When the people who are used to working in sweat shops start suing it is a clear sign that you really are the Corporate Satan of the World. A few days ago I tried to complement the Evil Beast, but now it looks like I need to take it back. Here’s the latest scoop:
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ — Wal-Mart workers on four continents sued the giant retailer today in California Superior Court in Los Angeles. They maintain that Wal-Mart failed to meet its contractual duty to ensure that its suppliers pay basic wages due; forced them to work excessive hours seven days a week with no time off for holidays; obstructed their attempts to form a union; and, made false and misleading statements to the American public about the company’s labor and human rights practices.
I did my own tenure of indentured servitude with those guys back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s and talk to some of this from first hand knowledge. There was a crew of about 30 of us working overnights to re-stock and to run the day’s received freight out to the sales floor. We were locked in with no keys to get out. Our bosses continually told us that if the building caught fire we were to drive a forklift through the front door to get out. On the night that I was hit by a falling air compressor it took over two hours for a manager to come to the store and let me out to see a doctor. Even then I had to take a day off without pay because you have to miss at least one day before you can start collecting your ‘sick pay.’
Years and years ago, Wal-Mart was a good company to work for. The wages were too low, but the stock was soaring and if you held on to it for a few years you could retire a rich man. They brought decent health care plans into towns where few people had ever had one before. Now they have just become another mega-corporation that for the most part could care less about the welfare of its workers.
Yes, they are pumping millions into the Katrina relief funds. But wouldn’t it be better if they agreed to pay the wages of all their affected employees, including stock purchases, 401(k) contributions, and health care benefits, until their respective stores are rebuilt and open for business? Or if they would donate the costs of labor to rebuild some of the areas where the Wal-Mart employees used to live? That might make more of a difference than writing another check.
This lawsuit makes for good reading, but in the end Wal-Mart will simply out spend the plaintiffs and keep right on doing business the same way they do today. I doubt if Sam Walton’s heirs are even concerned about this at all.
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