| In an earnings call last week, Walmart announced that its workers were signing up for health insurance en masse. The news was bad for the company’s shareholders, since the added $500 million it will cost to cover them will eat into expected profits. But it also means that many more low-income families have health insurance now than did last year. The change didn’t come because of a more generous company policy. Walmart has long offered health insurance to its full-time workers for relatively low premiums — about $18 every two weeks for its lowest-paid workers. It came because many more workers decided to take advantage of the offer. It’s early yet to be sure of a strong trend, but the Walmart experience mirrors evidence from early polls and the historical experience of Massachusetts, which enacted a law similar to the Affordable Care Act in 2006. More people may be signing up for employer-based coverage than did before. When we talk about the effect of the Affordable Care Act on health insurance, we often focus on people who were shut out of the market before, either because a prior illness made insurance inaccessible to them or because a high premium put coverage out of their financial reach. What Walmart’s experience reminds us is that there were also uninsured people who simply chose not to buy coverage before there was a law requiring them to do so. Now they may be changing their minds.This increase, if it is permanent, is going to cost... |
Showing posts with label Walmart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walmart. Show all posts
Friday, August 22, 2014
Why More, Not Fewer, People Might Start Getting Health Insurance Through Work
Thursday, January 16, 2014
NLRB Office of the General Counsel Issues Complaint against Walmart
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Office of the General Counsel has issued a consolidated complaint against Walmart alleging that the company violated the rights of its employees as a result of activities surrounding employee protests in 13 states.
The Office of the General Counsel informed Walmart that complaints were authorized in November of 2013, but withheld issuing the complaints to allow time for settlement discussions. The discussions have not been successful and a consolidated complaint has issued regarding some of the alleged violations of federal law. More than 60 Walmart supervisors and one corporate officer are named in the complaint.
Cases were consolidated to avoid unnecessary costs or delay. Walmart must respond to the complaint by January 28, 2014. No hearing date has been set. The Office of General Counsel has authorized or issued complaints in other Walmart cases and additional charges remain under investigation.
The National Labor Relations Act guarantees the right of private sector employees to act together to try to improve their wages and working conditions with or without a union. The consolidated complaint involves more than 60 employees, 19 of whom were discharged allegedly as a result of their participation in activities protected by the National Labor Relations Act. The Office of the General Counsel alleges that Walmart violated the Act when:
During two national television news broadcasts and in statements to employees at Walmart stores in California and Texas, Walmart unlawfully threatened employees with reprisal if they engaged in strikes and protests.
At stores in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Washington, Walmart unlawfully threatened, disciplined, and/or terminated employees for having engaged in legally protected strikes and protests.
At stores in California, Florida, and Texas, Walmart unlawfully threatened, surveilled, disciplined, and/or terminated employees in anticipation of or in response to employees’ other protected concerted activities
The Office of the General Counsel informed Walmart that complaints were authorized in November of 2013, but withheld issuing the complaints to allow time for settlement discussions. The discussions have not been successful and a consolidated complaint has issued regarding some of the alleged violations of federal law. More than 60 Walmart supervisors and one corporate officer are named in the complaint.
Cases were consolidated to avoid unnecessary costs or delay. Walmart must respond to the complaint by January 28, 2014. No hearing date has been set. The Office of General Counsel has authorized or issued complaints in other Walmart cases and additional charges remain under investigation.
The National Labor Relations Act guarantees the right of private sector employees to act together to try to improve their wages and working conditions with or without a union. The consolidated complaint involves more than 60 employees, 19 of whom were discharged allegedly as a result of their participation in activities protected by the National Labor Relations Act. The Office of the General Counsel alleges that Walmart violated the Act when:
During two national television news broadcasts and in statements to employees at Walmart stores in California and Texas, Walmart unlawfully threatened employees with reprisal if they engaged in strikes and protests.
At stores in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Washington, Walmart unlawfully threatened, disciplined, and/or terminated employees for having engaged in legally protected strikes and protests.
At stores in California, Florida, and Texas, Walmart unlawfully threatened, surveilled, disciplined, and/or terminated employees in anticipation of or in response to employees’ other protected concerted activities
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Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Bangladeshi Factory Owners Charged in Fire That Killed 112
NEW DELHI — The police in Bangladesh charged the owners of a garment factory and 11 of their employees with culpable homicide in the deaths of 112 workers in a fire last year that came to symbolize the appalling working conditions in the country’s dominant textile industry.
