ARREST OF WAL-MART STORE EE

Pork · October 2003

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE OR LOCAL HR INFORMATION NETWORK ON THE ARREST OF WAL-MART SUB-CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL???HAS THE ROUND-UP OF THE 1.6MILLION BEGUN???

mwild31 · October 2003

I'm not aware of the story - could you give me some more information so I can research the issue? Online of course x0:)

sonny · October 2003

It was on the "front page" at msn. Very intersting. Hundreds arrested Seems they were largely contract janitorial workers. Am sure it will get more press.

San Francisco · October 2003

What were they arrested for?

Elizabeth

cebudragonlady · October 2003

For not being authorized to work in the United States. Three hundred arrests. And the msn.com story states that Wal-Mart executives knew that these people were illegal. Lots of heads are going to roll at Wal-Mart in this public relations fiasco.

Chari

Steve McElfresh · October 2003

Those arrested are, apparently, janitorial workers employed by Wal*Mart subcontractors in a number of locations.

[url]http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/23/news/companies/walmart_worker_arrests/[/url]

On the surface, it sounds much like the sweeps that used to occur routinely occur in the agricultural industries. I don't know much about this area, but a liability issue for W*M, I would think, would be whether it can be shown that their management/purchasing agents knew (or should have known) of the use of illegals. Given their very deep involvement in many aspects of their supply chain, this might in fact be an issue.

Their reputation may also take a hit -- even though those arrested are (apparently) subcontractors -- and W*M has put much effort to postion themselves as a great employer.

Regards,

Steve Mac

Steve McElfresh, PhD
Principal & Founder
HR Futures
408.605.1870

ray a · October 2003

300 workers at 61 stores nationwide. The article didn't say much, but did call it a scheme. Could that be called biased reporting since technically they are innocent until proven guilty?

MrCreosote · October 2003

Last time I was in Wal-Mart the cashier wouldn't accept a coupon I had that was one-week expired. I was a little miffed because I knew that the vendor would still honor the coupon, and so would any grocery store. (Having worked at a grocery store, I know that the coupons aren't emergency airlifted out every night to reach the manufacturer by midnight on the expiration date.) I asked a manager, and she said, "We may do a lot of things at Wal-Mart, but we don't take expired coupons." Anyway, I was wondering what the "other things" might be, but now I know.

mwild31 · October 2003

I finally saw the article on MSN. I think Wal-Mart is in dire need of the Forum! We've discussed this same issue so much - I don't think any of us would be in their position. Maybe as a good joke - we should all chip in & buy a subscription to the Law Letter for the Wal-Mart exec's.

San Francisco · October 2003

mwild, count me out. They are our fiercest competitors! Actually, we arent' in their league - they just annihilate us when they come to town.

Elizabeth

rad · October 2003

Hmmm..the more I hear about Wal-Mart, the more suspect I am of that little smily face...they had problems with race and gender discrimination a while back too.

Pixie · October 2003

You can find the story by going to ....

[url]http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031023/D7UBVLJG0.html[/url]

Rockie · October 2003

>Hmmm..the more I hear about Wal-Mart, the more suspect I am of that
>little smily face...they had problems with race and gender
>discrimination a while back too.

They also had problems with making people work off the clock. I even heard they locked them in the building and would not let them leave until the stores were "picked up" for the next day. Amazing!

Balloonman · October 2003

261 arrested from 61 stores, and not all were employees. So if they have 200 employees average per stor that would be 2% of the workforce. Remember never trust the media, the use of the word scheme is as usual sensationalism and irresponsible journalism.
Last week there was a story about the Kentucky governor's wife who struck and killed a bicyclist. The sun was in her eyes. Flash sensational story that left out many critical facts to determine was she being reckless? If the sun is in your eyes and you can't see should you be turning left at an intersection?
How many of the possible illegals were using excellent fake documentation that may have fooled any of us? If they are subs, should W*M check to make sure they are legal? Do any of you check out the legal work status of subs?
I am not defending W*M just pointing out that splashy headlines often leave out the facts. As my friend Ron McCain would say..........."Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Lola815 · October 2003

>Hmmm..the more I hear about Wal-Mart, the more suspect I am of that
>little smily face...they had problems with race and gender
>discrimination a while back too.

I thought that it was funny that after their discrimination problems they had a commerical on t.v. about a mother and daughter who worked there and how they loved it and were in management posistions and they were treated so well. I also laughed when I saw it.

mwild31 · October 2003

If this is true from the article Dr. Steve linked us to:

"The arrests stemmed from two prior investigations by federal immigration officials involving contractors and Wal-Mart stores, one in 1998 and another in 2001, law enforcement officials said."

And this is true:

"Wal-Mart uses at least 100 outside contractors for cleaning services at about 700 stores across the country, she said. "We do require each of these contractors to use only legal workers. We do not know if the current investigation involves one or multiple outside contractors," Weber added."

And this too is true:

"But federal law enforcement officials said information from an undercover investigation revealed that some Wal-Mart executives and some store managers knew of the immigration violations."

Then there really is no excuse for not following up with the contractors about their hiring practices & verifying SSN#'s to names. It's just too easy anymore & I can say with absolute authority - no one in my company works here unless their social security number matches with what the fed's have on file. No smoke here - it's the truth. And if I had the history with the Fed's that is reported & if my policy was one in which we said that "We do require each of these contractors to use only legal workers" then you better believe we would perform due dilligence with our subcontractors.

I think Wal Mart has been in so much trouble lately because they like to take this issue and other employment related issues all the way to up to the line, in some cases just to find out where the line is - rather than a few paces back. A few paces back may cost more short-term - but long-term it keeps you out of these kinds of situations.

hrbanker · October 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-23-03 AT 05:32PM (CST)[/font][p]I agree with Balloonman. How many of you have hired a temp through a service like Manpower and then required the temp to complete an I-9? That's the temp service's responsibility. The company is my 'employee', not the temp.

Their problems will come from execs knowing about the illegals, if that is the case.

ARREST OF WAL-MART STORE EE

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