LISSA’S: Wal-Mart’s Wages Increase in China, Rollback in US

Wal-Mart is raising wages for its employees -- in China, that is. Yes, the labor union representing Wal-Mart's Chinese workforce won yet another fight against Wal-Mart, successfully negotiating for an 8 percent raise for 2008 and 2009 as well as setting terms for paid vacation, social security, and overtime. This comes at a time when China's economy is booming, and demands for higher wages and better benefits are being pushed by none other than the Chinese government. Meanwhile, as the U.S. economy falters and Wal-Mart benefits, Wal-Mart's U.S. hourly workers are experiencing nothing short of a wage "rollback."

Sadly, wages for the average hourly U.S. Wal-Mart employee have actually fallen when adjusted for inflation. In 2004, Wal-Mart reported an average (Wal-Mart refuses to disclose a median wage which would provide a more accurate picture of wages at the company) hourly wage of $9.68. In 2008, the reported wage is $10.86. But in 2004 dollars, the average hourly wage is $9.55, which means workers are worse off today than they were four years ago. So, while the price of gas, food and health care are rising, Wal-Mart employees' wages are falling.

Even when not accounting for inflation, Wal-Mart's "average" disclosed hourly wage puts a family of four below the federal poverty line. In light of the fact that "full-time" work for Wal-Mart employees is often 34 hours a week, this means the "average" hourly worker earns only about $19,200 annually. Plus, starting wages at the company's stores are often much lower than the "average hourly wage."

So, it is no wonder that Wal-Mart employees top the public assistance rolls for Medicaid, SCHIP and other programs. But instead of actually raising wages to help employees lift themselves out of poverty, Wal-Mart chooses to get credit for telling them about how to get more government assistance. Case in point, just a few weeks ago, Wal-Mart came out in support of legislation that would require large employers to notify their employees about the availability of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Wal-Mart would never disclose how many of its employees likely qualify for this poverty-alleviating tax option, but given Wal-Mart's low wages, it is likely to be a sizeable number.

This is all happening in the context of an American economy that continues to decline while Wal-Mart's revenue continues to rise higher than ever. The company was again crowned the largest company in the world by Forbes, and has continued to outperform its retail competitors as shoppers trade down. The Walton family -- who control 43% of Wal-Mart stock through the Helen Walton Family Group -- earned close to $29 billion just on the increase in Wal-Mart stock prices during the previous seven months (November 2007 to June 2008) alone. The relationship between the Walton family and Wal-Mart workers is a stark example of the old adage that while the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.

We don't begrudge Wal-Mart raising wages at its stores in China (the employees there certainly need it) and it's also appropriate for the company to inform its employees about issues such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. But the company's U.S. employees need higher wages now more than ever.

Instead of perpetuating a cycle of poverty among its workers with a low wage, poor benefit business model, it is time Wal-Mart consider a meaningful wage increase for its hourly U.S. employees who are struggling just to make ends meet for their families. Wal-Mart can and should do better for its 1.4 million U.S. workers.

source: The Huffington Post

LISSA’S: Discounted Employees

Discounted employees

Wal-Mart's appalling labour practices mean it's getting rich at the expense of workers and their families

Wal-Mart, the world's largest private employer, now employs over 1.3 million Americans. Globally, more than two million people are now Wal-Martees, and several million more are dependent on these employees. Millions also make their livelihoods by selling their products, albeit at rock-bottom prices, to Wal-Mart. In America the only employer with more clout than this overgrown supermarket chain is the federal government. The company has annual revenues three times larger than California's state budget, profits bigger than the GDP of many small developing nations and the clout to set its own purchasing prices and drive competitors out of business by undercutting them with consumers.

This is all bad - very bad. I'm not going to try to make the argument that all big corporations are, by definition, problematic. For better or worse, we live in a corporate world. Unless we want to dedicate our lives to living some back-to-land dream, for the foreseeable future most of us are going to spend a significant portions of our incomes shopping at one megastore or another.

