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February 14, 2005
Attention, Wal-Mart shoppers.
I understand that this chain offers goods at very attractive prices, but please take a minute to consider what you're supporting:
To settle child labor violations in three states, the nation's largest retailer paid out more than $150K to the Labor Department. In and of itself, that's hardly surprising. They're a large organization, and it follows that there might be a *few unscrupulous people who'd take advantage here and there.
According to an internal Labor Dept. memo, the terms of the settlement "includes provisions that Wage & Hour will not open an investigation of Wal-Mart without first notifying Wal-Mart's main office and allowing them an opportunity to look at the alleged violation, and if valid, correct the problem to everyone's satisfaction."
I know it's unlikely that many avid Wal-Mart patrons will find themselves reading about this issue. Anecdotally (and quite ironically), I don't think many of their customers give much thought to labor laws or workplace safety. Still, I'd love to ask a few of them what they think of this.
Maybe this guy can find out why the Bush administration would extend such consideration to a major contributor.
*Bitter, bitter sarcasm.
Posted by Your Protagonist at February 14, 2005 12:51 PM