Quick Hits: Waging War On Wal-Mart
By
Sarah Levy
Jul 03, 2008 10:30 am
Brief scrutiny of today's headlines
Had the retail giant not attempted to slash overhead by requiring employees to work off the clock and by denying them contractual rights, it might not be facing over $2 billion in fines - $1,000 for each of the more than 2 million violations cited in a Minnesota judge’s ruling against the megabrand on Monday.
Wal-Mart also violated state labor laws when it denied workers tens of thousands of breaks to which they were contractually entitled, often going so far as to deduct pay from workers who returned even one minute late from their 15-minute breaks.
To be fair, the judge found that Wal-Mart did not routinely force cashiers and stock personnel to work off the clock during their regular shifts.
On October 20, a jury will determine final punitive damages; for now, the judge has ordered Wal-Mart to pay $6.5 million to 56,000 employees.
The Minnesota ruling comes on the heels of similar verdicts in California and Pennsylvania, which also found Wal-Mart guilty of denying workers breaks and wages to which they were entitled; $172 million and $188 million in damages were respectively awarded in those cases. There are more than 70 such lawsuits pending nationwide.
It’s hard to understand why there’s such homogeneity -- in terms of an inclination to deny basic workers’ rights -- among Wal-Mart managers. Weren’t these guys once rocking the same blue polos and khakis as their underpaid, meal-and-bathroom-break-deprived workers?
And when will they get wise to the fact that their tired and hungry employees are no longer keeping quiet?
For more on Wal-Mart, check out Hoofy and Boo's always astute report:
No positions in stocks mentioned.
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2008-07-03 12:12:47
5%
quote***In China, as elsewhere, we follow the Wal-Mart tradition of building our business one store and one customer at a time. We strive to provide our customers with friendly service and a wide selection of quality products at Every Day Low Prices. With each Wal-Mart store we bring advanced retail know-how to the local market. By fostering a healthy, competitive environment, we hope to constantly improve our business operations and customer service in order to contribute to the prosperity of the local economy.
Wal-Mart firmly believes in local procurement. We recognize that by purchasing quality products, we can generate more job opportunities, support local manufacturing and boost economic development. Over 95% of the merchandise in our stores in China is sourced locally. We have established partnerships with nearly 20,000 suppliers in China. At Wal-Mart, we always work with our suppliers to grow together. In August 2007, Wal-Mart once again secured the top spot of the 2007 Supplier Satisfaction Survey conducted by Business Information of Shanghai. Additionally, Wal-Mart directly exports about US$9 billion from China every year. The export volume by third party suppliers is also estimated to be over US$9 billion.***end quote!
Now! if there be 182 country's making items for the world to buy and they have only 5% of the pie in China...duh! This company makes the nice people of China support their currency(yuan) by keeping it in their country working for the people there.... but with the "yuan" going up in value and the US dollar going down...all the foreign items that the American consumer buys thinking it is cheap has went up in price.
People...its all about the currency and to keep a currency strong you got to keep it floating around the country you live in so it can work for you. For the past 12 years all them US dollars are being shipped overseas to a foreign bank and with the American worker not making anything for the foreigner to buy the "we the people" have to turn to the "second" largest employer in America(Uncle Sam) to sell "we the people" debt in order to get all them dollars back!
50 years ago a foreigner would had given their left nut for a US dollar or a Hershey's chocolate bar and today the same foreigner has got Uncle Sam and the American consumer by both all the while Hershey is moving the chocolate factory to Mexico. Wakeup! America and think "MADE IN AMERICA" and put the word Washington back in D. C.....
Washington had been reelected unanimously in 1792. His decision not to seek a third term established a tradition that is now embedded in the 22d Amendment of the Constitution. Read his Farewell Address of Sept. 17, 1796 and think American made for a change.
Boo needs Homer Lee's job and Hoofy could run for President.
Wal-Mart firmly believes in local procurement. We recognize that by purchasing quality products, we can generate more job opportunities, support local manufacturing and boost economic development. Over 95% of the merchandise in our stores in China is sourced locally. We have established partnerships with nearly 20,000 suppliers in China. At Wal-Mart, we always work with our suppliers to grow together. In August 2007, Wal-Mart once again secured the top spot of the 2007 Supplier Satisfaction Survey conducted by Business Information of Shanghai. Additionally, Wal-Mart directly exports about US$9 billion from China every year. The export volume by third party suppliers is also estimated to be over US$9 billion.***end quote!
