from the Christian Right attempted to organize boycotts of Wal-Mart stores because of the retail chain's response to the Christmas holidays. The retail giant had instructed its stores to replace the words "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays." The corporation, however, said it was trying to broaden the term to serve all of their customers and that they were not trying to alienate Christmas shoppers (www.worldnetdaily.com).

In 2006, groups again organized several boycotts of Wal-Mart because the corporation had put cash into the pockets of movements and organizations supporting gay marriage. Despite the fact that the company had differing internal policies surrounding equal rights for domestic partners, these groups pressed on in the promotion of their boycotts. The efforts were short-lived and did not result in any significant changes to Wal-Mart policy.

LGBT Boycotts

Because of their refusal to offer domestic partner benefits to employees who are gay or lesbian, the retail giant drew the ire of the Human Rights Campaign in 2007. In its annual publication, a consumer-oriented guide to shopping, it gave Wal-Mart a red "do not buy" rating. On a scale of 1 to 100, the company received a score of 40, down from previous years. (www.motherjones.com)

Union Boycotts

Only one Wal-Mart store in the world has union representation, located in Canada. This fact alone draws fire from many union groups who have attempted to organize employee unions for Wal-Mart workers. The National Federation of Teachers and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union were among those who boycotted based on low wages, unaffordable health care, and sex discrimination against women in management. While this movement has gained more publicity that some of the other boycotts, the impact to Wal-Mart has still been minimal. The National Education Association has since joined the groups and lends its support to the boycott (www.anarkismo.net).



Ethical Boycotts

Other groups have urged boycotts on ethical grounds, specifically citing the poor working conditions and labor abuses by Wal-Mart suppliers and even Wal-Mart warehousing facilities in other countries. Violation of overtime laws, minimum wage laws and child labor laws are among the most universal reasons that groups cite for boycotting Wal-Mart. In addition to these issues, many have discovered from former management and suppliers about pressure from the corporation to keep prices as low as possible and their refusal to support price ...