Walmart warehouse temps add flexibility — and save money?
American Public Media
Michelle Hartman
This year, low-wage warehouse workers who move goods for Walmart in Southern California and Northern Illinois have taken their case for better treatment to the public, and to the company’s own doorstep.
With support from big labor unions like the Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers, they’ve held marches and strikes at warehouses and stores, and protested in Walmart’s hometown of Bentonville, Ark. Last month, they delivered a box of petitions and got a meeting with company executives, where they presented complaints of sub-standard wages, unsafe working conditions, and retaliation if they complain or attempt to organize.
Walmart issued a prepared statement to Marketplace from V.P. of Communications David Tovar after the meeting, saying: “We had a very productive conversation with some of the workers who came to Bentonville last month. We appreciated their perspective, we listened very carefully. Criticism can be a helpful voice sometimes to hear. We’re taking these allegations very seriously, because we hold all of our service providers to high standards, and remain committed to ensuring that workers throughout our supply chain are treated with dignity and respect. We’ve spent the last few weeks developing protocols to have independent auditors inspect each of the dedicated third-party-run facilities that we utilize.”