PAWS Campaign:

Pullman Against Wal-Mart Supercenter

Wal-Mart threatens to open store in Pullman

Wal-Mart is planning to build a "Supercenter" mall in the city of Pullman. The proposed Bishop Blvd. store location will be a gigantic 223,000 square feet and have a parking lot for 1039 cars. PARD has found massive evidence that the proposed store would be a threat to the local environment, local businesses, local workers, the Bishop Place retirement/assisted living community, Pullman Regional Hospital, and the city cemetery. This raises vital concerns about public safety, health, financial stability and community values.

To compound this issue, the city to date has refused to call a public meeting on the matter, and in spite of numerous requests to the city administration, has not referred review of Wal-Mart's site plan (and consideration of its "fiscal impact on the city") to the elected City Council, as allowed under city law (see the "PARD Legal Memo" in the red column on the right).

This means that as it stands now, no official elected by Pullman voters has had or will have a vote in the decision to approve or reject Wal-Mart's proposal. The most important decision facing Pullman in years is to be decided without a vote by our City Council representatives.

PARD is a diverse group with a variety of reasons for seeing Wal-Mart as a potential threat, rather than an asset, to the the Palouse community. But we agree that the proposed super store is a major danger to our community.

We understand the attraction of Wal-Mart's claim to "always low prices" to those of us with limited incomes. But in fact those artificially low prices have come out of the hide of all American workers. The so-called "Wal-Mart economy" has lowered the wages of not only their own employees but of working folks across America, while sending thousands of jobs overseas. Wal-Mart's major "big box" competitors manage to have decent prices and decent wages and benefits at the same time. We believe the more honest way for Wal-Mart to do business is to pay livable wages, and to set a standard that will help assure all hard-working Americans a decent income. That would be a real bargain.

Based on careful research, drawing from more than two-dozen sources in business, economics, and sociology, PARD has prepared a detailed report on the proposed Supercenter mall's likely impact (see "PARD Position Paper" in the red column on the right). We urge all local citizens to read this report.

Here is a brief list of some key concerns presented in more detail in the report:

Traffic, Health and Safety

1. Congested traffic from Wal-Mart along Bishop Blvd. will slow emergency access to Pullman Regional Hospital, putting citizens in danger.

2. Traffic at several key intersections will fall to “unacceptable levels,” according to the city's own review, and will therefore cause diversion of cars into neighborhoods near Franklin Elementary, Lincoln Middle school and Bishop Place.

3. Significant noise, air and light pollution will occur, with negative effects especially on Bishop Place elders, asthmatics and children in the area, as well as threatening property values of nearby Pioneer and Sunnyside Hill homes.

4. The 1,039 space parking lot, open all night, will become a crime magnet and a student party zone, as it has in many other small communities, driving up local policing costs.

Impact on Local Businesses; Wal-Mart Business & Labor Practices

5. Many local businesses will lose revenue due to monopolistic practices by Wal-Mart, Inc.; the proposed Supercenter is actually a single-owner mall in disguise, with every manner of retail item, groceries, restaurants, a tire center and gas station, a pharmacy, a hair salon, a play center and more.

6. Based on national patterns, local businesses are likely to lose between 47% and 63% of their sales to Wal-Mart, while receiving little if any “spillover” of business from those attracted to the new Wal-Mart. (The report rates specific Pullman businesses from very high risk to relatively low risk of negative financial impact.)

7. Loss of local business will mean an overall loss of local jobs within three years, despite the addition of new Wal-Mart workers.

8. Wal-Mart’s failure to provide its 400 employees with a living wage and affordable health care will transfer a projected $800,000 a year in social service costs to taxpayers, while driving down local wages in order for small businesses to compete with the retail giant

9. Tax revenue from the proposed center will be far, far lower than claimed due to hidden costs in city infrastructure, lost jobs and businesses, and social service costs for a workforce paid on average $2000 below poverty level.

