Yesterday, Human Rights Watch published a pretty damning report on the
big bad folks at The Beast--aka Wal-Mart. Not surprisingly, the
Bentonville Bullies come off as, well, not just bullies but
lawbreakers...
“Wal-Mart workers have virtually no chance to organize
because they’re up against unfair US labor laws and a giant company
that will do just about anything to keep unions out,” said Carol Pier,
senior researcher on labor rights and trade for Human Rights Watch.
“That one-two punch devastates workers’ right to form and join unions.”
As the world’s largest company, Wal-Mart’s conduct is especially
troubling. Wal-Mart had $351.14 billion in revenue and $11.3 billion in
profits in the fiscal year ending January 2007. It is the largest
private US employer, with more than 1.3 million US workers and close to
4,000 stores nationwide. None of those workers is represented by a
union. Human Rights Watch found that this is no accident.
Human Rights Watch’s investigation revealed that, in most cases,
Wal-Mart begins to indoctrinate workers and managers to oppose unions
from the moment they are hired. Managers receive explicit instructions
on keeping out unions, many of which are found in the company’s
“Manager’s Toolbox,” a self-described guide to managers on “how to
remain union free in the event union organizers choose your facility as
their next target.”
You can read the rest of the report here
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