Walmart Employees Group Cites Simon's Leadership Failures

Retail

Published: July 24, 2014 2:05 pm

Last Updated: April 28, 2020 9:27 am

A labor group made up of employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has been pushing the company for nearly two years to raise its minimum annual wage for full-time employees to $25,000. The group, called OUR Walmart, has organized pickets and walkouts at Walmart stores across the country, coinciding with the beginning of the holiday shopping season, to push for the higher wages, more full-time employment and an end to what it claims is retaliation against those who speak out against the store’s policies.

A Walmart employee affiliated with the group said on Thursday that the newly appointed head of Walmart U.S., Greg Foran, “should work with OUR Walmart to improve jobs at our company so that we have an opportunity to join the middle class, strengthen our company’s bottom line and improve our nation’s economy.” He also notes that it was Bill Simon who revealed that most Walmart employees are paid less than the sought-after $25,000.

In a press release, OUR Walmart also pointed out the three problems that Walmart faces and that Simon failed to resolve: low pay, slumping sales and declining brand value. The group points to a study by public policy research group Demos that found that $25,000 annual salary for full-time employees of retail companies that employ more than 1,000 workers could lift 900,000 women and their families out of poverty or near poverty.

OUR Walmart is not the only group to notice that Walmart’s U.S. sales have been falling, and we noted that Simon’s implementation of smaller format stores was not likely to get the job done.

The group also cites a poll of consumers that it says “confirms that concerns about Walmart’s pay and treatment of workers are influencing shopping habits.” The survey showed that 25% of Walmart’s most loyal customers are shopping less at the stores because of the way Walmart treats workers. More than a third of those polled who never shop at Walmart say they avoid the store because of its “poor treatment of workers.”

Whether Foran is listening and, more important, whether he can influence the Walton family even if he is listening are open questions. One thing is pretty certain though: OUR Walmart does not appear to be ready to give up its fight.

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