19 November 2013 (13:02 UTC-07 Tango)/15 Muharram 1435/28 Aban 1392/17 Gui-Hai (10th month) 4711
“Please donate food items here so Associates in Need can enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner”-Walmart sign in Ohio
It’s not unusual to hear a cashier ask you if you want to make a donation to some charity, but now retail employees are being asked to make donations to their fellow co-workers!
Ohio news media reporting that the Walmart on Atlantic Boulevard in Canton (apparently taking on the new role of being a food bank charity) is asking its own employees to donate Thanksgiving Day food to its own employees!
I’ve seen this in the past, but only in businesses that paid much more than Walmart and where there was a major pay difference between long time employees and newbies (also in Union shops). But, I didn’t think any Walmart employees were economically able to make donations.
At the corporate level Walmart admits they pay most of its employees low income wages, even poverty level. The organization demanding higher pay at Walmart, OUR Walmart, says the Ohio store’s food drive for its own employees is arrogant and insulting: “The company needs to stand up and give them their 40 hours and a living wage, so they don’t have to worry about whether they can afford Thanksgiving!”-Vanessa Ferreira
Maybe Walmart is getting into the charity business? Consider the signage asking employees to donate to other employees, note that “Associates” and “Need” are capitalized, “Associates in Need”, as if it is some kind of organization.
An employee at the Canton, Ohio, Walmart revealed these food drives for employees are not new, they’ve been going on for years. But she proves to be an example of an ignorant Walmart employee, she said people shouldn’t blame Walmart because low paying jobs are the norm across the United States. She obviously doesn’t realize that Walmart is the corporation that’s responsible for leading the charge to low wages, spending decades destroying other businesses to become the largest employer in the country!
And realize this, Walmart isn’t donating food to its poverty level employees, Walmart is ‘asking’ other low wage employees to donate the food! If Walmart is truly concerned about its employees then Walmart should be donating the food, or maybe increase their wages!
Another Walmart employee, in Dayton, is more awake: “Walmart sets the precedent for everybody, so if they make changes, everyone would follow suit.”-Scott Stringer
Another Dayton employee said this about working at Walmart after seven years: “Personally, it is difficult for me to stock groceries that I can’t afford at the end of the day.”-Ricki Hahn, planning to go on strike
“That captures Walmart right there. Walmart is setting up bins because its employees don’t make enough to feed themselves and their families.”-Kate Bronfenbrenner, Cornell University Labor Education Research
And since Walmart is the biggest employer in the U.S., that captures the state of the economy for the whole country. Happy Thanksgiving!
“Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security……..That’s what makes America different. That’s what makes us exceptional.”-Barack Obama, 10 September 2013