No, the reason it's bad that Wal-Mart is so extraordinarily dominant (and, arguably, the reason why Wal-Mart is so dominant in the first place) is that the company has appalling labour practices.

The monitoring group Wal-Mart Watch has reported stories of employees refused bathroom breaks, forced to work off-the-clock overtime and punished for attempting to unionise their fellow employees.

In recent weeks, I've spoken with employees who have been with the company nearly a decade and still make only about $10 per hour. Huge numbers of Wal-Mart workers earn far less, scraping by on as little as $7 an hour.

Many are technically part-time, because if they're listed as not working a full 40-hour work week they don't qualify for health insurance for the first year of employment. Afterwards, when the benefits kick in, Wal-Mart removes a startlingly high percentage of the already-low wages to help cover the costs of the insurance. In other words, while Wal-Mart claims to provide most of its employees with health insurance, in reality the employees themselves are paying much of the bill.

One 58-year-old woman I spoke with brings home, in a good month, just over $1,100 after taxes. Out of this, over $100 is removed for health insurance. If the insurance she got for this was comprehensive, that wouldn't be so bad. But it's not. She has to pay the first $1,000 of her medical bills each year before her insurance kicks in, and after that she still has to pay $20 for every doctor's visit and $20 for most prescriptions. So, she has health insurance, but she can only really afford to use it for emergencies. Other employees pay less that her per month in premiums, but their deductibles are even higher - having to pay upwards of $2,500 before the insurance kicks in.

How far does a $1,000 take-home paycheque go today? Well, figure that even in a depressed rural community, $350 is about as low as you can go for rent or a mortgage, or even for paying to use a trailer lot space. Heating is going to run you about $100 a month. Utilities, including phone charges, another $100. Since a car is pretty much a necessity in most of the small towns and outer-burbs where Wal-Mart sets up shop, add in $100 a month for basic car insurance. If you're paying off the car, your payments will be at least $100 a month. Then there's gas. At current prices, even someone not driving more than a few miles a day to and from work is likely spending close to $100 a month on gas.

That leaves about $150 for food, basic household items like toilet paper, dish soap and shampoo, clothing, medical bills, the paying off of credit card debt and entertainment.

What gives? Well, first off goes entertainment. If you're working a low-wage job in America today, even going to the movies is increasingly an impossibility.

Then you go without new clothes. Then medicines. Sure, you might need your blood pressure pills or you'll likely have a heart attack or stroke down the road, but who can plan that far ahead when you have to make a few dollars and change last the month. Many end up giving up their insurance altogether, banking on the fact that they are paid so little they can qualify for state Medicaid coverage or hoping, against hope, that they don't get sick.

Finally, you start skipping meals. Recently, I've interviewed Wal-Mart employees who never eat breakfast, who take low-grade sandwiches to work for lunch and crack open a discount can of soup for dinner. They buy fruit if it's on sale at one or another discount market. Occasionally they treat themselves to low-grade meat for dinner.

Wal-Mart has annual revenues of over $351bn, and last year made over $11bn in profit. On the assumption an average employee works close to 40 hours a week, it could pay every one of its two million employees an extra two dollars an hour (translating to roughly $4,000 more per year, per employee) and still end up with nearly $4bn in profit each year. That's close to $1.5bn more than the 2007 profit level of Target, its closest rival in the all-in-one department store business and a company known for paying its workers more than Wal-Mart does.

The extra money would raise hundreds of thousands of workers out of lives of poverty, would allow them to afford healthcare and to buy enough food to feed themselves and their families.

Don't hold your breath on this happening anytime soon. But, next time you shop at Wal-Mart, remember that many of those who serve you probably don't make enough money to properly feed and clothe their families.

source: guardian unlimited

LISSA’S: A Contributing Factor in America’s Recession/Depression

Wal-Mart Reaches 2 Million Workers

Imagine Houston being populated only by Wal-Mart workers.

Houston proper, with its population of just over 2 million, has about the same number of people as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. now employs worldwide.