The case is the first time the authorities have sought to prosecute factory owners in Bangladesh’s garment industry, so powerful that the state has long sought to protect owners from unionization efforts by workers and from international scrutiny of working conditions.
The fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory on Nov. 24, 2012, was later eclipsed by a building collapse in April that cost the lives of 1,100 workers and brought global attention to the unsafe working conditions and low wages at many garment factories in Bangladesh, the No. 2 exporter of apparel after China. The fire also revealed the poor controls that top retailers had throughout their supply chain, since retailers like Walmart said they were unaware that their apparel was being made in such factories.
Among those charged on Sunday were the factory’s owners, Delowar Hossain and his wife, Mahmuda Akther, as well as M. Mahbubul Morshed, an engineer, and Abdur Razzaq, the factory manager, according to local news reports.
Bangladeshi officials have been under intense domestic and international pressure to file charges against those deemed responsible for last year’s deaths. Fires have been a persistent problem in...
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Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Better Pay Now
’Tis the season to be jolly — or, at any rate, to spend a lot of time in shopping malls. It is also, traditionally, a time to reflect on the plight of those less fortunate than oneself — for example, the person on the other side of that cash register.
The last few decades have been tough for many American workers, but especially hard on those employed in retail trade — a category that includes both the sales clerks at your local Walmart and the staff at your local McDonald’s. Despite the lingering effects of the financial crisis, America is a much richer country than it was 40 years ago. But the inflation-adjusted wages of nonsupervisory workers in retail trade — who weren’t particularly well paid to begin with — have fallen almost 30 percent since 1973.
So can anything be done to help these workers, many of whom depend on food stamps — if they can get them — to feed their families, and who depend on Medicaid — again, if they can get it — to provide essential health care? Yes. We can preserve and expand food stamps, not slash the program the way Republicans want. We can make health reform work, despite right-wing efforts to undermine the program.
And we can raise the minimum wage.
First, a few facts. Although the national minimum wage was raised a few years ago, it’s still very low by historical standards, having consistently lagged behind both inflation and average wage levels. Who gets...
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Wage Strikes Planned at Fast-Food Outlets
Seeking to increase pressure on McDonald’s, Wendy’s and other fast-food restaurants, organizers of a movement demanding a $15-an-hour wage for fast-food workers say they will sponsor one-day strikes in 100 cities on Thursday and protest activities in 100 additional cities.
As the movement struggles to find pressure points in its quest for substantially higher wages for workers, organizers said strikes were planned for the first time in cities like Charleston, S.C.; Providence, R.I.; and Pittsburgh.
The protests have expanded greatly since November 2012, when 200 fast-food workers engaged in a one-day strike at more than 20 restaurants in New York City, the first such walkout in the history of the nation’s fast-food industry.
“There’s been pretty huge growth in one year,” said Kendall Fells, one of the movement’s main organizers. “People understand that a one-day strike is not going to get them there. They understand that this needs to continue to grow.”
The movement, which includes the groups Fast Food Forward and Fight for 15, is part of a growing union-backed effort by low-paid workers — including many Walmart workers and workers for federal contractors — that seeks to focus attention on what the groups say are inadequate wages.
The fast-food effort is backed by the Service Employees International Union and is also demanding that restaurants allow workers to unionize without the threat of...
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Saturday, November 30, 2013
How foodies can become champions for workers' rights
The FCWA estimates that almost 8 million workers throughout the food system would benefit from a national minimum wage boost, and that 29 million workers over all industries would get a raise. In a Thanksgiving-themed "menu" of ways to help improve the lives of food workers, the FCWA asks foodies to sign its petition to raise the wage to $10.10, to spread the word via social media, and to write their members of Congress to urge passage of the raise.
