Wal-Marts employees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wal-Marts employees - Essay Example Given its big size and rapid expansion, Wal-Mart increasingly sets the standard for wages and benefits through the U.S. economy. Considering its market influence, the company sets the standards of what retailers pay to their workers. The problem is; this pay is not satisfactory enough for retail workers. It is interesting to note that for a company which averages $6.6 billion annual profit, the average hourly worker at Wal-Mart earns barely $18,000 annually (Karen, 602). Wal-Mart most of the time forces employees to work overtime without pay. Supervisors are pressured by company headquarters to keep payroll low, regularly deleted hours from time records and reports. As stated by Jennifer McLaughlin-one of the company’s employees-40% of the employees opt not to receive coverage under the company’s medical plan, which costs up to $2,844 annually. The company was also faced with sex discrimination lawsuit whereby it was accused on favoring male as compared to female when i t comes to promotions and equal pay (Karen, 605). In order to fight for their rights and to make their voices heard, workers launched a massive drive to organize a union at Wal-Mart, demanding better wages and working conditions. To counter the union drives, Wal-Mart’s management responded to the union drive by trying to stop workers from forming the union. This was against the federal labor law and in several accessions, the company had been declared guilty of interrogating workers confiscating union and firing union supporters by the National Labor Relations Board. For the company, the formation of the union will is a violation of the company’s policy (Singh and Neeraj, 65). To protect the bottom line Wal-Mart is as aggressive at fighting off unions as it is at cutting costs. The employees approached by co-workers about joining a union were scared to talk.