Ray Catania’s and James Alalem’s letter (5-28-13) shows they fail to understand something Walmart customers and associates already know; entry-level jobs often lead to bigger jobs. Our average hourly full-time wage for our 4,000 associates in Hawaii is $14.70 as
Ray Catania’s and James Alalem’s letter (5-28-13) shows they fail to understand something Walmart customers and associates already know; entry-level jobs often lead to bigger jobs. Our average hourly full-time wage for our 4,000 associates in Hawaii is $14.70 as of January 2013.
As Kauai Walmart’s store manager, I’ve seen firsthand how supportive our company is to associates. I’ve had the opportunity to build my career right here in Hawaii since starting 18 years ago as an hourly customer service manager in the Kailua-Kona store.
At Walmart, you can climb the ladder from a stocker to a department manager to a store manager and beyond. About 75 percent of our store management teams started as hourly associates just like me, and they earn between $50,000 and $250,000 a year – similar to the earnings of firefighters, accountants and even healthcare professionals.
Not only do our wages and benefits already meet or exceed most competitors, but in the past fiscal year alone, Walmart associates received more than $1.5 billion in bonuses, $800 million in 401(k) contributions and $550 million in savings via our 10 percent associate discount.
For these reasons and others, we have more than a quarter-million associates that have been with the company for 10 years or more. Last year we received more than 5 million applications to come work in our stores. Of those hired last year, 20 percent were rehires, meaning they worked for Walmart, left, but came back because they wanted to work for us again.
I am proud to work at Kauai Walmart. The company has given me and the thousands of employees here in Hawaii the opportunity to build a career. See for yourself at www.therealwalmart.com
Mr. Catania and Alalem also fail to mention that Walmart had no authorized production in any of the government-closed factories in Bangladesh, including at the site of the Rana Plaza tragedy.
Walmart believes that workers have the right to work in a safe environment, and companies and governments have a responsibility to help ensure appropriate factory working conditions.
We’ve taken a number of actions that meet or exceed other factory safety proposals. These include strengthening safety standards for factories, a zero-tolerance policy for unauthorized subcontracting, increased transparency, and requiring that in-depth safety audits and remediations be made to every factory directly producing product for us in Bangladesh, reflected in the cost of the goods that we buy.
We also believe there is a need to partner with other stakeholders to improve the standards for workers across the industry. Taking part in the development of a broader safety plan with other brands, retailers and the Bipartisan Policy Center, building upon our previously announced commitments, is part of that work.
• Crystal Fernandes is the store manager for Walmart in Lihue.
