Ethics Walmart

The Working Poor

Among the signs that you aren’t paying your employees enough, this may be one of them.

A Walmart in central Ohio is holding a holiday canned food drive — for its own underpaid employees. “Please Donate Food Items Here, so Associates in Need Can Enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner,” a sign reads in the employee lounge of a Canton-area Walmart.

Kory Lundberg, a Walmart spokesman, says the drive is a positive thing. “This is part of the company’s culture to rally around associates and take care of them when they face extreme hardships,” he said.

OurWalmart

It is a sad indictment to say that this, a charity food drive for underpaid employees of a grocery store, is “part of the company’s culture.”

I have no doubt that it is, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s good that employees will help each other, but embarrassing for the company that charity food drives for employees are a necessity.

In related news, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reportedly plans to prosecute Walmart for illegally firing and/or disciplining more than 117 workers who went on strike this Summer.

The local Walmart holding a food drive is located in Canton, Ohio, the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.