Put another way, if a city had only families of four and one member of each household worked at Wal-Mart, that would be a perfect fit with the 8 million-strong population of New York City, a market Wal-Mart happens to covet.

During a recorded call with investors Tuesday, Wal-Mart President and CEO Lee Scott mentioned offhandedly that the company now has more than 2 million "associates," as Wal-Mart terms its employees. Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe confirmed in an interview that Wal-Mart had reached the milestone.

The world's largest retailer is also the world's largest private employer. The company has about 1.3 million U.S. workers. As of April 30, Bentonville-based Wal-Mart had 7,343 units - 4,195 in the U.S. and 3,148 in its international division, which includes Puerto Rico.

source: Arkansas Business

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart - Always The Low Paycheck

Wal-Mart's same store sales were up 2.6 percent in April, but it's top executives are warning of a slower May.

The problem: Too many people are living paycheck to paycheck amid an economic slump.

"The economy continues to get tougher and the 'paycheck cycle' is more pronounced for customers than in past months," U.S. stores chief Eduardo Castro-Wright said Thursday. "As money gets tighter for them toward the end of the month, sales drop more than we have seen in the past."

The average Wal-Mart employee, meanwhile, makes less than $20,000 a year, according to the Wal-Mart gadfly group, Wal-Mart Watch.

"Wal-Mart's labor practices have contributed to the nation's weakened economy," said Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director David Nassar. "The company refuses to pay its 1.4 million U.S. workers a living wage - often forcing them to live in poverty and on public assistance."

Yes, but at least they have jobs, and they can still afford to shop at Wal-Mart.

source: The Denver Post

LISSA’S: YAY!! Good for her!!

Clemson woman allegedly acts out during Wal-Mart termination process

ANDERSON — A Clemson woman is facing charges of going "postal" at Wal-Mart in Anderson, causing $2,800 in damage when store managers terminated her from her job in the store’s delicatessen.

Shanay Buie allegedly became upset about 3:30 p.m. Friday at 3812 Liberty Hwy.

"She returned to the deli and threw 2 chickens at 2 customers," according to the incident report. "At that time, she also threw on the ground 2 printers worth about $1,000 each. She also threw to the ground 2 sets of dishes worth about $400 a set."

An arrest has not been made, according to records at the Anderson City Jail.

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart’s Poor Customer Service Has Got to Go

Wal-Mart's Poor Customer Service Has Got to Go



Wal-Mart's 4Q sales report highlights many of the problems facing the company: market saturation in the U.S., continuing problems with apparel and home goods and a weak economy that has customers using holiday gift cards to buy food.



Add to that: poor customer service. Wal-Mart scored the lowest of any retailer on the American Customer Satisfaction Index from the University of Michigan, earning it the title of "Worst Customer Service in America." This is the second time Wal-Mart has earned the title in the last three years. The retailer's grocery department has been at the bottom of the list every year since ACSI started tracking in 2004. An article from Bloomberg News went on to note that Wal-Mart's poor product quality has also hurt its customer satisfaction rate.

In an interview on CNBC, Claes Fornell of University of Michigan's Business School explains that Wal-Mart's poor customer service record is only going to hurt, especially in a period when retailers are already losing customers.



Having lost the battles on merchandise quality and customer satisfaction, Wal-Mart is left competing on price alone. This is certainly one of Wal-Mart's strongest attributes and one which might serve the retailer well in a period of economic weakness. But it means customers are only too eager to abandon the retailer whenever economically possible.

If it intends to stay competitive, Wal-Mart must improve its customer service, and that can only happen if it improves the way it treats its employees. Wal-Mart's personnel practices only compound problems with store format and product quality. Low wages, poor health care, erratic scheduling for store employees and years of union-busting have made Wal-Mart a leader in employee turnover and, once again, poor customer service.



source: Seeking Alpha

LISSA’S: Confessions of an abused Wal-Mart customer

We've recently added a person to our friend's list that has been (repeatedly) abused by the Wal-Mart system and its associates. It all started out that she posted a bulletin in anger about her bad experience at her local Wal-Mart. Here's the bulletin:

