XPost: alt.politics.usa.republican, atl.general, can.politics   
   XPost: soc.culture.african.american   
   From: pelosi@integrity.com   
      
   Though Wal-Mart employs more Americans than any other   
   organization in the U.S. besides the federal government, it   
   continues to have arguably one of the worst reputations in terms   
   of how it treats its employees.   
      
   Known for its low wages, which it says it pays employees in   
   order to continue offering its customers low prices, Wal-Mart   
   has made headlines in recent years for the various ways that   
   executives have mistreated the company’s employees.   
      
   As Wal-Mart employees have started to push back and form a union-   
   like group to fight for better working conditions, it’s become   
   increasingly clear just how staunchly anti-union the company is   
   and how far they are willing to go to prevent a third-party   
   intervention.   
      
   The multinational retailer’s official statement on unions is:   
   “At Wal-Mart, we respect the individual rights of our associates   
   and encourage them to express their ideas, comments and   
   concerns. Because we believe in maintaining an environment of   
   open communications, we do not believe there is a need for third-   
   party representation.”   
      
   Though the company is opposed to unions, its employees seem to   
   favor unionization, especially when Wal-Mart’s wages are so low   
   that workers struggle to escape poverty. Any time its employees   
   get too close to forming a union, however, the company   
   intervenes, likely because unionized workers earn about 25   
   percent more than their Wal-Mart counterparts.   
      
   Wal-Mart employees are currently fighting to earn at least   
   $25,000 per year.   
      
   Dubbed “a case study of what is wrong with American labor law”   
   by Human Rights Watch, Wal-Mart employees say they want to   
   unionize because the company engages in a slew of wrongful   
   activities such as denying bathroom breaks, denying promotions   
   to female employees and paying women less than men.   
      
   Since Wal-Mart has made it perfectly clear how it feels about   
   unions, anyone who decides to try to unionize is punished.   
      
   For example, after 51 percent of the associates at one Wal-Mart   
   store in Jonquiere, Quebec, voted to unionize, the first-ever   
   unionized Wal-Mart closed in April 2005, shortly after the   
   associates signed their union cards.   
      
   And when members of a Texas Wal-Mart’s meat-cutting department   
   formed a union in 2000, the company announced that meat-cutting   
   departments would be phased out of its stores nationwide.   
      
   While it may sound like a coincidence to some, in January,   
   Occupy Wall Street published internal training materials from   
   the retail giant, detailing how the company squashes its   
   associates’ attempts to unionize. Occupy Wall Street likely   
   obtained the documents via the online hacktivist group Anonymous.   
      
   Though it was known that “new employees are shown videotapes   
   explaining that instead of unionizing, they benefit from the   
   open door policy, allowing them to take their complaints beyond   
   the supervisors to higher management,” the leaked PowerPoint   
   slides detail just how fiercely Wal-Mart works to keep unions   
   out of its business.   
      
   For instance, one slide claims that groups such as OUR Walmart   
   are only looking to take the associates’ money from employees —   
   $5 a month — that Wal-Mart “takes care” of. But as Occupy Wall   
   Street pointed out, “Walmart actually costs tax-payers $900,000   
   a store in subsidies because they care so poorly for their   
   associates. Recently, a store Walmart held a food drive, for its   
   own workers who can’t afford to eat.”   
      
   As for the company’s “open door policy,” it only applies to one   
   worker at a time, meaning that Wal-Mart only deals with its   
   employees’ concerns and complaints on an individual basis and   
   doesn’t allow groups to lodge a complaint. When an employee does   
   have a conversation with a supervisor or higher-up official, if   
   the employee hints at wanting to unionize or asks about unions,   
   the supervisor is required to report that “activity” to the   
   company’s Labor Relations hotline immediately.   
      
   Supervisors were also told to look for “Early Warning Signs” of   
   unionization and for employees who are “[s]peaking negatively   
   about wages and benefits” or “ceasing conversations when   
   leadership approaches.”   
      
   “Walmart’s aggressive anti-worker campaign is real, it is ugly   
   and unnecessary,” said Dominic Ware of Leandro, Calif., an OUR   
   Walmart member and former associate. “Instead of spending money   
   on these misleading and false campaigns to intimidate workers   
   and their rights, Walmart should be focused on publicly   
   committing to improving jobs, raising wages and making sure that   
   workers are able to raise their concerns without fear of illegal   
   retaliation.”   
      
   http://www.mintpressnews.com/hackers-leak-walmarts-guide-silence-   
   workers/186159/   
      
         
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)