{"id":17784,"date":"2006-01-25T00:00:54","date_gmt":"2006-01-25T05:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/home.bates.edu\/?p=17784"},"modified":"2024-07-08T14:55:44","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T18:55:44","slug":"wal-mart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2006\/01\/25\/wal-mart\/","title":{"rendered":"Bates College student groups present pros, cons of Wal-Mart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It’s “the world’s largest family,” a retailing innovator whose low prices are good for consumers, its supporters say.<\/p>\n

It’s an evil corporation that exploits its workers and decimates traditional downtowns, its detractors argue.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“It,” of course, is Wal-Mart, and during the next two weeks, student groups at Bates College offer presentations laying out arguments for and against the discount giant.<\/p>\n

At 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, the Bates College Republicans offer a screening of the documentary film Why Wal-Mart Works and Why That Makes Some People Crazy<\/em> in the Filene Room (Room 301), Pettigrew Hall, 305 College St.<\/p>\n

At 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7, the New World Coalition presents a panel discussion featuring a touring group of women who worked in sweatshops producing goods for Wal-Mart stores. The panel takes place in the Keck Classroom (G52), Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road. For more information, visit the International Labor Rights Fund Web site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both events are open to the public at no cost.<\/p>\n

Why Wal-Mart Works,<\/em> directed by Ron Galloway, is an inside look at the world’s largest company, and how Wal-Mart’s quest for lower prices has created new efficiencies in distribution and an overall stronger marketplace. For more about the film, visit the film Web site and blog.<\/a><\/p>\n

Some 1.3 million people work for Wal-Mart and nearly 138 million shop there every week. Consumers love a bargain, and their quest to save money has helped make Wal-Mart Stores the world’s top retailer.<\/p>\n

“Wal-Mart opponents deny the economic reality of the situation,” noted Abbott, of New York City. “The majority of Wal-Mart’s customers go there for the low prices because they cannot afford to pay any more at another store.”<\/p>\n

“Wal-Mart is good for consumers — that’s why it’s successful,” Abbott said.<\/p>\n

The Feb. 7 panel is organized by the International Labor Rights Fund and is part of a campaign to hold Wal-Mart accountable for its use of sweatshop labor, says event organizer Erin Reed ’08.<\/p>\n

The panel speakers are from the Philippines, Nicaragua and Colombia, and have worked in sweatshops that produce clothing for Wal-Mart and at flower plantations owned by Dole, which sells nearly all its flowers at Wal-Mart.<\/p>\n

“When the New World Coalition showed the documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price<\/em> this fall, hundreds of people became aware of how powerful Wal-Mart is,” says Reed, of Pembroke, Mass. “This panel will give a face and a voice to the people who have suffered as a result.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, the Bates College Republicans offer a screening of the documentary film Why Wal-Mart Works and Why That Makes Some People Crazy in the Filene Room (Room 301), Pettigrew Hall, 305 College St.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1372,3349,6426],"class_list":["post-17784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-batesnews","tag-bates-college-republicans","tag-erin-reed","tag-new-world-coalition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17784"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82741,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17784\/revisions\/82741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}