The Wal-Mart Watch Blog

2 comments | Dec 09, 2008

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When we hear about Wal-Mart being in the ‘top-five’ of something, we usually assume it’s in CEO salary, quarterly earnings, highest number of lawsuits pending against them or worst places ever to buy bassinets.  Today it’s among the worst corporations on worker’s right to organize. The International Labor Rights Forum [ILRF] released a report today called: “Working for Scrooge: 5 Worst Companies for the Right to Associate,” and guess who made the list?  We weren’t surprised either.  Wal-Mart has a very real history of anti-union propaganda and bigotry. 

The report cites several of the more highly-publicized anti union stories such as Jonquiere, Quebec where a tire and lube shop was shut down after workers successfully unionized it and Jacksonville, Texas, where the meat department of a retail outlet successfully unionized and Wal-Mart responded by shutting down the meat department in every Wal-Mart, nation-wide.  Will the newly-unionized Saskatchewan outlet meet the same fate?  We sure hope not…

Other finalists included: Dole, Del-Monte, Russell Athletic, and Nestle.  The union-busting must be stopped.  Write your local representative and tell them to support the Employee Free Choice Act today! 

66 comments | Dec 09, 2008

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I would say that this story is surprising, but with Wal-Mart’s track record in these cases, that really, reeeeaaaalllllly would be disingenuous. As reported this morning, Wal-Mart will pay over $54 million as part of a settlement of a class-action lawsuit in Minnesota over wages and hours. The case is Braun v. Wal-Mart, a case in which Dakota County District Court Judge Robert King Jr. ruled on back in July, holding that Wal-Mart broke Minnesota labor law more than two million times over a six-year period by forcing employees to work without breaks and without full pay.

At the time, Judge King ruled that in addition to penalties, Wal-Mart owed workers at least $6 million in back wages. Under a Court order, a jury was expected to decide the amount of punitive damages and penalties in October, but settlement discussions pushed that date back.

Wal-Mart will pay up to $54.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the discount giant cut workers’ break time and allowed employees to work off the clock in Minnesota. The class includes about 100,000 current and former hourly workers who were employed at Wal-Mart Stores and Sam’s Clubs in Minnesota from Sept. 11, 1998, through Nov. 14, 2008. Wal-Mart has also agreed to maintain electronic systems, surveys and notices to stay compliant with wage and hour policies and Minnesota laws.

Needless to say, this is really just the latest in a disturbing pattern of Wal-Mart’s disregard for the law. Not only can’t Wal-Mart’s workers be very happy that retailer has decided overtime pay to be voluntary, but Wal-Mart also has a fiduciary obligation to its investors and shareholders to comply with labor regulations, and not, you know, keep doing stuff like this.

You can check out our fact sheet on Wal-Mart’s wage and hour shenanigans, if you’d like. Go ahead, click on it, and put in a little overtime on this story.

Wal-Mart To Pay $54.25 Million In Minn. Settlement [Associated Press via WCCO.com]

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11 comments | Dec 08, 2008

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An LA Times piece gives us new insight into the crowd atmosphere that led to Jdimytai Damour’s death - an atmosphere that began long before the doors at the Valley Stream store opened.

Apparently, shoppers were already rowdy, pushing and reporting injuries by 3:30 AM, long before the store opened. At that time, the crowd “had grown to 2000” - well above the crowds of previous years. While the article might appear to be an indictment of shoppers’ own senseless animal behavior and unrestrained emotions, it makes it clear that Wal-Mart had plenty of time to observe the chaos, and to work with local police and its own security to protect its customers and workers.

A coworker tells the Times that Damour told him after he was placed at the front of the store, before the doors were opened and then broken off the hinges, “I don’t want to be here.”

Wal-Mart crowd unruly long before trampling [Los Angeles Times via Seattle Times]:

NEW YORK — He took his last breath on the floor at Wal-Mart, between the soda machines and a device that gives change for cans and plastic.

Trampled by a mob of bargain-hungry Black Friday shoppers, Jdimytai Damour, 34, died by asphyxiation, leaving people asking: Why, and how?

Audio-enhanced chatter captured on a cellphone video posted on YouTube and interviews with witnesses offer some hints.

The video shows a police officer crouching by a 6-foot-5-inch, 270-pound man lying at the entrance of the Long Island Wal-Mart. A paramedic pumps the man’s chest so forcefully his limp legs and feet joggle. Shoppers peer from behind glass doors or stand a few feet away, hands in pockets.

“They need to shock him,” a voice says.

