Students at the Mt.San Antonio College in Upland, California are giving the thumbs down to Wal-Mart. “How does Wal-Mart continually have ‘always low prices’ that out beat all other competitors?” the students ask. “What is the price others pays domestically and internationally for our savings? Simply put, the nation’s most visibly popular retail center abuses international trade agreements such as NAFTA to manufacture goods in countries such as China and Mexico that have unstable economies and callous labor practices. While products from clothing to electronics may seem like outrageous bargains, the origin of assembly begins in overseas sweatshops that use cheap labor to keep prices from rising. The fact is Wal-Mart is the US’s largest importer of Chinese goods shadowed by the label of American trust.Americans have been blinded by the familiar bouncing smiley face and the blue ‘how may we help you’ uniforms, while millions suffer at the hands of corporate greed. China and Mexico may not be a personal priority, but Wal-Mart’s unfair labor practices sear the lower and middle class. The average Wal-Mart worker makes about $8 an hour and works no more than 29 to 32 hours a weeks, meaning that an obscene percentage of full time employees still qualify for welfare and/or foodstamps, thereby putting a vast strain on social aid that is covered by taxpayers… Furthermore, Wal-Mart has denied many of its already underpaid workers legally required breaks and overtime pay. These issues only begin to skim the shameful surface of corporate injustice. Health care, discrimination, community depletion, business monopoly and other topics will be cited in a large protest outside of the local Upland, CA Wal-Mart store, organized by the Mt. SAC Campus Greens, on March 13th.from 9 am to 1 pm.”
Imagine Wal-Mart’s headaches if student picketing like this group of Campus Greens started happening across the nation. What if Wal-Mart became politically incorrect shopping? It could easily happen. If students stop investing their money in Wal-Mart, and encouraged their families to do the same, the Wal-Mart growth machine would take a major financial hit — one that would be heard on Wall Street. Friends Don’t Let Friends shop at Wal-Mart.
