Walmart Will Take Away Your Sad, Meager Benefits For Daring To Say The Word 'Union'
Fun fact of the day: some Walmart workers get benefits and vacation time! We did not know this, but apparently some of them do, and if they're super attached to health care and time off, well, they best not be saying the word "Union," because it might all go away.
Walmart staves off unionization attempts in its stores by telling workers who ask about forming a union that they may lose benefits and vacation time , a potential violation of American labor law that could further inflame relations between the company and workers who picketed its stores on Black Friday and have been attempting to organize.
Nice situation you have there, guys. Wouldn't want anything to happen to it, would you? Of course not. So just don't ever ask to get a living wage, or for your fellow workers to get a living wage, and you can hang on to your meager vacation time and benefits. That's fair, right? It sure is! Remember the golden rule?
Walmart has been opposed to unions since Sam Walton opened his first store in Rogers, Ark., in 1962. These days, “we have human resources teams all over the country who are available to talk to associates, and we will get questions about joining a union,” says David Tovar, a spokesman for the company. “We would say: ‘Let us remind you of all that Walmart offers, and of what might go away. Quarterly bonuses might go away, vacation time might go away.’ ”
It might just...go away. Where would it go? Not sure, but somewhere that is "away," where you can't have it.
True "vacation" pay that has been earned cannot be retracted.
There's probably a couple dozen lawyers crafting language that makes this "benefit" different. And conditional.
"Might" is the key word here.
Fun fact - employers in Florida are not required to give employees an <i>unpaid</i> lunch break. So that might go away too.