Wal-Mart broke child labor laws

[Robbien]

A state investigation found 11 violations of child labor laws at three Wal-Mart stores in Connecticut, including instances of teenagers illegally operating heavy machinery and working late into the evening, state officials said on Friday.

The violations were discovered during an investigation ordered by Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell in February, shortly after federal labor officials found similar violations of child labor laws at 24 Wal-Mart stores nationally between 1999 and 2001, including at 20 stores in Connecticut.

In the federal investigation, the stores were given advance notice of the investigation, and Wal-Mart was ordered to pay US$135,540 in fines, angering lawmakers and children's advocacy groups, which said the penalty was too small.

The Connecticut investigation uncovered additional instances of child labor violations, officials said. The most serious were found at a store in Putnam, in northeastern Connecticut, where there were three instances of people under 18 operating equipment like compactors to crush cardboard, said Gary Pechie, the director of the wage and workplace standards division of the state Department of Labor. There were also two cases of teenagers working at the Putnam store past 10pm, the limit for young workers, he said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2005/06/19/2003259911

[The Doctor.]

1. $135,000

Those laws need some updating...

I might suggest a 'per net value percentage' instead.

Mom and Pop shop = $1000 per infraction
Megalomart = $1,000,000 per infraction (at least)

[Robert Oak]

4. fines and "penalties"

even w/ 5B in fines from Citigroup they still are way ahead
with their evil deeds.

We need much more penalties like all of their profits for 1 year
to got a national scholarship plan or health insurance or something big, something that actually hurts them

Right now crime does pay as long as it's white collar crime and you are incorporated.

[Robert Oak]

7. Wal-mart is so evil

it's the ultimate in screwing workers world wide and typifies what's
wrong with America.

Wal-mart has a squeeze hold on suppliers. If a supplier doesn't
kiss Wal-mart's ass, including moving to China, Wal-mart won't carry
their products.

I think the only way to really get them is to sue them with massive
class action as well as a massive boycott.

A retailer just shouldn't have this much power, it gives no ability
for suppliers to give their workers anything but slave wages with no benefits while Wal-mart pockets the cash.

[cascadiance]

11. Have to oblige the reference again! :)

[Robert Oak]

14. NIce! n/t

[Salviati]

13. No kidding...

Fines and penelties need to be based on being at least what these "cost savings" are statisticly. Meaning, if a corp is found to be extorting unpaid overtime, and there is only a 10% chance of being caught, then the fines need to be at least 10x the purported savings by cheating their workers. We need to make cheating the system unprofitable...

[Robbien]

6. Wonder how many violations they might have found if Wal-Mart didn't

have thirty days prenotification of the audit. These violations were the only ones Wal-Mart didn't get a chance to erase from their records before the auditors stepped in the door.

[Paranoid Pessimist]

2. But they have plenty of money to pay for commercials

that depict Walmart as a wonderful humanistic community friendly place to work.

[aresef]

3. Even better

The ads claim they pay for employees health care. As somebody who lobbied with a student group for MD's Fair Share Health Care Act, I can tell you:
1) They don't.
2) They have their hands deep in the pockets of our elected GOP officials.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

5. Wal-Mart supports GOP, remember that next time you go there

Next time you choose to spend your money at Wal-Mart, remember you're supporting the GOP!

Wal-Mart family lobbies for tax cuts

USA TODAY

Wal-Mart (WMT) drew broad scrutiny last year as its political spending soared in nationwide battles over health care, labor and other hot-button issues threatening the giant retailer's growth.


Now, in a little-noticed move, the company's founding family has plunged into a fight to pass income tax changes and other legislation that could preserve its grip on the USA's biggest business and the family's $84 billion fortune.

Led by Sam Walton's only daughter, Alice, the family spent $3.2 million on lobbying, conservative causes and candidates for last year's federal elections. That's more than double what it spent in the previous two elections combined, public documents show.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2005-04-05-waltons-usat_x.htm
or
http://tinyurl.com/6ld34

[ConfuZed]

8. Where does it say they support the GOP? n/t

[Lorien]

10. Look on opensecrets.com

or buyblue.com ; I think the poster was simply reminding most DUers of what they already know.

[acmavm]

9. I'm shocked. Wal Mart? Next you'll be telling me Saddam didn't have

and of them there WMDs.

[The_Casual_Observer]

12. Walmart is a cancer on the flesh humanity.

One can only hope the whole ugly enterprise will fracture and disappear.

[Bombero1956]

15. Wal-Mart is always on the look-out

for inspectors on their property. As soon as I drive into the parking lot of my local Wal-Mart store, I am met by a security guard in a white Explorer who "escorts" me to the front door. I can guarantee you that he has already warned the manager that I'm on my way in. The fact that Wal-Mart was caught at all speaks volumes about the amount of abuse they
were engaged in.

[Disturbed]

17. The folks at that location must have been....

incompetent. Damn! The had 30 days to clean up their violations. Give Corps. 30 days advance notice. Isn't that a great way to catch Corps. violating laws?

[Chauga]

16. Odd that this is only being reported by a paper out of Taiwan.