Walmart claims that it will invest in American-made products, boosting the U.S. manufacturing sector and creating manufacturing jobs across the nation. America's unions have responded with skepticism, accusing Walmart of misleading customers with over-inflated claims.
Walmart hosted a manufacturing summit in Denver in Aug., 2014, at which the company discussed its plan to boost U.S. manufacturing. As part of this plan, Walmart has sought to invest $250 billion in U.S. manufacturing during the next decade, with 1 million jobs being created as a result.
On Aug. 15, 2014, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations published an article that strongly criticized Walmart's claims, calling them "misleading." The president of this nation organization of trade unions, Richard Trumka, made a statement expressing his view that workers would not benefit from a "Walmart-ification" of the U.S. manufacturing sector. He spoke out strongly against the claims made at Walmart's manufacturing summit, claiming that the company was committed only to keeping labor costs low and driving down standards.
Although Walmart recently announced that it will invest $250 billion in U.S. manufacturing over the next decade, the company is already on track to spend $262 billion on American-made goods if it maintains its current growth rate. However, according to the unions, this means the promised investment does not represent a commitment from Walmart to increase the proportion of American-made goods that it sells.
AFL-CIO claims that Walmart's current business practices are extremely harmful to U.S. manufacturing. The organization notes that Walmart is the nation's biggest importer, sourcing the majority of its goods from outside the United States. The AFL-CIO also points out that rather than decreasing the proportion of goods that it buys from countries like China, Walmart has actually increased its imports by 2.5 times since 2002.
Walmart has some hurdles to overcome before it reaches the goals it outlined in Denver. In the first year of the program, the company has only created 2,000 jobs. If this rate continues, there is little chance that the company will reach its target of creating 1 million manufacturing jobs by the end of the decade.
According to Richard Trumka, Walmart's commitment to U.S. manufacturing is simply an attempt to distract public attention from the company's own employment practices. Recently, Walmart has been criticized for underpaying its retail staff. This negative publicity, along with understaffing problems and falling profits, has led to Walmart struggling during the last couple of years.
Walmart has stated a commitment to supporting U.S. manufacturing, but the AFL-CIO says the company has no plans to increase the proportion of its goods that are made in the United States. Citing Walmart's sourcing policies and what the AFL-CIO views as Walmart's refusal to increase pay for its workers, it is difficult for the AFL-CIO to believe the company's commitment is genuine.
Photo courtesy of Mike Mozart at Flickr.com
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