Lee Scott: "We cannot appease them. We are not."

Neil Cavuto of Fox News had a rare interview with Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott today. The transcript can be found here.

Scott, as could be expected of a CEO of any major corporation, tried to avoid saying anything controversial. The following exchange, however, was rather enlightening:

CAVUTO: I think you have critics who want you to be a union company. Now if you were, do you think all of this would go away, all of this criticism?

SCOTT: Let me, if I could, finish my thought. We have a select group of people who are critics of the company that want us to be better. The issues you are talking about really are from the unions that came after we started the Supercenter Program, and we entered into groceries. And that is where I think the major force behind this criticism is. We cannot appease them. We are not.

CAVUTO: They want you to be unionized, right?

SCOTT: They may.

CAVUTO: All right. They do. I talk to a lot of them. All right. Now.

SCOTT: That is not their choice. That is our associates'.

CAVUTO: Absolutely. Now do you think in your heart of hearts, if you were, then all of the people criticizing you about health benefits, hourly rates, all of that, all of that, they would all go away?

SCOTT: You are darn right. This is about politics and power. It is not about right and wrong.

Technorati Tags: wal-mart walmart