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December 20, 2002
Wal-Mart: Corporate Criminal II
Yesterday, a jury confirmed what labor activists have argued for years- Wal-Mart is a corporate criminal making it's profits by illegally breaking wage and labor laws:
In the lawsuit, 400 current and former employees from 18 stores in Oregon accused the company of violating federal and state wage laws by systematically pressuring them to work unpaid overtime.And this case is just one example, as Wal-Mart has been quietly settling other lawsuits by employees across the country:
In a class-action lawsuit in Colorado, Wal-Mart reportedly paid $50 million two years ago to settle a case involving 69,000 workers in that state. In another case, it agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a case covering 120 workers at one store, in Gallup, N.M.Check out the web site of the People's Campaign for Justice @ Wal-Mart for more information. For global organizing against Wal-Mart, also checkout the Wal-Mart page at Commerce UNI, the global trade union for commercial workers.
The Nation's Liza Featherstone has written a number of recent articles on general labor abuses and the treatment of women at Wal-Mart.
Globally, Wal-Mart's drive for low wages extends to contracting with sweatshops in developing nations that systematically violate human rights and workers rights. See Jim Hightower on "How Wal-Mart is Remaking our World" and details of its global abuses at the Maquila Solidarity Network .
Finally, see my original Wal-Mart: Corporate Criminal post on the company's union-busting across the country.
Posted by Nathan at December 20, 2002 08:00 AM
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Add this one to the list of Wal-Mart outrages:
The Company has been taking out life insurance policies on its low-level employees, banking on the death of these workers to pay off nicely in the long and wide run. One dead worker, for instance, gave the company a $64,000 windfall when he died of a heart attack in 1998. The family usually knows nothing about these "dead peasant policies" and is not a beneficiary. With no insurable interest, Wal-Mart is violating the laws in some states (like Texas). Nevertheless, Wal-Mart profits nicely from the certain deaths of their unusually older workforce, running sweeping periodic SSN searches on death certificates. On top of all this, Wal-Mart borrows the money to purchase these policies from the insurers -- and writes the whole thing off as a business expense for tax purposes!
Here's a URL for the story:
http://www.walmartwatch.com/info/internal.cfm?subsection_id=131&internal_id=350
Posted by: Jody at December 20, 2002 04:43 PM
The free enterprise system is under attack by the very most succesful, largest players: Corporations, investment Bankers, stock brokers etc who are bent on braking the rules while paying off regulators to look the other way.
It has taken a collapse of the economy and a flood of scandals for the so-called regulators to act in a half ass manner, with the purpose to window dress, rather than actually do substantial changes, in order to attract investors so that the big shots can get back at it.
Capitalism has proven to be the best system to allocate resources efficiently, but if the most powerful players use their muscle to brake its rules, sooner than later we're coming to the point where the lack of real competition is bringing us the authoritarian regime that is unfolding right in front of our eyes today.
Most people are unaware because the corporate media is owned by the larger corps who misinform in order to complete their hidden agenda.
Posted by: Zim at December 24, 2002 09:59 AM
Did you know that Walmart sent out 90,000 plus company newsletters to customers in NC praising Elizabeth Dole's charitable works just before the recent election for Senator. Several people are suing them. It got scant attention in the local newspapers who, of course, make money on ads. To my knowledge it got no mainstream media attention. Surprise, surprise. I am sure the FEC will push it under the carpet. I wish someone with clout could pursue it.
Posted by: John R. Noles at December 24, 2002 03:17 PM
I have sent two letters to this woman asking for help on my disability check. I am a 100% disabled vietnam veteran and am being taxed on my disability check from the Dept. of Defense. Thsi woman has not had the time to respond to my letters, the first one sent in January 2003. I can't beleive I voted for this uncaring person.
Posted by: Merlin Osepchook at May 14, 2003 10:16 AM
I have sent two letters to this woman asking for help on my disability check. I am a 100% disabled vietnam veteran and am being taxed on my disability check from the Dept. of Defense. Thsi woman has not had the time to respond to my letters, the first one sent in January 2003. I can't beleive I voted for this uncaring person.
Posted by: Merlin Osepchook at May 14, 2003 10:16 AM
Wal-Mart going to build in Milford, Connecticut?
Posted by: maryann at July 12, 2004 10:42 AM