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8 comments | Dec 08, 2008

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What he said:

Spokesman Dan Fogleman said Monday evening that although he has no idea what Connecticut sales tax law is, his company is following it.

What his replacement would later say after the Connecticut AG asked him to please, try again:

“We thoroughly reviewed our practices and have taken steps to ensure that our associates are fully complying with Connecticut law when processing even exchanges,” [Wal-Mart spokeswoman] Ashley Hardie said in an e-mail.

I don’t know who this “Ashley Hardie” is, or what she did with my main man Dan, but I really don’t care for her “thorough reviews” or her guarantees that “steps are being taken” to insure compliance. In fact, I’d greatly appreciate it if she just started opening her mouth and letting the words flow, much like Dan used to do. Dan was so much more fun. Dan doesn’t know Connecticut law, but did Dan let that stop him? No. No he didn’t. Dan sat in Arkansas and spun tales of big, benevolent Wal-Mart spreading cheer and helping people afford Christmas, completely incapable of breaking any law known to man. And even if they did, he said, its Connecticut’s fault for having such CRAZY laws in the first place. Well, actually, that was Wal-Mart and not just Dan that said that:

Wal-Mart Stores even had posters behind courtesy desks blaming the state for its policy. “State law PROHIBITS Wal-Mart from refunding SALES TAX to any customer returning or exchanging merchandise without an original purchase receipt,” the “tax refund laws” posters said.

Unfortunately, that isn’t what the law says:

However, state tax laws clearly say the opposite, state Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. said Wednesday in an interview explaining the out-of-court settlement he reached with Wal-Mart. State laws mandate that if a company has an exchange policy, it cannot charge a second sales tax on the new item. Wal-Mart’s website clearly says it has such an exchange policy.

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32 comments | Dec 08, 2008

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As the rest of the country slides into recession, Wal-Mart continues to ride high. Retail Metrics, a retail research firm, projects that Wal-Mart will post a record profit of $13.7 Billion this year - higher than the country’s next three retailers - CVS, Home Depot and Lowe’s - combined.

According to my calculations, it would take an average Wal-Mart worker making $10.86 an hour 144,008 years (working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year) to earn 13.7 billion dollars.

US Retailers Looking At Losses For 2008, With 4Q Not Helping [Dow Jones Newswire via Wall Street Journal]:

At least two dozen publicly traded retailers are on pace to show a loss for 2008, with the fourth quarter, usually the industry’s best period of the year, in many cases contributing to the red ink.

Saks Inc. (SKS), Dillard’s Inc. (DDS), Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (PSUN), Talbot’s Inc. (TLB), Borders Group Inc. (BGP), and Zale Corp. (ZLC) are all seen posting earnings deficits for their current fiscal year, according to Retail Metrics, whose data are based on analysts’ estimates.

Rite Aid Corp. (RAD), which is contending with heavy debt as well as management turnover, is projected to show the biggest loss in the Retail Metrics group, at almost $1.5 billion for 2008.

Circuit City Stores Inc. (CCTYQ), now operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, is second, with analysts seeing a $314 million loss for the year. Building Materials Inc. (BLG) is pegged for a $154 million loss.

The diverse group also includes Saks, Talbot’s, Dillard’s, Pacific Sunwear of California, Zale and Borders Group and all are expected to see a loss for 2008.

The projections for significant red ink illustrate how deep the morass is for the retail industry, with fourth-quarter results projected to be soft and raising questions about just how bad next year might be.

“There isn’t much good news out there, and conditions are not improving,” said Ken Perkins, head of Retail Metrics.

Of the 40 retailers that Retail Metrics tracks, just 16 are expected to post a profit for 2008, which for most of the group is a fiscal year that concludes at the end of January.

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47 comments | Dec 05, 2008

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Wal-Mart Watch has released two documents to aid international activists in their fights against the expansion of Wal-Mart.  The primers, which have been translated into Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, are tools which demonstrate the negative impacts Wal-Mart’s global expansion can have on local communities. 

“Wal-Mart’s International Expansions: A Primer for Activists” is intended to educate activists around the world about Wal-Mart’s retail development strategies and the company’s impact on local retail culture.  The primer uses case studies of Wal-Mart in Mexico and India to highlight the corporation’s primary tactics for entry into a county.

“Wal-Mart’s International Sourcing: A Primer for Activists” examines Wal-Mart’s procurement and sourcing systems, as well as some of the problems with factories in China, Bangladesh, and other countries where their sourcing model has failed to protect the rights of workers and to live up to Wal-Mart’s own standards.

