Wal-Mart begins campaign to counter labor criticisms

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Wal-Mart chief executive Lee Scott led a media charge yesterday to counter criticism that the world's largest retailer is a behemoth that takes advantage of its workers and stifles competition.

Scott said he wants Wal-Mart workers to know the company is speaking up for them, and he wants Wal-Mart to have a better handle on how it is perceived by the public.

The company bought full-page ads in more than 100 newspapers around the nation to highlight its message that it provides opportunity for advancement and that its stores provide mainly full-time jobs with broad benefits.

"We want to get those myths off the table, set the record straight," Scott said.

But a union critic of the discount chain said the company was ignoring social costs created by its megastores. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which has been striving for years to organize Wal-Mart workers, said the company was bending the truth.

Union spokesman Greg Denier said Wal-Mart may count about three-fourths of its workers as full time, but said those employees do not get full 40-hour weeks. He said the health insurance the company trumpets is too expensive and does not provide enough coverage for illnesses that are short of catastrophic.

Wal-Mart has 1.2 million employees in the United States, making it the nation's largest private employer. Scott said Wal-Mart gives communities stable jobs, and workers have advancement opportunities and benefits that include stock purchases, a 401(k) retirement plan, and discount cards.