Walmart
...ping lower America’s inflation rate. Wal-Mart’s starting wage is generally $6.75 per hour. This wage is being compared to unionized retailers. Is it fair to be criticized for not having a union? A comparison people fail to connect is, many other large corporations pay their employees minimum wage to start. For example, McDonald’s which is a billion dollar company, pays their employees less to start, with no option of health insurance. Nobody tells McDonald’s to pay their employees a better hourly wage. Wal-Mart opened a new store in Glendale, Arizona and 8,000 people applied for 525 positions. If the pay was too low, then why were there so many applicants? The answer is simple, the number of jobs are limited. No other newly opened company has such a large applicant rate, which proves Wal-Mart may be comparable or better paying than a lot of other area companies. Now that wages are proven to be comparably fair the next allegation against Wal-mart is their employee treatment. Wal-Mart has been accused of mistreating employees by not offering benefits and in some cases discrimination. Wal-Mart claims however, that a multitude of benefits are available for their employees. Some general benefits include: health benefits, education reimbursement, profit sharing, and paid vacation. Wal-Mart hires all types of people regardless of age, sex, race, or disability. What they pay each individual should be their decision based on employee knowledge, ability, and experience. Wal-Mart customers are various but are “typically described as high School grad” (Apgar) who need an affordable place to shop. Wal-Marts prices are so low and unbeatable some accuse Wal-Mart of trying to take over the world. The biggest problem many have with Wal-Mart is the fear it will monopolize the industry. That Wal-Mart will become too big, causing “mom and pop” businesses to close. However, Wal-Mart may be the number one retailer in the United states, Canada and Mexico, but it did poorly in Germany and Japan. Wal-Mart’s growth is not even guaranteed. As Wal-Mart continues to grow it will become harder to manage. It is “inevitably attracting greater scrutiny from the press, politicians, government officials and trial lawyers. It will have to demonstrate consistency that strictly obeys America’s (and other countries) employment laws.”(Economist). Some will even argue that “Wal-Mart is good for retailing in the same way that any good predator is good for ecology.”(Economist). “Life works through struggle, and many retailers are better today because of Wal-Mart.” (Economist). This means Wal-Mart is forcing other businesses to uphold better standards in order to compete. Some retailers even excel in the presence of Wal-Mart. A reasonable comparison , between Wal-Mart and “mom and pop” retailers is gas stations. If Texaco can always sell gasoline 10 cents cheaper and a small privately owned gas station across the street is always more expensive, eventually the smaller company will go out of business. No one is criticizing Texaco for overpowering the “mom and pop” businesses. Therefore, Wal-Mart is only raising standards many companies can not uphold. This is a good thing for communities. Wal-Mart does many good things for the communities. Along with supporting many charitable causes such as “Children’s is...