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Women and families deserve better than Wal-Mart, US campaigners say Put an end to Wal-Mart's anti-family policies by Christmas Day. This is the "wake-up-call" to the company's CEO Lee Scott when WakeUpWalMart.com launches a nationwide campaign in the United States, "Women and Families Deserve Better than Wal-Mart". In a new television advertisement, set to wake strong emotions, Wal-Mart "Associate" Charmaine Givens is pictured when she realizes that it will take her over 1,000 years to earn what Lee Scott earned in just one year. Although Wal-Mart's shares have not performed as well as those of many major competitors, the company is still making an annual profit of over 11 Billion USD. Much of this is a result of social dumping, as the company pays its workers - or associates as it likes to call them - poorly and denies them many of the benefits that other workers enjoy, particularly those covered by collective agreements. Wal-Mart’s anti-family policies have led to over 775,000 Wal-Mart employees and their families without company health care, penalized workers and their families for taking a day off to care for a sick child, repeated child labour law violations and the largest gender discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history. Heavy criticism from women's organisations WakeUpWalMart.com also released a statement by Martha Burk, the director of the Corporate Accountability Project for the National Council of Women’s Organizations, which represents over 300 women’s organizations and 10 million women: - A company with $11.2 billion in profits should not offer empty excuses as to why it cannot treat its employees, including the over 700,000 female workers, many of whom are parents raising children alone, with the dignity, respect, and fairness they deserve, Ms Burk says. - Over the past year, Wal-Mart has adopted some of the most anti-family policies in the company's history. Today, Wal-Mart Associates, all of whom who work hard to support their families, face a Wal-Mart where vicious salary caps have been imposed, a cruel open availability scheduling policy is the norm, low-deductible health care plans have been eliminated, an attendance policy that punishes workers for taking a day off to care for a sick child has been adopted, and hundreds of thousands of full-time Wal-Mart workers have been shifted to lower wage part-time jobs. - As if these anti-family policies weren’t enough, Wal-Mart in 2006 has left over half of its workers without company provided health care, has broken child labour laws, and has yet to settle the largest gender discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history. Wal-Mart has a choice to make - Wal-Mart has a choice to make this holiday season. It can continue on a greedy and immoral path or it can do what is right and become the model employer we know it can become. - In the spirit of the holiday season, we call on Wal-Mart to immediately reverse its recent anti-family actions, such as the salary caps and punitive attendance policies. The company must also adopt a zero tolerance policy on child labour violations, and institute practices that ensure gender equality and respect are the norm at Wal-Mart. - In the spirit of the holiday season, we urge Wal-Mart to embrace this simple truth "with great wealth comes great responsibility." And, Wal-Mart's great responsibility is to be an employer whose record and business policies reflect the best of American family values every single day, Ms Burk concludes.
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