While you are out shopping for the hottest deals today, Walmart employees will be striking to bring attention to their lousy wages, unsafe working conditions, excessive hours, and sexual harassment. We all know Walmart “rolls back the prices” allowing products (largely made in China and/or sweatshops) to be sold at significantly cheaper prices than competitors. What most people do not know, or choose to ignore, is the manner in which Walmart employees are treated.
Largely sparked by Black Friday sales, employees are outraged at not having one day off to celebrate Thanksgiving. Many stores required employees to work on Thanksgiving in order to prepare for Black Friday. Of course this is happening in many stores around the country, Best Buy and Target for example, but Walmart employees have decided to come together and make a cry out to Walmart shoppers. For some reason, I doubt Walmart shoppers will understand. One employee stated “...my guess is the people who shop at Walmart might not be as motivated about these sorts of issues as other people.”
In a letter posted on Huffington Post, one Walmart employee, Toussaint Charbentier, explained that the strikes were not just a result having to work on Thanksgiving, but largely because of the 80% of employees that “rely on the government to survive.” According to Charbentier, the amount of money he makes in a year is close to what CEO, Michael Duke, makes in one hour. This disparity between wages becomes quite apparent when you look at the 80% of Walmart employees that rely on the government through food stamps, public housing, Medicare and Medicaid. A third of employees work less than 28 hours each week, excluding them from receiving company benefits.
Some credit this low pay to a lack of unions, Robert Reich claims employees have not had the means to fight low wages. By striking these employees are calling attention to the problem but this will not solve the problem. Walmart has filed claims with the National Labor Relations Board to pan the strikes, claiming the striking employees are working to gain “recognition for the United Food & Commercial Workers union.”
In our current economic state, many Walmart employees have no other option in terms of finding jobs. In many towns Walmart is one of the only options when it comes to employment. But, this goes farther than choosing to work at Walmart. Walmart has put many small retail business out of business, put their own suppliers into bankruptcy to “lower prices” and closed down stores where employees have attempted to organize unions. We should not be standing by encouraging this because we want to pay a few dollars less for something.
“...my guess is the people who shop at Walmart might not be as motivated about these sorts of issues as other people.”
ReplyDeleteI thought this quote was interesting. I'm guessing it is out of context, but I thought the person's assumption here was quite interesting. For Walmart shoppers to make enough of a statement on behalf of the strikers, large numbers of shoppers would have to boycott Walmart. Unfortunately, and not to stereotype, but I think we can safely assume that a majority of those who shop at Walmart need the cheap prices. Especially in this economy. Boycotting Walmart on behalf of the employees would just add many customers to the list of those on government aid.
That doesn't mean nothing should be done on behalf of the employees. I just think looking to raise awareness amongst customers will do little. It might work with a store that sells expensive antiques and the like, as the rich who would most likely shop there could take the hit and boycott with little effect on their personal bank balance. Walmart is a different story. Now I don't know the context of the quote, but I would like to say that I don't think people that shop at Walmart are unmotivated about the issue. I think many of them may not have a choice themselves.
I'm really glad you wrote this post. In addition to the poor treatment of its employees, Walmart had less than half of its employees in its health insurance plan, compared with 67% for the average large employer. Walmart spends so much money protecting and polishing its image. Instead of trying to mask and hide its corruption, it should use that money to better the lives of its employees, which will inevitably help its image. It's discrimination against women, unfair pay, no pay for overtime, forcing employees to work on Thanksgiving are only a small fraction of all the problems associated with this monstrous company. But, what/who can stop them?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Simple Wisdom. While it is great that Walmart employees are making their voice heard through the strike, I feel that the people who shop at Walmart regularly are not in the position to really do much. People rely on the low prices at Walmart because they cannot afford to go to a nicer store. I would argue that the amount of shoppers who are on government aid would be around the same amount of workers who are on government aid. It is unfortunate that they must work on Thanksgiving, but so does nearly everyone who works in retail. Its just the name of the game. While I think the workers should be treated better, they need to find a more productive solution than walking out.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Simply Wisdom and would also add that many who shop at Walmart are not only part of a class that can not afford to boycott, but also that Walmart is a place where many go to get basic necessary goods they need everyday. Its not just clothes but food, water, diapers, tylenol and basic medicine. For many people a boycott would mean an even lower quality of life. Its upsetting to think about the cycle this creates. The people who work at Walmart will continue to struggle because they are not making a decent income, but if boycotts occur shoppers will suffer as well. The disparities between CEO's and workers is not unique to Walmart either and it is only worse in developing countries. It seems the cycle doesn't end there. In order for Walmart to sell products for such cheap prices, they need to hire the cheapest possible labor to create these products so many of the things sold at Walmart are being produced by workers making only cents per day and unable to afford numerous basic needs. In my opinion this problem is not just about the poverty level in America, its about the global challenges that workers salaries, globalization and a free market pose.
ReplyDeleteCompanies like Walmart should be a more willing to support/ meet their employee's demands. The way things seem to be going, Walmart will have to give up the money it doesn't want to give up. Either they will have to increase the wages slightly or allow their taxes to increase to support social programs such as welfare. It seems like the ball is in their court.
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