posted October 13, 2004 02:53 AM         

Actually, I said I felt bad for the mom and pops--but supply and demand dictates the marketplace. Just the way it is.

posted October 13, 2004 11:55 AM         

So, yes.. this land is older than capitalism and will be around long after capitalism is discarded as a irresponsible means of economic management.

posted October 13, 2004 04:34 PM         

/rant off
My apologies.

posted October 14, 2004 10:41 AM         

Capitalism isn't a form of government.
It's an economic system.
Unless you're saying that the two are inextricably linked.

posted November 10, 2004 11:15 PM         

Forgive me for saying so, anyone who may feel this is 'confrontational', but... "that's just the way it is" honestly sounds like 'petrified opinion' to me.

Love your ideas, Harpyr. Not only do I agree wholeheartedly, but you obviously have thought these things through very thoroughly. Something I have not done, myself. I wouldn't mind learning a thing or two (or forty or fifty ) from you.

posted January 16, 2005 05:18 PM         

Wal-Mart ‘Duped’ Locals to Build on Holy Site

A Mexican co-operative say they were tricked into helping the retail giant defuse a row over its new store being built right beside ancient pyramids

by Elizabeth Mistry

For the small group of women entrepreneurs, it was a dream come true. One of the world's biggest super market chains - as part of its much-vaunted community initiative - wanted to sell the co-operative's collection of natural beauty products, made from nopal and xoconostle or prickly pear, cacti that grow in abundance around one of Mexico's most important ancient pilgrimage sites - the pyramids of Teotihuacan.

But now the women believe they have been duped by Wal-Mart, the US-based retailing giant which, they say, desperately needed to portray itself as a good citizen after it caused national outrage by building a new store within the boundaries of the Teotihuacan archeological zone, a 2000-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site whose name means "The Place Where Gods Were Made" and which receives more than two million visitors a year.

"Before the store opened, Wal-Mart asked us to start making the products - 200 a month - as soon as possible," a member of the cooperative told the Sunday Herald. "We are only a small outfit and this was an important deal for us, we had to take out a loan to get it all done on time. When we finished, we tried to contact them to arrange delivery but they never answer our calls and have never paid us. We have tried to contact them for months but nobody wants to help us. Wal-Mart said that it would promote regional producers in the new store. We realize now that they were just using us so they can say on their website that they are working with the community."

Wal-Mart has been the subject of a string of lawsuits in the US ranging from bullying to discrimination. Its new Mexican store, which operates under the Bodega Aurrera brand, has prompted heated debate over convenience versus culture.

Some argue that inhabitants of the nearby town of San Juan Teotihuacan should not face a 15-mile journey to their nearest supermarket and that the 180 jobs Wal-Mart says it has brought are vital for local families. But protesters claim the building damages the integrity of the 2000-year-old site and that both local government officials and representatives from the National Institute of Archaeology and History (NIAH), the state body charged with safeguarding Mexico's archeological sites, colluded with Wal-Mart to fast-track the store, located at a strategic point just off the highway bringing visitors to the site.

Emma Ortega, a longtime resident of Teotihuacan, approximately 40 miles north of Mexico City, describes herself as one of the ruined city's spiritual guardians. She is one of the most vociferous members of the campaign to close the store. Now recovered following a three-week hunger strike she and other members of the Civic Front for the Defense of Teotihuacan undertook to try and stop the opening of the 20-aisle store which local market traders fear will put them out of business, she says that by allowing the construction within zone C of the protected archeological zone, NIAH is breaking the law.

She listed a number of irregularities that "in other circumstances would automatically mean the end of the project" and cannot understand why, after a number of remains were found on the site, the project was not shelved.

"Without a doubt this store has been built on land that was once part of the ancient city. Recent excavations have found tombs, part of a plaza, ceramic shards and an altar which was dated at 450AD. This proves that this is an important site and yet the authorities who originally said that all such findings were important seem to have changed their minds.

"What is the point of having an exclusion zone if you are going to ignore it when someone with enough money comes along? It is clear that the government is turning a blind eye and selling the country's heritage to whoever is prepared to pay the most. NIAH's director should resign."

The decision to allow Wal-Mart - owners of the Asda supermarket chain in the UK - to build the store is shrouded in secrecy. Even though the site is listed by UNESCO and the World Monuments Fund as being of international importance, the original go-ahead was apparently taken by the local head of NIAH without being referred to a senior federal authority. Then, in a still unexplained twist, it emerged that the official responsible resigned a few days later, only for her replacement to be murdered shortly afterwards.

