• Robbing Hood Robbing Hood There is now more evidence that America’s largest retail employer has lost its moral compass. In its pursuit of profit, Wal-Mart is allegedly exploiting children and picking the pockets of its own low-paid workers. An
• Robbing Hood
Robbing Hood
There is now more evidence that America’s largest retail employer has lost its moral compass. In its pursuit of profit, Wal-Mart is allegedly exploiting children and picking the pockets of its own low-paid workers.
An internal audit at Wal-Mart three years ago reported extensive violations of child labor laws at 128 of its stores, according to a New York Times report this week. The audit found 1,371 instances in which children worked late into the night, during school hours, or too many hours in one day, according to the Times. That same audit found 75,000 instances in which adults worked improperly through breaks or meal times.
And what did senior Wal-Mart executives do in response to the audit? Nothing at all. A spokesman said the report – written by one of the chain’s own auditors – was untrue.
Also this week, a court in Oregon began the penalty phase of a case in which Wal-Mart is accused of forcing 134 employees to work overtime without pay. A year ago, a jury decided that Wal-Mart was guilty of the same offense. Some workers allegedly were locked inside the stores after punching out and urged to keep working off the clock. About 40 similar suits are awaiting trial around the country.
In October, the Justice Department rounded up about 300 illegal immigrants found cleaning Wal-Mart stores in 21 states. They were employees of Wal-Mart contractors. But the government said it had secretly recorded Wal-Mart executives, who knew what was going on.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents 1.4 million workers nationwide, says the company routinely fires and harrasses employees who want to unionize. In Texas, Wal-Mart closed a store meat department after workers voted to join a union.
It is too soon to know how many of the allegations about Wal-Mart are true. But the sheer volume and variety of complaints and charges suggest a pattern of disrespect for workers and for labor law at Wal-Mart.
American businesses are in it to make money, and that’s fine. The pursuit of wealth sparks innovation, risk-taking and efficiency. It also creates jobs.
Wal-Mart excels at making money. Its cold-eyed concentration on cost has made it the biggest retailer in America, with 1.2 million workers. Consumers benefit from Wal-Mart’s low prices. The company turned an $8.8 billion profit in the past 12 months and its stock is a perennial darling of Wall Street.
The problem comes when the pursuit of wealth becomes so single-minded that it blots out other fundamental values: honesty, fair play, paying a living wage, decent working conditions and respect for workers and for the law.
That trap has snared many executives during the corporate accounting scandals of the past two years. Although innocent employees suffered in the travails of Enron and its ilk, those deceptions were largely aimed at investors, who tended not to be working stiffs.
If Wal-Mart’s critics are correct, the chain’s behavior was morally worse: cheating people who have no money to lose – kids, janitors and store clerks – to enhance the corporate bottom line and executives’ pay and make shareholders happy. A Robin Hood in reverse.
American capitalism really isn’t just about making money. That is just the motivational grease. The system’s real purpose is to create good jobs and raise living standards for all Americans. You can’t do that by overworking children, taking advantage of immigrants and cheating employees.
Overtime lawsuits probably pose little threat to the profits of a company the size of Wal-Mart. Government enforcement of labor law is flaccid and fines are generally light. The real pressure for change at Wal-Mart must come from the public. Wal-Mart has succeeded so well because it is attentive to what its customers want. If shoppers become angry enough – and think with more than their wallets – Wal-Mart will change its behavior quickly.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
