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Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Tue Nov 08, 2005 at 10:04:17 AM EST
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Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price is opening next week with free screenings across the country. Here are the details:

Next week, Robert Greenwald's latest documentary film WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price will premiere at an astonishing 6,000+ homes, churches, family businesses, schools, living rooms, community centers, and parking lots across the country -- a true people's premiere.

You are invited to join tens of thousands of people for this unprecedented event. The movie exposes the truth about Wal-Mart and questions the corporation's impact on the American economy. The people's premiere will reveal the growing public concern over Wal-Mart, and the growing inequality in America.

In related Wal-Mart news, a federal search warrant unsealed in a case against Wal-Mart alleges that two senior Wal-Mart execs knew the company's contractors were hiring undocumented workers.

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    Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary | 18 comments (18 topical)
    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:49 PM EST
    Prediction: Many WalMart employees found to have any association with this film (watching, showing, advertising, recommending, discussing on the job, etc.) will find themselves out of work.

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#2)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:49 PM EST
    Many WalMart employees found to have any association with this film ... will find themselves out of work.
    Sounds reasonable. Why keep paying somebody who undermines your company? Plus, a publicly traded company has some legal obligation to preserve it's value. I know they can't fire people for legitimately alleging criminal acts, I'm talking about people who just b*tch on camera. (Disclosure: I used to work for Wal-Mart and hated my job)

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:49 PM EST
    Watching the film undermines WalMart? Should WalMart polygraph all its employees and ask if they've ever undermined the company by reading, watching or listening to anything remotely negative relating to the company? And then terminate all answering in the affirmative?

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#4)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:49 PM EST
    I unintentionally skipped reading "watching" in your first comment. Firing somebody for watching would be within Wal-Mart's rights (IMO) but sleazy. The other activities, yes, undermine the company. And there's a bit of silly a leap from there to mandatory polygraphs. Let's try this, steve... Do you think it's reasonable for a company to fire people who eat babies outside work? If so, should company polygraph everybody and ask if they've done anything remotely cannibalistic and fire those who reply in the affirmative?

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:50 PM EST
    Actually Roy in most states no reason is needed to terminate anyone (contractual or union agreements exempted). The catch is you have to authorize payment of unemployment benefits unless you're alleging conduct that merits dismissal. WalMart could probably be depended on to both terminate and dispute benefits using your logic of employee harm to the company through association with the film. If the film is truthful, and it is the truthfulness of the allegations against WalMart inflicting the harm, should an employee be terminated for participating in the dissemination of said truths? I'd gladly defend a company for containing lies and fighting libels, but I'm very dubious of backing retribution for speaking truths.

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:50 PM EST
    Er, no, it wouldn't be within Wal-Mart's rights to fire someone for watching a video of their choosing in their own time. If Wal-Mart attempted to fire someone for merely watching this video, they would be skirting dangerously close to infringing on an employee's first amendment rights, especially since the effect on the company isn't blatantly and directly detrimental to the company. Watching a video isn't the same as participating in a protest against the company, or taking drugs. I'm sure Wal-Mart is smart enough, legally, to find firmer termination grounds (attendance, insubordination, etc.), to cover their asses, legally, if they choose to fire such a person. That's how most companies do things, because they know how ugly a court battle over what someone rents from Blockbuster would be.

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#7)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:50 PM EST
    If the film is truthful, and it is the truthfulness of the allegations against WalMart inflicting the harm, should an employee be terminated for participating in the dissemination of said truths?
    If it's a truthful allegation of a crime, then no, that's not an acceptable reason to fire somebody or deny them unemployment. We have whistleblower-protection laws to that effect. There's a whole other Liberal vs. Libertarian conversation we could have about the idea of wrongful termination and unemployment insurance, but oh well. If it's truthful information that inflicts harm in the sense that somebody just doesn't like it -- i.e. "I only get paid $0.50 over minimum wage" or "I work 40 hours a week, but sometimes 12 hours a day, and I don't get paid overtime", then fire them and don't pay them unemployment. Otherwise we're forcing Wal-Mart to keep paying people who damage the company. This is, after all, an organized effort to hinder Wal-Mart. Why make Wal-Mart support that effort? If the employee didn't realize the context in which they were operating -- i.e. thought they were just shooting the bull about wages -- that seems like a good excuse to me and hopefully their boss feels the same way. (The 40 hour per week, 12 hour per day thing happened to me, it sucks but it's legal in Oklahoma) And, Aquaria,
    If Wal-Mart attempted to fire someone for merely watching this video, they would be skirting dangerously close to infringing on an employee's first amendment rights
    Private organization's aren't restrained by the First Amendment. Wal-Mart will not be a government agency until 2025 or so.

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:50 PM EST
    Also, eating babies *is* illegal activity. So the comparison - apples and oranges?

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#9)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:50 PM EST
    Since baby-eating is illegal, the case for polygraphing potential cannibals is stronger than for movie-watchers. So my example establishes an upper bound of polygraph reasonableness w.r.t. movie-watching.

