EDITORIAL – Wal-Mart burns workers, pays up

A Pennsylvania jury decided last week that Wal-Mart must pay at least $78 million to workers… A Pennsylvania jury decided last week that Wal-Mart must pay at least $78 million to workers as compensation for unpaid work.

The BBC reported that this class action suit was brought by 187,000 employees who worked for the company between March 1997 and May 2006. Although Wal-Mart, owner of Sam’s Club, is planning to appeal the decision, it’s nice to see that Wal-Mart isn’t bigger than the game as far as the law is concerned.

Former Sam’s Club employee Dolores Hummel, who headed the case, testified that she often worked during breaks and after closing — without being paid — because of “work demands.”

“One of Wal-Mart’s undisclosed secrets for its profitability is its creation and implementation of a system that encourages off-the-clock work for its hourly employees,” Hummel said.

Hummel added that she worked between eight and 12 unpaid hours each month, according to the BBC article.

Wal-Mart also made the news last week in an article discussing China’s plan to adopt a law that will crack down on sweatshops and give labor unions real power. The New York Times reported last Friday that as part of this effort to protect workers’ rights, China forced Wal-Mart to accept unions in their Chinese stores.

It’s pretty sad when China gives us a lesson not only in protecting workers’ rights, but also in basic principles of capitalism.

There really is no moral dilemma when it comes to this issue: Pay workers for the work they do.

Period.

It’s a no-brainer, especially when it’s spelled out in the law. By not doing so, Wal-Mart is breaking one of the basic tenets of capitalism, and it’s pretty clear that they thought they could get away with it.

It’s fantastic that the current workers and ex-employees of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club mobilized this effort, considering the company’s efforts to squash organized behavior like unionization. Without a union, it’s easy to see how the company’s labor practices decayed into pressuring workers to work off the clock.

Despite behavior to the contrary, Wal-Mart is not above the law, and it should prepare itself for similar lawsuits because it appears that this is only the beginning. A California court awarded Wal-Mart employees $62 million in compensation in December for being denied meal breaks. Workers in the Pennsylvania class action suit were only denied rest breaks, in addition to working after their paid shift ended.

Wal-Mart’s general lack of concern and morality is disgusting and it makes us wonder: How many unpaid hours have to roll by so we can enjoy rolled-back prices?

Never mind that Wal-Mart doesn’t offer its employees decent wages or its part-time workers health care. There’s no excuse. Starbucks offers its part-time workers health care and last time we checked, they were viable and abundant.

It’s just so simple, Wal-Mart. Play by the rules and pay your workers their tiny salary for the hard work that they do. If cheating workers is really your “secret to profitability,” then we want nothing to do with you.