Reply #37: Make sure to write them ...

[mntleo2]

...and tell their head office why you no longer shop there. And point them to this article you wrote to show them that other people are watching as well. I live on west coast and if this chain ever comes here, mark my words I would never step foot in it.

I have never stepped foot in a WalMart and wrote them more than once to tell them why. I have seen little improvement in their labor practices or any other criticism, just a bunch of empty rhetoric, if any acknowledgement at all.

I am sure many others have written to them for the same reasons and the articles written about them are being watched by consumers. So I cannot help but notice many of their ads are based on the same reasons I refuse to step foot in them, which are: They are non-union, after being prosecuted more than twice for locking workers in their stores past their working time and forcing them to work for free, their outsourcing of their products, the way they kill the local economy.

Now in their ads, they are using a few of their workers to brag how there are "opportunities" for advancement, how they "cooperate" with local business (yeah right the local city councils who they bribe), and the one that gets me the most, how they use "American" products.

I told them I am low income, still I support local businesses instead of shopping at their store. That local prices if they are a little higher save me a long car trip to their store, indeed I can often walk to them. That many times WalMart prices are low for a few things, but comparable for most things carried in my local businesses. That many times my local merchant is less expensive to boot! Other reason I have told them: My local merchant is LOCAL, she/he usually live in my community, they attend the local church/synagogue/mosque, their kids go to school with my family's kids, they pay taxes into my community, they are a vital part of my neighborhood. Most importantly of all, their profits go into the local economy through the financial institutes where the money goes back into my community, not some place in the Bahamas and into some rich person's pocket who will never support my community after their deposits are sent to some place that is far away from my town, maybe not even deposited in my country.

Let these heartless slave masters know they should treat their workers decently and give them credit for making up for their late arrival and for the free work they do, not chide them after being 10 minutes late.

Take it from someone who used to work in payroll, when a worker clocks in, this is the time they begin to get paid to the end of their agreed upon time. If they work any longer, you can bet your first born, this never counts towards overtime, so this manager didn't lose a penny for that worker being late.

My 2 cents,

Cat in Seattle

Pee Ess: I also tell my local merchant the same reason as to why I am shopping at their store and not going to WalMart so they know I appreciate their presence in my community.