An estimated 40 thousand
workers of the transnational corporation receive no
salary.
Union leaders, human rights
advocates and small traders of Mexico and the US
prepare a resistance plan.
The
cost paid by the community for Wal-Mart’s low prices
“is too high, as this company represents the most
vicious form of capitalism, wringing and exploiting
workers, communities and the localities they operate
in, besides wrecking havoc on the environment,”
Rubén García, a member of Global Exchange, declared.
In
the framework of the first Mexico-United States
Bi-National Meeting against Wal-Mart, this activist
explained that the goal is to create networks of
cooperation between both countries in the struggle
against the transnational corporation, towards
devising a resistance campaign for the next 12
months.
He
stated that the bi-national meeting will propose
three key activities to be carried out in Mexico
against the US company:
introduce a “market day” to reach out to
people and call on them to shop in the public
markets instead of Wal-Mart, “with the aim of
protecting these historic traditions;” defend the
historic heritage, so that no more stores are opened
by this company in front of sites considered part of
the cultural heritage of the Mexican people, such as
the pyramids of Teotihuacan, or so that “we won’t
wake up one day to find one of these stores in the
capital’s Zócalo (main square);” and once again
denounce Wal-Mart as a “great violator” of workers’
rights, as of the 150 thousand workers it employs in
the country, 40 thousand receive no salary or
benefits whatsoever.
Of these 40 thousand workers, 22 thousand are
minors (bag stuffers, known as “cerillos”), and the
other 18 thousand are men who watch over vehicles in
the store’s parking lots, who subsist with only the
tips paid by customers, but whose working hours are
set by the company.
For
his part, Enrique Bonilla, a member of the National
Front against Wal-Mart, declared that 150 small
commercial establishments disappear every time this
chain opens a store, resulting in approximately
1,500 people losing their jobs, and this is not
compensated by job opportunities at Wal-Mart, as
each store only hires 80 employees.
Bonilla, who has conducted several investigations on
the practices of the transnational corporation,
explained that on one opening day alone of any of
the chain’s stores, “the sales of small
establishments drop by 50 percent.”
In addition, traders that lease spaces inside
Wal-Mart stores to sell their own products must hand
over 50 to 60 percent of their income to Wal-Mart,
while the transnational corporation only declares 3
percent of the earnings from these spaces to the
relevant authorities.
He
also pointed out that another of the irregularities
committed by Wal-Mart is that in its stores in US
soil, particularly those located near the Mexican
border, it sells arms without any control.
Trina
Trocco, from the International Labor Rights Fund,
highlighted that the abuses committed by the US
company are even greater, as it purchases its
merchandise at very low prices, thus leading its
suppliers to “exploit their workers even more.”
She
added that about 70 percent of the products sold by
Wal-Mart come from China, so that its earnings are
based on the sale of appliances, toys and clothing.
Moreover, she says that half of the
inspections made to Wal-Mart’s suppliers reveal
“violations of the company’s code of conduct,” but
that nothing is done about it.
The
US activist demanded that the transnational
corporation pay suppliers a fair price, to prevent
them from exploiting their workers, and that it give
priority in its purchases to companies with
unionized workers.
The
bi-national meeting was attended by unionists, human
rights advocates, environmental activists,
businesspeople, and representatives of storekeepers
and traders, among others.
“They are all very diverse people, with
different occupations, but with the same problem:
Wal-Mart,” concluded Rubén García.
Reprinted from La Jornada
November 13,
2006
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