Now! if there be 182 country's making items for the world to buy and they have only 5% of the pie in China...duh! This company makes the nice people of China support their currency(yuan) by keeping it in their country working for the people there.... but with the "yuan" going up in value and the US dollar going down...all the foreign items that the American consumer buys thinking it is cheap has went up in price.
People...its all about the currency and to keep a currency strong you got to keep it floating around the country you live in so it can work for you. For the past 12 years all them US dollars are being shipped overseas to a foreign bank and with the American worker not making anything for the foreigner to buy the "we the people" have to turn to the "second" largest employer in America(Uncle Sam) to sell "we the people" debt in order to get all them dollars back!
50 years ago a foreigner would had given their left nut for a US dollar or a Hershey's chocolate bar and today the same foreigner has got Uncle Sam and the American consumer by both all the while Hershey is moving the chocolate factory to Mexico. Wakeup! America and think "MADE IN AMERICA" and put the word Washington back in D. C.....
Washington had been reelected unanimously in 1792. His decision not to seek a third term established a tradition that is now embedded in the 22d Amendment of the Constitution. Read his Farewell Address of Sept. 17, 1796 and think American made for a change.
Boo needs Homer Lee's job and Hoofy could run for President.
2008-07-03 13:23:29
Jail time for management
The popular mood should now support the notion that, if guilty, the management which benefits from these crimes should serve time in prison, like when anyone else gets caught stealing.
Executives see these fines as simply a cost of doing business.
Jail will get their attention.
Executives see these fines as simply a cost of doing business.
Jail will get their attention.
2008-07-03 21:11:11
The key phrase they are trying to bury:
"Always Low Prices".
In order to provide the lowest prices, WalMart uses it's hegemony to squeeze suppliers to death, then finds new suppliers somewhere else to squeeze. All they have to do is watch the buzzwords and use them where the spin doctors see fit. "We are supporting local suppliers." is a phrase used to squeeze the Chinese workers and government into giving tax breaks. "We provide jobs." is the one used in America to squeeze local government for incentives. Those incentives end up being paid for in taxes on who else? The WalMart 'part-time' employees.
WalMart's empire is only a symptom of the disconnect between education and the regional, real needs of people. Why grow your own garden when you can buy poptarts for a buck-two-fitty? "We can still make the cable and trailer payments if we eat turkeyburgers from China. That stimulus money from Uncle George will get us that new TV next month."
Meanwhile, our colleges receive hundred million dollar grants from people who invested in companies just like Wal-Mart, and their success is the example everyone is taught to strive for, though few can ever hope to achieve it. It's the land of Opportunism, after all.
In order to provide the lowest prices, WalMart uses it's hegemony to squeeze suppliers to death, then finds new suppliers somewhere else to squeeze. All they have to do is watch the buzzwords and use them where the spin doctors see fit. "We are supporting local suppliers." is a phrase used to squeeze the Chinese workers and government into giving tax breaks. "We provide jobs." is the one used in America to squeeze local government for incentives. Those incentives end up being paid for in taxes on who else? The WalMart 'part-time' employees.
WalMart's empire is only a symptom of the disconnect between education and the regional, real needs of people. Why grow your own garden when you can buy poptarts for a buck-two-fitty? "We can still make the cable and trailer payments if we eat turkeyburgers from China. That stimulus money from Uncle George will get us that new TV next month."
Meanwhile, our colleges receive hundred million dollar grants from people who invested in companies just like Wal-Mart, and their success is the example everyone is taught to strive for, though few can ever hope to achieve it. It's the land of Opportunism, after all.
2008-07-07 09:10:41
Uniformity does not occur naturally
The natural state of things is diversity. If you notice consistency it has a cause. The cause is doubtless policy of upper management. Evidently they are smart enough to not write said policy down, but someone somewhere is encouraging store managers to follow the practices for which they are being fined en masse.
The sad thing is that the $2B fine is not enough to really change Wal Mart's behavior towards employees. Adding a zero might work.
The sad thing is that the $2B fine is not enough to really change Wal Mart's behavior towards employees. Adding a zero might work.
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