Food workers are also mobilizing to win on three more fronts: they want nationally guaranteed paid sick days, so that they are not forced to show up to work while sick, thus contributing to the spread of infectious disease. They are demanding the right to safe workplaces: Many agricultural employers could easily provide better protections from harmful pesticides for harvest workers. Finally, the workers are demanding their right to a voice on the job, protesting against the abuse and intimidation that frequently occur in the restaurant industry when workers try to unionize. To push for these rights, the FCWA's member groups are reaching out to consumers with messages about specific bad-actor employers in each of these areas. These employers include Wal-Mart, which has allegedly stolen wages from workers and routinely quashed unionization drives at its stores; and the Darden restaurant group, which owns Red Lobster, Olive Garden and other family-style chains. Workers at Darden establishments are still denied any paid... |
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Living with Safety this Thanksgiving
Motor vehicle accidents are among the highest causes of injuries to workers. The suggestions issued by the NJ State Police provide a helpful guidance for a safe Thanksgiving Day Weekend.Today's post is shared from njsp.org.
The weather is getting nasty just in time for the busiest travel holiday of the year. With a little planning and a focus on safety, you can make your Thanksgiving travels the most uneventful of your holiday activities. When gearing up for your trip, prepare for winter even though the calendar still says fall. That means filling your tank, checking your tire pressure and wiper blades, and packing a blanket, snacks & water in case of a breakdown. And to keep your blood pressure in check, just leave early because your trip will take much longer than usual because of traffic and road conditions.
In relation to roadway safety, the 2012 Thanksgiving holiday was no reason to celebrate in New Jersey with eight fatal accidents and 10 deaths over the holiday period. Alcohol or drugs was a factor in six of those fatalities. Four of those killed were pedestrians. These are sobering statistics that we do not want to repeat this year.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re driving five minutes up the road or through several states, the basics of safety remain the same,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “Troopers and other law enforcement officers will have zero tolerance for those who create dangers on the roads.”
Distracted driving and aggressive driving are at the top of the list for causing motor vehicle crashes. Troopers will be using a variety of marked and unmarked vehicles to look for texting drivers, unbelted occupants (especially children), speeders, and of course, intoxicated drivers.
New Jersey’s “Move Over” law is still unheeded by many drivers. This law helps protect roadside emergency workers and vehicles including police, fire, medical services, highway maintenance, tow trucks, and official motorist aid vehicles displaying amber, red, or blue emergency lights. Where possible, drivers are required to move over to create an empty lane next to the emergency vehicle. When safely changing lanes is not possible, drivers must slow down below the posted speed limit prior to passing emergency vehicles. Drivers should also be prepared to stop, if necessary.
Increase your travel safety by using these common sense tips:
- Make sure your cell phone is fully charged
- Carry a flashlight with new batteries.
- Bring bottles of water and snacks such as protein bars.
- Insist that all vehicle occupants use seatbelts.
- Don’t drive drowsy. The symptoms of driving tired are similar to those of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Make sure you get enough rest. Use service areas to pull over, stretch your legs, or grab a cup of coffee.
- Steer clear of “road ragers.” Challenging an aggressive driver for a position is a dangerous way to get to your destination a few seconds sooner.
- Use a designated driver. If alcohol figures into your Thanksgiving plans, plan to have one driver stay sober.
- Prepare before you drive. Map your route; fill your tank; check your tire pressure, lights and wiper blades. These simple steps may save you more than just time on the highways.
More than 100 additional state troopers will be supplementing the usual patrols. These troopers are looking for specific violations that lead to crashes, including driving while intoxicated, aggressive driving, and using handheld phones/tablets.
The official Thanksgiving driving period begins at 6:00 p.m. on November 27, and runs through 6:00 a.m. on December 2.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Macy’s Joining Wal-Mart on Thanksgiving Energizes Labor
| Macy’s Inc. (M), whose annual Manhattan Parade is a cherished Thanksgiving tradition for millions, is starting a new holiday ritual: It’s asking its employees to show up for work. Pressured by competition, a shorter shopping season and lackluster consumer spending, at least a dozen U.S. mega-retailers are opening for the first time on Thanksgiving Day,such as Macy’s, or opening earlier that day than in previous years. They are following Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the largest U.S.employer, which has been open for business on Thanksgiving for more than 25 years. “Another holiday bites the dust in favor of retailers,”Candace Corlett, president of New York consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail, said in a Nov. 12 phone interview. “Our Culture now is to shop, and to get the best deals. Thanksgiving As a day of rest was another culture, another time, not today.” The expansion of hours will take more than a million employees away from their families during the holiday. Organized Labor has been encouraging low-wage employees to join unions foryears to stem membership losses, and now wants to use the Thanksgiving hours to encourage workers to band together to improve working conditions. “It plays into the larger themes that we’ve been pushing around low-wage workers who don’t have a lot of job security,”Amaya Smith, a spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO, said in an interview. “Thanksgiving, Black Friday is one example of one holiday... |
Sunday, November 24, 2013
U.S. Retailers Decline to Aid Factory Victims in Bangladesh
One year after the Tazreen factory fire in Bangladesh, many retailers that sold garments produced there or inside the Rana Plaza building that collapsed last spring are refusing to join an effort to compensate the families of the more than 1,200 workers who died in those disasters.
