Iman Ahmad 11/18/08
Prof. Arenstein
English 1000C-133- 70891
Essay 3
Essay 3
People express many different views towards the superstore dubbed Wal-Mart. These opinions people hold towards Wal-Mart are both negative and positive. The positive feelings towards Wal-Mart have made the superstore the world’s largest company and the probably the most successful American business ever in history. Wal-Mart shows no signs of slowing down either, its sales keep going up. In fact Wal-Mart’s profit rose by ten percent just recently according to The Arizona Republic which reported in New York. The positives aspects Wal-Mart shares with the world are great and a real economy booster; however the negatives that Wal-Mart sheds throughout America’s communities really pinch a nerve with the superstore’s attackers. So many protests, petitions, and lawsuits have been organized and filed. Each one of these movements has one goal in mind and that is to hurt Wal-Mart and hopefully rid of the superstore in their smooth running communities. Middletown, New York, home of a Wal-Mart experiences the same attention by adversaries of the superstore. One inquiry question that I have come up with which needs answers to is: How does this Wal-Mart affect Middletown New York’s community and the community’s people?
I lived near Middletown, New York for about four years and all those years our shopping for various items in Wal-Mart has been prevalent. I personally don’t have anything against Wal-Mart, but I know many people around here do. My home area is Goshen which is ten to fifteen minutes away from Middletown. Goshen is more of a suburban area where there is hardly any crime and the residents are mainly middle class or higher. Now Middletown, New York is different. Middletown is an area with more crime and struggles. Wal-Mart’s employment base is people who mainly live in Middletown. So how does this Wal-Mart affect the people of Middletown? Wal-Mart’s associates don’t earn enough money to support a family. To meet basic needs an average family which is one parent and one child needs to make twenty-seven thousand nine hundred and forty-eight dollars. Basic needs are basically what a family needs to survive like shelter, food, and clothing. The full time Wal-Mart associate doesn’t even come close to the twenty-seven thousand dollars. In fact the average annual wage for a Wal-Mart associate is a little above seventeen thousand dollars. According to some quality research a wage increase would cost Wal-Mart very little and will only help the employees. For example if Wal-Mart increased a pairs of socks from two dollars to two dollars and one cent, Wal-Mart employees would have an extra one thousand eight hundred dollars added to their annual earnings.
The people who live in Middletown, New York make up its community. A major source of income for Middletown’s residents is employment at the local Wal-Mart. It is already a proven fact that a poverty stricken area or a low income area is more prone to crime than any other type if area. The lower the wages are at Wal-Mart means less money for the community. This also means the residents of the community have less money to spend on towards goods and services in the community. The inhabitants of Middletown New York do live with various struggles which is why Middletown is heavy with crime. Less organization for good works in the Middletown community is un- influential towards its other residents which can make Middletown a harder place to live in. Wal-Mart also instigates many protests in Middletown and everywhere Wal-Mart is constructed. The people progressively learn the negatives Wal-Mart brings upon the community and its residents. After the people learn what is being done by Wal-Mart, they act and try to advance their cause and concerns. For example a California court ordered Wal-Mart to pay one hundred and seventy-two million dollars in damages for failing to grant meal breaks to about one hundred and sixteen thousand hourly workers which is required under state law. Wal-Mart obviously appealed this case. And who knows what the Wal-Mart in Middletown, New York is doing to its workers under the covers?
There are also many other negative factors Wal-Mart contributes to Middletown, New York. We know how damaging Wal-Mart can be to other businesses around the superstore. Middletown, New York has first handily witnessed the closing of a barbershop. Wal-Mart doesn’t only destroy the communities businesses but it affects the community’s environment. There have been so many instances in other states where the environment was brutally harmed. Some examples: in Georgia Wal-Mart was fined one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for water contamination, in Connecticut a one million dollar fine was administered because Wal-Mart allowed improperly stored pesticides to pollute a couple of the state’s streams. One noticeable environmental problem that has been prevalent for quite some time is the vehicle traffic. The extra miles that the cars travel could cost the Middletown community a substantial amount of money for infrastructure repair and harmful environmental conditions. The traffic jams also cause heavy air pollution. Usually when I travel to Wal-Mart I see the smog and all the gases up in the air and coming out of each car. Understandingly traffic is everywhere but Wal-Mart arguably causes the most traffic in Middletown, New York.
