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wal-mart
Posts Tagged “
Labor
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wal-mart
Unfriendly Skies
Infuriated By Labor Dispute, United Pilot Cancels Flight
Passengers on United Airlines Flight 416 from Salt Lake City to Denver were in their seats, waiting to taxi to the runway, when their pilot suddenly announced that "an interpersonal confrontation [has] upset me significantly to the point where I'm not focused enough to fly you to Denver." Apparently, the "interpersonal confrontation" started when the pilot was caught wearing his hat in front of management. More »
kmart
Despite the common stereotype, there are some young people willing to work hard. Patrick found a job at Kmart since it is one of few stores that starts hiring at age 16. He was hired under the guise of Customer Service Representative, but Patrick soon realized he was really the "Coach's Bitch." Besides being treated as nothing more than a slaveboy, Patrick says he was instructed to do things that are illegal for minors. His letter, inside...
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Tale Of A 16-Year-Old Kmart Employee
Despite the common stereotype, there are some young people willing to work hard. Patrick found a job at Kmart since it is one of few stores that starts hiring at age 16. He was hired under the guise of Customer Service Representative, but Patrick soon realized he was really the "Coach's Bitch." Besides being treated as nothing more than a slaveboy, Patrick says he was instructed to do things that are illegal for minors. His letter, inside...
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detente
Anti-Walmart Groups Start Playing Nice?
The New York Times says that the two most enthusiastic anti-Walmart groups, Wal-MartWatch and WakeUpWal-Mart are starting to take a more subtle approach when it comes to protesting the big blue box. More »
living wages
Burger King Investigating Email Shenanigans In Tomato Price War
Last week a Florida journalist busted Burger King VP Stephen Grover for using his tween-aged daughter's email account to slam a farm workers group—but that wasn't the only weird email event related to this story. Now Burger King is taking steps to officially distance itself from Grover's actions and the other internal emails by announcing it's launched an "internal investigation" into all three. More »
living wages
The next time Burger King VP Stephen Grover goes online to spread FUD about labor advocates, he should probably leave his daughter out of it. For one thing, she's a horrible accomplice and will spill her guts to the first reporter who calls. For another thing, this forthrightness clearly makes her too ethical to smear a group that's trying to bring pay for tomato pickers up to living wage levels.
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Burger King Exec Hides Behind Daughter's Email Account To Trash Talk Opponents
The next time Burger King VP Stephen Grover goes online to spread FUD about labor advocates, he should probably leave his daughter out of it. For one thing, she's a horrible accomplice and will spill her guts to the first reporter who calls. For another thing, this forthrightness clearly makes her too ethical to smear a group that's trying to bring pay for tomato pickers up to living wage levels.
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outsourcing
U.S. Debt Collecting Being Outsourced To India
The New York Times looks at the blossoming foreign market for debt collection services, and describes a call center in India where the employees are reminded to bring up the 2008 stimulus checks when they call U.S. households, and where everyone claps three times when the first "deal" of the day is made (""Rajesh, for $35 a month for three months," the supervisor yells across the center.) More »
disputes
Burger King Will Not Pay Extra For Tomatoes, May Buy Them Elsewhere
Burger King has been fighting with tomato pickers in southern Florida for two years, refusing to pay a penny more per pound. Now the burger chain has announced that they may simply buy their tomatoes somewhere else. More »
made in china
Breaking News: There Are Sweatshops In China!
Economists and politicians rant about China in terms of jobs lost, currency valuation, and trade gaps. But the New York Times reports that a new metric has been discovered: every year, Chinese workers manufacturing our toys, garments and electronic junk in the Peal River Delta collectively break 40,000 fingers. More »
retail
Gap Responds To Child Slave Labor Scandal
The Gap has pledged $200,000 to to improve working conditions in India, where only some forms of child labor are outlawed, and it also promised to tighten its own standards. The retailer canceled half of its orders with the vendor in India that was responsible for subcontracting the workshop in which children who had been sold to the factory were working off the debt by embroidering clothing for Gap Kids. More »
child labor
GAP Caught Using Child Labor To Produce "GAP Kids" Clothing
A freelance journalist has caught the GAP using child labor to produce hand embroidered clothing for its GAP Kids line. The children, who are as young as 10, are quoted as saying they were sold to the factory by their families and cannot leave until their debt is paid. A video of the factory's squalid conditions shows GAP Kids labels on the clothing. More »
news from the swamp
Senate Proposal To Allow Generic Versions Of Biotech Drugs After 12 Years
A Senate proposal would strip biotech drugs of their patent-protected status after twelve years, opening the door to competition from generic drug makers. Patent protection determines how long obnoxious pharmaceutical CEOs can spend outside their competitor's offices dancing with their drugs to MC Hammer's 1990 hit, "U Can't Touch This." Unlike regular drugs made by chemical synthesis, biotech drugs are derived from human proteins. More »
airline
Southwest Raises Fares $10
Southwest Airlines raised fares as much as $10 each way over the Thanksgiving weekend. This will be the 5th price hike this year for the discount carrier. Southwest faces rising fuel and labor costs that are only going to get worse. More »
readers
Walmart Loses Labor Suit
Yesterday, a jury of its peers found Walmart guilty of forcing workers to toil through rest breaks and slave extra hours without pay, a violation of Pennsylvania labor law. More »
bank of america
Bank of America's Fraud Department Takes a Holiday
Reader Jessica is clearly a red-blooded American. She demands service, and above all, LABOR, from her fellow countrymen and -women, even on national holidays, especially on Labor Day. More »
china
The Great Wal-Mart of China
- "Wal-Mart Stores plans to hire up to 150,000 employees in China over the next five years, five times the number of workers it currently has there, as it expands its number of stores, the company said Monday."
bloomberg
Consumer Price Index: Hello, Ms. January
With feverish paws, we unsheathed the latest Consumer Price Index report (C.P.I.), released this morning, from its brown package. Flipping quickly to the middle our eyes roamed over Ms. January C.P.I.'s rising crests of .8%. More »
consumer price index
It may be hard to sleep tonight, tomorrow the Feds release the Consumer Price Index (C.P.I.) at 8:30 am EST. We'll post the results on The Consumerist but you can also hit refresh over here.
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Consumer Price Index Gets Us Hot
It may be hard to sleep tonight, tomorrow the Feds release the Consumer Price Index (C.P.I.) at 8:30 am EST. We'll post the results on The Consumerist but you can also hit refresh over here.
More »
