Did Wal-Mart Wake Up? - The Arthur Page Society

according to poll results, Wal-Mart’s business and labor practices caused 11 percent of
current Wal-Mart shoppers to change their shopping habits and caused nine percent of
shoppers to buy less. 17 (See Appendix C)
2. The Issue: Employee Relations and Workers’ Rights
Over the past several years Wal-Mart has been criticized for its large number of
violations regarding wages and work hours for its employees. In 2003, Wal-Mart
associates made $8.23 an hour, amounting to $13,861 a year, almost $1,000 below the
federal poverty line for a family of three. 18 However, by 2008, the average hourly wage
for full-time employees had increased to $10.83 and is even higher in more urban areas. 19
But, in spite of the increased wages, there have been an increasing number of
lawsuits against Wal-Mart regarding managers forcing employees to work off the clock,
requiring associates to skip lunch and short breaks, and tampering with time and wage
records. By 2008 the company was simultaneously facing 80 different lawsuits that
involved these labor-related issues. 20 One of these cases was a $50 million settlement
involving 69,000 workers in Colorado in 2000. Another awarded back pay to 83 workers
in Oregon who were forced to work off the clock. 21 According to attorney Justin Perl,
who was a part of the team that represented 56,000 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club hourly
workers in Minnesota, “Wal-Mart knew what they were doing. They knew why they
were doing it, and they were hiding the evidence to avoid liability.” 22
Managers were fully aware of these violations and seemed to fail to take action.
Evidence that many of these cases use against Wal-Mart was what has become known as
The Shipley Audit. Conducted by auditor Bret Shipley in June 2000, 128 Wal-Mart stores
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