|
|
Wal-Mart's 'wage
increases' exposed at bus tour: "She will never get a raise working at Wal-Mart again"
WakeUpWalMart.com has boarded a bus and taken to the road across the United States. During the next month, the UFCW supported movement stops in communities along the way, telling the story about Wal-Mart's anti-social behaviour, and listening to the people they meet. Onboard the bus is Paul Blank, the director of WakeUpWalMart.com, and many of his colleagues. At their website, one can read about the thoughts and impressions of the team, in Paul Blank's blog. This blog entry is an example of the thousands of stories that can be told by Wal-Mart workers and their families, about how the Bentonville retail giant treats its people. At the same time it once again exposes Wal-Mart's bag of tricks, this time shedding a merciless light on the reality behind the company's fresh declaration that they would raise their workers' wages. So here is Paul Blank's blog entry from 8 August:
The Real Wal-Mart
Story
After a great community meeting in
Elyria with Congressional Candidate Betty Sutton, we had one of the
most touching experiences of the campaign.
When we pulled off the road to grab a bite to eat, a middle aged guy came over to us and asked, "What's this all about?" We explained the tour and he asked if he could hop on board the bus. "I want to talk to you about something personal," he said. When he sat down, he told us his wife had come home crying today from work. Guess where she worked? You guessed it, Wal-Mart. And, she had just had her in-store meeting to learn that she is now capped out and will never get a raise working at Wal-Mart again. The woman was literally in tears and her husband had come over to the diner to get her some food so she wouldn’t have to cook dinner after such a long day. Her story is the real Wal-Mart story and it breaks our hearts to hear it. Some of the workers are so upset, despite Wal-Mart’s intimidation tactics, the workers are calling in and coming forward. We appreciate their support, because, when we work together, we can reverse these cruel policies. As always, we promise to keep everything confidential so please keep calling so we can show, not tell, the American public what a heartless company Wal-Mart really is. By the way, I just got off the phone with a store manager and he was not only upset about the salary changes, but also told me that he hasn’t been allowed to hire a full-time person for months as Wal-Mart tries to replace all of its full-time workers with part-time, lower paid employees. It’s so disappointing. Wal-Mart may think it’s pulled a fast one on the American people, but the company will not get away with it. First, Wal-Mart supposedly improves its health care spending, but the company says it won’t increase its health care costs one penny. Now, Wal-Mart says it is supposedly increasing its wages, but the company once again says it won’t increase its labor costs one bit. There’s just no way! The numbers don’t add up, because the truth is every single one of Wal-Mart’s changes was designed with two things in mind: 1) cut costs and 2) generate a publicity stunt to try and grab a headline to salvage its declining public image. That’s the real Wal-Mart story and we will continue to tell it. Stay tuned for more!
|
