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Talk:Criticism of Walmart/Archive 3

< Talk:Criticism of Walmart
Latest comment: 7 years ago by Kendall-K1 in topic Human Rights Watch report
Archive 1Archive 2Archive 3Archive 4

Bias in product selection

Latest comment: 16 years ago4 comments2 people in discussion

I think this paragraph seems very out of place and very POV in the product selection section.

"While Wal-Mart's product selection may be seen by some as censorship, others view this from a free enterprise standpoint, that criticism of Wal-Mart's product selection is misguided because Wal-Mart is free to carry and sell whatever products it chooses and that customers are free to shop elsewhere, and would do so if they were in disagreement with its perceived moral values."

First off who are these 'others'? Is it Wal-Mart itself or not? This whole thing seems like an opinion piece whilst the rest of the section lists facts. In fact that section doesn't even mention censorship until this paragraph brings it up. I move to delete that section until we can get something better, like oh say an official stance from Wal-mart, (remember the rest of the section (for the most part) doesn't cite opinion until this one paragraph puts it in).Father Time89 (talk) 05:07, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

OK I just checked the source and not ONCE does it mention censorship or product placement so that means that the paragraph is unsourced and POV. I think I ahve reasonable grounds to delete it. If you disagree you can revert it and discuss it.Father Time89 (talk) 05:17, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Reverted. I disagree, and it's not POV. Furthermore, this statement is needed because without it, the section IS POV. Dr. Cash (talk) 16:37, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Well I'm getting rid of the source, which while relevant to the article as a whole, has absolutely nothing to do with the section.

I still don't see how it makes it NPOV since it doesn't cite who these 'others' are and it very much seems like something thrown in to defend Wal-Mart by some random person.Father Time89 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 22:21, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Debbie Shank

Latest comment: 16 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

Someone Add her story please. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.134.73.132 (talk) 01:42, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Here's CNN's write-up. CKCortez (talk) 05:48, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

GA Sweeps—kept

Latest comment: 16 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

This article has been reviewed as part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Good articles/Project quality task force. I believe the article currently meets the criteria and should remain listed as a Good article. The article history has been updated to reflect this review. Regards, Ruslik (talk) 06:47, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Stacy Clay Driver

Latest comment: 15 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

You should mention Stacy Clay Driver, the guy wal-mart loss prevention employees suffocated to death. You might want some whole section on loss prevention since wal-mart since they are viewed as rather hostile. He isn't the only one killed by them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.192.55.64 (talk) 08:06, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

wel fare promotion

Latest comment: 15 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Shouldn't we mention the portion of wal mart employees on welfare? I've found a source on this http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Corporate_Welfare/WalMart_Welfare.html YVNP (talk) 08:18, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Certain walmart in WI suing employees after they quit?

Latest comment: 15 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

About a year ago, I'd been searching court records & came across a walmart in Wisconsin which had a high # of legal claims against people. In 1 year they'd hit over 50 people in the same way, which makes me wonder if they were former employees or something.

Anyone else read or hear things like that in theior area?

75.8.38.20 (talk) 15:47, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Sources requiring subscriptions.... very bad choice, in my opinion

Latest comment: 15 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

Source 72 for the section on illegals requires a subscription to wall street journal. I believe that when information could be gotten from a source that doesn't require a subscription(and there are other sources for this), that source usable by everyone instead of only a small minority of readers should be used. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Levgre (talk • contribs) 18:39, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

While Wikipedia guidelines do encourage freely available and open sources over subscription sources, they are not explicitly banned. Sometimes, the only real source is something that requires a subscription. What's more important here is that sources be reliable. The Wall Street Journal certainly satisfies that requirement.
The article in question can also be verified for free as well. I'm reasonably certain that if you go to your local library (on foot) and walk in, you can find back issues of the WSJ that you can look at, for free. Dr. Cash (talk) 21:33, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Wal-Mart blacklisted by large investment fund

Latest comment: 15 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion

I would like to add the following paragraph to the end of the "Overseas labor concerns" section:

In June 2006, Wal-Mart was blacklisted from the investment portfolio of The Government Pension Fund of Norway, which held stock values of about US$ 430 million in the company, due to an investigation by the fund's ethical council into alleged labor rights violations in Wal-Mart operations in America, Africa and Asia.[1] Although Wal-Mart did not respond to questions from the fund's investigators, the company later claimed the decision "don't appear to be based on complete information".[2]

This information seems significant because it is the result of a rigorous and transparent semi-judicial investigation into some of the allegations put forward against Wal-Mart, and provides documentation of the claims. The fund is one of the largest investment funds in the world (see Sovereign Wealth Fund and Pension Fund), and the blaclisting received massive worldwide attention when it happened (google "Norway"+"Wal-Mart" for some examples).

I also believe some mention of this should be included in the main Wal-Mart article, but that is a different discussion - see that article's talk page if you're interested.--Anderssl (talk) 21:51, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

No objections to this, so I've added the paragraph - but I rewrote it to avoid the word "blacklisted". --Anderssl (talk) 21:50, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

References

  1. ^ Norwegian Ministry of Finance (2006-06-06). "Two companies - Wal-Mart and Freeport - are being excluded from the Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global's investment universe".
  2. ^ Vivienne Walt, Fortune Magazine (2006-07-24). "Norway to Wal-Mart: We don't want your shares".

Product defects

Latest comment: 15 years ago6 comments3 people in discussion

This section should be rewritten or removed. It is currently not NPOV ("notorious"), and the two individual anecdotes should be replaced by some reliable, valid sources for the general claim about product defects in general. --Anderssl (talk) 20:00, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Agree that a rewrite is needed. Not yet persuaded that removal is called for. Lets see if a rewrite can fix the problems. Richard Myers (talk) 03:22, 12 May 2009 (UTC)
I think i've fixed some of the problems. The first sentence could be considered original research if someone doesn't come up with a separate source, i didn't see such a conclusion explicitly stated in either of the sources listed. Richard Myers (talk) 03:40, 12 May 2009 (UTC)
I still disagree... Although your rewrite does improve the stylistic problems, it doesn't change the fundamental problem of anecdotal evidence. The two episodes mentioned are news items, individual episodes which are not notable and worthy of inclusion in a encyclopedia, unless there can be found some source which supports the claim that this is a wider problem, i.e. that Walmart products are defect at a particularly high rate, or that they have a particularly customer-unfriendly return policy. As it stands now, the first sentence is OR rewritten with a weasel word. --Anderssl (talk) 18:50, 12 May 2009 (UTC)


I suggest we get a third opinion on this. --Anderssl (talk) 20:28, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Third opinion: I don't think it's out of line to have the section here, so long as it follows standard Wiki policies of reliable sources and verifiability. Currently the section starts with "Some criticize", which is definitely a weasel word. I'm concerned with the sources on the second two sentences, both of which pull from videogames.yahoo.com, which doesn't strike me as a reliable source. The last one is okay, I suppose, in that it was published in a secondary source. But beyond that, the section shouldn't just be relentless Wal-mart bashing - it needs to go somewhere. But since a bunch of editors want it there, they should at least have a chance to improve it before ditching the section entirely. — HelloAnnyong (say whaaat?!) 02:53, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

people of wal-mart

Latest comment: 14 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

this should be added DO NOT DELETE —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.9.18.122 (talk) 19:48, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

peopleofwalmart.com is really just a blog page, done in a similar manner to Failblog. They're really not criticizing Wal-Mart itself, and merely poking fun at some of the types of people that have been observed shopping in the stores, so it's not exactly appropriate to include a link to that here. WTF? (talk) 19:42, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

The Down Fall of the Quality of the Wal Marts Stores of Today

Latest comment: 14 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

WE have shopped Wal Marts ever sinse it was first built in Arlington, Tex. We moved to Austin about five years ago and I went to my nearest Wal Mart store to purchase my grocery and everything I'd need for the new house, for the most part everything was the same as it had always been.

The store was a new super store and at the time live up to what I usually find in most of your stores, but lately we have trouble finding the most basic things that you have carried for years, Like Cheeros in the larger boxes NOT THE DOUBLE PACK it doesn't fit on the pantry shelves. I realise that products are going to change but it's not that they have changed it's that you just don't carry them any more. In food items the Hormel Pork Roast that you have carried for ever you no long ever have, we bought cole slaw that was already chop once are twice now it's no longer available, we are dietbetic we can have sponge cake but you changed the brand and it has to much sugar so we had to do without one of the few pleasures that we are allowed. Hair spray I've used Pantene maxamen hold and now there is never any on the shelves theres a hole but no hair spray,I changed to another brand I usually buy two bottles at a time but I thought I'd try the new one and see if it was any good before I bought something I couldn't use. The next time I went to get some they were out at least there was none on the shelve and the person that was stocking said she couldn't tell me if they would get any in in the future.

Clothing Is horrible! I'm a heavy set women. You did carry a line of cloths that I could wear and not feel like a clown. What happen to the White Stag Blouses and the Just My Size Jeans, the clothing you carry for the Woman 18 to 26 LOOK LIKE THEY BELONG ON STREET WALKERS. We may be large but we have pride in OUR appearance too. WE like to look in fashion but not like teenagers. The cloths you have in your stores right now are so thin that you can see right through them, what I mean they are cheap and made to look like something that you would find in a Good Will Store you know already worn out. I want to wear my cloth at lease a season not for an hour or two and throw them away. The people you have buying the WOMANS WEAR LARGER SIZES have no idea what there doing. WE ARE NOT COMPETEING for the FROMP OF THE YEAR we just want to be dressed nice without drawing attendion to our self. The patheric tight tops and horizental strips are for the younger group, when will people ever get it through their heads that most of us are trying to hide the width and roundness of our bodies. We use to be able to have a choose as to the type of cloths we wear. Now if we buy something from you all we look like we are trying to return to our teen years. Do you ever stop to think that bell bottoms on a SIXTY YEAR OLD is just a little bit REDUNDANT! I'm sure you've heard been there done that, well most people that wear WOMAN SIZES HAVE AND are over it! (71.145.178.223 (talk) 05:52, 8 April 2009 (UTC))


.

If you want to know the answer to the lack of product, look around your city - how many stores are still around compared to before the SC.

Once WM suceeds in their REAL plan (domination), and nearby stores fold, WM will adopt the "if you don't like it, shop somewhere else" attitude, And will start dropping all but the cheapest junk they can get.

I think Walter said it best, "Welcome to Walmart.... Get your s--t and get out!"

99.153.3.31 (talk) 15:03, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

New section for article?

Latest comment: 14 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

I am wondering what others think about possibly adding a section to the article that outlines at least some of the known tactics walmart uses to "get it's way"?

Some of the ones I have documented are threatening to leave, demanding a vote/referendum on whether they should be allowed to build and then throwing large ammounts of money into swinging the voting to their favor, and suggesting they might sue if they aren't allowed to build.

99.165.109.144 (talk) 04:30, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Walmartsucks.com lawsuit

Latest comment: 13 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

I was initially thinking that this should be included in the article, but since Wal-mart accuses Kenneth J. Harvey, owner of walmartsucks.com, of attempting to extort money from Wal-Mart, I am not so sure, thoughts? In 2005, an anon wrote a flattering Kenneth J. Harvey page, maybe this information should be included there?

Background

There was a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (run by the United Nations) case against walmartsucks.com. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. wallmartcanadasucks.com and Kenneth J. Harvey Case No. D2000-1104.

Kenneth J. Harvey, owner of walmartsucks.com, asked Wal-Mart for 5 million dollars for the site "as a joke", what representatives of Wal-Mart called "extortion". "The WIPO [later] changed its opinion in light of US law."[1]

98.231.142.70 (talk) 14:39, 8 May 2010 (UTC)


I still have the WIPO emails, if anyone wants copies? :D (When I saw what was going down, I sent evidence to WIPO, and they wound up including me on the CC list for all emails on the complaint)

99.139.233.88 (talk) 00:54, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

Seems Biased

Latest comment: 13 years ago9 comments6 people in discussion

The way this paragraph is worded leaves the impression that wal-mart critics have less factual evidence than economists. Just a thought.

Economists suggest that Wal-Mart is a success because it sells products at low prices that people want to buy, satisfying customer's wants and needs. However, Wal-Mart critics argue at the same time Wal-Mart's lower prices draw customers away from other businesses, "hurting the community."[11][12] 68.116.106.252 (talk) 00:33, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Oh, it's quite biased--towards the truth. The fact of the matter is, there IS absolutely zero valid evidence supporting the claims of these Wal-Mart critics. Kurt Weber (Go Colts!) 21:49, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
Irrelevant. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, it does not have the goal of determining whether these criticisms are valid. Opening with a statement dismissing these criticisms, even a sourced statement, violates Wikipedia's Neutral POV policy. Nevermind that numerous people disagree with your assertion, including myself. I see ample evidence of the damage Wal-Mart's predatory and monopolistic policies do to communities and the free market. Just as I don't get to silence your opinion, you don't get to silence others. As a neutral encyclopedia, all this Wikipedia article should be doing is presenting the facts, not trying to determine who is right and who is wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.135.145.202 (talk) 22:07, 5 May 2011 (UTC)
Your comment is biased and has hurt my feelings, Kmweber! -- Oh no! it's Alien joe!(Talk) 21:59, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
That sounds like a very POV statement which is itself backed up by 0 evidence.Father Time89 (talk) 02:15, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
It is very biased to claim that Walmart is "hurting the community" by taking away business from mom and pop stores. That would imply that the Mom and Pop stores, with their higher prices and lower selection are better for consumers (the majority of the community) than a lower priced alternative. Look at what the prices are like in a community before a Walmart is there, then look at what the prices are like after one comes to town. Or for an even better example, look at what happens to the price of an item when Walmart stops carrying it. They stopped carrying firearms in California a few years ago, and prices doubled at the other stores in a matter of months. Competition is GOOD for the community. It makes all of our dollars go farther. ~~GTM —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gun toting monkeyboy (talk • contribs) 18:48, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
Wa-mart's competition ruins the community, because nobody can compete with Evil-Mart. Watch Wal-mart: The High Cost of Low Prices. -- Oh no! it's Alien joe!(Talk) 22:01, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
And in the end, Wal-mart takes people's jobs by f*&^ing up the town! -- Oh no! it's Alien joe!(Talk) 22:03, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
Low prices at wal-mart are derived from its ability to act as a monopsy for its suppliers. A supplier cannot afford not to have its goods sold at Wal-mart stores because it makes up such a large percentage of the retail business. As a result, wal-mart can demand to buy products from its suppliers at whichever price it determines to be fair. This is a price that would not be equivalent and much less than one produced by a free market. In order to produce goods for these lower prices, suppliers must leave the US and move to countries with cheaper labor/weaker environmental regulations, etc. The fact that wal-mart presents American consumers with low prices that they want to buy is great, but its ultimate result is the continuing loss of American manufacturing jobs as wal-mart's market share increases and suppliers leave the country. This is especially devastating in the rural areas where manufacturing plants exist in the US and wal-mart stores ironically tend to be so popular.
Even though I higly agree with the article, it does seem biased. What I'm wondering is if we can unbias this article even though it is about an opinion. -- Oh no! it's Alien joe!(Talk) 21:57, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Employees working off the clock section?

Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

I am wondering what others think about possibly adding a section to the article that outlines Walmart's illegal practice of requiring their employees to work "off the clock".Mike.gambol (talk) 20:14, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

it's there as far as I can see. --Krawunsel (talk) 15:24, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

"2010 Race Incident" Section

Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

This is not actually a criticism of the company. It's an unfortunate teen prank that got some young punk arrested, but an incident is not the same thing as a criticism. Here is what the section said:

== 2010 race incident ==
On March 18, 2010 at the store in Washington Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey an announcement was made allegedly saying: "Attention Walmart customers - all black people leave the store now". Company spokesperson Ashley Hardie described the incident as 'unacceptable'.[1] Walmart has said they will change their policy with regard to who can have access to their public address system.[2] The intercom system at the particular store was modified to prevent such breaches in future.[3]
Two days later, on March 20, the suspect, a 16-year-old male, was arrested and charged with bias intimidation and harassment by Washington Township police.[4] It seems the youth is suspected of being the perpetrator in a similar but less substantiated earlier incident at the same store.[5]
The NAACP President for the state of New Jersey said the incident was a reminder that "we have a way to go before we arrive at 'decency and equality'", but on the other hand the NAACP has acknowledged the steps Walmart has taken for diversity.[6]

In any event, if the section is kept, it should definitely be shortened. Walmart has, if I remember correctly, 8,000 stores. I would expect there to be unfortunate incidents in some of them over time, since human nature is what it is. However, an unfortunate incident is not the same thing as a critique. Hanxu9 (talk) 16:30, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

I agree that this isn't a criticism specific of Walmart and doesn't belong here. While it is inappropriate, and certainly a newsworthy event, it could've occurred in just about any major retail store with an intercom system. Walmart was singled out because they're the largest, but Target or Best Buy or any number of stores could have been victimized by this. WTF? (talk) 21:19, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

References

  1. ^ Mail Foreign Service Wal Mart's Black People Leave Store Announcement dailymail.co.uk 18 March 2010 retrieved 18 March 2010
  2. ^ Joe Tacopino New Jersey Walmart restricts access to PA system after 'all black people leave' announcement nydailynews.com 19 March 2010 retrieved 19 March 2010
  3. ^ "Boy arrested after Walmart announcement for 'all black people to leave'". Telegraph.co.uk. 2010-03-22. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
  4. ^ Kirk Semple and Nate Schweber Arrest in Racial Case at N.J. Walmart nytimes.com 20 March 2010 retrieved 21 March 2010
  5. ^ Lisa Flam NJ Teen Accused in 2nd Walmart Race Incident aolnews.com 26 March 2010 retrieved 28 March 2010.
  6. ^ Gomez, S. Teen Uses Racist Comments in Walmart The Viper Vibe 07 May 2010 retrieved 09 May 2010.

Where are the 2007 Archives for this article?

Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

There is a link but no archive. Capitalismojo (talk) 03:13, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Major U.S. warehouse using subcontracting companies, on big scale?

Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

http://www.thenation.com/blog/173442/labor-board-alleges-repeated-retaliation-walmarts-top-us-warehouse# <-- Now, The Nation definitely has a viewpoint, which is fine. It is our goal to use a variety of sources. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 22:30, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

Walmart policy not overly restrictive on social media (per NLRB), but . . .

Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Even if It Enrages Your Boss, Social Net Speech Is Protected, The New York Times, STEVEN GREENHOUSE, Jan. 21, 2013.

' . . . But in a series of recent rulings and advisories, labor regulators have declared many such blanket restrictions illegal. The National Labor Relations Board says workers have a right to discuss work conditions freely and without fear of retribution, whether the discussion takes place at the office or on Facebook. . . '

' . . . The labor board’s rulings, which apply to virtually all private sector employers, generally tell companies that it is illegal to adopt broad social media policies — like bans on “disrespectful” comments or posts that criticize the employer — if those policies discourage workers from exercising their right to communicate with one another with the aim of improving wages, benefits or working conditions. . . '

' . . . The general counsel’s office gave high marks to Wal-Mart’s social policy, which had been revised after consultations with the agency. It approved Wal-Mart’s prohibition of “inappropriate postings that may include discriminatory remarks, harassment and threats of violence or similar inappropriate or unlawful conduct.” . . '

This is the Walmart official policy, but in practice . . .

Here Come the Biggest Walmart Protests Since Black Friday, Atlantic Wire, Zach Schonfeld, Sept. 5, 2013.

' . . . Among the West Coast organizers is Smith, a 17-year veteran of Walmart's Paramount, California location. A former department manager in Housewares, Smith started at Walmart as an overnight stocker earning $5.50 an hour. He became increasingly involved with OUR Walmart in 2012 and was fired this spring.

'"For 14 years I was a model associate," he claimed. After he began speaking out about labor conditions, "they started silencing me, by holding me to standards that they weren't holding other associates to. We were so understaffed, and the workload placed on me [was] unsurmountable."

'Since his dismissal, Smith has spent his efforts educating Walmart workers about labor rights and ways to push back against the company. . . '

If possible, I'd like to have at least three sources on both these points. That Walmart policy acknowledges that employees have a right to communicate with each other in efforts to improve wages, benefits or working conditions. And that Walmart apparently does not always follow this policy. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 15:39, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

NLRB bolsters private-employee speech, First Amendment Center (Vanderbilt University and the Newseum Institute), Douglas E. Lee, Sept. 14, 2011.

" . . . Intended to protect employees’ right to unionize, the NLRA prohibits private employers from, among other things, interfering in employees’ attempts to engage in concerted activity. These attempts, the board traditionally has held, include discussions among coworkers about the terms and conditions of their employment. . . "

" . . . In the report, Solomon [acting general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board] detailed the board’s handling of 14 cases in which unfair labor practice charges arose out of social-media postings or policies. In half of those cases, the board found that the employers had violated the NLRA; in the other half, the board found the employers’ actions were lawful. In cases involving social-media postings, a fact critical to the board’s determination was whether the postings were directed at or discussed with coworkers. . . "

What Can They Say?, The Employer's Lawyer, Casey Sipe, May 10, 2012.

