Wal-Mart was fined 11 million dollars for illegally exploiting immigrant workers

Wal-Mart has had to agree on a record 11 million USD fine to settle a court case for having exploited immigrant workers. The unregistered immigrants worked as cleaners and janitors for Wal-Mart, employed by the company itself and by subcontractors, for wages far below minimum levels. Through this settlement, the Bentonville-based multinational escapes criminal charges.

The fine comes after Wal-Mart was caught in raids on 23 October 2003 for employing unregistered immigrants under inhumane conditions, many of them working seven days a week, without overtime pay or compensation if they were injured. Ninety of them came from Mexico, 35 from the Czech Republic, 22 from Mongolia and 18 from Brazil. Altogether, immigrants from 18 different countries were included in those found out as being exploited by Wal-Mart.

- Today's record USD 11 million fine against Wal-Mart should be a wake-up call to a corporation that has systematically bent and broken the law to increase their corporate coffers at the expense of the most vulnerable employees, said UFCW president Joe Hansen. - While Wal-Mart may have settled this case with the federal government, the jury is still out as to whether they will change their exploitive behavior.

- Following the child labor settlement just a few weeks ago, this record fine further illustrates that Wal-Mart's corporate culture of greed and arrogance is completely out of step with basic American values, the UFCW president added.

Authorities said the USD 11 million will be spent on federal immigration programs.