One more reason to dis-like Wal-mart

[jon1856]

Teens at Work

Thousands of adolescents work as unpaid baggers in Wal-Mart’s Mexican stores. The retail giant isn’t breaking any laws—but that doesn’t mean the government is happy with the practice.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20056614/site/newsweek/

[AlethiaSi]

Originally Posted by jon1856

Teens at Work

Thousands of adolescents work as unpaid baggers in Wal-Mart’s Mexican stores. The retail giant isn’t breaking any laws—but that doesn’t mean the government is happy with the practice.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20056614/site/newsweek/

sigh. that is so awful and yet unsurprising. Volunteers my *ss. I try very hard not to shop there because of their treatment of their workers and their non-unionization policies. It's hard not to sometimes when it's the only thing in town, but I avoid it nonetheless, I'd much rather go to a local shop.

[sageofages]

Originally Posted by AlethiaSi

sigh. that is so awful and yet unsurprising. Volunteers my *ss. I try very hard not to shop there because of their treatment of their workers and their non-unionization policies. It's hard not to sometimes when it's the only thing in town, but I avoid it nonetheless, I'd much rather go to a local shop.

At least in the US you can not "volunteer" for a FOR-profit company. I won a judgement/settlement against a company (in Des Moines run by a professor at a local prestigious university) that tried to screw me out of some $$ based on this.

[Drolefille]

Eh, yeah they COULD pay the baggers. But I think that Mexico should change the laws before expecting a corporation to be "better" than what their own country expects. You can't really get upset at a company doing something entirely legal without blaming the people who made the situation possible in the first place. And if there's not support for changing the law (So that teens can make extra money for their families by working strictly for tips) then that is also not Walmart's fault.

I'm willing to bet that paying the baggers will lead to increased prices in Mexico. This of course comes down to the essence of the Walmart argument. People want those low prices. They don't want the prices at Walmart to go up and they don't want to stop shopping there, but they want wages and benefits to go up. That's an ineffective way to get a point across to a business.

I'm not saying there aren't plenty of people who won't/don't shop at Walmart, but the parking lots are always packed around here so clearly they aren't hurting for business.

[Still BLUTANG]

isn't this how most grocery baggers operate? I always thought they worked for tips only.

i know times have changed, but when i was in HS it was a big deal to get a job bagging at the commissary b/c people tipped so well!

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by Still BLUTANG

isn't this how most grocery baggers operate? I always thought they worked for tips only.

i know times have changed, but when i was in HS it was a big deal to get a job bagging at the commissary b/c people tipped so well!

In my experience, grocery stores that have baggers pay them. Walmarts around here have the cashier bag the groceries, and that's pretty normal too. Some stores don't have baggers and community groups can volunteer to bag groceries as a fundraiser. And a few don't have baggers or bags and that's how you save money (I <3 Aldi)

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

In my experience, grocery stores that have baggers pay them. Walmarts around here have the cashier bag the groceries, and that's pretty normal too. Some stores don't have baggers and community groups can volunteer to bag groceries as a fundraiser. And a few don't have baggers or bags and that's how you save money (I <3 Aldi)

My brother's first job in high school was as a grocery bagger, and the store he worked for did not allow the baggers to accept tips (they not only bagged the groceries, but they took them out to the car for you as well).

[sageofages]

Originally Posted by Still BLUTANG

isn't this how most grocery baggers operate? I always thought they worked for tips only.

i know times have changed, but when i was in HS it was a big deal to get a job bagging at the commissary b/c people tipped so well!

The military commissary is a whole other animal when it comes to the grocery world. NOTHING like "on the economy" supermarkets....

ah the memories of "payday" at the commissary....trolling the parking lot over and over again to find a parking space....waiting patiently for a cart and then waiting to check out....lines and more lines...

[OneTimeSBX]

http://www.lamanaphotography.com/walmart2.htm

[AlethiaSi]

holy crap. that. is. insane.
does NOT surprise me though.
i'm posting this in facebook and sending it out.... wow.

[OneTimeSBX]

Originally Posted by AlethiaSi

holy crap. that. is. insane.
does NOT surprise me though.
i'm posting this in facebook and sending it out.... wow.

got a little nauseous towards the end there... i just kept scrolling, hoping it would just STOP already...

[AlethiaSi]

I know this article is kind of old, but I just found it and thought it was interesting.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/arti...ticle_5087.cfm

Regulators Slap Wal-Mart for Misleading Organic Consumers

• Regulators Slap Wal-Mart for Misleading Organic Consumers
  By Cornucopia Insttute
  May 8, 2007
  Straight to the Source
  
  

CORNUCOPIA, WI: Consumer fraud investigators in the state of Wisconsin released their findings this week after a three-month long investigation into allegations that Wal-Mart stores throughout the state of Wisconsin had misled consumers by misidentifying conventional food items as organic.

