And if practical for you and your living circumstances, you shouldn’t either. As has been noted recently, Wal-Mart thrives by paying their workers too little to meet their needs and letting the government pick up the rest of the tab through aid programs. While I’ve never been a fan of their business practices, and haven’t shopped there frequently for awhile, this framing of the situation is what made me decide it’s time to stop shopping there altogether until things change.
Wal-Mart can afford to do the right thing. They are the largest retailer in the the United States and bring in gobs of cash hand over fist. So first, the executives can afford a pay cut to living in luxury instead of royal opulence. Then cut a bit of profit out of the company as well, take all that saved money, and give it to employees in the form of a raise of $2-$3 per hour, at least enough to get them to $10/hr. Will this hurt Wal-Mart profits short term? Of course it will, I’m advocating they take some of the money right out of their profits.
However, they need to think long term. And long term, it will be better for them, their workers, and our country as a whole. It’s a win win win situation. If they’re workers have more money, they can afford to buy more things, both from Wal-Mart and other companies. This will allow other companies to hire more workers and/or pay their workers more. This in turn will allow more people to spend money in the economy, including at Wal-Mart. Not only that, but it will bring people like me back into their stores as well. As it is now, I make it a point to shop anywhere else, specifically because I know Wal-Mart can do better and they choose not to.
Now, I’m under no illusions that other retail stores are much, if any, better than Wal-Mart. There are examples like Costco who pay their employees starting at about $11.50/hr., compared to most retailers who start in the $7.50 to $8.00/hr. range, but they tend to be the exception rather than the rule. However, the point of a boycott is to apply pressure to one company to force change. After that, you reward that change by giving them your business again, forcing their competitors to follow suit if they want to win some of that business back. Because Wal-Mart is so large, forcing them to change would be difficult, but it would also help more people than forcing a smaller company to change. Not only that, but from a moral standpoint, Wal-Mart has the power to make things better for their workers and chooses not to in favor of short term larger profits and higher pay for executives and shareholders. So I no longer wish to reward that behavior, so I’ve taken my business elsewhere until they change. I know I’m already following behind many others who made that choice a long time ago, but I hope others will also do the same.
Obviously, some people are in dire financial straits and can’t necessarily afford to drop Wal-Mart. If that’s the case, I’m not asking you to. Your and your family’s survival comes first. But if you have a bit more money, and can afford to do so, stop shopping there and hit Wal-Mart where it hurts, right in the pocketbook, and let them know why you are doing so. Also let them know that when they raise their workers wages to $10/hr. at a minimum, you will return and begin shopping there again. Once we force Wal-Mart to do it, we can shop there and force other retailers to raise wages if they want to earn our business. But it will only work if enough people join in not shopping at Wal-Mart until they pay their workers more fairly.
It’s possible that the federal government may do this for us in raising the minimum wage, as there are proposals to raise the minimum wage to about $10/hr., but with the deadlock in Congress, I wouldn’t count on it anytime soon. We need things to change faster than that, which means it’s up to us to do what we can to bring about that change however we can. Vote with your wallet, and make Wal-Mart pay a living wage so workers aren’t forced onto government assistance just to afford food and rent even when they have a job.