Brave New Films exposes Wal-Mart's unscrupulous business practices through interviews with former employees, small business owners, and footage of Walmart executives.
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(2:22) - How Walmart Destroys Communities - Whether it's a family rum hardware store or a small eye glass store, when Walmart opens in small towns like Middlefield, Ohio long established, independently run stores are hurt. The Hunter family open H&H Hardware in 1962. When a new Walmart was build in town, they were driven out of business.
(15:22) - How Walmart Profits from Poverty (And Sticks Taxpayers With The Bill) - Walmart stores are frequently short staffed, not because they can't find workers but because they want to save on their labor experiences. This comes from the top, the corporate doesn't budget enough money for payroll. Because Walmart doesn't pay fair wages, their employers need to go on public assistance programs.
(25:13) How Walmart Rolls Back Worker's Rights - Walmart is one of the most anti-unoin companies in America. Store managers keep an eye on employees they suspect are either sympathetic to unions or are active union organizers.
(33:56) - Walmart Cheats Workers - It is estimated that they cheated workers out of $150 million dollars. Walmart would teach managers how to digitally change people's time cards as not to pay overtime and reduce store experiences.
(44:35) -Subsidies - The subsidies Walmart gets from city governments takes funding away from public schools. When Walmart opened stored in Denver, they got $1.7 million in city subsidies, if the money had gone to the Denver Public Schools system, they wouldn't had have to shut down three schools. Subsidies also give Walmart an unfair business advantage over small, locally owned stores that offer better pay and benefits for their workers.
(54:46) - Environmental Ruin -In Belmont, North Carolina, a Catawba Riverkeeper noticed that runoff from herbicides and pesticides was flowing into the river and polluting the town's drinking water. It was only after the local news aired a report on the water contamination that a local manager moved those toxic substance to a better storage site. The company's main offices were unresponsive.
(1:00:10) - Imports From China - In China, factory workers can live in dorms owned by Walmart - workers pay rent and utilities. If they move out of the dorms, to live in a place not connected to Walmart, they still have to pay rent for the dorms. Workers work in factories with poor ventilation. They are told to lie to inspectors about how many days they work: six, when they really work seven days a week. All of this to make less than $3 a day.
(1:12:33) - Greed - Lee Scott, the CEO of Walmart made $27,207,799 in 2005 when, the average Walmart hourly sales employee made $13,861 annually. The family who owns Walmart, the Waltons, is one of America's wealthiest family, yet they barely give anything to charity. They are worth $102 billion.
(1:16:10) - No Security - Kidnappings, robberies, and car jackings...80% of crime that occurs at Walmarts in California takes place in the stores' parking lot, yet most of the stores' security officers are posted within the store. As early as 1994, Walmart knew that it had issues with its' parking lot security, but they hid these internal reports. They also knew that adding roving patrols in parking lots greatly reduce crime
(1:25:06) - Taking Control - Walmart is a powerful corporation! However, we can beat them. Two communities, one in Arizona and another in Southern California did just that! They stopped a Walmart from coming into their communities.
ABOUT BRAVE NEW FILMS
Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films are at the forefront of the fight to create a just America. Using new media and internet video campaigns, Brave New Films has created a quick-strike capability that informs the public, challenges corporate media with the truth, and motivates people to take action on social issues nationwide.
Brave New Films’ investigative films have scrutinized the impact of U.S. drone strikes; the war on whistleblowers; and Wal Mart’s corporate practices. The company’s films have received more than 56 million views online.
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