Is Target Corporation Any Better for Workers? By Chris Serres First published in the in 2005 It was the fall of 2001, and a chorus of boos erupted at Target’s annual sales meeting when a senior executive at the company flashed Wal-Mart’s name and logo on an enlarged screen. “This,” he said, pointing at the logo, “is the evil empire.” For years, Target has cultivated an image of itself as the “anti-Wal-Mart,” a retailer that refuses to sacrifice workplace standards in the pursuit of higher sales and stock prices. But now, after a decade of meteoric growth at both Target and Wal-Mart, labor groups say the two retailers are no longer very different in the way they treat their workers. Entry-level hourly workers in Target stores earn roughly the same pay and have more difficulty qualifying for health care coverage than their peers at Wal-Mart. Both retailers oppose unions and have taken steps to prevent organizing efforts in stores. And both have outsourced jobs overseas to save costs.

1. Are Student Workers Employees

Are Student Workers Employees

But while Wal-Mart is perceived as a corporate giant that will do just about anything to maximize sales and profits, Target — thanks to its hip advertising campaigns and its longtime contributions to a variety of civic and cultural causes — is seen as a model corporate citizen and benevolent employer. Accurate or not, Target’s image is a key advantage as it races to build more stores. Ethno instruments 2 torrent.

In “blue state” markets, such as the Twin Cities, Chicago and New York, Target is often welcomed with open arms by city leaders. Wal-Mart, meanwhile, faces community opposition at almost every turn, which has prevented it from expanding in many key markets, including New York City. Paul, virtually no one challenged Target’s recent proposal to convert a new store to a SuperTarget. Yet 30 miles away in Ham Lake, Wal-Mart has spent more than a year trying — without success — to persuade city leaders to allow it to build a Supercenter. “Some people, their hackles just go up when you mention Wal-Mart,” said Joseph Beaulieu, a retail analyst at Morningstar. “You could tell them that Wal-Mart pays more [than Target], but they would still be convinced that Wal-Mart is evil.” But as Target continues its aggressive expansion — it plans to add more than 600 stores by 2010 — the company’s labor practices will come under more scrutiny from union groups, consumer advocates and local zoning boards, labor experts predict.