Tired of Wal-Mart's anti-worker policies and in the wake of the announcement of numerous new anti-family policies, Wal-Mart employees from across the country took part in the first ever national conference call for associates yesterday.
The local newspaper near Wal-Mart's headquarters, The Arkansas Morning News, covered the call, noting that, "Wal-Mart...took it on the chin again Thursday during a teleconference in which employees vented their anger against the company over its new policy changes."
The article mentions the petition that Wal-Mart associates have started, calling on Wal-Mart to implement a series of changes and reverse these anti-worker, anti-family policies. Associates can sign the petition online and download copies to distribute among fellow associates.
From The Morning News:
Wal-Mart, still smarting from recent public relations fiascoes and disappointing store sales, took it on the chin again Thursday during a teleconference in which employees vented their anger against the company over its new policy changes.The call was held by Wake-Up Wal-Mart in Washington, a union-backed group waging its own campaign against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Two callers who identified themselves as Wal-Mart employees were Ramiro Gonzales of El Paso, Texas and Susan Smith of Ponca City, Okla.
Both Gonzales and Smith criticized Wal-Mart for its new wage-cap and absentee policies. By putting caps on some employee's wages, "We have nothing to look forward to," said Gonzales, who has worked for the company six years.
Smith also alleged that if employees do not confirm to Wal-Mart's new scheduling policy, workers have been "threatened" with wage cuts.
"Wal-Mart is definitely going over the line in many things," said Smith, a 14-year employee.
Paul Blank, director of Wake-Up Wal-Mart, said calls to his organization from Wal-Mart employees have "skyrocketed" since the company implemented its new policies. He also claimed the retailer has some more changes coming next year, including doing away with profit sharing and offering severance packages to longtime employees who will have their wages cut if they don't sign, he said.
Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar said there is "absolutely no truth" to Blank's claim."This is another example of how Paul Blank and union leaders are spreading misinformation about Wal-Mart," Tovar said.
As far as the teleconference itself, Tovar said Wal-Mart hoped Blank and the others would discuss the jobs the company creates each year and the low-cost health care it offers employees.
"We regularly receive thousands of applicants for the few hundred jobs we create with each new store because people know we offer valuable job opportunities and highly competitive wages and benefits," Tovar said.
One former Wal-Mart employee who didn't take part in Thursday's conference is Lisa Hammond of Newton, Kan. She was an assistant manager for Wal-Mart who quit her job over alleged harassment and discrimination by her supervisor.
Hammond, in an e-mail to The Morning News, disputed a recent comment made by a Wal-Mart spokeswoman that the company doesn't have an "open availability" policy for its employees.
"While they do not have a written policy requiring 24/7 availability, they absolutely require managers to 'strongly encourage' open (availability) from associates and will openly tell associates that their hours will be cut unless they open it up," Hammond said. "It's pretty much blackmail, and there's no secret about that."
Hammond, who worked for the company two years, said she went up the chain of command to complain about her mistreatment but nothing was done. Hammond has set up her own Web site, called walmartassistantspeaks.com, outlining her case.
Tovar said it was Wal-Mart's policy not to comment on the circumstances of an ex-employee's departure.
Amy Leone has worked for Wal-Mart 15 years and is a claims employee at a store in Waterloo, N.Y. She told The Morning News in a telephone interview that she does feel Wal-Mart is trying to get rid of its long-term employees by putting in wage caps.
"I've been pro-Wal-Mart since I've worked there and I do get good pay and benefits. But it feels like the whole focus of the company is changing," she said.
Ron Galloway also has criticized Wal-Mart for its new wage-cap policy, and he counts himself a supporter of the company. Galloway, who is based in Atlanta, produced the 2005 documentary called "Why Wal-Mart Works and Why That Drives Some People Crazy" in which he interviewed several employees who praised their employer.
Galloway recently resigned from Working Families for Wal-Mart, which is funded by Wal-Mart, after one of the employees he interviewed for his documentary told him she had her wages capped by the company. For Galloway, it was the "last straw," he said.
"I'm still pro-Wal-Mart, and I made that clear (in a recent speech). But I think it's just wrong to make long-term employees suffer," he said. "Clearly, this is an attrition program."
Mike Duke, vice chairman of Wal-Mart International, said during a recent analysts conference, that how a company treats its employees affects how they will treat the customer. Analyst Patricia Edwards, of Wentworth, Hauser and Violich in Seattle, agreed.
"If you look at some of the best companies out there in the retail experience that Wal-Mart wants to have, Nordstrom, Costco and Starbucks are all renowned for how well they treat their employees who, in turn, treat the customer well. If you're trying to attract that upper-income shopper, they're used to a different shopping experience, and Wal-Mart right now isn't at its best," Edwards said.
Blank on Thursday encouraged callers and other Wal-Mart employees to draw up petitions to send to the company's headquarters.
Posted by Sascha - November 3, 2006 10:10 AM - In The News