Date: Feb 15, 2008 6:25 PM

I recently bought a tv for my bedroom for Walmart. I am barely in the bedroom and mostly use the tv in the living room which is a larger tv but I wanted something cheap for the bedroom that I could watch sometimes before going to bed or when waking up or cleaning, etc.. Well the tv that I bought is an Emerson 20" Flat screen sdtv that was on sale for $130 at Walmart. It only worked for two weeks and died, I only used it maybe 100-200 minutes in the ENTIRE two weeks. I mostly use my living room televsion. I felt so stupid because I somehow lost the receipt but kept the box. I had it folded down in my walk in closet just taking extra space but I knew that I better keep the box for a while just in case something bad happened and well it did. On day 14, yesterday I called Walmart and talked to a manager who said without the receipt I could not return or exchange it. The night manager didn't even want to exchange it at all or even deal with me which was a nightmare and scared me because I thought I had lost all that money! I was about it tears, I was so upset about it. Especially since everyone knows me by name at this Walmart, I shop there sooooo much! I was so upset because I had the box and the tv was barely used and broken, I felt robbed. The next day which is this morning btw.. I called the same Walmart and talked to a different manager who said that they can look the serial number up from the box and return it that way but I HAD to know the exact day that I bought it in order for them to look it up in the computer. I knew that I bought it on FEB1 and so they looked it up and found it in the computer register. I was allowed to exchange it for another one just like it. I had bought the last one two weeks ago but LUCKILY they got more stock in a few days ago. I was so thankful that I was able to return it! They said that I got lucky because TODAY WAS THE LAST DAY that I can return it because they only give a 15 day return on computers and TV's.. I am sooooo thankful but also nervous because I hope that this tv will last longer then two weeks. I am testing the tv heavily right now, even though I am not using it to make sure that it will not break in a few weeks.. I guess you pay for what you get but I have bought some good Emerson products before. Also btw Emerson states on the box and manual that it is a manufatures 1 YR warranty but when I called Emerson they were not wanting to issue that warranty. I had called them after I was turned down by Walmart the first time so that is not good that they were not going to honor it. Right now I have 15 days to see if this NEW tv is going to work for me and not go out.. I hope so! The tv scared me because it was making a loud popping noise and the picture was blinking on and off and getting faster and faster.. That is really strange! I called Walmart just a few minutes ago to ask a different manager because I was so curious why I was being told different information. I asked about the return policy on TV's and this lady said that they cannot return it at all without the receipt. It is driving me crazy that NO ONE from Walmart seems to know what they are talking about. The first manager said that they couldn't look the serial online which was a blunt lie because I was able to exchange my tv today with talking to a different manager. I wish that they were all trained to know what they are talking about but no one seems to have the right answer. I guess all managers are different, if one turns you down then you should try a different one. I really thank God for being able to get this replacement just in time.. I know that it is only $140 total but that is still a lot of money for a barely used tv and a lot of work with me having to lift it down stairs by myself and drive it back to the store. I just don't think that there employees nor managers are trained to know what they are talking about. Even customer service associates have to look on there wall to see return info and when asking them you would think that it is there first day there. I know more about Walmart's products and return info then most or all of the employees and that is quite rediculous... Has anyone else had a similar story? I know so many people that refuse to step foot in Walmart and I also know several people who love Walmart because of there low low prices.. I like it because I can shop there at night when everything else is closed. Everyone at night knows me at my local Walmart... I also like it because there carry the Lucy barbies! Sometimes I think that I really like Walmart but then other times I get fed up with there employees because they don't know anything and don't seem trained right and that makes me not want to shop there. I guess you have to sacrifce service for low prices.. What do you guys think..

Just so you know, she is being lied to. I know first hand the way Wal-Mart works. If they scan a tv out by using a serial number, you can look it up by serial number. It doesn't matter which store you bought it at. Any store can look it up. You don't even have to have a date. You look it up by manufacturer and serial number. It is stored on the Wal-Mart corporate computer for one year. For them to tell her that is just a plain lie.

