According to a published report in the authoritative Sports Business Daily NASCAR is in negotiations to bring retail giant Wal-Mart into the sport with a wide ranging deal that would have exclusive licensing agreements for its stores and a possible sponsorship of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team.
According to the report, Wal-Mart could become an exclusive retailer of some NASCAR products in addition to becoming a sponsor of a major team such as Hendrick Motorsports.
People who fancy themselves fans of NASCAR only to watch the crashes need to pay close attention, because the joining of Wal-Mart and NASCAR could be the setup for a crash that would make the biggest ‘big one’ at Talladega look tame.
The biggest problem is that Wal-Mart has a history as one of being one of the most criticized operations and employers in America and the world.
Among the biggest criticisms Wal-Mart receives is due to the treatment afforded to its own employees. According to one report, Wal-Mart’s average wage of $11.75/hour translates into annual pay of $20,7744. This is almost 6% below the Federal Poverty Level of $22,050 for a family of four. (The calculation assumes that a full-time Wal-Mart worker works an average of 34 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. The average of 34 hours a week is obtained from an internal Wal-Mart memo.)
Wal-Mart has thousands of employees who qualify for Medicaid and other publicly subsidized care, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. In fact Good Jobs First reports that in 21 of 23 states which have disclosed information, Wal-Mart has the largest number of employees receiving public assistance of any employer.
As for taxes, by its own admission, Wal-Mart likely owes billions in taxes. The company disclosed that they did not pay $2.95 billion in taxes for fiscal year 2009, which they would likely have to pay if audited (Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year ended January 31, 2010. Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 8, pg. 36).
In fact the International NGO Human Rights Watch calls Wal-Mart “a case study of what is wrong with American labor law,” for among other things, its aggressive campaign to prevent union formation that creates a climate of fear at its stores, an arsenal of tactics that violate US law and workers’ internationally protected right to freedom of association; and that even adjusted for its size, Wal-Mart stands out for the number of its US labor law violations.
NASCAR has spent the last decade trying to become a mainstream American sport. Meanwhile during the same time period Wal-Mart has looked overseas for more and more of its products.
Hedrick Smith's Frontline documentary "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" profiles the town of Circleville, Ohio. At one time the local RCA plant was a source of good jobs with good pay and benefits. But in 2003, RCA's owner, Thomson Consumer Electronics, lost a sizeable portion of its production orders and six months later shut the plant down, putting 1,000 people out of work. The reason: Wal-Mart had begun purchasing those same products from China.
In the same documentary it was reported that Five Rivers Electronics an American TV manufacturer sued the Chinese for unfair trade practices. Wal-Mart in turn filed a brief actually opposing Five Rivers action. "Why would Wal-Mart testify to support jobs in China instead of American jobs?" asks Five Rivers President Thomas Hopson.
"Wal-Mart and China are a joint venture" is the answer given to Frontline by Duke professor Gary Gereffi, an expert in retail chains. China uses Wal-Mart to break open the U.S. market; Wal-Mart turns to Chinese factories for goods to sell at "unbeatable" low prices.
Now Wal-Mart wants to come to NASCAR, one of the most American of sports. If they do partner with the sport, once the truth about Wal-Mart comes out NASCAR will end up wondering what happened to all their fans; of course, they could always head to China.
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Comments
Nothing like perpetuating a myth, i.e. the Wal-Mart wages myth.
Funny you don't note their hourly wage is based on a 34 hour work week but the Federal Poverty Level figures are based on a 40 hour week.
Did you know Wal-Mart's average starting wage is above the Fed mandated minimum wage and that the figures you cite fail to include low cost health care plans and other plans that include high-deductible health savings accounts?
Frankly, you've bought into the anti-Wal-Mart hysteria offered by unions and those that have been financially supported by unions.
Let me ask two questions...1) Do people CHOOSE to shop at Wal-Mart? 2) Do people CHOOSE to work at Wal-Mart?
If people didn't choose to shop at Wal-Mart or work at Wal-Mart the elites wouldn't have anything to complain about. Outsourcing of work to China was accomplished by Democrats and Republicans with tax laws.
its the dam unions that hate almart.. look at who shops there, 90% of ppl in usa, including most union ppl., DOWN WITH THE UNIONS..
When you provide the number of jobs & tax revenue that Wal-Mart has, feel free to criticize. For your information, employees work at Wal-Mart out of their own free will. People who shop at Wal-Mart do so of their own free will. That's your, the marxists, and the unions' (dare I repeat myself) problem is that people have exercised their free will...leaving your control freak ego high & dry.
I don't think Wal-Mart should become a sponsor in NA$CAR but not for the reason you state in your union written diatribe. Do you shop at Wal-Mart like 95% of NA$CAR fans or do you only shop at fancy hig priced stores? I suspect you sneak in and shop there without your union buddies knowledge.
I have some major issues with your article:
"Wal-Mart’s average wage of $11.75/hour translates into annual pay of $20,7744. This is almost 6% below the Federal Poverty Level of $22,050 for a family of four. "
- How about these people go out and learn a skill and stop working at Wal-Mart if they are not happy with their wage.
"Wal-Mart has thousands of employees who qualify for Medicaid and other publicly subsidized care, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill."
- How about we stop subsidizing these individuals so they may be forced to do something more with their life than work at Wal-Mart.
By default, if more people are forced to educate themselves and NOT work at Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart would be forced to increase their pay rates to get workers.
really? stop whining.
You are WAY out of line on this one. WalMart is a fine example of good 'ol American capitalism and free enterprise. I think they would be a great fit with the all American sport of NASCAR. Keep touting this pro-union socialistic garbage and you will likely be offered a cabinet post in the current administration.
