Wal-Mart: Stepping on the Little Man (Documentary)

Wal-mart Employee Abuse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhCtDI2pOLs

Walmart  Workers Speak Out about Abuse.

2050 Hwy. 501 E.

Conway, SC 29526

(843) 349- 3131

map4355@gmail.com

September 19, 2013

Letter to the Editor

The Sun News

P.O. Box 406

Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

Dear Editor-In Chief:

I am a sophomore at Early College High School

I am addressing the issue of employee abuse at Wal-Mart stores across the nation. Documentaries, news articles, and personal experiences show that Wal-Mart does in fact abuse their employees anywhere from forced overtime, without pay, to sexual assault.

            With enough evidence you would think someone would step up and take on the corporate giant, yet no action has taken place. The union struggles to get things going, only taking on little dispute cases instead of more important cases, such as sexual assault and things of that nature. Wal-Mart says they do it for the shoppers and to keep costs down, but at what cost is it okay to harm the very people that run your business, the very people in this community you and I both live in?

            Thank you for your time. I hope to hear back from you soon.

Sincerely,

Mark Pierandozzi

Mark Pierandozzi

McKoy 1^st Block

English II

October 1, 2013

The Corporate Giant

Millions of voices with opinions that cannot be said

As the corporate giant fills their minds with dread.

With razor sharp teeth it opens its mouth wide

Be very afraid as there is no place to hide.

Sexual assault, physical, and mental abuse is an ongoing occurrence

To the employees of Wal-Mart, this is a regular recurrence.

For them they dig in for the long wait

For some like Kenneth James it is already too late.

Kenneth James forced to leave his job as homelessness was ahead

However, his opinions of Wal-Mart did not go unsaid.

Over his opinion of a union card that was simply implied

The managers then tried to continuously spy.

They try to make up for it with same sex insurance

I find it ironic that abuse is still an ongoing occurrence.

2 million employees and $ 400 billion dollars strong

It plays the legal game like Mario and Donkey Kong.

Avoiding abuse cases left and right

The union is quickly losing the fight.

 No large legal actions have taken place

From a human standpoint this is just a disgrace.

We have mountains of evidence to support our claim

And yet the beast that is Wal-Mart strongly disclaims.

Those in power see it happening, but simply turn the other way

But now we will come out with what we have to say.

We will no longer sit back and take the abuse

We will fight the fight that you will surely lose.

As the corporate giant then falls to its knees

It cries for forgiveness and desperately pleas.

There are millions of voices with things to be said

And the effects of defeating Wal-Mart will be wide spread. 

Mark Pierandozzi

Ms. McKoy

English 2 1^st Block

10 September, 2013

Wal-Mart: Stepping on the Little Man

Low prices here, low cost leader there, but at what cost is it okay to harm your employees? Wal-Mart, a large cooperate company, steps all over their employees from things like forced overtime without pay or even sexual assault. They’ve become so large that they can’t manage their employees properly and this has led to employee mistreatment. Numerous accusations have come up about mistreatment and abuse, but this isn’t the first we’ve heard about this. News articles and documentaries of Wal-Mart and other large retailers have shown that this has and still is happening. However, massive retailers have warned their workers that if they refuse to work due to conditions, or even go to the Union, they will be fired. In the Cornell Chronicle it is said that “the Walton family, owners of Wal-Mart, has historically been anti-union.” The workers of Wal-Mart have no voice, and yet, there is still mistreatment, abuse, and discrimination in the workplace.

My father, who has been in retail for 24 years, has worked at several large retailers over the years; some are no longer in business. He hasn’t had any situations where he was mistreated as an employee; however, the companies he worked for were very strict on labor laws and equality of all employees. Companies such as Wal-Mart are a whole different story. I have watched a documentary on Wal-Mart and how they treat their employees and I must say it’s appalling. Low wages, discrimination, favoritism, sexual abuse, and forced overtime. Those are just a few examples of how a Wal-Mart step all over their employees and it gets worse. I then watched a YouTube documentary on employees that were speaking out about their experiences with Wal-Mart mistreatment. Kenneth James worked at Wal-Mart for 9 years, a loyal Wal-Mart employee, left his job over his opinion that every employee should be able to sign a Union card if they wanted to. The managers no longer spoke to Kenneth, cut his hours from 40 to 18, and followed him around like a fly on the wall. Because his hours were cut, he was two weeks away from being homeless and so he left his job. All of this happened because he mentioned that everyone should get the choice to sign a Union card. Is this not mistreatment for having your own opinion during a meeting?

Wal-Mart has a net worth of $ 446.95 billion dollars, and a workforce of more than 2 million (Cornell Chronicle). In one hour, $ 36 million dollars is spent at Wal-Mart, and they make a profit of $ 34, 880 a minute (Statistic Brain). If Wal-Mart were a country, it would rank 19^th on the world’s economy (Statistic Brain). Finally, in one week Wal-Mart sees 100 million customers. What I’m trying to say here is that with a workforce of more than 2 million it must be relatively hard to keep track of all the employees and business that goes on in Wal-Mart. An example is “A man, in his 60’s or 70’s, had blood clots in his legs. When he asked the manager for a stool to sit on, he refused.” (Cornell Chronicle) The man had a medical condition, making it hard for him to stand, and yet the manager still refused to meet his needs. The manager finally gave the man a stool to sit on, but with tears in his eyes, the man asked the manager if he was going to get fired over this. The man feared for his job over something as little as a stool to sit on. Another example was at a Wal-Mart warehouse where employees worked in 120 degree heat without cold water to drink, however Wal-Mart felt since it did not “directly” employ the workers, that they didn’t have to take responsibility (Cornell Chronicle). Yet another example of how Wal-Mart mistreats the very people that drive the company.

This information is all evidence to support my claim that Wal-Mart abuses their workers. We see it on the news, read about, and even hear real life incidents on what happens, yet no legal action has taken place to prevent and stop this from happening. Groups of Wal-Mart employees have gone on strike, refused to work and even went to the Union about abuse, but no one will step up and take on the corporate giant. Some brave souls have tried to get something going, but when job loss is threatened they have no choice, but to sit back and watch. What I neglected to mention early from the documentary I watched was over Wal-Mart Health Care. This woman worked for Wal-Mart for 18 years, and had invested over $ 180,000 in Wal-Mart’s Health Care Program. Unfortunately, she was killed in an accident, but her family would be alright with the $ 180,000 dollar policy. However, Wal-Mart claimed that her death did not fall into any specific category, and did not grant the family the money they needed. Even from a human standpoint this is wrong to not give the money to the family after she had worked so hard for it. If Wal-Mart can get away with something as cruel as this, what else are they capable of?

I want to further research this topic, because the amount of facts and evidence that support employee abuse are astonishing. Another issue could be why the Union, who is so desperately needed, does not take immediate action? Why Wal-Mart is allowed to get away with employee abuse and mistreatment, without legal actions being placed against them? If someone was to take the time, sit down, and listen to what people have to say it will make a difference. If Wal-Mart is allowed to get away with it, who’s to say other companies won’t follow suit.