First draft pretty rough but here is my black friday article. This Black Friday I went to Wal-mart at the old Blue Ridge Mall site in Kansas City, now before all who read this get together and have me removed from office and branded a hypocrite for going to as non-union a spot as there ever was. A company so against worker’s rights that they have multiple cases against them for “alleged” unlawful termination at the mention of the word Union. The company also pays so little that a significant portion of their employees must be on some type of taxpayer assistance. This tapping of taxpayer funds to increase profits does not just take place because of a lack of pay and benefits to the companies work force but also in the form of other subsidies such as TIF’s (tax increment financing). The store that I actually went to on this Black Friday is the biggest recipient of this particular corporate welfare listed on the website Wal-mart Subsidy Watch which is a service of Good Jobs First. At a cost of $26.75 million to the community the store was doing it’s business, nearby I was there and I had not come alone but as part of a group of 50 or so that were not there that day to see if we could get cheap goods, with made in China tags or to admonish the workers because a large portion of the workers inside are on what some on the conservative side call the government handout system. We were outside on a brisk Black Friday protesting that in America a corporation that has made 6 Walton family heirs richer than 42% of the entire country (according to Mother Jones Magazine) at a time when the country collectively suffers through horrible economic times. These heirs make even more money while the corporation pays workers so little that they can not make ends meet and at the same time rather than pay a living wage the employee is encouraged to utilize taxpayer money much as the store itself does so that shareholders can maximize profits over the people that they hire to make the profits in the first place. I and brothers and sisters from multiple unions joined people from that community along with others also protesting all across the nation the very act of putting profits ahead of people. I have no merchandise that was produced in a factory that blocks off safety exits and burns at a cost of the low paid workers very lives as they were trapped inside with no safe way out and then ships the merchandise across the ocean while my friends and family wonder where the local jobs went to as a reward for my Black Friday efforts. Instead I did get Thanksgiving this year with my family rather than wait in an ever earlier line that now unfortunately encompasses Thanksgiving in that great effort to ultimately just make those 6 heirs richer than 43% of America combined. State City Facility Type Year Opened Value MO Branson Supercenter Fall 2007 - Spring 2008 estimated $12.125 million MO Cameron Supercenter 1995 $2.1 million MO Chesterfield discount store 1997 about $2.6 million MO Clayton discount store 1985 $4.175 million MO DeSoto Supercenter 2004 approximately $1 million MO Eureka Supercenter 1995 $5.3 million MO Fenton discount store 2001 $10 million MO Hannibal discount store 1983 $2.115 million MO Harrisonville distribution center 2001 more than $2.6 million MO Kansas City (Blue Ridge Mall) Supercenter 2007 $26.75 million MO Kansas City (N Boardwalk Ave) Supercenter 2001 $9.1 million MO Kirkwood (St. Louis) discount store 1999 $5.7 million MO Lees Summit Supercenter 1993 $2.7 million MO Mexico Supercenter 2005 $500,000 MO Moberly distribution center 2002 more than $1.65 million MO Monett Supercenter 1999 $1.75 million MO Ozark Supercenter 2004 $3.5 million MO Raytown Supercenter undetermined at least $4 million MO Republic Supercenter 2002 $500,000 MO Sikeston (Bloomfield) discount store 1996 $865,000 MO St. James distribution center 2001 more than $1.6 million MO Wentzville discount store 2002 $7.5 million MO West Plains Supercenter 1994 $250,000 The above chart is from the website Wal-Mart subsidy watch and although the website states it is not a complete list it does show various subsidies for numerous stores in the state of Missouri.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 17:19:20 +0000