Click here to see all the primers.

33 comments | Dec 04, 2008

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A new Wal-Mart documentary is now available from writer, director and co-producer, Andrew Munger.  The film is titled Wal-Mart Nation and is an in-depth look into why Wal-Mart is the largest, most powerful, and more importantly, most hated retailer in the world.  The film-makers had this to say of the movie, on their website:

“The film is a two-year long journey into a contentious world of protests, pageants, union organizing (and busting), attack ads, dirty tricks, and low low prices. Wal-Mart’s emergence as a global corporate powerhouse has triggered an unprecedented political backlash.  No company has ever faced such angry and organized opposition. The film-makers were granted rare access both to Wal-Mart itself, and the inner-sanctums of its bitterest enemies.”

The film stars 6 union activists, a Jesuit priest, 3 community organizers, almost 20,000 Wal-Mart shareholders, Jessica Simpson, Miss America, and long-time friend and contributor of Wal-Mart Watch: Al Norman. Congratulations, Al! We’ve seen it, and it’s definitely worth checking out. It’s available for purchase here -order your copy today!

2 comments | Dec 03, 2008

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Falling sales-tax revenues. An onslaught of vacant storefronts. When your state economy is based on growth, and the national economy goes in the tank, these are the dangers. According to yesterday’s Arizona Republic:

By late next year, more than 75 stores are expected to close, resulting in a loss of nearly 2,000 Arizona retail jobs. The turnover likely will offer shoppers bargains at various going-out-of-business sales and could eventually inspire an influx of newer, trendier stores. But the closures also have city officials scrambling to cover revenue shortfalls and deter commercial blight.

While Wal-Mart may be able to absorb the cost of closed stores and their leases, cities and towns are left dealing with empty buildings that can lead to a rise in crime and vandalism, the lowering of property values, and depressed sales for neighboring retailers when the closed store is the anchor for a strip mall. And for states like Arizona, a drop in sales tax revenue. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has pointed out that some cities, such as Oakdale, California, or Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, require retail developers set aside money that can be used by the city to either demolish or maintain the site should the store or shopping center become vacant.

Some cities, like Mesa, Arizona, aren’t so lucky.

The shell of a former Walmart sits 2 miles from a Kmart that will close in January. A Mervyn’s and Circuit City will soon depart the area. Such losses this year contributed to Mesa’s $62 million budget shortfall. The city announced 315 layoffs last month.

Cities try to cope with shortfalls in sales taxes, blight left by shut stores [Arizona Republic]

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82 comments | Dec 03, 2008

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The family of Jdimytai Damour has filed suit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.  The death, which The Oregonian (Ore.) called preventable, occurred on Black Friday.  While no amount of money can ever replace a lost loved-one, the hope is that Wal-Mart will respond by taking appropriate safety measures in future situations like this one to protect the Associates they claim to care so much about. Our hearts go out to the family of Jdimytai Damour. 

Victim’s kin file suit in Wal-Mart stampede death [Associated Press]

The family of a New York man who was trampled to death the day after Thanksgiving by a stampede of bargain hunting Wal-Mart shoppers has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

The family also filed notice that Nassau County, on Long Island, and its police department will be sued.

The lawsuit against Wal-Mart and the Long Island mall where it is located was filed Wednesday in state Supreme Court in the Bronx on behalf of Elsie Damour Phillipe. Phillipe is the sister of victim Jdimytai Damour (DHMEE’-tree Di-MOHR’), and is the court-appointed administrator of his estate.

Damour, a temporary worker hired for the holiday season, was crushed to death when some 2,000 customers stormed into the Valley Stream store.

None of the defendants in the lawsuit immediately responded to requests for comment.

0 comments | Dec 03, 2008

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Materials listed here originally published on the website of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, dedicated to “tracking the positive and negative impacts of over 4,000 companies worldwide”

A recent report issued by NGO SweatFree Communities concerning the wages and labor practices at Wal-Mart supplier factory JMS Garments in Bangladesh, has provoked a dialogue between the retailer and its critics. Another human rights group, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, called on Wal-Mart to respond to the report’s allegations, and a couple weeks later the company e-mailed them a statement:

According to the information provided in their report, SweatFree Communities conducted their initial research in September of 2007.  However, they only released the findings to Wal-Mart in August, 2008, a full 11 months later.  If SweatFree were truly concerned about improper working conditions, they would have brought their issues to the attention of all the companies using the subject factory immediately.

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