IS WAL MART’S URBAN STRATEGY BACKFIRING…?
Because it has saturated rural America, Wal Mart has been forced in recent years to concentrate its growth in more and more urban areas. The higher density of people means more customers, but it also means more problems: like people demanding a living wage.
From the Associated Press:
Opponents of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s expansion into inner cities are scoring early success with a new tactic, enlisting support for a proposed local ordinance requiring giant retailers to significantly raise the minimum wage and help pay for health benefits.
Advocates of the so-called living wage or big-box ordinance, which advanced to a vote by the Chicago City Council next week after being passed by its finance committee Wednesday, say its approval would set the stage for similar actions in other U.S. cities.
“These proposals are really about whether it’s reasonable to ask some of the largest and most successful companies in the country to balance growth and profits with paying a living wage,” said Paul Sonn, deputy director of the poverty program at the New York-based Brennan Center for Justice, who helped draft the ordinance.
Organizing opposition has always demanded a certain critical mass of people to be effective. By moving into areas where that potential mass is easier to create, the Bentonvile Behemoth has invited its detractors to step up and be heard.
The people, united, can never be defeated.