"Wal-Mart’s average wage of $11.75/hour translates into annual pay of $20,7744. This is almost 6% below the Federal Poverty Level of $22,050 for a family of four. (The calculation assumes that a full-time Wal-Mart worker works an average of 34 hours a week, 52 weeks a year."
It seems to me that a full-time job is generally considered to be 40 hours per week. Since when is it appropriate to think that a family of 4 should be able to be supported on a part time job? Need more money? Get a second job. I have a small business, and work about 80 hours a week. No sympathy for anyone who only works 34 hours a week and doesn't have enough money. Also, for a couple of generations now we have been a two-income-family economy. It is normal for both parents to work to support the family. Yet you criticize wal-mart for not paying a part time employee enough to support a family of 4? Grow up.
The biggest target is always the easiest to hit.
I know of several elderly women who work at my local WalMart - and I'm sure they're not working by choice! They work because they need the money to make ends meet. One lady told me that she was 84 years old. I prefer not to go to WalMart, but I find it a blessing that the company offers the elderly a chance to supplement Social Security.
I go to Beaver Lake near Bentonville Ark. (WM's ancestral home and hdq) to fish regularly. If you think everyone at WalMart is making $11.75, I wonder who is living in the million dollar lake houses, piloting the 100K bass boats, and kicking back in the condo sized houseboats? It isn't the bait shop owner.
Thanks for the comments all!
@marc of Full Throttle: The whole point was that Wal-Mart won't LET people work more then 34 hours!
@JPE: accoording to a report (email me for the link to it) Wal-Mart’s entry into a metropolitan area eliminates similar jobs that pay about 18% more than Walmart and decreases the average earnings of general merchandising workers by 0.5 to 0.8%...so those people who live in a community where a Wal-Mart moves in are often forced to work there by neccassity, not by choice.
@osbornk : I haven't been inside a Wal-Mart in over five years and refuse to shop there.
@Nascar Fan I agree, government should provide a leg up not a way to live for the long term.
@Mike: I'm a died hard anti socialist (I was in the US Army for 23 years )a card carrying Republican and anti-union.
@Dave in Ohio: While there are plenty of two income earners, there are just as many single parents who have no where else to go to feed their kids
Nascar needs to stay out of bed with Walmart. All you have to do is take a look at all the closed, empty "Mom and Pop" retail stores in any community where there is a Walmart to see the impact they have on the local economy. How many tax $, jobs and services did it cost? I'd suspect the cost was much greater than what they are now contributing - plus the enormous amount of our money that is going overseas to their suppliers. Maybe they sell goods for a few pennies less than local merchants - but are we really saving anything in the long run? They are the Flagship of Corporate Greed - haven't we learned anything since Oct of 2008?
Retail businesses tend to hire people who aren't qualified to do anything else. Why is it Wal-Mart's responsibility to overpay it's people for the jobs they perform? If you don't like Wal-Mart, don't shop there and don't work there.
Wow, could this article be anymore anti-walmart. The fact of the matter is, that when a walmart opens up, alot of the people working there may not even have a job if it werent for the store. Who cares if its part-time and who cares about the pay? If you think you can get more for your services somewhere else, then dont work at walmart. There are plenty more people who are willing to take the $11.75/hour.
Free country. WalMart can run their business as they choose, nobody is forced to get a job there.
I know loads of people who work at the local WallyWorld & NO ONE makes anything approaching $9.00 an hour, much less $11.75. Almost all jobs at WallyWorld start at minimum wage and increase by 15 cents an hour per year, if they're lucky. Other posters are correct that their "associates" (slaves) can only work a max of 34 hours so they won't have good benefits or enough wages to even live on. My close friend who is a single parent is trying to raise a daughter on only $800 a month bring home pay. If they weren't living rent-free in a mobile home I have nearby, they would be homeless. So tell me again how WallyWorld helps people by giving them jobs (slave wages)???
Considering the way that NASCAR has treated it's owners, that's car owners, by the way. It's treated the series owners quite well. I would think that NA$CAR, & Wally World would be a perfect fit.
This is exactly what Nascar doesn't want. They are trying to get away from the drunken, toothless trailer trash image but Walmart already buys ad time so its probably too late. Its funny how many many people will say its an evil company but just keep going there.
Please provide sources to your data including who funded the study. And, again, no one forces people to work or shop at Wal-Mart. Any argument to the contrary is specious at best. The only "force" is the government --which forces confiscatory taxes and obamacare at the point of a bayonet.
Chinese products are nothing new to Nascar. Anyone with any knowledge of diecasts, likely the largest revenue generator in Nascar's history, knows they have always been produced in China. It's the same with a large number of shirts, caps etc. Nascar cooked and ate the golden goose when they sold their sole to the TV networks back in 2001. Walmart are who they are...one of the evil self serving corporations that run America. They are no better or worse than any one of the top fortune 500. I say bring back Winston. I mean, seriously, no state or municipality in America REALLY wants people to quit buying cigarettes. They'd go broke in a matter of weeks. You say Democracy, I say hypocrisy. Bring on Wally World! We could have an indoor race in China by 2012. What about the "Great Wall 500"? The bottom line, as well noted in the poor merchandising sales, readily available raceday tickets and low TV ratings, is who cares?
JPE... the study was done by Berkley, like I wrote in my orignal comment, since I can't put links in comments, emal me by using the link in my bio and I'll be more than happy to send you the link...And as for 'forcing' people, I disagree. Wal-Mart has a history of running out other, smaller competitors, once that happens where will people go to shop? In fact according to a 2009 study by the U.S. Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies , the presence of big box stores, such as Wal-Mart, causes “a substantial reduction in net employment growth at smaller retailers, which is mostly accounted for by an increase in job destruction from store exit” meaning Wal-Mart comes in, others are forced out of business.
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