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Last Visited: 12/18/2007
« Wal-Mart's Gender Discrimination Suit | Main | Rev. Charles Foster Johnson on Wal-Mart's Responsibility to do Better » Wake Up Wal-Mart's Latest Ad
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The Rev. Markel Hutchins, a Baptist minister who heads Markel Hutchins Ministries, also joins Johnson in the ad to call on the multi-billion-dollar corporation to be a better "neighbor" to its communities this Christmas by paying fair wage, providing affordable healthcare, and ensuring the safety of the goods it sells.
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"Wal-Mart is not the epitome of all unfairness and injustice in the world but it's just that they are the biggest," said Johnson in an interview with The Christian Post."We want these corporate neighbors to have more equitable policies for their employees."
The church has the role to be "a voice for fairness and justice in an economic system that is increasingly creating disparities," said Johnson, a visiting Instructor of Preaching at the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta.
"Justice is figuring out what belongs to whom and giving it to them," he added."A decent wage is what belongs to the people of God who are workers."
From a short-term perspective, one may think that Wal-Mart can accrue more profits by keeping its current employment policies, said Johnson.But he believes that through reform, the company can reap greater benefits in the long run.
"It's not rocket science to see that that will cultivate a more dedicated, more loyal partner in your business," asserted Johnson.
In conjunction with the television ad, community and religious leaders from more than 40 cities and towns began holding candlelight prayer vigils outside Wal-Mart stores on Monday night, offering prayers and handing out "Think before you shop" holiday cards to shoppers.
Johnson urged Americans to voice their protest to Wal-Mart's policies by taking their business to a competitor, even if it means paying a few cents extra for some products.He also suggests that they write letters to the company's leadership, the manager, or the editor of a local newspaper.