Students Debate Whether to Shop at Wal-Mart

By Aleea Slappy
Black College Wire

Photo credit: International Brotherhood of Electrical Wal-Mart has been a target of unions and others critical of its treatment of workers.

Whether Hampton University students are buying toiletries, school supplies or groceries, they can find reasonable prices at Wal-Mart. But some have decided they will not shop there.

Mia Hall, a senior sport management major from New York, made the decision during her sophomore year.

�I stopped shopping at Wal-Mart after reading an article in USA Today that said police found illegal workers at Wal-Mart,� Hall said. �They have a salary cap and the highest paid salary is $30,000 a year. Because they have low prices, it forces them to pay the employees less.

�It was more convenient to go to Wal-Mart because everyone shopped there and I could catch a ride because I don�t have a car,� Hall said. �It was cheaper to shop at Wal-Mart, but I felt like the blood was on my hands.�

Hall now goes to Target, Farm Fresh and Family Dollar.

Douglas Hughes, a former Wal-Mart employee and current Hampton student, said emphatically that he had not seen Wal-Mart abuse workers during his time on staff. Hughes worked at a Wal-Mart in Piscataway, N.J.

�I was never exploited while working at Wal-Mart, and neither were any of the other employees,� said Hughes, a sophomore accounting major from New Jersey.

�I have heard the arguments about Wal-Mart, but it�s the only place to shop around here and it has the best prices. I buy Nikes and they say they exploit workers, so it�s all the same.�

According to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Wal-Mart fails to provide affordable health coverage to its workers. The company is faced with discrimination charges and is accused of violating the National Labor Reactions Act of 1935, which protects employees' right to unionize and bargain collectively.

Although Wal-Mart has fought union organizing, it has run ads in more than 100 newspapers countering criticism that it pays workers less than competitors.

In a February speech responding to the criticism, Wal-Mart Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott said that consumers nationally save up to $100 billion a year because �the company can leverage the interests of the 270 million shoppers who entered Wal-Mart's more than 3,500 stores last year,� according to a news release.

"These savings are a lifeline for millions of middle and lower-income families who live from payday to payday," Scott said. "In effect, it gives them a raise every time they shop with us. Seen another way, Wal-Mart acts as a bargaining agent for these families -- achieving on their behalf a power, a 'negotiating power' they would never have on their own."

Many Hampton students learn about the Wal-Mart cases in sociology classes.

�What I�m trying to get students to think about is why the prices are so low,� said professor Steven Rosenthal, speaking of his �Introduction to Sociology� class.

�Students always say it�s the low prices. Then I ask students why the prices are so low, and from there it unfolds, and we usually have a big discussion about it.�

Tiera Brown, a junior business management and Spanish major from Maryland, is a faithful Wal-Mart customer.

�I shop at Wal-Mart because I can pay low prices and get a wide variety of products,� Brown said. �There are some things Wal-Mart should fix, but a lot of the problems can be said about other companies. A lot of companies exploit people and charge their customers high prices; at least Wal-Mart is charging customers cheap prices. Wal-Mart isn�t doing anything unethical that other stores aren�t doing.�

According to the food and commercial workers union, Wal-Mart has low wages, no benefits and high employee turnover. The low wages also lower the tax base in the community.

�Wal-Mart strategy is to contribute to economic inequality in the U.S. by widening the gap between rich and poor,� Rosenthal said. �I am trying to get them to understand, not put them on a guilt trip.� Rosenthal said he wants students to think of themselves as the workers, not just as consumers.

�One thing that Hampton students should keep in mind is that 65 percent of Wal-Mart employees are women and a lot of them are black women,� Rosenthal said. �This is important on this campus where there are a lot of black women. They should feel solidarity with the black women workers at Wal-Mart, not the Walton family who makes up five of the richest people.�

In 2002, Wal-Mart surpassed Exxon Mobil as the world�s largest corporation. The food and commercial workers union reports that Wal-Mart employs 1.4 million people worldwide. It sells 19 percent of the grocery-store food sold in the United States, making it the nation�s largest food seller. The company handles 16 percent of all U.S. pharmacy drug sales. It is Hollywood�s biggest outlet, selling 15 to 20 percent of all CDs, videos and DVDs in the country. Wal-Mart is the top seller of products ranging from dog food to diamonds, according to the union.

Sharisse Johnson, a junior psychology major from Philadelphia, spends $200 a month at Wal-Mart. Although she said she has heard about exploitation of workers at Wal-Mart, she continues to shop there because, she said, she needs to save money.

�If I could, I would shop other places,� Johnson said. �I shopped at Farm Fresh, but the prices aren't as convenient as Wal-Mart. I feel that if I don't shop there, two more people will.�

Aleea Slappy is a student at Hampton University who writes for The Script.

Posted Feb. 28, 2005