" . . . The National Labor Relations Act has long provided protection to employees to discuss wages, hours and working conditions. Recently the NLRB has extended that protection to discussions on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. . . "

Additional references

Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2013/09/the-days-of-squeezing-suppliers-are-over

a variety of good sources and let's just put the information out there. And even though our article is entitled "Criticism of Walmart," let's not be too concerned with whether any particular bit of information is pro-Walmart or anti-Walmart. For example, if we have criticism of Walmart, response by Walmart, follow-up to criticism, that is in fact a pretty good pattern and will work out a lot better if we just let it happen, rather than if we try to clumsily make it happen in some kind of cookie-cutter pattern. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 22:39, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

http://dirtylaundrythewalmartfiles.wordpress.com/glossary-of-terms/

http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/

Walmart and Environmental Issues

Latest comment: 10 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

There isn't anything here about Walmart's general record in terms of environmentalism (energy and water use, packaging, construction policies, transportation). Are there any Walmart experts, or people who have read "force of nature" by Edward Humes and could write something about how the company has done in that regard? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.163.105.115 (talk) 13:53, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

We do mention environmental opposition several times, but the only specific I see is the following from Product selection:

"A December 2007 report published by the Environmental Investigation Agency (a non-governmental agency), revealed that some furniture sold at Walmart was made from wood which had been illegally logged in protected Russian habitats for Siberian tigers and other wildlife.[151] This led the company to investigate its suppliers and promise to eliminate products made from illegal wood by 2013. They also joined the Global Forest & Trade Network, an organization that is dedicated to eliminating illegal logging.[152]"

And for a company as big as Walmart, Yes, we should include other specifics, if we can find the references. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 00:12, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

Unfair banning of customers

Latest comment: 10 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

I have heard many stories of people being banned from Walmart stores for dubious and even fabricated reasons; in some cases, no reason is even given. I can't seem to find much about this through Google or Bing, but I know this does happen because I myself was the subject of such a dubious ban. Can anyone help? Thanks...--173.17.85.151 (talk) 05:12, 27 December 2013 (UTC)

GA Reassessment

Latest comment: 9 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
This discussion is transcluded from Talk:Criticism of Walmart/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the reassessment.

Unfortunately, this article has failed to keep up with GA standards, and is currently near the top of the Cleanup listing by number of tags, so I am beginning a good article reassessment. Initial problems I noticed in a quick run-through:

  • 33!!!! dead link tags, leaving significant amounts of information unverified.
  • Five citation needed tags.
  • Numerous other (untagged) areas that need referencing. Statements by people/companies ("according to Walmart"), statistics, potentially controversial statements, etc. need references.
  • Current references need to be checked for reliability and completeness. For example:
    • What makes Ref #75 (The Employer's Lawyer) a reliable source?
    • What makes Ref #119 (cockeyed.com) a reliable source?
    • Several refs include only urls and titles (or just bare urls, a major no-no) - no publisher or other info.
  • Poorly-run and understaffed stores section is written in timeline fashion and appears to be leaning towards major recentism. Six of the seven paragraphs discuss 2013, and the remaining one is talking about 2012 - was there no problem with this in the previous 50 years?
  • Labor union opposition, "though Coughlin himself apparently restated those claims" - why "apparently"? Did he or didn't he?
  • Prose needs an overall going-over. For example, what is "the men and women not being created equal in the workforce is what Walmart is doing and what they should essentially not be doing." trying to say?
  • Numerous one and two sentence paragraphs should be expanded or combined with others. Occasionally, they're fine, but in the quantities currently in the article they make for a choppy read and feel like people have just added on sentences as things have happened, rather than attempting to make a coherent narrative.
  • I would think that more images could be found to illustrate an 8,600 word article...but this is a more minor issue.

These are from a quick read-through; if and when they are addressed I will do a closer review for prose, etc. Let me know if there are any questions, Dana boomer (talk) 16:51, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

This article should definitely be de-listed, I've just done some work adding some new URLs to dead links, but there are still 28 dead links, and this can't be fixed easily. What's worse is that some of the information in this article is obviously outdated. SuperCarnivore591 (talk) 07:58, 26 September 2015 (UTC)

"News Articles" as subset of "External Links"

Latest comment: 10 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

WP:EL is clear -- the purpose of EL is to give material not covered in the article, whilst a list of editorial columns seems not to conform with that content guideline. External Links are typically used for webpages of an organization which is the topic of an article, and links with factual information not covered in the body of the article. Specifically:

Any site that does not provide a unique resource beyond what the article would contain if it became a featured article.

should not be linked from an article. Cheers. Collect (talk) 22:21, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:United_Food_and_Commercial_Workers

Poorly-run and understaffed stores

Latest comment: 10 years ago3 comments1 person in discussion
This is a different and distinct criticism from not treating employees right. This criticism is that understaffing hurts customers. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 18:33, 4 September 2013 (UTC)

Why "Good Jobs" Are Good for Retailers, Harvard Business Review, Zeynep Ton, Jan.-Feb. 2012.

" . . . Highly successful retail chains—such as Quik­Trip convenience stores, Mercadona and Trader Joe’s supermarkets, and Costco wholesale clubs—not only invest heavily in store employees but also have the lowest prices in their industries, solid financial performance, and better customer service than their competitors. . . "

" . . . In addition, many retailers see labor as a cost driver rather than a sales driver and therefore focus on minimizing its costs. Accordingly, they often evaluate store managers on whether they meet monthly (or weekly) targets for payroll as a percentage of sales. These managers don’t have much control over sales (they almost never make decisions on merchandise mix, layout, price, or promotions), but they do have a fair amount of control over payroll. So when sales decrease, they immediately reduce staffing levels. The pressure to reduce payroll expenses is so high that store managers at several large chains, including Walmart, have been widely reported to have forced employees to work off-the-clock, paying them for fewer hours than they put in. . . "

" . . . Home Depot is a well-known example. When former GE executive Robert Nardelli became CEO, at the end of 2000, he cut staffing levels and increased the percentage of part-timers to reduce costs and boost profits. Those moves achieved both goals immediately, but they eventually caused Home Depot’s excellent customer service—the company’s claim to fame and, arguably, primary source of competitive advantage—to suffer, customer satisfaction to plunge, and same-store sales growth to drop and even go negative in some years. . . "

" . . . Research by Marshall Fisher, Serguei Netessine, and Jayanth Krishnan supports my findings: Their analysis of 17 months of data from a large retailer shows that for every $1 increase in payroll, a store could see a $4 to $28 increase in monthly sales. . . "

" . . . instead of responding to short-term pressures by automatically cutting labor, stores should strive to find the staffing level that maximizes profits on a sustained basis. In many cases, that will mean adding workers."

Customers Flee Wal-Mart Empty Shelves for Target, Costco, Bloomberg News, Renee Dudley, March 26, 2013.

' . . . In the past five years, the world’s largest retailer added 455 U.S. Wal-Mart stores, a 13 percent increase, according to filings and the company’s website. In the same period, its total U.S. workforce, which includes Sam’s Club employees, dropped by about 20,000, or 1.4 percent. . . '

' . . . At the supercenter across the street from Wal-Mart’s Bentonville, Arkansas, home office, salespeople on March 14 handed out samples of Chobani yogurt and Clif Bars. Thirteen of 20 registers were manned -- with no lines -- and the shelves were fully stocked. Three days earlier, about 10 people waited in a customer service line at a Wal-Mart in Secaucus, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York, the nation’s largest city. Twelve of 30 registers were open and the lines were about five deep. There were empty spaces on shelves large enough for a grown man to lie down, . . '

' . . . Retailers consider labor -- usually their largest controllable expense -- an easy cost-cutting target, Ton said [Zeynep Ton, a retail researcher and associate professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management]. That’s what happened at Home Depot Inc. (HD) in the early 2000s, . . . '

' . . . Wisconsin . . . Tifft has worked for nearly a quarter-century, merchandise ready for the sales floor remains on pallets and in steel bins lining the floor of the back room -- an area so full that “no passable aisles” remain, she said. Meanwhile, the front of the store is increasingly barren, Tifft said. That landscape has worsened over the past several years as workers who leave aren’t replaced, she said.