 The International Labor Organization is working with Bangladeshi officials, labor groups and several retailers to create ambitious compensation funds to assist not just the families of the dead, but also more than 1,800 workers who were injured, some of them still hospitalized.
A handful of retailers — led by Primark, an Anglo-Irish company, and C&A, a Dutch-German company — are deeply involved in getting long-term compensation funds off the ground, one for Rana Plaza’s victims and one for the victims of the Tazreen fire, which killed 112 workers last Nov. 24.
But to the dismay of those pushing to create the compensation funds, neither Walmart, Sears, Children’s Place nor any of the other American companies that were selling goods produced at Tazreen or Rana Plaza have agreed to contribute to the efforts.
Supporters of compensation plans say they are needed to pay for medical care for those who are paralyzed or otherwise badly injured, to provide income after a vital breadwinner died and to give families enough income so that children are not forced to quit school and go to work.
“Compensation is so important because so many families are suffering — many...
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Walmart Protests Promised To Be Even Bigger This Black Friday
 Protestors are hoping for an even better turnout than last year, when hundreds of Walmart workers walked off the job in 46 states on Black Friday, according to OUR Walmart, a group advocating for Walmart workers. Protests have already occurred in multiple cities this month -- most notably in Los Angeles, where more than 50 Walmart workers and supporters were arrested in what organizers described as the largest single act of civil disobedience in the retailer’s history. "We do expect [the protests] to be larger than last year because we have so many more members and so much more community support,” said Dan Schadelman, campaign director for Making a Change at Walmart, another advocacy group focusing on the rights of Walmart workers, in a conference call Thursday. "We're at an exciting moment, the movement of low-wage workers has taken off in 2013." Making a Change at Walmart is seeking an end to alleged retaliation against workers, as well as to win full-time work and $25,000 per year for those who seek it. Walmart, which made $17 billion in profit last year, is facing... |
Friday, November 22, 2013
Stephen Colbert Chides Walmart For Employee Food Drive
| Earlier this week, news broke that at least one Walmart store was holding a Thanksgiving food drive -- for its own employees. Many saw this as evidence that the world's largest employer would rather rely on charity than pay a reasonable living wage. On last night's "Colbert Report," Stephen Colbert sarcastically praised the corporate giant for sticking to its guns in offering low wages to maximize profits, although not for the food drive itself. "Some critics out there say Walmart isn't doing enough, but they're wrong, because Walmart isn't doing anything," he said. "These bins are for Walmart employees to donate to other employees. |
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Is Walmart's request of associates to help provide Thanksgiving dinner for co-workers proof of low wages?
The Walmart on Atlantic Boulevard in Canton is collecting food for employees who can't afford Thanksgiving dinner. The company said this is proof that employees look out for one another. The group of employees who have held national strikes against the world's largest retailer says the food drive is proof Walmart doesn't pay associates enough to survive. The Organization United for Respect at Walmart, or OUR Walmart, is holding strikes against the chain at stores in Dayton and Cincinnati on Monday, Nov. 18. (courtesy of OUR Walmart)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The storage containers are attractively displayed at the Walmart on Atlantic Boulevard inCanton. The bins are lined up in alternating colors of purple and orange. Some sit on tables covered with golden yellow tablecloths. Others peer out from under the tables.This isn't a merchandise display. It's a food drive - not for the community, but for needy workers. "Please Donate Food Items Here, so Associates In Need Can Enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner," read signs affixed to the tablecloths. The food drive tables are tucked away in an employees-only area. They are another element in the backdrop of the public debate about salaries for cashiers, stock clerks and other low-wage positions at Walmart, as workers in Cincinnati and Dayton are scheduled to goon strike Monday. Chat wrap: OUR Walmart rep answers your questions about this story Is the food drive proof the retailer pays so little that many employees can't afford Thanksgiving dinner? Norma... |
Europeans Fault American Safety Effort in Bangladesh
Tensions broke into the open on Monday involving two large groups of retailers — one overwhelmingly American, the other dominated by Europeans — that have formed to improve factory safety in Bangladesh.