Also, the Wal-Mart policy for returns in Electronics: 15 days for MP3 players, computers and anything with internal memory. 30 days for cameras and camcorders. 45 days for computer parts. 90 days for televsions, dvd players and all other electronics. The only exception is a Sanyo brand television. Sanyo has a deal with Wal-Mart that their televisions have a 365 day return policy. You can return any Sanyo tv to ANY Wal-mart up to a year after purchase.

Again another lie to her.

The only time they need a date, they need the date, time and register. That is so they can pull up the receipt for the purchase.

Third lie to her was that you needed a receipt. Wal-Mart corporate policy does not make you have to have a receipt. They know many people get mad at Target because of their strict return policies. So, Wal-Mart maintains a policy that is far more simplified. No receipts are necessary. It goes with their "The customer is always right" motto. Therefore a customer can return anything with just their signature and driver's license. I have personally seen things come back to Wal-Mart with K-Mart logos on it. I have seen generic food from other local grocery stores returned to Wal-Mart. How can you have a receipt if you bought it at a different store?

On returning items, your first mistake is going in when the service desk is closed. This makes it a manager's decision on whether or not to accept the item. Managers are trained to always have a scapegoat. They rarely make a final decision when it comes to a customer. They want an associate to do it. Then if a problem arises from the transaction, they can blame the associate, covering their tail.

Well the story for this lady doesn't stop there! She posts a second bulletin:

I have now received two very very nasty messages about my last post about Walmart. I absolutely had no intentions of hurting or offending anyone when I decided to place that bulletin. I had no clue that people could be so cruel and judgemental. Those messages were just totally un called for and not fair. Please do not email me threats and hurtful messages because I do care about all of my friends and it upsets me that those people took it so personally. I was just posting my experience it was not to hurt anyone nor employees of Walmart so I do apologize if I did offend anyone but again those messages were so un called for.

Curious about this situation (and knowing how rude Wal Mart associates can get), I emailed her and asked her about the threats. This is what she had to say:

I had one girl that emailed me and with some very rude comments.. Gosh I did not think my bulletin would be that harmful! A girl who claims to work at Walmart who btw is 20 years old just really cursed me and told me that Walmart does not need my business, etc.. I have fowarded the message below. I have begged people not to critisize me for my opinions because I am not trying to hurt anyone. Why do people have to be so cruel.... Here is the message below..



"... you're very rude and inconsiderate. I work @ Wal*Mart and am very good at my job and what I do. & I have a feeling that everyone at night that knows you at your local Wal*Mart would wish that they did not know you after the things that you wrote. If ya know more about the return information then people that actually work at Wal*Mart then ya should have known to keep your receipt. Especially4an expensive purchase come on that is common knowledge. It workz that way at most storez not just Wal*Mart. & trust me Wal*Mart employees do not care if people like you take your business elsewhere. We have plenty of smart customerz that we can afford to not have the dumb onez shopping there."

Okay, as a former Wal Mart Associate, I know the policy "The Customer is Always Right". This "associate" that just down talked this customer is very typical. This is the kind of Customer Service that Wal-Mart is now known for. Wal-Mart has brought in so much money, they could care less about customer service, which is why the associate told this customer "Wal*Mart employees do not care if people like you take your business elsewhere. We have plenty of smart customerz that we can afford to not have the dumb onez shopping there."

Let's think about this phrase the next time we step into a Wal-Mart!

LISSA’S: Wal Mart’s Employee Morale, Customer Service At An All Time Low

Business Week sent a couple of its own "secret shoppers" to some Wal-Mart stores to see how their new customer service initiative was faring, and found that the employees they spoke with not only didn't care, but really wanted customers to know this. Said one employee, "If Wal-Mart doesn't care for me, why should I care? There was this horrible smell in the store the last two days from some overnight spill. They did nothing about it. It got so bad that on the second day the fire department came by and we all had to wear masks."

