Catholic New Times: World's largest corporation establishes outpost in Mennonite country

The Mennonite farming town I grew up in is "open for business," and growing beyond recognition.

Wal-Mart, "the world's largest corporation" will be the next one welcomed into the fold. After centuries of dodging the advances of the "world," the Mennonites of Winkler are now opening the door to one of the most aggressive peddlers of the culture of our age. An official announcement regarding the $15 to 20 million dollar facility is expected any day.

For hundreds of years, we Mennonites have moved to other countries and continents when "worldly" aspects of society encroached on our way of life. Mainstream powers and culture have been held suspect. But now we are paving the way (literally) for a cultural powe-broker to establish an outpost in our midst.

I wanted to know how my fellow Mennonites, who make up the majority of this community of 8,000-people in southern Manitoba feel about the arrival of one of the most influential worldly players.

Winkler pastor Kelvin Dyck says he generally steers clear of the "glut of things" encountered inside the windowless world of big-box stores.

"There is so much that I don't need and shouldn't want."

Dyck added, "Wal-Mart is symptomatic of the way values are assessed in our communities, with priority granted to efficiency and low cost items over creativity and local products."

But the arrival of the U.S.-based cultural Goliath is not an issue in his church, and that seems to be the case across town. City Councillor, and local church member Dave Penner said that very few people have raised concerns with council.

It is not that Winklerites are afraid to stand up to "worldly" trends. Penner pointed out that in 1998, the community voted by a 78 per cent majority to get rid of provincially regulated video gambling machines in town, and thus to forgo the revenue that would have been allotted to town coffers. It was a decisive choice of ethics over economics. But Wal-Mart is not subjected to the same sort of ethical scrutiny; or if it is, it seems to pass the test.

Elsewhere, Wal-Mart's reputation on labour and sweatshop issues draws church criticism. For almost a decade, Wal-Mart has tried to locate next to a Jesuit farm and retreat center on the outskirts of Guelph, Ontario (see "Praying in the Corporate Shadow").

Jim Profit, S.J. is Director of the Centre and has worked hard to buck the Wal-Mart trend. He believes "We have to care about why (Wal-Mart products) are cheap."

Cultural shadow

At an April conference on Wal-Mart at the University of California, event organizer and history professor Nelson Lichtenstein said that Wal-Mart is a "template" for our era. Its numbers are indicative of its influence. Its US $256 billion revenue last year is almost three times more than all goods and services produced in Bangladesh and Nigeria combined (population 260 million). It creates a ripple effect around its 4600-plus stores and 6000 suppliers internationally, influencing laws, and zoning and market norms.

It is already the biggest retailer in Mexico and Second largest in Canada (231 stores with 20 more slated for this year). Much more than just another store or company, Lichtenstein says Wal-Mart casts an "enormous social, economic, and cultural shadow."

While a lot of shoppers welcome that shadow, others see it as a dark, foreboding cloud. Whether it's Jesuit priests, major U.S. newspaper reports (New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Wall Street Journal), or a host of web sites, the evidence of Wal-Mart's almost routine labour abuses within their stores, and patterns of exploiting sweatshop labour are impossible to ignore.

Wal-Mart Canada spokesman Kevin Groh is dismissive of those who see sweatshop demons behind every rack. He says the "select critics" are "unions or union-supported groups." His openly antagonistic posture toward organized workers does little to reassure one that respect for workers is a high priority in Wal-Mart's ceaseless search for the cheapest supply factories abroad. Groh says the company has some of the strictest anti-sweatshop measures in the industry, and spends $40 million a year on monitoring.

As for labour practices here, Groh notes that there is not a single minimum wage Wal-Mart employee in Canada. According to Groh, most employees at the Winkler store will start at "slightly above" minimum wage.

There is also not a single unionized Wal-Mart employee in Canada (though unionization is pending in Thompson, Man., Weyburn, Sask., and Terrace, B.C.). In fact, Wal-Mart wrote the book on union-busting. The overtly anti-union manual handed out to management includes detailed instruction on sniffing out and stamping out organizing activity.

The road to the corporate top

According to a February 2004 report by the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the U.S. House of Representatives, "Wal-Mart's success has meant downward pressures on wages and benefits, rampant violations of basic workers' rights, and threats to the standard of living in communities across the country."

The litany of offenses cited in the report includes working employees "off the clock" (unpaid labour), exploiting undocumented workers, gender discrimination, "extensive violations of child-labour laws," "illegally firing workers who attempt to organize a union, unlawful surveillance, threats, and intimidation of employees."

In the win-lose business world, the company has developed a reputation for ruthless efficiency, compulsive cost-cutting and relentless scouring of the globe for the cheapest suppliers. All this is good news for shareholders and for the 20 million people who shop at Wal-Mart daily. But it is not cause for a vote in Winkler.

Vote or not, Dave Penner has doubts about Wal-Mart. When asked whether more box stores in Winkler would constitute progress, he said, "I don't think so; at least not by his definition of progress". He agrees with Jim Profit that we have to care about why prices are low. But Penner is not convinced that keeping Wal-Mart out of Winkler would address his concerns. "If you say, "no" to Wal-Mart, "Penner reasons, "who else do you reject? And if one town says "no," the next one will say "yes" and then it will capitalize on the development."

Professor Lichtenstein said that "At Wal-Mart. the retail sales operation wags the manufacturing tail."

For Winkler, and countless places like it, as long as people keep hunting for the cheapest products, Wal-Mart (and its competitors) will keep hunting for the cheapest way to provide those products.

In the end, citizens--Christians or others--must decide whether or not to care about why prices are low, and whether low prices alone will dictate their personal shopping habits. The churches in Winkler seem largely content to let this "democracy of the cash register," (or rule by the spenders) run its fiercely competitive course.

Where we Mennonites once reacted (and perhaps over-reacted) to the encroachment of worldliness, we now open our communities to it, with lttle consideration of any cultural shadow that might be cast over us.

Wal-Mart-sized numbers

US$256.3 billion   Revenue last year (Reuters)
US$8.9 billion     Profits last year (Reuters)

#1 Rank in size among corporations (revenue) in the world (Fortune 500)

#6-10 Rank of founder Sam Walton's widow and children on the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest people. If still alive, Walton would be twice as rich as Bill Gates. (Forbes)

US $100 billion (and growing swiftly) Total worth of Sams widow and children (Forbes)

We ll give the world an opportunity to see what it is like to save and have a better lifestyle, a better life for all. (The Wal-Mart Story) Sam Walton

Will Braun is a writer living in Winnipeg where he attends Hope Mennonite Church.