One more aspect Wal-Mart takes credit for is its industry standards regarding health care. Wal-Mart’s spending on healthcare falls below industry and national employer averages. According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2002, Wal-Mart only spent three thousand five hundred dollars on each employee in comparison to the other big corporations which spent an average of four thousand eight hundred dollars. In 2004 Wal-Mart spent a little over one billion dollars on health insurance. After all the calculations, Wal-Mart spent only seventy-seven cents an hour per employee on health benefits. That is less than half of Wal-Mart’s two hundred and eighty-five billion dollars in sales in 2004. Wal-Mart really focuses more on sales than anything else. In fact Wal-Mart increases more on advertising than on healthcare. The total amount spent in 2004 was just below the healthcare cost of one billion dollars. In recent years Wal-Mart has increased its advertising expenditures by over four hundred and thirty million dollars compared to only increasing employee health care by one hundred million dollars. It’s now forty five percent on advertising and seven percent on healthcare.
Now if Wal-Mart is spending more on advertising than healthcare then there is a big problem. Wal-Mart is going to get its customers regardless because of its amazingly low prices on an assortment of the tens of thousands of items in stock. The employees of Wal-Mart need to be a big priority. The Wal-Mart in Middletown is no different than the other Wal-Mart’s around the country and even the world. The Middletown Wal-Mart is part of the entire corporation. The people in Middletown are greatly affected by this Wal-Mart strategy of spending more on advertising. Many of the residents are in dire need of healthcare. And since most of the residents work at Wal-Mart, the people will look at Wal-Mart’s option first. Now if they don’t think Wal-Mart is reliable or affordable enough the people will choose to go without health coverage. No health insurance is a risky move. The only suggestion Wal-Mart should take into consideration is improve health insurance options. Judging by new information Wal-Mart did improve health insurance options. The residents in Middletown New York can now look into these options and fully can become insured.
Another major concern Wal-Mart poses towards Middletown and its citizens is the healthcare issue. Since the majority of Wal-Mart’s employees reside in Middletown, New York the problems surface and like the people the community is affected negatively. In the whole U.S only forty three percent of Wal-Mart employees are covered by Wal-Mart’s healthcare. Middletown’s people are in quite of a struggle so the majority of the people do tend to go without the health insurance. The average annual wage for a Wal-Mart employee is a little over seventeen thousand dollars, and about seven to twenty-five percent of the income will have to cover the health insurance for only one person. The healthcare system is just too costly for the people who are having money issues. However Wal-Mart states that its health insurance options are improved. In 2008 Wal-Mart has expanded its options and employees now have a wider array to choose from. Wal-Mart eliminated many unnecessary fees like the monthly one hundred and fifty dollar fee covering the spouse and also the one thousand dollar hospital stay. Wal-Mart explains its recent jump from forty three percent covered to now over forty eight percent covered. This fact proves Wal-Mart has indeed advanced its healthcare options. But still fewer than fifty percent of Wal-Mart’s employees are covered. The uncovered workers usually get public assistance. In fact a Wal-Mart CEO and president Lee Scott was quoted saying “In some of our states, the public program may actually be a better value – with relatively high income limits to qualify, and low premiums.” However Lee Scott said this in 2005 and in 2007 was when Wal-Mart insisted its healthcare options are better and workers will be satisfied.
The healthcare system affects Middletown’s community because the residents are taxpayers. Wal-Mart is a pretty large burden for taxpayers. Wal-Mart employs a large amount of employees. An average two hundred worker store can cost taxpayers over four hundred and twenty thousand dollars per year. Some of the cost comes from low income housing assistance, free or reduced lunch for just fifty qualifying Wal-Mart families, additional federal health care costs, federal tax credits and deductions for low-income families and others. The people living in Middletown are already struggling, Wal-Mart’s negatives only makes it harder. The people around each Wal-Mart including the Wal-Mart in Middletown continue to fight the cause and improve Wal-Mart’s conditions so each community can become healthier.
Overall, Wal-Mart is a controversy no question about that. Its unbeatable low prices keep shoppers coming back. However the opposition is determined and makes moves. Currently there are many lawsuits still in place and awaiting a decision. The communities are greatly affected by Wal-Mart as is the environment. Even though the employees still stick with the job, they do feel distress and do face Wal-Mart’s negative affects also. However the boost Wal-Mart gives to our struggling U.S economy makes Wal-Mart and undeniable place to shop. The variety of items at extremely affordable prices just can’t be rejected and people everywhere do take advantage. Over eighty percent of the U.S shopped at Wal-Mart at least once last year. The rest were Wal-Mart protestors. Wal-Mart continues to make news everyday because it is the most successful business in the United States. Whether you here negative news which isn’t too uncommon or good new regarding Wal-Mart’s sale, Wal-Mart is still in the headlines. My area of Middletown, New York has felt the negative and positive effects of Wal-Mart. The community has endured losses but has also received gains and satisfaction just by shopping at the superstore. In the future Wal-Mart will probably only expand and diversify into the rest of the world. It is only a matter of time.
