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Labor

Advocacy group hits Wal-Mart on practices

By Nathan Hurst, Globe Correspondent, 12/11/05

Wal-Mart may be enjoying the fruits of another gift-giving season, but it's been no holiday for the company as one political action group takes aim at the discount giant by criticizing many of its labor practices.

WakeUpWalMart.com charges that the nation's largest employer pays its workers low wages and offers poor healthcare coverage, and demands Wal-Mart change its policies.

That will require a massive effort from consumers, said Paul Blank, campaign coordinator for the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group. Since the group formed in April, it has enlisted support from over 140,000 consumers.

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It has also meant a major media blitz of rebuttals from Wal-Mart, starting with walmartfacts.com, a website that counters many of WakeUpWalMart.com's claims, and extolls how the company has improved the lives of its workers.

Sarah Clark, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said that leafleting and protesting outside store locations during so-called Black Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season, by members of WakeUpWalMart.com was nothing more than a publicity stunt.

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"Our company provides solid, competitive wages for the retail industry," Clark said. "Union leadership is wasting thousands of dollars on ads against us, while we have created 100,000 jobs this year alone."

WakeUpWalMart.com's biggest focus is pushing the company to provide a living wage and affordable healthcare benefits for its nearly 1.6 million employees worldwide, Blank said.

He said that with such a large number of employees, it only makes sense for his organization to go after Wal-Mart and its labor practices exclusively, instead of trying to pin down other big box retailers.

Clark, however, asserts that her company has led the way in creating a positive work environment in the retail sector by providing decent wages and expanded healthcare benefits. One of the company's largest expansions in affordable healthcare coverage for employees is set to go in effect beginning next month, according to the company.

And while a recent Zogby poll shows 38 percent of Americans now hold an unfavorable view of Wal-Mart (compared with only 13 percent for rival Target), she said her company is expecting a better-than-ever Christmas season.

Most companies plan employee parties...

With profits up for many this year, companies across the country are ready to party this holiday season.

During the month, 80 percent of American businesses plan to hold office celebrations for employees, according to a survey of human resource executives by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a New York outplacement firm.

This year marks an increase in celebrations from 2004, when only 70 percent of businesses indicated they would hold holiday events for their employees, according to the Challenger survey.

Despite a number of global and national issues that have troubled businesses and employees this year, "companies are still finding reasons to celebrate," said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray. "It could be improved earnings or bigger cash reserves, or it could simply be that after several years of no or low-cost parties, companies may think it is time to get back into the holiday spirit."

Companies are also celebrating in higher style. Among those corporations hosting parties, 23 percent will increase their budgets from 2004. Last year, only 11 percent of businesses reported an increase in their party expenditures. The Challenger report also said that more companies are opting for events like group dinners at fancy restaurants and nights on swanky cruise boats.

However, Challenger noted that events won't rival the over-the-top happenings common during the Internet boom of the late 1990s. "By dot-com era standards, most of this year's holiday parties will be pretty tame affairs," he said. "Of course, there will be exceptions to this. Certainly, some Internet and technology companies have had very successful years and may party as if it is 1999."

According to the survey, most companies - 55 percent - plan to hold their holiday parties away from the office. Nearly the same amount - 54 percent - will hold their celebrations at least partly during work hours, so employees can enjoy party time while on the clock.

For those companies not having parties, one-third said liabilities, including those posed by intoxicated employees, were the main reasons behind not celebrating this year. Yet 54 percent of companies said they would provide alcohol at their soirees.

Challenger said that while alcohol at events can cause problems, safeguards such as setting up designated driver programs and shifting the focus of the celebrations away from alcohol should be part of the planning.

"Companies should set up safeguards to protect themselves and their employees," he said. "However, it is not just companies that have to act responsibly. It is even more important that employees be on their best behavior."

...And customers will see something extra

Business owners are not limiting their generosity to employees: Clients and customers can also look forward to a little something extra as well, according to a recent study of small business owners conducted by OPEN, the small business division of American Express Co.

The 2005 Semi-Annual Small Business Monitor, a survey published by OPEN, indicated that the average small business will spend about $1,064 on gifts for clients and customers, representing an increase of 15 percent over the same figures in a similar study conducted in 2004.

Businesses in the Northeast were more likely to have a plan in place for holiday giving to those buying products or services from them than in other parts of the country. More than three-quarters, or 78 percent, of smaller companies in the region reported plans to give gifts to clients, trailed by 71 percent in both the South and West and 66 percent in the North Central states.

"Many business owners see the end of the year as a time to thank customers for their business and acknowledge the hard work of their employees," said Susan Sobbott, the president of OPEN. "Despite an overall increase in budgets for gifts, it is important to recognize that there are many creative ways to say 'Thanks for a wonderful year' without breaking the bank."

Fifty-four percent surveyed said they would give year-end bonuses to deserving employees, about half said their employees would receive gifts.

Nathan Hurst can be reached at nhurst@globe.com

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