Five of the Nastiest Examples of Wal-Mart Evil

[marmar]

AlterNet / By Sarah Seltzer

Five of the Nastiest Examples of Wal-Mart Evil
From worker mistreatment to putting local stores out of business, here's how Wal-Mart is still fighting for the wrong side.

June 15, 2011 |


It seems like Wal-Mart is never out of the news. From intensive campaigns to draw attention to sweatshop conditions in their overseas factories, to efforts to keep the discount retail giant out of urban areas where they’d put local stores out of business, to complaints about gun sales and censorship of music, to massive lawsuits filed by workers in stores around the country, the questionable ethics of the giant corporation remain under constant attack. In fact, there’s even a WikiPedia page devoted solely to criticisms of Wal-Mart.

In fact, the company’s union busting is so relentless (simply closing branches that push for unionization) while their worker treatment remains sub-par that workers are currently organizing a non-union group to push for fairer wages and hours.

A quick search through AlterNet’s own archives for “Wal-Mart” reveals dozens upon dozens of stories and blog posts from the last decade, detailing everything from worker exploitation in China to “greenwashing” to sex discrimination to, in a case that got decided on appeal last week, breaking an agreement to provide paid rest breaks for workers.

Here are five of the most egregious examples of corporate wrongdoing from Wal-Mart, many of them recently in the spotlight:

No paid rest or meal breaks

Imagine being on your feet all day working an aisle or cash register, and being so harried that you can’t even go outside for your designated rest break--or those breaks count as unpaid time. For many Wal-Mart workers, that was (and possibly still is) the reality. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/151303/five_of_the_nastiest_examples_of_wal-mart_evil/

[Scuba]

1. WalMart employees are the single largest demographic among users of BadgerCare in Wisconsin...

...the citizens of Wisconsin are subsidizing WalMarts profits by taking on the burden of providing healthcare for their employees.

BadgerCare is a health coverage program for working poor.

Just one more piece of evidence that the for-profit, employer-based health insurance model is a bad joke on the American People.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Their next move is to put Wal-Mart Express stores in tiny towns nationwide. To put Dollar

General out of business.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704823004576192730258339252.html


http://www.inquisitr.com/113787/walmart-express-vs-dollar-stores/

"Here’s to crushing the hopes of Small Business owners throughout the nation."

[indepat]

3. The model for business evil-incarnate?

:patriot: