Wal-Mart In the Cross-Hairs

Last night, CNBC broadcast a special called the Age of Wal-Mart and offered a pretty balance look at the retailing giant. Having worked for Wal-Mart as a college student, I can say that Wal-Mart has its pluses and minuses as an employer. However, as a consumer, I must say that all the "bad" that groups complain about is more than compensated for by the good the company does.

But when you get big, and you are aggressive (and there is no doubt that Wal-Mart is aggressive--they even admit as much), you get enemies. For years, unions have been attempting to organize Wal-Mart workers, with no success. People and Companies have argued that Wal-Mart's tactics and massive bargaining power puts so many companies at a disadvantage that borders on coercion.

Similarly, I have spent a pretty fair amount of time in Washington, DC and have seen all kinds of lobbying organizations and watchdog groups come and usually stay. But this article talks about one of the newest watch dog industries--against Wal-Mart. To my knowledge, this is the first time that a groups explicitly targets one and only one corporation.

Working out of offices that resemble political war rooms, two groups, Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch, are running campaigns to pressure the world's largest retailer to be a better employer and corporate citizen.

The fight in Washington comes as Wal-Mart faces increasing legal problems, from child labor violations to charges of gender discrimination. The company recently paid a fine to settle federal charges that underage workers operated dangerous machinery, and agreed to pay $11 million to settle charges that its cleaning contractors hired illegal immigrants. It also faces a class action lawsuit by female employees who charge Wal-Mart with gender discrimination.

Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch are fighting the discounter on issues ranging from outsourcing of jobs and gender discrimination to its environmental record. The groups are attacking its wages and health benefits, which they say are driving down pay and benefits for workers in many other companies as Wal-Mart's rivals try to compete.

Not to begrudge these organizations (supported in large part by labor unions like the United Commercial and Food Workers Unions) their say. But it seems to me that we are really talking about envy. The fact is that Wal-Mart does the lower end retail business better than anyone. Their technology, supply chain and suppliers provide a wide range of goods for a low price. That success is indisputable. True, like any large organization, Wal-Mart has faults. But looking at some of the charges, one would be hard pressed to make a strong case.

For example, the charge of gender discrimination is going to be tough to prove (as most such charges are). If you look at the senior leadership of Wal-Mart (senior VPs and above) there are an awful lot of women there. Environmental problems--what large company doesn't have them. Are some of the wages a little low--sure. Wal-Mart keeps its costs down. Those jobs not requiring wages above minimum wage usually don't get them. Keeping wages as low as they legally can is one reason why Wal-Mart's costs are low.

I for one admire Wal-Mart and what they have done to build on Sam Walton's dream and vision.

New breed of critics fight Wal-Mart in nation's capital