Friday Blog Round-Up: Union Busting and Lifetime TV

WAL-MART’S UNION BUSTING TECHNIQUES
Human Rights Watch came out this week with a 250-page report accusing Wal-Mart of using illegal techniques to discourage unions among its employees.

Human Rights Watch: Wal-Mart illegally cracked down on unions [BloggingStocks]

The bad press just keeps on coming for the world’s largest retailer. In a 210-page report called “Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart’s Violation of U.S. Workers’ Right to Freedom of Association,” international Human Rights organization Human Rights Watch accused Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) of “relentless exploitation of weak US labor laws” that “thwarts union formation and violates the rights of its US workers.” The report said that some of Wal-Mart’s union-busting practices are legal because of weak U.S. workers’ rights laws while others are blatantly illegal.

Wal-Mart is probably unlikely to make any changes in its policy unless it makes economic sense for it to do so. In order for that to happen, one of two scenarios will have to emerge: 1) Millions of people stop shopping at Wal-Mart in protest of the company’s labor practices. The full parking lots indicate that hasn’t happened. 2) The company’s hiring practices are no longer competitive and it can’t find anyone to work on its terms. Until then, it’s hard to imagine why Wal-Mart would change.

Wal-Mart: Union Busting with a Smile [Center for Media and Democracy]

The report details ways in which Wal-Mart, the largest private U.S. employer, discourages employees from unionizing. Legal tactics include showing new employees presentations like the videos, with “heavy ‘spin’ on purported drawbacks” to unions. Illegal tactics include having managers eavesdrop on employees, repositioning “surveillance cameras to monitor union supporters,” disciplining “union supporters for policy violations that it has let slide for union opponents,” and firing workers for union activity.

AN EXAMPLE, YOU ASK?
Part of the Human Rights Watch report included examining Wal-Mart’s anti-union propaganda, including an employee education video.

Wal-Mart doesn’t spend much on anti-union videos [PR Week]

In the wake of this week’s release of a Human Rights Watch report criticizing the company for its anti-union practices, one of those deliciously low-production value videos Wal-Mart uses to train employees has been posted to the web.

Click here to watch >>

This one is all about why unions are terrible. Regardless of how you feel about the arguments being made, I think we call agree the stilted acting, bizarre greenish lighting, and random background noises give it the feel of the intro to a low-budget porn movie rather than a slick corporate tool of manipulation.

The agency that produced that video...[CEnter for Media and Democracy]
The video is so patronizing and condescending, I’ll bet Wal-Mart is consciously and with malice aforethought saying just this:

Okay, folks, now that there’s nobody here but just us chickens, we all know—we know it, you know it—that you’re much more desperate to hang onto this shit-eating job than to any amount of self-respect it’s costing you to sit there and watch this insulting video through to the end. And we all know—we know it, you know it—we’re gonna dump you anyway when we decide you’ve reached your sell-by date. But until then, just get out there and don’t even look like you might even be thinking the word union. Thank you and have a nice day.” :-)

IN FRONT WITH WAL-MART
Wal-Mart’s latest PR strategy involves a half-hour infomercial that the company plans to run on USA and the Lifetime channel. The company claims that the infomercials are aimed at its employees, but aren’t there more effective ways to reach that audience?

Wal-Mart TV [Outside the Beltway]

Wal-Mart’s PR firm has sent me a release noting that Wal-Mart has a new television show called “In Front With Wal-Mart.”

Click here to watch >>

Somehow, I don’t believe I’ll be adding this to my TiVo list.

In Front with Wal-Mart [Writing on the Wal]

The show reminded me of those videos they show at orientation where they tell you how great it is to work for Wal-Mart with one key difference - no one paid me to watch it.

Walmart’s New “Cable TV Show” Is Going To Be So Awesome [Consumerist]

Hmmm, would USA really do a Walmart TV show? Sure! Why?

One of their users wrote in to add:

“Even though I work for Wal-Mart (and love it) I still think this is kind of ridiculous.”

MR. SCOTT GOES TO WASHINGTON
Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott came to visit Washington this week, meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Jim Hightower describes one way that Wal-Mart is using its political muscle. From the Tallahassee Democrat:

To show even more affection, Wal-Mart is reaching out to offer personal help to the families of some Dems. For example, Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas has a sister who is a co-producer of a new documentary about women serving in the Senate. Guess who is helping to underwrite the film? Yes, the big Wally, which gave the producers $150,000. Also, when the producers wanted to have a Capitol bash to show off the film, guess what sweetheart stepped in to sponsor the reception? It was that rascal Wally again.

Held in an ornate room just off the Senate floor, the party was a great success, with 12 women senators showing up and putting on their name tags, which had a big “Wal-Mart” printed on them…

If Wal-Mart really wants to show its appreciation for women, how about settling the sex-discrimination lawsuit brought against it by a million women who have worked there?

Posted by Media Team on Friday, May 04, 2007

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