Wal-Mart-Lower Prices for the Cost of Other’s Lives?
by Lacey Berger
March 2010
Slavery is forced labor in which human beings are considered property of another human being. “Twenty-seven million people are worldwide slaves; 8.4 million of slaves are children-the largest numbers being in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Each year 1.2 million children are forced into slavery-more than three thousand children a day.” Slaves may be held against their own will and deprived of their rights to refuse to work, to receive compensation, or to leave. Many do not realize this, and believe that slavery doesn’t exist anymore, but they are wrong. Slavery of men, women, and children still exists today and is quite common of some of the biggest corporations of the world today, such as Hershey’s Chocolate, Nike, Adidas, GAP, American Girl, Wal-Mart, and others. Slaves working for these corporations are forced to make clothing that many of us wear, without even knowing where it really came from, to produce toys that many parents purchase for their children or family members, and food that many of us eat and enjoy. However, I am sure that if we were all aware of these terrible actions that were done in order for us to have these items that may seem so simple to us, we would not enjoy them or look at them the same way. As of May, 2009 there were more than 4,100 Wal-Mart stores in the United States. This has expanded to thirteen other countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the United Kingdom. Below is a chart of Wal-Mart’s latest counts:
Wal-Mart Worldwide 7,899
United States 4,264
Wal-Mart Stores 886
Supercenters 2,622
SAM'S CLUBs 602
Neighborhood Markets 150
Wal-Mart International 3,635
China 146
Supercenters 138
SAM'S CLUBs 3
Neighborhood Markets 2
Smart Choice 3
Associates More than 1.9 million
United States More than 1.4 million
Wal-Mart International More than 694,000
China More than 70,000
As you can tell, the Wal-Mart Corporation in China is very large. China is also where the greatest amount of Wal-Mart sweatshops are located. A sweatshop is a manufacturing workplace where men, women, and children are forced to work, while being treated inhumanely and receiving incredibly low wages for working ridiculous shifts which can end up being eighteen to twenty-three hours long; in which the slaves must come into work the next day. Sweatshops impose harsh and unsafe working conditions in which workers become ill and can dramatically harm themselves accidentally.
With H1N1, also known as Swine Flu, being spread recently, Wal-Mart was made one of the greatest spreaders of this flu due to the fact that they began to punish workers who were taking sick leaves to care for themselves or another who had the flu. If workers stayed home while they were sick or to take car for a sick child, they were given demerits, which can lead to termination, and the loss of eight hour wages.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is strongly recommending that employers ‘advise workers to be alert to any signs of fever and other signs of influenza-like illness before reporting to work…. stay home if they are ill.’ And that ‘employers should prepare to institute flexible workplace and leave policies for their workers.’
Wal-Mart’s policies routinely flout the CDCs recommendations, putting both associates and shoppers at risk.
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