An official from the European group voiced concern that the American retailers would piggyback at no cost on the efforts of the Europeans — which includes H&M, Carrefour and more than 100 other retailers — in financing safety upgrades at hundreds of factories.
The members of the European-led group, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, have made binding commitments to help pay for fire safety measures and building upgrades when shortcomings in safety are found in the more than 1,600 garment factories its members use in Bangladesh. While the American-dominated group, which has 26 members, including Walmart Stores, Target and Gap, has stopped short of making such a binding commitment, it has pledged to provide loans for the improvements.
Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, a labor rights group based in Washington that is a member of the Europe-led accord, said members had a “significant concern about a free-rider situation.”
Jeff R. Krilla, the president of the American-dominated group, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, said he was surprised by the criticism, noting that his alliance had agreed to make $100 million in low-cost loans available to Bangladesh factory owners to finance...
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NLRB Office of the General Counsel Authorizes Complaints against Walmart, Also Finds No Merit to Other Charges
The National Labor Relations Board Office of the General Counsel has investigated charges alleging that Walmart violated the rights of its employees as a result of activities surrounding employee protests. The Office of the General Counsel found merit in some of the charges and no merit in others. The Office of the General Counsel has authorized complaints on alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act. If the parties cannot reach settlements in these cases, complaints will issue.
The Office of the General Counsel found merit to alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act against Walmart, such as the following:
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Saturday, November 9, 2013
Largest Civil Disobedience In Walmart History Leads To More Than 50 Arrests
Surrounded by about 100 police officers in riot gear and a helicopter circling above, more than 50 Walmart workers and supporters were arrested in downtown Los Angeles Thursday night as they sat in the street protesting what they called the retailer's "poverty wages."
Organizers said it was the largest single act of civil disobedience in Walmart's 50-year history. The 54 arrestees, with about 500 protesting Walmart workers, clergy and supporters, demonstrated outside LA's Chinatown Walmart. Those who refused police orders to clear the street after their permit expired were arrested without incident. Those who fail to post $5,000 bail would be jailed overnight, Detective Gus Villanueva, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman, told The Huffington Post. Their primary demand to Walmart: pay every full-time worker at least $25,000 a year. One of the protesting Walmart workers, Anthony Goytia, a 31-year-old father of two, said he believes he will make about $12,000 this year. It's a daily struggle, he said, "to make sure my family doesn't go hungry." "The power went out at my house yesterday because I couldn't afford the bill," Goytia told HuffPost. "I had to run around and get two payday loans to pay for my rent from the first" of the month. "Yesterday we went to a food bank." To make ends meet, Goytia said he sometimes participates in clinical trials and sells his blood plasma. He has been asking his managers for full-time employment for a year and a half. Instead, he said,... |
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Breaking: Wal-Mart workers on strike, defying firings
Breaking: Wal-Mart workers on strike, defying firings
“I don’t have fear,” striker Jose Bello told Salon in Spanish. “I don’t have any fear. They could punish us – we’re used to that.” Bello said that at least 80 of the employees at his Hialeah, Fla., store had joined the strike, which began at 9 a.m. Wal-Mart did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “I decided a long time ago to do this, but we needed to come together as a group to make the decision,” said Bello. He described the strike as a response to “abuse and discrimination” by managers, as well as insufficient hours. “I have four years here,” he said, and “they’re give me 29 hours … as a human being, I want 40 hours.” Bello told Salon that workers met Thursday and decided to strike. As Salon first reported, workers last fall mounted the first ever coordinated U.S. Wal-Mart strikes, including a high-profile “Black Friday” walkout the day after Thanksgiving. The group behind those strikes was OUR Walmart, a non-union labor group closely tied to the United Food &... |
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