'“There’s a lot of voids out there, a lot of voids,” said Tifft, 58, who oversees grocery deliveries and is a member of OUR Walmart, a union-backed group seeking to improve working conditions at the discount chain. “Customers come in, they can’t find what they’re looking for, and they’re leaving.”

'Years ago, supervisors drilled a message into employees’ heads: “In the door and to the floor,” Tifft said. That mantra now seems impossible to execute. . . '

' . . . Wal-Mart is entangled in what Ton calls the “vicious cycle” of under-staffing. Too few workers leads to operational problems. Those problems lead to poor store sales, which lead to lower labor budgets.

'“It requires a wake-up call at a higher level,” she said of the decision to hire more workers. . . '

' . . . White, a 36-year-old attorney, tried to buy wall paint at the Wal-Mart near his home in Santee, California. “You wait 20, 25 minutes for someone to help you, then the person was not trained on mixing paint,” White said. “It was like, you have to help them help you.” . . . The store would go weeks without products he wanted to buy, such as men’s dress shirts, which he found only in very large or small sizes and unpopular colors, he said. “Pretty soon, they were even out of those,” White said. “I would literally check every so often at different Wal-Marts. They would go two or three months with the shelves looking exactly the same.” . . . '

Walmart Strains to Keep Aisles Stocked Fresh, New York Times, STEPHANIE CLIFFORD, April 3, 2013.

' . . . Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer and grocer, has cut so many employees that it no longer has enough workers to stock its shelves properly, according to some employees and industry analysts. . . '

' . . . Before the recession, at the start of 2007, Walmart had an average of 338 employees per store at its United States stores and Sam’s Club locations. Now, it has 281 per store, having cut the number of United States employees while adding hundreds of stores. . . '

' . . . She [Terrie Ellerbee, associate editor at the grocery industry publication The Shelby Report] traced the problem to 2010, after Walmart reduced the range of merchandise it carried in an attempt to make stores less cluttered. Customers did not like the change, and Walmart added merchandise back, but with declining sales then, it did not add back employees, she said. “Without enough labor hours to get those items back, not to mention to do routine stocking, shelves were left bare,” Ms. Ellerbee said. . . '

' . . . The company’s grocery prices are usually about 15 percent below competitors’ [emphasis added], according to Supermarket News. . . ' [We do want to include both the positive and negative parts.]

' . . . According to the notes from the Walmart meeting last month in Orlando obtained by The New York Times, while Walmart has 20 percent of the market share in dry grocery, it has 15 percent in fresh (areas like produce, meat, deli and bakery). . . '

The Trouble Lurking on Walmart’s Empty Shelves, Time Business & Money, Bill Saporito, April 9, 2013.

" . . . one of the company’s central missions is to be an agent for its customers. . . "

" . . . Ultimately, no amount of supply chain computer wizardry can eliminate Walmart’s need for muscle power to get the goods on the shelves. . . "

" . . . inventory management goes to the heart of what Walmart does. The economics of retailing are a circular: You order stuff, it’s delivered, and you have 30 days to pay for it. The faster you can sell the merchandise, the less it costs you to finance, which is why inventory turns are a critical measure of retail efficiency. Globally, Walmart turns its entire inventory eight times a year (compared to 6.4 times a year for Target, for example) [emphasis added, so still stronger than Target in this regard]. . . "

" . . . So any speed bump, anywhere in the system, screws everything up. . . "

" . . . Walmart’s front-end managers are supposed to open another register any time there are more than three customers in line. The cashiers have to come from some other part of the store—the back room, which is invisible to the customer, is one such place to grab bodies. . . . And even if Walmart’s claim of an 90%-to-95% in-stock position is true, that’s not so great. Given the inventory level in domestic Walmart stores—$25.8 billion, based on its last annual report—that means the company could be foregoing $1.29 billion to $2.58 billion in potential sales. . . "

http://consumerist.com/2013/01/02/how-to-shop-at-walmart-without-annoying-the-employees-much/

Wal-Mart Tries Workforce Surge to Battle Sparse Shelves, Bloomberg Businessweek, Susan Berfield, Sept. 23, 2013.

' . . . The country’s largest private employer will be giving full-time jobs to 35,000 members of its part-time workforce, and another 35,000 of its temporary workers will be moved into part-time slots. The retailer will also hire 55,000 people to work at its stores during the holiday season. . . '

' . . . U.S. workforce at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club fell by about 120,000 employees in the past five years, to 1.3 million, according to Bloomberg News, even as the company added more than 500 stores. Recently, Cleveland Research found that one of the key problems hindering Wal-Mart’s operations “is the lack of labor in the stores to get the inventory out of the back rooms and onto the sales floor.” Wal-Mart has disputed claims of restocking problems. . . '

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-23/wal-mart-elevates-70-000-workers-amid-stocking-complaints.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2013/07/17/why-are-walmart-stores-such-a-mess/

http://supermarketnews.com/dollar-stores/dollar-general-tops-pricing-survey

Walmart Employees Tell Consumerist About All Those Empty Shelves, Consumerist, Chris Morran, April 5, 2013. This article also includes photographs of Walmart shelves in further need of stocking, primarily in health and beauty products.

One employee states, "As soon as we get a full crew we start to lose people through them quitting or being fired. Management seems to wait until we need 6 or 7 people, then we get a rash of new hires. . . "

And another employee states, "Instead they make the rest of us work faster and harder, saying the task manager system, which is basically a [point-of-sale] system telling them how long it should take us to do our job, says we should be done already or we’re taking too long."

http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2014/02/low-pay-policy-backfires-walmart

http://www.thestreet.com/story/12532764/1/pictures-and-employee-emails-that-make-me-think-walmart-is-about-to-implode.html

http://www.thestreet.com/story/12530078/2/24-pictures-from-a-walmart-that-make-sears-look-classy.html

http://secure2.thestreet.com/cap/login/aa_mbp_ft_new-flow_2011_video.jsp?CREATIVECODE=cr-0012&PPOID_1=400041&flowid=52902a0759&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestreet.com%2Fk%2Faap%2F_sectopnav%2Findex.html:

" . . In 1996, Jim founded TheStreet, one of the "most visited" financial media websites for individual to institutional investors. . "

http://www.wsfa.com/story/24769205/12-news-defenders-troy-residents-fed-up-with-empty-walmart?autostart=true

http://www.wsfa.com/story/24779802/12-news-defenders-get-results-after-featuring-empty-troy-walmart

http://www.retailwire.com/news-article/17397/empty-shelves-become-big-news-on-investor-sites

specific claiming of placing last on American Customer Satisfaction Index needs more than one source

Customers Flee Wal-Mart Empty Shelves for Target, Costco, Bloomberg News, Renee Dudley, March 26, 2013.