Bizarrely, the NIAH and the local authorities each claim that the other is responsible for issuing permits. The matter has been complicated by an apparently fluid interpretation of the law which has allowed a rash of building - including shops, a luxurious gated residential compound and a hotel - to go unchallenged within the protected zone in recent years. This, argue those in favor of the new store, means that one more building will not be a cause for concern.

Wal-Mart declined to comment. But its website highlights its work with local communities. It prides itself on being a socially responsible company, pointing to the fact that for three years running it has been recognized as such by the Mexican Center for Philanthropy. This national organization was established by the millionaire Mexican businessman Manuel Arango who has devoted himself to good works - since selling the Bodega Aurrera chain to Wal-Mart.

To the protesters' dismay, UNESCO has accepted NIAH's assessment that the store is not likely to damage the archeological site. But several NIAH staff contacted by the Sunday Herald say they feel betrayed by the institute and some of Mexico's best known writers and artists including Carlos Fuentes, Elena Poniatowska and British painter Leonora Carrington have signed a petition against the development.

Sergio Raul Arroyo, NIAH's director, admitted that the store has a bad reputation, but he could not explain how, in spite of such opposition, the government has apparently failed to intervene.

He told the Sunday Herald: "We cannot take into account moral or sentimental issues. We are dealing with a tremendously powerful company here. We don't have the money to fight this."

posted February 11, 2005 01:12 PM         

Published on Thursday, February 10, 2005 by the Associated Press
As Union Nears Win, Wal-Mart Closes Store
by Adam Geller

NEW YORK - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says it will close one of its Canadian stores, just as some 200 workers at the location are near winning the first-ever union contract from the world's largest retailer.

Wal-Mart said it was shuttering the store in Jonquiere, Quebec, in response to unreasonable demands from union negotiators that would make it impossible for the store to sustain itself.

"We were hoping it wouldn't come to this," Andrew Pelletier, a spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada, said Wednesday. "Despite nine days of meetings over three months, we've been unable to reach an agreement with the union that in our view will allow the store to operate efficiently and profitably."

Pierre Martineau, left, and Patrice Bergeron, two of the Wal-Mart workers who initiated the unionization, stand in front of their workplace, a Wal-Mart department store, Tuesday Sept. 28, 2004 in Jonquiere, Que. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday, Feb. 9, 2005, it will close the Canadian store. (AP Photo/CP PHOTO/Jacques Boissinot)

Pelletier said the store will close in May. The retailer had first discussed closing the Jonquiere store last October, saying the store was losing money.

The United Food & Commercial Workers Canada asked Quebec labor officials to appoint a mediator last week, saying negotiations with Wal-Mart had reached an impasse.

Union leaders dismissed Wal-Mart's reasons for closing the store and promised to fight the move.

"Wal-Mart has fired these workers not because the store was losing money but because the workers exercised their right to join a union," Michael J. Fraser, national director of UFCW Canada, said in a written statement. "Once again, Wal-Mart has decided it is above the law and that the only rules that count are their rules."

Wal-Mart's decision to close the store reflects the retailer's deeply rooted aversion to unions, and its worries that organized labor had nearly established a beachhead, said Burt Flickinger III of Strategic Resource Group, a consulting firm specializing in retailing and consumer goods.

But he said the move could backfire for Wal-Mart, which has worked hard to counter a wave of bad publicity and portray itself as a generous employer.

"The store closing may potentially catalyze the combination of the government (officials in Canada), organized labor and consumers working together against Wal-Mart," Flickinger said.

Claudia Tremblay, a cashier at the store, said many employees burst into tears when managers told them the news Wednesday morning.

"Many people cried, including myself," Tremblay said. "I'm a mother of two children and I'm separated from my husband. It's very difficult."

Tremblay said she abstained from the unionization vote. She said she was upset her noncommittal stance won't save her job.

The store in Jonquiere, about 240 miles northeast of Montreal, became the first unionized Wal-Mart store in North America last September, after the bargaining unit was certified by provincial labor officials. Since then, workers at a second Quebec store have also been granted union status. Neither has reached a contract.

The union efforts at both stores are part of a larger chess game labor organizers are waging with Wal-Mart at stores across Canada. The campaign, financed by UFCW money from both Canada and the United States, is also geared toward capturing workers' attention in Wal-Mart's home country.

The closest a U.S. union has ever come to winning a battle with Bentonville, Ark.-based company occurred in 2000 at a store in Jacksonville, Texas, where 11 workers in the store's meatpacking department voted to join and be represented by the UFCW.

That effort failed when Wal-Mart eliminated the job of meatcutter companywide, and shifted from in-store meatcutting to stocking only pre-wrapped meat.

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