[Peace-discuss] Walmart internal audit shows labor violations

[Ricky Baldwin]

[Following up on our discussion at Sunday's meeting. 
See also www.walmartwatch.com. Happy shopping.
- Ricky]

Wal-Mart Audit Finds Labor Violations
AP Jan. 13, 2004

NEW YORK - An internal audit of about 25,000 workers
at Wal-Mart Stores found thousands of labor
violations, including minors working during school
hours and workers not taking breaks or lunches, a
newspaper reported.

The audit found 1,371 violations of child-labor laws,
including minors working too late, too many hours in a
day or during school hours. On more than 60,000
occasions, workers missed breaks and on 16,000 they
skipped meal times, in violation of most state labor
regulations. 

The audit, conducted in July 2000 and distributed to
top Wal-Mart executives, polled employee records at
128 stores across the country, the New York Times
reported in Tuesday editions. 

Wal-Mart officials downplayed the audit's findings,
saying workers often forgot to punch in and out during
breaks or skipped lunches so they could leave early. 

The audit, by Wal-Mart auditor Bret Shipley, "doesn't
reflect actual behavior within the facilities," Mona
Williams, Wal-Mart's vice president for
communications, told the paper. The company had
enacted no reforms in response to the report, she
said, because other Wal-Mart auditors had reviewed
Shipley's work and found it flawed. 

But Wal-Mart critics said the audit revealed the
company had sacrificed workers' rights in pursuit of
profit. 

"Their own analysis confirms that they have a pattern
and practice of making their employees work through
their breaks and lunch on a regular basis," James
Finberg, a lawyer who has worked on several lawsuits
against the company, told the Times. "What this audit
shows is against their own company policy and against
the law in almost every state in which they operate." 

More than 40 lawsuits have accused the company of
forcing employees to skip breaks and lunches,
according to the Times. Wal-Mart has successfully
petitioned courts to keep the audit sealed. 

Wal-Mart employs 1.2 million people at 3,500 stores in
the United States. 

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