' . . . Last month, Wal-Mart placed last among department and discount stores in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, the sixth year in a row the company had either tied or taken the last spot. . . '

Who's right about Wal-Mart's customer satisfaction?, MSN Money, Jonathan Berr, April 2, 2013.

' . . . "Bloomberg continues to pursue a story based on a sample size of customer responses that is not representative of what is happening in our stores across the country," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan told MSN Money. . . '

' . . . Wal-Mart routinely performs poorly in independent measures of customer service such as the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The Bentonville, Ark., company scored 71 in the latest ASCI survey, the lowest of any department and retail store. Rival Target (TGT +0.25%) earned an 81 rating. . . '

I have included these two references in our article. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 18:37, 4 September 2013 (UTC)

store staffing doesn't take into account Friday vs. Saturday?

A Walmart Worker Explains Why Walmart's Customer Service Is Horrible, Gawker, Hamilton Nolan, Feb. 11, 2014:

" . . I have worked at Wal-Mart for five years, two years as an associate, and the last three as a department manager over hardware and sporting goods, respectively. . "

" . . home office gives store managers a set amount of hours and payroll dollars that they can schedule people/pay people in each area of the store, and it is based on what the sales were in that department on that day the previous fiscal year. So even though last year was a Friday, it was snowing out, and no one was shopping, this year, on a Saturday, when its sunny out and everyone is shopping, you won't have anyone around to help you because LAST YEAR we didn't make enough money! . "

I just have a hard time believing this. I'm sorry. You mean Walmart really doesn't take into account whether it's a Friday with medium customers vs. a Saturday with a lot of customers ? ? So, this person is a department manager. His or her job is to lead the hardware or sporting goods team and keep the assigned area stocked and keeping putting it back together after customers tear it up, to be frank about it. Just as a guess, I think Walmart probably does have more cashiers on a Saturday. But as far as the merchandise areas? Okay, a customer is shopping and wants to know where something is. The employee is not thrilled about taking time to help because the employee up to and including the department manager knows that he or she is just going to be later criticized for not getting more work done. Point well taken. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 00:30, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Union members becoming loyal Walmart customers? Pressuring Walmart to become a union?

Latest comment: 9 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

I read this article about how this union group doesn't boycott Walmart, instead they become fiercely loyal customers, and every time they visit Walmart, they leave one piece of union literature on a counter or shelf, talk to employees about unions or give them literature, etc. It is difficult for Walmart to stop because these people are loyal paying customers.

Does anyone else recall reading an article about this? I found the several articles mentioning it two weeks ago, but I can't seem to find it. Thewhitebox (talk) 14:42, 29 November 2014 (UTC)

Latest comment: 8 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

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Undue weight

Latest comment: 8 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

I feel this article violates two things:

  1. WP:UNDUE given that this article and the Walmart article are the same size (9500 words)
  2. Uses a deprecated terminology per WP:MOS (Controversy and criticism)

Cheers! {{u|Checkingfax}} {Talk} 05:06, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Tax avoidance

Latest comment: 8 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

Here is a new report on tax avoidance by Walmart: The Walmart Web: How the World’s Biggest Corporation Secretly Uses Tax Havens to Dodge Taxes. Key findings of the report: [4]. Bloomberg coverage: [5] --Neudabei (talk) 06:12, 18 June 2015 (UTC)

reflist-talk — Preceding unsigned comment added by Checkingfax (talk • contribs) 07:14, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Latest comment: 8 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

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Changing Wal-Mart to Walmart

Latest comment: 8 years ago3 comments2 people in discussion

Hello, Wikipedians! While working on the Walmart Talk page, editors brought to my attention issues with this article, mainly that they consider the content to be WP:UNDUE. Checkingfax also noted the length of this article, which is about the same size as the main Walmart entry. To help update this page and improve its neutral point of view, I will make suggestions on this Talk page and ask other editors to review. If you've followed the Walmart and Doug McMillon entries, you know that I am one of Walmart's representatives on Wikipedia and I will ask for help here but not make edits myself.

To start things off, let's discuss the name used throughout the article. The company does business as Walmart, and the main article on Wikipedia is named Walmart. For consistency among Wikipedia articles, can any editors go through the article and change outdated uses of Wal-Mart to Walmart? The exception to this is that the former spelling may need to be kept in cases where "Wal-Mart" is used in composition titles or names of legal cases.

Done.

I'm happy to discuss further or answer any questions. Thanks, JLD at Walmart (talk) 13:18, 15 June 2016 (UTC)

Hi, JLD at Walmart. All body text instances of Wal-Mart have been migrated to Walmart. Cheers! {{u|Checkingfax}} {Talk} 05:56, 17 June 2016 (UTC)
@Checkingfax: Thanks for making the switch. I will post future edit requests as new sections on this Talk page, so I have closed out this request. I will be sure to ping you when I post new requests. Thanks, JLD at Walmart (talk) 19:41, 20 June 2016 (UTC)

Recent edit to Wages

Latest comment: 8 years ago4 comments2 people in discussion

Hello, Wikipedians! I want to bring to editors' attention this edit by an IP editor. There are a few issues I would like to address. First, I recommend writing out the date so the article handles dates consistently throughout. Secondly, some of the store numbers are incorrect. The article says the striking employees were from store 5782 in Nanchang, Jiangxi, store 2039 in Nanchang, store 0209 in Chengdu, Sichuan and store 3422 in Harbin, Heilongjiang. The Nanchang store is No. 5827; Chengdu is No. 209. I do not have an independent third-party source for the correct store numbers, but this information also seems more detailed than necessary, so I would ask that they be deleted. I also ask whether the China Labour Bulletin source can be removed? Other more well-known and reliable sources, such as Reuters and the Financial Times, are more accurate on this issue, and they also tend to approach it from neutral ground when compared to the China Labour Bulletin, which appears to have a specific point of view. Thirdly, as sources have included Walmart's response but that is not currently included here, I'd like to suggest that be added. Lastly, the workers returned to work, so that should be added to give the full view of the current situation.

Below is a suggestion for how we can revise this paragraph, followed by the markup.

  • Some workers in China went on unofficial strike at Walmart stores in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, in early July 2016 after a new work-hours scheduling system took effect.[1] The striking workers protested the system, which allowed managers to schedule an unlimited number of hours per day totalling up to 174 hours per month without overtime pay.[2] According to Walmart, associates could opt in to the new flexible work schedule or keep their original shifts, and the new scheduling, which most associates supported, allowed employees to work more shifts if they choose.[1][2][3] Reuters reported that by July 8, 2016, the striking workers returned to work.[4]
Extended content

