Commentary–

Use Your Conscience

When You Shop

By Martha Burk

It’s buying-frenzy time again in the United States. Shoppers are mobbing the malls and trampling each other at the doors of the big boxes to get at the latest must-have-because-they’re-in-short-supply gifts. But some buyers are being a little pickier this year as to where they go for most of the holiday junk that will hit the scrap heap before kids start going barefoot with the first warm days of spring. Most notably, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer and America’s largest employer, reported disappointing sales at the beginning of the season, and warns stockholders to lower expectations in the coming months.

Analysts are quick to point out that Wal-Mart’s move to upscale merchandise may have backfired, because upscale shoppers don’t like the downscale atmosphere of their stores. Target and Kohl’s are cleaner, less cluttered, and their prices are now competitive with Wal-Mart, goes the conventional wisdom. But something else may be going on here that the hard-core business analysts are missing. Those same higher-income shoppers that want wine packaged in bottles instead of boxes and brie instead of Velveeta also might want a little social responsibility with their orders.

The anti Wal-Mart campaigns like Wake-Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch are taking their toll on the bottom line. The company’s image crossed over from positive to negative in the public mind a year ago, when a Zogby poll showed the majority believed Wal-Mart is a negative influence on society. The miserable sales forecasts say that attitude has not changed, and may have gotten worse.

This week Wake-Up Wal-Mart is stepping up the pressure, by launching a new ad campaign featuring employees who represent the majority of Wal-Mart’s workers — females. In the emotional holiday ad campaign, two Wal-Mart Associates — Cynthia Murray of Maryland and Charmaine Givens of Illinois — give personal accounts about the difficulties they face because of Wal-Mart’s recent anti-family policies.

This year, Wal-Mart instituted salary caps, destroying the opportunity for its employees improving their financial status regardless of performance in most jobs. The company is using more part-time workers — who wait a year before being eligible for health insurance and even then, find that their children are not eligible. Full-time employees have to wait 180 days before they become eligible for health benefits. That’s six months before a full-time worker or her children can go to a doctor for any reason, even an emergency. Should a woman be one of the lucky ones who is eligible, and can afford to buy the insurance, she will learn that her health plan does not cover contraception (in fairness, many other companies exclude this coverage while still paying for Viagra). Add that to the fact that company promotion policies favor men — most rank-and-file workers are female but the majority of managers are male — and it’s going to be a blue Christmas for many of the women of Wal-Mart.

A “Think Before You Shop” campaign launched by women in Seattle urging consumers to consider Wal-Mart’s record on sex discrimination, child labor violations, the environment, and sweatshop suppliers worldwide. The campaign will undoubtedly pick up steam as women talk to each other in other communities. That’s a good thing.

There is no question that Wal-Mart is not alone when it comes to abuses, and we can’t know the record of every company vying for our business. But for those we do know about, simply going next door or across the parking lot to buy at a competitor could go a long way toward making meaningful change for women workers and their families this holiday season.

(Martha Burk is the author of Cult of Power: Sex Discrimination in Corporate America and What Can Be Done About It, just out from Scribner. She is also director of the Corporate Accountability Project, National Council of Women’s Organizations. www.womensorganizations.org.)