An internal Walmart memo was leaked yesterday, describing how to discourage workers from coming together for action. This document, leaked by Anonymous “Hacktivists” demanded absolute loyalty to Walmart. It further instructed that any and all signs of worker discontent be reported to supervisors immediately.
The leaked documents comes right as the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against Walmart for its illegal terminations and disciplinary actions. This complaint was the largest in history against the corporation. It argued against Walmart’s actions against store workers who stood up on Black Friday as well as others who went on strike during the Summer of 2013.
Just last week,
a federal court in Los Angeles ruled that the corporation can be sued for the abuses contracted warehouse workers experience. Warehouse Workers United says the following:
“Their lawsuit alleges that the workers who load and unload Walmart’s truck containers, many of whom have worked at these warehouses for years, were routinely forced to work off the clock, denied legally required overtime pay, and retaliated against when they tried to assert their legal rights, or even asked how their paychecks had been calculated.”
Dominic Ware, an employee included in the NLRB complaint said that “Walmart’s aggressive anti-worker campaign is real, it is ugly, and unnecessary.” Moreover, he continued, “instead of spending money on these misleading and false campaigns to intimidate workers, Walmart should be focused on publicly committing to improving jobs, raising wages and making sure that workers are able to raise their concerns without fear of illegal retaliation.”
Walmart has a new CEO taking over in a few weeks. Ware explains the major reform that Doug McMillon needs to implement as he steps into his role as CEO in February. “I hope that Walmart will take a new direction in listening to Associates and the country [amidst] the growing calls to improve jobs and publicly commit to ending illegal retaliation and suppressing workers’ rights.”
(Article by James Achisa; image by PBSpot)
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