Some workers in [[China]] went on unofficial strike at Walmart stores in [[Nanchang]], [[Jiangxi Province]], [[Chengdu]], [[Sichuan Province]], and [[Harbin]], [[Heilongjiang Province]], in early July 2016 after a new work-hours scheduling system took effect.<ref name="ReutersJuly72016">{{cite news |title=Wal-Mart says most China employees support new scheduling system |url=http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wal-mart-says-most-china-employees-support-scheduling-182951648--finance.html |agency=[[Reuters]] |date=July 7, 2016 |accessdate=July 12, 2016}}</ref> The striking workers protested the system, which allowed managers to schedule an unlimited number of hours per day totalling up to 174 hours per month without overtime pay.<ref name="YuanYang16">{{cite news |title=Walmart workers launch wildcat strikes across China |last1=Yang |first1=Yuan |url=https://next.ft.com/content/d1dd7376-4408-11e6-9b66-0712b3873ae1 |newspaper=[[Financial Times]] |date=July 7, 2016 |accessdate=July 12, 2016}}</ref> According to Walmart, associates could opt in to the new flexible work schedule or keep their original shifts, and the new scheduling, which most associates supported, allowed employees to work more shifts if they choose.<ref name="ReutersJuly72016"/><ref name="YuanYang16"/><ref name="Bose16">{{cite news |title=Exclusive: U.S. and Chinese labor groups collaborated before China Wal-Mart strikes |last1=Bose |first1=Nandita |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-china-idUSKCN0ZY0SV |agency=[[Reuters]] |date=July 18, 2016 |accessdate=July 18, 2016}}</ref> ''[[Reuters]]'' reported that by July 8, 2016, the striking workers returned to work.<ref name="ReutersJuly82016">{{cite news |title=Striking Wal-Mart workers in China return to work - for now |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-china-idUSKCN0ZN26C |agency=[[Reuters]] |date=July 8, 2016 |accessdate=July 12, 2016}}</ref>

These are my ideas and I would love to hear from others. Because of my financial conflict of interest I will not make changes to the article myself. Is there anyone who could review and incorporate the changes? I'm happy to answer any questions. Thanks, JLD at Walmart (talk) 15:30, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

  1. ^ a b "Wal-Mart says most China employees support new scheduling system". Reuters. July 7, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Yang, Yuan (July 7, 2016). "Walmart workers launch wildcat strikes across China". Financial Times. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  3. ^ Bose, Nandita (July 18, 2016). "Exclusive: U.S. and Chinese labor groups collaborated before China Wal-Mart strikes". Reuters. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  4. ^ "Striking Wal-Mart workers in China return to work - for now". Reuters. July 8, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
Hello, Wikipedians! I'm dropping another note here to see if any editors are willing to take a look at this request. I'm also pinging Checkingfax, who has provided guidance on previous Walmart-related edit requests. Thanks, JLD at Walmart (talk) 21:27, 2 August 2016 (UTC)
Hi, I've incorporated the bulk of your suggestions into the article. -- HighKing++ 13:19, 3 August 2016 (UTC)
Hello HighKing and MorbidEntree. Thanks for cleaning up that paragraph! It looks much better now. Thanks, JLD at Walmart (talk) 20:35, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 24 August 2016

Latest comment: 8 years ago6 comments6 people in discussion
The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Not moved, WP:SNOW (non-admin closure) — Andy W. (talk · ctb) 15:17, 25 August 2016 (UTC)

Criticism of Walmart → Controversy around Walmart – I think that we should rename this article to not have such a negative name. I propose that we rename it to "Controversy around Walmart" or something similar. MorbidEntree - (Talk to me! (っ◕‿◕)っ♥)(please reply using {{ping}}) 02:55, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.
Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

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Unsourced material

Latest comment: 7 years ago15 comments2 people in discussion

Hello, Wikipedians! Following up on a conversation on the Walmart Talk page and the above request, I'm back with another request to improve this article overall. I went through the article and noted unsourced claims. In some instances, I was able to find citations we can add for verification. Where I could not find good references from reliable, independent, third-party sources, I request the content be removed. If not specifically mentioned below, I am only asking for unsourced information to be removed if I was unable to find a reliable source. As I've stated on my other edit requests, I am one of Walmart's representatives on Wikipedia and I will ask for help here but not make edits myself.

Local communities

  • At the end of the fourth paragraph, I propose deleting the following two sentences. In addition to both sentences being unsourced, the second sentence about Walmart's market position in Pittsburgh is not relevant to the criticism.
    • For some time, PA 65 remained restricted to one lane northbound near the former Dixmont site for safety concerns, though the entire roadway had been cleared of debris. Despite this, Walmart is the largest retail chain in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and is the second-largest grocery store to locally based Giant Eagle.
  Done Kendall-K1 (talk) 13:48, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Allegations of predatory pricing and supplier issues

  • At the end of the second paragraph, the following is unsourced:
    • Both cases were settled out of court.
      • I found this news story about Wisconsin case: <ref name="Mitchell 01">{{cite web |url=https://ilsr.org/walmart-settles-predatory-pricing-charge/ |title=Wal-Mart Settles Predatory Pricing Charge |author=Stacy Mitchell |date=October 1, 2001 |work= |publisher=Institute for Local Self-Reliance |accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>
    • I did not see sources on the outcome of the Crest Foods' case, so I recommend we add {{citation needed}} or delete any mention to the Crest Foods lawsuit outcome until it is properly cited.
  Done Kendall-K1 (talk) 13:54, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
  • At the end of the third paragraph, the following is unsourced:
    • Walmart has since sold its stores in Germany.[citation needed]
      • Here is a source we can add: <ref name="AP 06">{{cite news |title=Wal-Mart selling its 85 stores in Germany |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/14073098/ns/business-world_business/t/wal-mart-selling-its-stores-germany/#.V2wz5JMrLVp |agency=[[The Associated Press]] |date=July 28, 2006 |accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>
  Done Kendall-K1 (talk) 13:54, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
  • For the final paragraph of this section, replace In the 2010s, a proposal to build the Midtown Walmart supercenter faced public outcry, litigation, and local business opposition with:
    • In the 2010s, a proposal to build a Walmart supercenter in Midtown Miami was met with litigation and opposition from local businesses, delaying construction of the project. A Florida Third District Court of Appeal panel of judges denied the opposition's challenge of the city's approvals and Walmart broke ground on the development in January 2016.[1]
  Done with link to Midtown Walmart, and moved to appropriate section. Kendall-K1 (talk) 02:42, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Employee and labor relations

  • The introduction paragraph to this section is rather messy, and does not fully summarize the some 5,000 words that follow. The first three sentences have no sourcing and contain what I believe to be WP:WEASEL and biased wording. Also, with the way the section is currently written, editors have linked Walmart's turnover rate to its impact on unemployment rates. Being that Walmart's effect on unemployment rates is not a direct response to any of the criticism presented in this paragraph, I do not think it belongs here. I recommend we remove this introduction, as it does not add anything of specific value to this article.