10. Wal-Mart’s unethical and often illegal business and labor practices, including outsourcing 70% of its production to overseas sweatshops, discrimination against women, the disabled, and employees of color, violation of US child labor laws, and much more (see below "WM's Business and Labor Practices"), are inconsistent with Pullman community values.

The PAWS Campaign gets started

In addition, the Supercenter issue is not an isolated "Pullman problem." It represents a serious impact on Moscow, Colfax and other local cities as well. Moscow, a short eight miles away, currently has a Wal-Mart which is sure to close shortly after the Wal-Mart Superstore is opened, thus increasing the already significant unemployment in Latah County.

To fight this issue we are taking several steps which you would be a great help with. Please consult the suggestions in "Get Involved." In addition, please consider making a donation, which will be used to hire professional legal help and provide support for advertising, petition drives, and various task forces seeking open, democratic discussion and review of Wal-Mart's site plan proposal by the City of Pullman.

All donations are confidential but not tax deductible. Checks should be made out to Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development (or PARD) and mailed to:

Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development
P.O. Box 641
Pullman, WA 99163

A visual guide to the monstrous proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter

Image courtesy of www.newrules.org

The Image to the left demonstrates just how large the new Wal-Mart would be compared to other stores. The dark blue represents a typical Wal-Mart Supercenter, the aqua represents a typical Home Depot. More astounding is the football field (represented by black), which is absolutely dwarfed by the Wal-Mart.

A Quick Look at Wal-Mart’s Business and Labor Practices:

Wal-Mart is currently engaged in a multi-million dollar ad campaign to clean up its much-tarnished image. But cosmetic changes can't cover up the facts about its past and current practices.

• Wal-Mart typically destroys three (better paying) jobs for every two it creates in a community
• Studies show that Wal-Mart’s monopolistic "one-stop" business practices drive out local businesses wherever it has moved in rural America; in the state of Iowa alone, over 400 businesses have closed as a result of Wal-Mart's predatory pricing practices
• Wal-Mart indifference to local needs is clear in its choice to locate its Pullman store right next to our new hospital; traffic around the hospital entrance will be dangerously increased
• Wal-Mart’s own internal audit acknowledges breaking child labor laws in the US, and the company routinely does so outside the US
• Wal-Mart discriminates against women and is facing the largest class action suit in history filed on behalf of its female employees; similar laws suits have been filed by disabled employees and employees of color
• Wal-Mart frequently requires its employees to labor “off the clock” without pay; one major law suit on this issue comes from here in Washington
• While hypocritically urging consumers to “buy American,” the majority of Wal-Mart’s products are made overseas, often by sweatshop labor
• Wal-Mart engages in predatory and selective low-pricing, giving the false impression that all its prices are lower
• Wal-Mart’s cutthroat labor practices rebounds on other businesses depressing wages for all workers in U.S. towns and cities where it locates
• Wal-Mart often destroys acres of environmentally sensitive lands to build new Wal-Marts close to existing Wal-Marts that will be closed (don’t believe Wal-Mart claims the Moscow store will remain open)
• Wal-Mart has taken an extreme anti-union stance, and has frequently been cited and fined for breaking national labor relations laws
• Because it pays its workers so poorly, and offers poor benefits, a typical Wal-Mart store with 200 employees costs taxpayers $420,750 a year in public assistance (welfare, food stamps, health care, etc.)
• Wal-Mart’s cutthroat business practices have forced other companies to increase the use of sweatshop labor in countries outside the US
• Wal-Mart has been raided and fined for using undocumented janitorial workers in its stores, while supporting anti-immigrant legislation
• Has forced the movement of thousands of manufacturing jobs out of the U.S.
• Calls “full-time” 28 hours per week and thus avoids paying a living wage or offering benefits required for full-time workers
• Wal-Mart median employee income of $12,000 a year is below the federal family poverty level
• Demands millions of dollars in “corporate welfare” tax breaks to locate in communities all over the U.S., while it earns billions of dollars in profits.
• Wal-Mart currently faces over 9,000 lawsuits, including the largest employee class action suit in history