Despite that mysterious anecdote, all three stores Business Week sampled scored high on cleanliness. The big failure in all three, however, was customer service, which continues to nose-dive due to poor morale:

As the experience with the cashier in Uniondale illustrates, many of Wal-Mart's workers feel outright hostility toward the company, and, by extension, they often treat customers with indifference or worse. That puts Wal-Mart in a box. Without reasonable service, the company is forced to compete almost solely on price. That in turn squeezes margins and makes it difficult to pay employees the better wages and benefits that could boost morale. It's a vicious cycle that now appears to be working against Wal-Mart.

LISSA'S: Think Wal Mart cares? Think again...

Seven years ago, a semi-trailer plowed into the driver's side of Deborah Shank's minivan.

The 52-year-old Missouri Wal-Mart employee and devoted mother of three suffered permanent brain damage. Today she lives in a nursing home for round-the clock care, unable to walk, feed or dress herself.

As the Wall Street Journal reported on November 20, it's a tragic story - but it gets worse:

"Wal-Mart started out as one of the good guys in this story, paying almost $470,000 of Shank's initial medical bills. But three years after Shank's husband sued and settled with the semi driver's employer, the retail giant changed hats. It demanded every penny back, plus interest and legal fees -- more, in fact, than the $417,477 the settlement had placed in a special trust fund specifically for Shank's future health care expenses."

Wal-Mart sued a permanently brain-damaged woman out of her medical care funds. Thanks to her former employer - the world's largest retailer - Deborah's family is sinking deeper into debt and Deborah will be completely dependent on Medicaid and Social Security for a lifetime of medical care.

Wal-Mart's actions are horribly unethical and morally bankrupt, but the company says it's legal - and it's right about that.

As the Wall Street Journal explains:

The reason is a clause in Wal-Mart's health plan that Mrs. Shank didn't notice when she started stocking shelves at a nearby store eight years ago. Like most company health plans, Wal-Mart's reserves the right to recoup the medical expenses it paid for someone's treatment if the person also collects damages in an injury suit.

In cases like the Shanks', where injuries and medical costs are catastrophic, accident victims sometimes can be left with little or none of the money they fight for in court. Company health plans are increasingly adopting language such as Wal-Mart's, which dictates that it is to be paid first out of any settlement, regardless of what remains for the injured person. Moreover, the victim is responsible for all legal costs in pursuing the suit.

Last year the U.S. District Court sided with Wal-Mart over the Shank family - making its ruling just six days before Deborah Shank's 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed while serving in Iraq.

The decision has forced Deborah's family to take drastic measures. Earlier this year, her husband divorced her because of advice from a health care administrator, who said that she would qualify for more public assistance as a single woman.

The Shanks aren't gold-diggers. They are an honest, hard-working American family trying to deal with a catastrophic event, and now they're doing it with an empty wallet - thanks to Wal-Mart.

This holiday season, Wal-Mart rolled out a new slogan: "Save money. Live better."

But who lives better with Wal-Mart's low prices? Clearly, it isn't Wal-Mart employees like Deborah Shank.

LISSA’S: What Do Wal Mart Employees Have To Be Thankful For?

What do Wal-Mart's employees have to be thankful for this season? Perhaps not as much as they would like. The company's health care plan is still far short of the beneficial panacea the company would have us believe, and store employees are working harder than ever as the retailer continues to understaff stores. 1.6 million current and former Wal-Mart employees still await the outcome of the landmark class action Dukes v. Wal-Mart, and workers in Wal-Mart's supplier factories are working overtime in inhumane conditions to meet the company's holiday demands.

Wal-Mart executives can't be happy, either. The company's "green" report -- a thinly veiled marketing ploy - recieved a critical response from environmentalists and didn't win over critics as the company hoped it would. Wal-Mart's stock continues to decline, and shareholders are becoming increasingly impatient with the company's superficial attempts to solve its reputational issues.

So what can we be thankful for this year? We can still come together to try to change these things about Wal-Mart, and improve its behavior as the largest corporation in the world. Become one of the thousands of people working to make Wal-Mart a better corporate citizen.