Posted on 02/03/2011 2:36:46 PM PST by katiedidit1
(Reuters) - Wal-Mart's lengthy struggle to open in New York City has hit fresh problems -- a controversial report that said America's biggest discounter does not just sell cheap, it makes neighborhoods poorer.
The report concludes that Wal-Mart, the biggest U.S. private employer, kills jobs rather than creates them, drives down wages and is a tax burden because it does not give health and other benefits to many part-time employees, leaving a burden on Medicaid and other public programs.
The New York City Council will hold a public hearing on Thursday on the impact a Wal-Mart would have but the retailer has declined to attend.
Wal-Mart dismisses the critical report -- released in January by City University of New York's Hunter College Center for Community Planning -- as "randomly selected statements from ... flawed studies."
The report is based on 50 studies of Wal-Mart openings and comes as the company tries to gain a foothold in some of New York's poorest neighborhoods.
"The overwhelming weight of the independent research on the impact of Wal-Mart stores ... shows that Wal-Mart depresses area wages and labor benefits ... pushes out more retail jobs than it creates, and results in more retail vacancies," the report concluded.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
total bs.
I am guessing that global warming scientists were the ones that researched this.
Unions making shiite up and feeding it to the media through a stooge in academia. Say ANYTHING!
Planned Wal-Mart stores have long met opposition in places such as Chicago, where last year Wal-Mart secured approval to build two new stores after agreeing to use union labor.
I don't believe this is true. With regard to the article, Walmart tends to benefit the poor directly with low prices.
Just watched an interview on Fox News in which Neil Cavuto is very supportive of Walmart. Union thugs and Mom & Pop business’ are opposed and protesting...would be a loss to Brooklyn if Walmart does not open a store there..how dumb are New Yorkers?
Omg are you in denial.
On a second read, perhaps the article is stating Walmart used union labor to construct the Chicago stores. I can’t see them hiring union labor to work inside.
If this Walmart were to unionize, all the bitching would stop.
When I was in school, many places did not offer benefits unless you worked more than 28 hrs in a pay period. I don't remember my place of employment at that time (a prominent Baltimore hospital) being labeled a tax burden.
Uh, the biggest beneficiaries are the poor people who live in these “food deserts”. Look at any blighted inner city. Nobody wants to open a grocery or other business because of the crime. And then liberals whine because the food costs so much, and is of low quality. Thank the shoplifters and armed robbers.
The decline of America is roughly coincident with the as ascendancy of Walmart. And sealed with Starbucks.
Walmart pays much higher than minimum wage ($11-13/hr.) in a lot of cities. I guess the unions don’t like poor people.
They're too smart for that.
On the other hand, I'm getting sick of cheap Chinese-made crap. We can't import our way into prosperity. Yes, I appreciate that Walmart, by-in-large provides better access to merchandise in greatly under-served rural communities. I just wish they'd source more of their merchandise from US vendors.
I went to a Walmart last week (in south Florida) to buy some groceries. When I got home, I looked at the bag of garlic I purchased, and on the label were the words, "product of China". Walmart can't find a US supplier for fresh garlic?
Who knew?
Thank Cesar Chavez.
Go to any grocery store and check out what it says on a carton of Mott’s Apple Juice.
Liberals.
Trying to stop a fundamentalist religion from building is un American!
FNYC
You are correct. The union thugs would be in on the construction, but the employees working at the retail location would still be non-union.
It's not like cheap Chinese-made crap isn't already available in Brooklyn. Local vendors can just sell it to the local poor at a higher markup when there's no Wal-Mart around who sells it for a cost that's closer to its actual value.
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