Wal-Mart Movie

I saw Wal-Mart: The High-Cost of Low Price last night with 300+ Philadelphians and it was a great film. Once inside, I saw and said hi to Aaron Couch from Philly IMC who helped organize the event and other Philly area happenings for the Wal-Mart Week of Action We grabbed some primo center screen seats and the place filled up really quickly. The image above was taken before 6p and before the upper level was opened to accomodate the large turnout. But before the flim started, there were a few speakers.

The first speaker was Fabricio Rodriguez, Director of Philadelphia Jobs with Justice. He told the crowd of an action event this Wednesday at 2p at the South Philadephia Wal-Mart. Songs on healthcare and work conditions along with speakers. They expect a good crowd of ~100 or so.

Lance Haver, Director of the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs, came up to speak next from the consumer's point of view. He told us that we cannot save by shopping at Wal-Mart. We can only save money by not spending it or investing it. He said that by shopping at Wal-Mart you pay for the product threefold. First, at the register for the "low" price. Secondly, you pay for the healthcare for their workers via higher taxes within the municipality of the Wal-Mart [Wal-Mart has a nice practice of telling their workers to go get welfare for healthcare, nice]. Thirdly, you pay/subsidize the utility bills of the Wal-Mart workers because they don't make a living wage and your utility bills are higher due to so many extra people using programs like LIHEAP. He concluded by stating that while Wal-Mart may provide the lowest price, it is not the best value.

Leanne Kruger Daneke [sp?] from the Sustainable Business Network Philadlephia came up to speak of the reprecussions of buying locally — it's good. She stated that by buying locally [not at chains] the money put into the store gets reinvested into the community three-times more than buying products at a chain store. I'm curious to see how that number was reached. She announced a campaign to buy local Philly for the holiday season. A week of buying locally: December 11 - 18, was announced as a challenge to the crowd; to put our money where our politics are.

Alicia, a former plantworker in Argentina for Adidas and I Wal-Mart indirectly spoke with an interpreter. She said that after the Adidas factory in her town closed down, 9000 workers were left there without a a job. They formed a united cooperative of shoemakers and they're making their own shoes now. But they have no international marketing scheme to get their word out with competition from MNCs like Wal-Mart. I didn't find any more info on them after a cursory search.

And John Meyerson, legislative representative of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1776 spoke briefly on how Wal-Mart destroys neighborhoods and jobs. He said that Wal-Mart's are a direct cause of rising healthcare in the United States.

The film itself was good. Plenty of footage from speeches by CEO Lee Scott at various locations and as recently as February. Plenty of actual Wal-Mart instructional videos, commercials and internal documents. I knew most of the stuff they were talking about, but the one thing that totally stunned me was that there was sooo much crime in the Wal-Mart parking lots. In one state [I think I missed which one, if it was stated at all] the crime in the Wal-Marts of that state accounted for 80% of the total crime in the entire state. Why? Wal-Mart made promises that they would provide security patrols and cameras, but they never did. Wal-Mart internal documents even state that they did studies of installing and staffing cameras and having security guards in golf carts patrolling the areas and that crime would likely drop to zero, they still didn't. The film listed all of the crimes that had occurred in the first seven months of 2005; it filled the screen for about a twenty-second quickly scrolling segment. At the end, in bold letters, it was revealed that this was only from the first seven months of this year, a gasp went out from the 300+ in the auditorium.

The film also went abroad to China to see the conditions of the sweatshops where Wal-Mart products are made. They gave one example of a toy car that costs 18¢ to make but sold for $14.98. In one factory, the workers are given the "choice" to live in the factory dorms. If they were to choose to live "off campus" they were to still be charged the rental fee of a dorm room, but they'd let the utilities slide, how nice! The prices we pay here are reflected in the quality of life of the workers who made the products we wear and use.

A senate candidate who advocates universal healthcare: Chuck Pennacchio. Read up on his views on healthcare. On the rest of the issues.

I think I may go see it again at one of the many screenings in the Center City area over the next week. More screenings of the film can be found here. Or you can even buy a copy of the DVD yourself here.

Below is a shot of the Kimmel Center with a projection of anti-Wal-Mart propoganda. They had several slides on a loop and it was playing for at least forty-five minutes after the film ended.

Comments

[eRobin]

Boy, I'd love to have 50 people at our event on Wednesday.

Sounds like you had a good time.

[upyernoz]

i can't believe it. i totally spaced on this. i was all set to go on sunday but i didn't think of it until i saw the little announcement sitting on my desk when i came in on monday. dammit!