Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModeStudents debate Wal-Mart boycott at open forum
December 5, 2005 —
Students showed up to the Alumni Lounge to voice their opinion on Wednesday, Nov. 16 for a Student Association-sponsored open forum regarding its potential boycott of Wal-Mart.
Many questions were asked about the boycott. The most commonly asked question, though, dealt with whether or not SA would boycott other companies if there were proof of them operating in the same allegedly immoral ways as Wal-Mart.
Members of SA addressed this issue by saying that if there is enough proof to show a problem similar to the Wal-Mart problem, then a boycott against that company may be taken under consideration, too.
Another popular question was what sparked the motivation to write a resolution for this particular boycott. The decision to create and vote on it was not taken lightly. The author of the resolution, Parliamentarian Nick Madaj, spent over a month researching the facts. SA decided to discuss the resolution because they felt that someone needed to take a stand against corporations like Wal-Mart, who they said operate in unethical ways.
One concerned student, an employee of Wal-Mart, showed up with the other side of the story. This student provided facts on how Wal-Mart is good for the community, arguing that Wal-Mart creates jobs, gives back to the community, and cares about its employees.
His response to the health care issue was that Wal-Mart just "revamped" its health care and that some employees do not even need it because their spouses have health care. Regarding Wal-Mart's "anti-union" stance, he replied that Wal-Mart does not believe unions are needed.