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:51 PM EST
    If by "establishes an upper bound of polygraph reasonableness" you mean makes the idea of polygraphing for movie watching more acceptable, then I'm lost. To me, it comes off as absurd, therefore causing me to mostly ignore it, other than being curious as to the point of the comparison.

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#11)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:51 PM EST
    Ignoring the whole baby-eating sequence is appropriate, since I was responding to an claim made in response to a statement I retracted. But I think it makes sense if I ramble on a bit more. The "upper bound of polygraph reasonableness" means only that polygraphing to root out movie-watchers is less reasonable than or equally reasonable to polygraphing to root out baby-eaters. I believe it's actually less reasonable, but that's not what "upper bound" means. I assume that Steve believes A) it's OK to fire a baby-eating employee, and B) it's not OK to polygraph all employees to look for baby-eaters. Draconian measures are more reasonable for baby-eating than for movie-watching, so it should be even easier for me to oppose polygraph tests to root out movie-watchers than it is for Steve to oppose polygraph tests to root out baby-eaters. Which is a fancy way of saying it's silly to accuse me of supporting polygraphing all Wal-Mart employees. (I've put some words in Steve's mouth; I promise not to take my assumptions seriously)

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#12)
    by jimcee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:51 PM EST
    I can't believe people get themselves into such a lather over a department store. If you don't like WalMart don't work there and don't shop there. Me? I have no problem with WalMart and shop there on occasion. Hey, who doesn't like cheap stuff? As far as WalMart hiring illegal aliens? It believe Talk Left has asserted in the past that 'undocumented workers' have rights. So Wal-Mart hires some of those 'undocumented workers' and suddenly the Left is playing gotcha. How dare they hire your oppressed people? All in all I think anti-WalMart folks need to find a hobby. It is after all just a retailer.

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#13)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:51 PM EST
    If you don't like WalMart don't work there and don't shop there.
    The obvious response here is "they can't because other employers and shops have been run out of business by Wal-Mart".

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:53 PM EST
    Grr... don't know what's going on with my r and d keys today... Think I need a new keyboard...

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#16)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:53 PM EST
    Aquaria, Sorry for not addressing your overall argument, I'm feeling lazy and just want to make a couple points...
    And plenty of people have had Wal-Mart come into their towns, run all the Mom-and-Pop shops out of business, then Wal-Mart leaves...
    Actually, the residents of the town run the Mom-and-Pop shops out by choosing to stop shopping there.
    Companies hesitant to hire undocumenter workers = Less OPPORTUNITY for illegal aliens = Less illegal immigration. Will it get rid of all? No, but it will reduce it so far down you could ignore it.
    The taxpayer-funded benefits some wish to extend to illegals might provide enough opportunity to keep it at a troublesome level.

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#17)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:53 PM EST
    Hey, who doesn't like cheap stuff?
    People with a conscience who realize people suffer because the stuff is so cheap. I'll pay the extra 50 cents on my next "plastic piece of crap" purchase so the cashier and the warehouseman can make an honest wage with benefits, give the small local businesses who give back to the community my patronage, and support American manufacturers instead of their unregulated, unscrupulous Chinese counterparts. All for .50, that's what I call a bargain.

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#18)
    by jimcee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:53 PM EST
    K-dog, I have friends that work at the local Wal-Mart distribution center (warehouse) and enjoy thier jobs very much. They have an affordable health plan, get paid a decent wage w/vacation package and work Monday through Thursday (4/10s) and can turn down overtime if they don't want it. They have been there for ten years. Aquaria, as far as Wal-Mart running out small businesses from mainstreet where I live mainstreet was empty of small businesses before Wal-Mart came to town. Mostly because they were driven out by the suburban mall culture that came about in the 1970's. Oh, by the way I am a small businessman and business is just fine, thank you. In the movie the hardware store closure was exaggerated as the store was purchased by another fellow and he says he is doing just fine. I do patronize other local businesses but also shop at Wal-Mart for many of my pantry items and save about 20% overall. I do avoid Wal-Mart's meat department because we have a local grocer that has the best meat at really good prices. The grocery chains that inhabit my area grossly overcharge for many of the same items and frankly they are not local businesses. The irrational Wal-Mart-a-phobia that some people have is rather Quixotic to say the least. Again if you don't like Wal-Mart don't work or shop there and leave the rest of us alone. An ill-founded crusade just makes you feel better but really accomplishes nil in the big picture. And yes I like cheap stuff but if you choose to pay more for your purchases go ahead and pay more. Come to my shop and ask to pay more, I'd be more than happy to charge you more if you'd like.

    Re: Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary (none / 0) (#19)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:56 PM EST
    That is America jimcee, I don't think Walmart shopping should be a crime. Knock yourself out. My point was low prices come at a high cost for others. I cherish sound sleep more than a few bucks. And it's not just WalMart, I try my best to avoid patronizing all businesses that don't do right by their workers. From what I've read, your friends experiences working for the Waltons is not the norm. I hear you about meats, I go to an old German butcher and avoid supermarket meat departments like the plague. The quality is always piss poor. Same goes for fresh fruit and veggies.

    Free Screenings of New Wal-Mart Docmumentary | 18 comments (18 topical)