For the world’s largest corporation, the smallest business
decision or the slightest change in economic policy can potentially
impact the lives of thousands of people around the world.
The social and economic influences of the world’s largest
retailer, Wal-Mart, will be analyzed June 4 at a conference hosted
by the UCLA Labor Center, which will examine its effects on
communities from Inglewood to China.
The Wal-Mart Conference, organized along with the department of
urban planning, the Community Scholars Program and the Institute
for Industrial Relations at UCLA, will address questions of whether
the Wal-Mart model of low costs, low wages and low benefits affects
the American and global economies positively ““ all through a
series of debates, workshops and panel discussions.
The conference also involves research conducted by UCLA students
studying the economic impacts of the spread of this model, a
phenomenon known as “Wal-Martization.”
“The whole issue of Wal-Mart is both a profound and
obvious example of an issue we all have to deal with, which
involves the larger question of what’s going on with economic
development,” said Professor Goetz Wolff, who helped organize
the conference.
Wolff also teaches the course that has had students studying the
financial nuances of Wal-Mart all year.
“The class focuses on economic development, and how we
respond to the challenges posed by the largest corporation in the
world ““ one that relies on a model of low-wage workers that
undermines the American economy,” Wolff said.
His class draws students not only from the graduate department
of urban planning, but also from the Community Scholars Program and
labor unions.
“It was the students who even took the lead in setting up
the whole conference,” Wolff said. The research conducted by
these students on the model will be the centerpiece of the June 4
conference, he added.
The Wal-Mart model is one which, in 2001, paid retail workers
$8.23 an hour and an annual wage of $13,861, according to a report
that appeared in the magazine Business Week in October 2003. The
report also stated that the federal poverty line in 2001 for a
family of three was established at $14,630.
Wal-Mart officials have contended that their model is simply one
of the most efficient methods of manufacturing, which explains not
only its widespread prevalence, but also the rapidity of its
spread.
It has also been argued that despite the low wages and low
benefits, Wal-Mart has opened up new job markets in rural America
and many other parts of the world, like China.
The issue of low wages has led to labor disputes in various
local communities, which prompted the involvement of the UCLA Labor
Center, said Christina Lopez, a program representative at the
center.
“We realized that there was a need to address this issue
given the different conflicts that have developed and their local
impact in communities like Inglewood and Rosemead,” Lopez
said.
The conference will not only focus on the local effects of this
model, but will examine its impact on the lives of women, the
environment and the global economy, Lopez said.
“We have a speaker coming all the way from China from a
working women’s network, and also two speakers from Mexico,
where recently there was a big site dispute with Wal-Mart at
Teotihucán,” Lopez said.
She believes the importance of the Wal-Mart debate extends
beyond the conference, and following the success of Wolff’s
courses, merits more involvement from the UCLA community.
“UCLA is indeed beginning to get more exposed to issues
like workers’ rights and strikes, and a lot of people in
Inglewood and Rosemead are doing a lot of good work in this
regard,” Lopez said. “I think that UCLA students will
get a lot out of involving themselves in this debate.”
But what is missing from next Saturday’s conference is any
real representation from Wal-Mart’s side, event organizers
said, which would have led to a better understanding of their
perspective and the whole problem itself.
“We did contact Wal-Mart,” Lopez said, “but
they haven’t yet responded.”