The speak out stories keep rolling in. Our latest entry comes from a New Jersey department manager. From low wages to managerial abuse to recalled products, things don’t seem to be going well at this Garden State store. Read the story below for a full account.

“I am a department manager at a NJ store and in every single morning meeting (which are held on the sales floor in front of customers); we are yelled at for whatever the “catch of the day” is. We have a skeleton staff because they are firing and cutting hours. We are now being verbally abused each morning. Also, during the day, managers are screaming at us to go unload trucks, get carts from the parking or run registers over the walkies.

All the customers hear everything that is said to us in the meetings and over the walkies. No one lives above the poverty level. You have to take 2 days off to be paid for one sick day. A scam if you asked me. You have to work for nine, not eight hours because management will force you to take an unpaid lunch hour. The benefits are expensive and awful. There are mice and cats running around and if the customers knew where the food sat before it went out on the floor, they would not shop there. In addition, nothing is made in the USA – everything is made in China and the quality is very poor. We now have a huge number of recalls due to lead being in a lot of products and appliances being recalled for overheating or leaking dangerous fumes. We at our store have notified the ethics department because we cannot handle the abusive harassment anymore.

The store manager does not want any more women managers. He said women are the troublemakers. The open door policy is a joke, if you have something you need to address with them it comes back to bite you. We get no cost of living raises and the most you can get once a year is .60/hour. That is the most and they are not giving that anymore. Almost 50% of our store is now out looking for another job. Most are going to give Target a try. Please as a consumer, do not shop at Wal-Mart, it is not a USA minded company and the products are overpriced and inferior and some are dangerous.”

Lately workers have been telling us that Wal-Mart is using every means possible to cut worker hours, so last week we asked every worker we talk with if it’s happened to them. What we heard back is alarming.

In a weak economy, many businesses are cutting back. But what Wal-Mart’s doing is crossing the line.

We’ve heard from workers who were awarded their yearly raise, only to see their hours cut on the next schedule. We’ve heard of other workers who had their hours cut back just before their health care eligibility, and we’ve heard of older employees who are losing shifts to make way for younger, cheaper workers.

Read these and more at walmartspeakout.com.

From a worker who saw hours cut immediately after a getting a (minimum) yearly raise:

“I got the minimum raise in April during my second-year evaluation… During my evaluation, my assistant manager told me I shouldn’t expect full shifts any longer. They increased my pay, then slashed my hours so that my check is a fraction of what it used to be. The full-time sales associates in my department, other than the department manager, have been cut to 25-35 hours a week instead of 40. Who can make a living working for this company unless you are department manager?”

From a manager:

“Being a dept manager does NOT insure your hours.  We have been “asked” to take an xtra day off here and there and cut hours every other week.  I was thinking about stepping down at one point but found out that even though I am doing more then one person’s job I not only would lose my small raise for taking the dept but would probably lose up to a $1.50 more an hour for stepping down”

From a single mom:

“...If we choose to keep our schedule closed, we will have to drop to part-time or quit. They gave us two weeks to comply. Wal-Mart has signs up everywhere stating they are hiring and offer flexible hours. Not flexible for associates, but flexible for Wal-Mart!!! Now I am faced with trying to find a new job or a new babysitter that will work any hours. I have worked for Wal-Mart for 6 years and they keep taking more and more from us. While the CEO gets a 22 million bonus, we have to cut our hours and work what ever hours they want us to. They have us working 2pm till 11 pm twice a week. How can I find a babysitter for that shift?  In one of our morning meetings, an associate complained about something that was going on in the store and the co-manager told us, “if anyone doesn’t like the way the store is run, come into my office and I will show you how to complain in the unemployment line.” When we talked to our manager about the new schedule, he said “I only get to see my son one day every other week,why should you get anymore time with your kids.” Wal-Mart does not care about their associates.”

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