In a letter to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., based in Bentonville, Arkansas, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection stated they'd found numerous instances of conventional food products improperly labeled as organic by the retail chain. Specifically, Wisconsin authorities told Wal-Mart's legal counsel that "use of the term 'Wal- Mart Organics' in combination with reference to a specific non-organic product may be considered to be a misrepresentation and therefore a violation" of Wisconsin state statutes.

The Cornucopia Institute, a governmental and corporate organic industry watchdog, had filed complaints with Wisconsin regulators and the USDA after finding numerous incidents of fraudulent organic labeling in Wal-Mart stores in five states from Texas to Minnesota.

Although Wisconsin regulators opted to send only a formal warning concerning the retail giant's organic marketing practices they said that they had reached an agreement with the company under which steps would be taken to prevent future organic food misrepresentations. Wisconsin officials also said they would be continuing their surveillance of the company's stores.

"This finding is a victory for consumers who care about the integrity of organic food and farming" said Mark Kastel, Codirector of The Cornucopia Institute. "Wal-Mart cannot be allowed to sell organic food 'on the cheap' because they lack the commitment to recruit qualified management or are unwilling to properly train their store personnel," Kastel added. "Such practices place ethical retailers, their suppliers, and organic farmers at a competitive disadvantage."

The Cornucopia web page (www.cornucopia.org) contains a photo gallery of conventional food products that were both priced and labeled with Wal-Mart's unique in-store point of purchase signage as organic foods. The photos were gathered during an investigation by Cornucopia of Wal-Mart's organic practices.

P.O. Box 126 Cornucopia, Wisconsin 54827 608-625-2042 VOICE 866-861-2214 FAX cultivate@cornucopia.org







While Wisconsin regulators have completed their investigation, the USDA has yet to formally weigh in on the matter, despite being notified of the food fraud problem last November, two months before Wisconsin officials were contacted about the same situation.

"A six-month period without any federal enforcement action is absolutely inexcusable when the largest corporation in the country is accused of defrauding organic consumers," Kastel stated. "Last November, we supplied photographic evidence and documentation to the USDA investigators who contacted us about our complaint. But their inaction, and our confirmation of ongoing violations in Wisconsin earlier this year, prompted us to forward these continuing problems to Wisconsin state regulatory authorities."

The USDA's National Organic Program has long been criticized as being too cozy with corporate agribusiness, understaffed and lacking strong management and effective organizational direction to protect and promote the organic industry. Two independent audits of the program, conducted by the American National Standards Institute and the USDA's own Inspector General's office, were harshly critical of the federal government's oversight of the organic certification program.

"The State of Wisconsin should be applauded for doing the thorough research necessary to protect the interests of consumers," Kastel said. "Their letter to Wal-Mart's lawyers should serve as a warning to any retailer: if you are going to engage in organic commerce you better have management in place to oversee the integrity of your program," added Kastel.

Cornucopia stated that spot checks of other major organic stores in the natural foods industry, especially the country's consumer-owned cooperatives, indicated that retailers were investing in strong management oversight and employee training and had excellent records of assuring compliance with the federal organic laws and state consumer protection statutes. "Wal-Mart's model of top-down management and investing as little as possible in wages and training for local employees just doesn't work in organics," Kastel said.

- 30 -

MORE:

In early 2006, Wal-Mart made a media splash by stating that they would introduce 400 organic products at prices just 10% over the cost of conventional food. The pronouncement left many organic and retail industry observers questioning the feasibility of their initiative. The Cornucopia Institute subsequently published a report, Wal-Mart: The Nation's Largest Grocer Rolls-Out Organic Products-Market Expansion or Market Delusion (available at www.cornucopia.org).

The report found that Wal-Mart was aiming to lower organic food prices by selling a "different kind of organic product" depending on cheap foreign imports from China, large factory dairy farms milking thousands of cows, and partnering with corporate agribusinesses lacking prior experience in organic production.



According to the Wall Street Journal and other authoritative business analysis, Wal-Mart's organic initiative, as part of a larger integrated approach to attract upscale consumers, has been a failure and is causing the corporation to now reduce the number of organic food offerings.

"Although they might be pretty good at cutting prices and selling cheap widgets from China their expertise has not transferred well to organic food," Kastel stated. "If they had applied their economy of scale and logistic prowess to organics it would have been good news for both organic consumers and farmers-undoubtedly resulting in improved availability and an expanded market. Instead they have discredited their organization and injured some in the organic industry along the way."

In addition to Wal-Mart's inappropriate and fraudulent signage/labeling of organic food products, studies by the University of Illinois as well as regulators in other states have found that Wal-Mart's management control of signs indicating pricing are often inaccurate or deceptive.