Wal-Mart Faces at Least $62M in Damages

[a1aara]

Wal-Mart Faces at Least $62M in Damages

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A state jury found Thursday that Wal-Mart broke Pennsylvania labor laws by forcing employees to work through rest breaks and off the clock, a decision plaintiffs' lawyers said would result in at least $62 million in damages.

Jurors will return Friday to determine damages in the class-action lawsuit, which covers up to 187,000 hourly current and former workers.

"I think it reinforces that this company's sweatshop mindset is a serious problem, both legally and morally," said Chris Kofinis, a spokesman for WakeUpWalMart.com, a union-funded effort to improve working conditions at the stores.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant is facing a slew of similar suits around the country.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/ ... TE=DEFAULT

[Lightning Bolt]

Interesting, and not surprising.

Their shrug-off of longtime U.S.-standardized workplace regulations
would make you think that their employees (and not just their sweatshop manafacturers) were ALSO CHINESE

[ragtopW]

Interesting, and not surprising.

Their shrug-off of longtime U.S.-standardized workplace regulations
would make you think that their employees (and not just their sweatshop manafacturers) were ALSO CHINESE

If they were alone it would be shocking.. trust me there are a lot of other employers that have some things that could change..

[NotJust64]

I can tell you from personal experience that I worked for Wal-Mart for 4yrs in what started as a Mgt. position. I was treated like crap. I was told to take 3-4 hr lunch breaks on Fridays if I had overtime. We were told to "zone" the store until the wee hours of the night, which basically meant clean it. We weren't allowed out of the store until the Store Mgt. opened the locked front door. You couldn't even fight them on this because they had the key, it was retail kidnapping. Some of us would actually walk out the alarm doors and tell them to stick it. I was demoted from my mgt. position to a cashier because of a high risk pregnancey, told I was unproductive because I couldn't perform to my capability.
I hope the workers get all they can from this Retail rapist .

[pbans]

I can tell you from personal experience that I worked for Wal-Mart for 4yrs in what started as a Mgt. position. I was treated like crap. I was told to take 3-4 hr lunch breaks on Fridays if I had overtime. We were told to "zone" the store until the wee hours of the night, which basically meant clean it. We weren't allowed out of the store until the Store Mgt. opened the locked front door. You couldn't even fight them on this because they had the key, it was retail kidnapping. Some of us would actually walk out the alarm doors and tell them to stick it. I was demoted from my mgt. position to a cashier because of a high risk pregnancey, told I was unproductive because I couldn't perform to my capability.
I hope the workers get all they can from this Retail rapist .

my son works for Sam's Club....basically the same thing....they treat their employees like sh*t.....I'm amazed at some of the things he talks about...and his store is one of the "good" ones....

[Lightning Bolt]

If they were alone it would be shocking.. trust me there are a lot of other employers that have some things that could change..

my son works for Sam's Club....basically the same thing....they treat their employees like sh*t.....I'm amazed at some of the things he talks about...and his store is one of the "good" ones....

...and these would just be more typical stories of crappy jobs, but this the store that has the audacity to pass itself off as "AMERICA'S STORE"

soon enough... change will be a' comin'!

[flyboy55]

Walmart's days are numbered. Their business plan will not survive in the era of expensive oil.

Their supply lines for manufactured goods are thousands of miles long, and getting longer as they keep sourcing their product lines further and further away in search of cheap labor.

But one cost they won't be able to control is the transportation expense of shipping cheap toasters from Mongolia when oil goes over $100 per barrel and keeps on going. So instead of paying $12 for that Mongolian toaster, you'd end up paying more like $40 or $50 except nobody will bother.

WalMart's ability to compete in the domestic market with goods manufactured 10,000 miles away is based on cheap foreign labor and cheap oil. Without the cheap oil they will no longer be able to access cheap foreign labor.

More manufacturing will be done close to where the energy for it is produced, especially when that energy is derived from nuclear/wind/hydro/solar generated power that isn't easily transported in huge tanker ships like oil currently is.

I would hang on to those Mongolian toasters, though. In twenty years they are going to be exotic collectors items you can show your grandchildren.

[weirdo0521]

There are many pros/cons to not joining a union or stores not hiring union people. This is one of the cons of not being in a union.

[SharkOnLand]

I would hang on to those Mongolian toasters, though. In twenty years they are going to be exotic collectors items you can show your grandchildren.

**runs out to buy a Mongolian toaster**

[Dezdmona]

If they were alone it would be shocking.. trust me there are a lot of other employers that have some things that could change..

Agreed...my husband works for a large company whose stock is part of the DOW Index, yet they had him working 10-12 hour days 6 days a week (one weekend a month off) for years without overtime pay.

Eventually, he was allowed to take a weekday off when he worked a weekend day, but still had to work the long hours without extra compensation or time off.
(He's finally moved to a different division that isn't so abusive.)

While Wal-Mart gets alot of grief, they aren't the only company whose employees work long hours without compensation.

[12vmanRick]

Walmart the largest thief of private property in the USA!