Wages

  • The first two sentences are unsourced, and the citation at the end of the third sentence is a dead link. Unless this Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy report can be properly cited, this should be removed from the article.
  • Please add the following citation to this sentence: Walmart managers are judged, in part, based on their ability to control payroll costs.
    • <ref name="Computerworld 03">{{cite news |title=Well-paid professionals draw unwelcome attention |last1=Tejada |first1=Carlos |last2=McWilliams |first2=Gary |url=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/938287/posts |magazine=[[Computerworld]] |date=June 30, 2003 |accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>
  • The first sentence of the fifth paragraph is tagged Citation needed. We can add the following citation:
    • <ref name="O'Connor 14">{{cite news |title=Report: Walmart Workers Cost Taxpayers $6.2 Billion In Public Assistance |last1=O'Connor |first1=Clair |url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/04/15/report-walmart-workers-cost-taxpayers-6-2-billion-in-public-assistance/#1a52ebdf7cd8 |magazine=[[Forbes (magazine)]] |date=April 15, 2014 |accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>

Working conditions

  • I propose rewriting the second paragraph. The current one is biased, poorly written, unsourced and only tells a portion of the story. My suggestion:
    • A lawsuit on behalf of 1.5 million women workers at Walmart was filed against the company. The suit alleged that the company followed rules and practices that discriminated against women when it comes to pay and overtime.[2] In Wal-Mart v. Dukes, Dr. William Bliebly evaluated Walmart’s employment policies "against what social science research shows to be factors that create and sustain bias and those that minimize bias" and claimed there was gender bias.[2] U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia rejected Bliebly's testimony, saying it was "worlds away" from proof.[2] The Supreme Court threw out the lawsuit in a 5-4 vote, ruling that the plaintiffs did not meet the rules to proceed as a class.[2]
  • The very last paragraph of this subsection is tagged citation needed. We can add the following as a reference:
    • <ref name="CNNMoney 05">{{cite news |title=Police: Wal-Mart site raided |url=http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/18/news/fortune500/walmart_raid/?cnn=yes |newspaper=[[CNNMoney]] |date=November 18, 2005 |accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>

Allegations of wrongful termination

  • The third paragraph is tagged citation needed. We can add the following citation:
    • <ref name="Greenhouse 13">{{cite news |title=Even if it enrages your boss, social net speech is protected |last1=Greenhouse |first1=Steven |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/technology/employers-social-media-policies-come-under-regulatory-scrutiny.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 21, 2013 |accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>

Health insurance

  • At the end of the third paragraph, the following sentence is unsourced and is speculative, therefore I ask that it be removed: Critics point to this internal memo as evidence that Walmart purports to be generous with its employee benefits, while in reality the company is working to cut such benefits by reducing the number of full-time and long-term employees and discouraging supposedly unhealthy people from working at Walmart.
  • At the end of the fourth paragraph, the following sentence is unsourced, so I ask that it be removed: {tq|Similar legislation in Wisconsin days later was defeated in the state legislature.}}
  • The one-sentence seventh paragraph is unsourced, so I ask that it be removed: New, full-time Walmart associates must work at least six months before being eligible to purchase the company's primary health insurance.

Labor union opposition

  • At the end of the seventh paragraph, the following sentence is unsourced, so I ask that it be removed: Many of the states where the UFCW plans to go on strike with the Walmart employees have at-will employment laws protecting the company.
  Not done Added "cn" tag. Kendall-K1 (talk) 16:02, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Poorly run and understaffed stores

  • The first five sentences of this section are tagged citation needed. This information is found using the citation for the report "Why 'Good Jobs' Are Good for Retailers" by Zeynep Ton that appears at the end of the paragraph. The problem, however, is with how this article presents the report, especially in the first four sentences of this section. The report appears to be talking about the retailers in general, not Walmart specifically. Therefore, I argue that editors have included WP:POV by attaching Walmart's name to each of the points.
The first few sentences do seem to be supported by the HBR source, and I would remove the "cn" tags. The source does say "many retailers" and "several large chains, including Walmart" (this is at the beginning of "Why Do Retailers Underinvest in Labor?"). Maybe some re-wording is in order. I would remove the second source, gawker.com, because this is an anonymous letter from someone claiming to work at Walmart. Kendall-K1 (talk) 15:52, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Imports and globalization

  • The following sentence at the end of the first paragraph is unsourced, so I suggest we remove it: Critics say that this pressures vendors to shift manufacturing jobs to China and other nations, where the cost of labor is less expensive.
  Not done I tagged this "cn". Kendall-K1 (talk) 02:02, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Overseas concerns

  • The following sentence in the first paragraph is unsourced, so I suggest we remove it: There have also been reports of teenagers in Bangladesh working in sweatshops 80 hours per week at $0.14 per hour, for Walmart supplier Beximco.
The source for this seems to be the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights (formerly National Labor Committee). The report is at [6]. I have not read it to see if it supports the statement. Kendall-K1 (talk) 15:44, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
  • The entire following paragraph is unsourced, so I suggest we remove it: Walmart points out that wages paid to overseas workers are comparable to or exceed local prevailing wages.[citation needed]The company says that the overseas manufacturing jobs it creates are often an improvement in the quality of life for its employees.[citation needed] They have also drawn attention to the fact that factory jobs with its suppliers are often safer and healthier than local alternatives,[citation needed] which may include prostitution, the drug trade, or scavenging.
  Done Kendall-K1 (talk) 15:46, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Building collapse at Savar

  • The following paragraph at the end of this subsection is unsourced: After the 2013 Savar building collapse, Walmart became a founding member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety..
    • Here is a citation we can add: <ref name="Rupp 13">{{cite news |title=Wal-Mart to Gap Group Starts $42 Million Bangladesh Fund |last1=Rupp |first1=Lindsey |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-07-10/wal-mart-to-gap-group-starts-42-million-bangladesh-fund |newspaper=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=July 10, 2013 |accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>
  Done Kendall-K1 (talk) 14:01, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Product selection

  • The paragraph on Walmart's ban on sales of explicit music albums is overly long. There are many albums that would fall under this category, so it seems meaningless to arbitrarily select albums to highlight here. I suggest we delete everything except the first sentence, which is sourced, and highlights the main point: That Walmart does not sell albums with the Parental Advisory Label.
This paragraph is unclear to me. It seems to be saying that the given examples (Nelson, Manson, etc) have been withheld not because of the Parental Advisory Label, but for other reasons. If that's the case, it should say so; if not, the examples should be removed. Kendall-K1 (talk) 14:08, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
  • The following sentence at the end of the fourth paragraph is unsourced. We can add this citation: <ref name="Ballon 04">{{cite news |title=Wal-Mart stops selling hate |last1=Ballon |first1=Marc |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/up_front/article/walmart_stops_selling_hate_20040924 |newspaper=[[Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles]] |date=September 23, 2004 |accessdate=June 23, 2016}}</ref>
  Done Kendall-K1 (talk) 14:10, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

While I'm sure there are more instances of unsourced material in this article, this seems like a good start. I'm happy to discuss further or answer any questions. Thanks, JLD at Walmart (talk) 20:32, 12 August 2016 (UTC)

References

  1. ^ Smiley, David (January 8, 2016). "Walmart breaks ground in Midtown, appeals court dismisses challenge". Miami Herald. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Liptak, Adam (June 20, 2011). "Justices rule for Wal-Mart in class-action bias case". The New York Times. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
Hello Kendall-K1. Thank you for all the attention you have given this edit request. After reviewing my request and your edits to see where it stands, it looks like one section could use some help: the Employee and labor relations section. Would you also be able to give that a peek? I think the requests are to-the-point. Thank you again. I'm happy to discuss further or answer any questions. Thanks, JLD at Walmart (talk) 21:27, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

I closed this edit request as the bulk of it has been completed. For a few of the remaining items, I will post a note below so it is a little easier for editors to follow what still could use attention. Thanks to Kendall-K1 for helping with this. JLD at Walmart (talk) 18:13, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

Human Rights Watch report

Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

I'm surprised we're not using this Human Rights Watch report as a source: Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart's Violation of US Workers' Right to Freedom of Association at Google Books. Kendall-K1 (talk) 14:38, 1 December 2016 (UTC)

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