Wal-Mart vs. labor

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, Sept. 16, 1999 | 11:47 a.m.

It seems as though only one department store name can uproot residents from the comfort of their homes and send them screaming in protest to their local government: Wal-Mart.

And anyone who doubts the strong emotions the country's No. 1 private employer can evoke may check out an Internet website gripe session appropriately located at "www.walmartsucks.com."

For years the store has caused commotion in rural communities across the country. Over and over, Wal-Mart has been blamed for stealing business from older downtowns and suffocating small family-owned stores.

But in Las Vegas -- a metropolis with no distinctive downtown and home to most every chain store -- the issue is developing into a battle between Wal-Mart and union laborers.

"Wal-Mart has always been non-union, and it has always paid rock-bottom wages," said James Cross, a professor of marketing in UNLV's Business Department. "They tend to hire part-time employees and retirees who don't care about money -- they just want to get out of the house for a few hours."

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) has been heavily lobbying Clark County commissioners since it first learned of Wal-Mart's plans to build three Supercenters in the Las Vegas Valley.

The commission is scheduled to introduce an ordinance Wednesday that would require stores of more than 100,000 square feet that have a certain percentage of floor space dedicated to groceries to be separated into two buildings.

If passed, the ordinance would kill Wal-Mart's chances of opening a Supercenter in Clark County.

Roberta West, president of the local UFCW, has consistently argued that because Wal-Mart doesn't schedule its employees to work full time, they are deprived of health care insurance and taxpayers are stuck with bills.

And because wages are so low, Wal-Mart employees are unable to spend money in the community, which is vital to the valley's economic health.

"Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world, but for every job they say they create, 1.5 jobs in the community are lost," West said. "And that's not just grocery stores, that's small businesses."

Every major grocery store in the valley is organized. They pay employees decent wages and offer benefits packages. Union members fear if Wal-Mart opens a Supercenter -- stores that are at least 200,000 square feet and include a fully stocked grocery store -- supermarkets that provide better jobs will falter.

"Anytime you take a sector of the community that provides good jobs and undermine that by replacing it with jobs that pay low wages, you create social problems," said Glen Arnodo, president of the local culinary union. "In terms of the union in particular, it creates a downward pull of wages and benefits."

County officials have said Commissioner Erin Kenny -- who was backed by unions during the last election -- introduced the ordinance to prevent parking lots from becoming so congested that pedestrians are at risk. She also hoped to keep smoking and gaming out of department stores.

At least one county commissioner is questioning the ordinance.

Commission chair Bruce Woodbury said he fears the county could be sued if it tries to control smoking areas or gaming. Smoking and gaming laws are regulated by the state.

And, he said, traffic problems in parking lots should be taken care of by traffic studies that developers must complete before permits are issued.

"Regardless of the merits of the argument over economics, it's a question of whether the local government should be involved in something like this," Woodbury said.

Daphne Davis, spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said economics shouldn't be a concern because the stores benefit communities -- as of the end of July, the company employed 815,000 workers in the United States alone.

"Our strategy is to look for customers to serve, and we think this is a terrific market for us to operate," Davis said. "You have national grocers in the area. The Wal-Mart would bring competition, which most people think is a good thing."

Only it appears many people don't think Wal-Mart is a good thing.

Few stores, if any, generate as many negative emotions as Wal-Mart. And opposition has been so strong in communities across the country, local governments have been forced to put zoning changes related to proposed Wal-Mart stores to vote.

The question is why does Wal-Mart draw so much protest when similar stores such as Target can quietly slip into a community and succeed.

Representatives of Target, based in Minneapolis, said their policy is not to comment on their competition.

Cross, however, said part of the reason Wal-Mart is heavily opposed in some communities is because of its success.

"They are successful, and people are jealous," Cross said. "They're big, and they have an awful lot of market power. They arm-twist suppliers and have tough lines against middle men. They call the shots, and if you want to do business with them, it's their way or the highway."

Wal-Mart also has a reputation for running small shops that have existed for decades out of business. And the company's advertising campaign that claimed all its merchandise was made in the United States angered many customers, Cross said.

"They wrap themselves in the American flag and every once in awhile it comes out that they're selling goods that were made in some sweatshop in China," Cross said. "Target has a better image because they haven't been involved in all these disputes all these years."