Working Life

The other day I had an update about Wal-Mart’s attempt to get into banking. Well, lo and behold, The Beast is running for cover–this is from yesterday’s New York Times: Few efforts illustrate the breadth of Wal-Mart’s ambitions — and the fears that they at times generate — as much as a nearly decade-long drive […]

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It’s interesting to look at the tone of two different reports today on new information about the push by the Beast of Bentonville t get into the banking industry (hey, maybe The Beast can buy up all those subprime mortgages that are starting to tank the real estate market). The Wall Street Journal opens up […]

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In all the flurry last week about the health care reform alliance between Wal-Mart and labor, a little item slipped by: Wal-Mart settles ID racial harassment lawsuit THE ASSOCIATED PRESS — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $125,000 to settle a racial harassment and retaliation lawsuit stemming from a complaint by an Idaho employee, […]

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Most of you know that Wal-Mart had ripped off thousands of workers, failing to pay overtime pay. So, the Beast of Bentonville has made a deal: $33 million to pay back tens of thousands of workers for wages that should have been over the past five years. Wal-Mart Watch has a compilation of the media […]

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This is so shocking and so disappointing–the Beast of Bentonville may be breaking the law. I’m astonished that Wal-Mart–which has broken child labor laws, overtimes laws and labor laws–would be potentially trying to pass off regular food as organic food. From The Independent in the U.K. US farming watchdog accuses Wal-Mart of mis-selling Wal-Mart, the […]

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Or so says Fortune magazine in its current issue. The tidbit that is probably of interest to readers here is in the section where the magazine puts forth recommendations on what the Beast of Bentonville needs to do in 2007: Extend an olive branch to the haters. HSBC retail analyst Mark Husson’s suggestion was the […]

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The people in Bentonville, Arkansas always have enough time on their hands to figure out how to make their workers even more miserable. Today’s Wall Street Journal has a front-page article that reports on the Beast’s plan to use computers to figure out when to schedule workers, even if that means workers can never count […]

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There’s already resistance to Walmart’s plan to open hundreds of stores in India. Walmart’s deal to partner with the Indian company Bharti is being called into question as an attempt to skirt the law. As per the agreement between the two corporate giants, Bharti would manage the front-end of the business, while Walmart would take […]

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While Walmart’s sales fell short of expectations this holiday weekend, and its website crashed on “Black Friday,” the company announced a new deal today that will expand its empire into India. Partnering with the Bharti Group, India’s top telecommunications company, the joint-venture plans to open “several hundred” stores, beginning next summer. The partnership is necessary […]

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The Beast from Bentonville has done its best to enter the New York City market–but so far labor and community groups have kept it at bay. Wal-Mart has been turned back in its attempts to build a store in Queens and on Staten Island. Interestingly, there has also been a move to stop it from […]

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