Wal-Mart's high cost of your rights

Wal-Mart, a company never too far from poor headlines. However, I think they thrive on it. Well, they have now taken one more step into yet another ring of hell. The Executives at Wal-Mart are forcing the store managers and supervisors to attend mandatory meetings to inform them that a Democratic victory in November could make it easier for employees to unionize. They are calling the meetings "educational", I call it a threat. The meetings are intended to tell the management staff that the Employee Free Choice Act is bad for profits. They want them to explain this to their staffs in the field. Is Wal-Mart breaking the law? Indeed they are.

As the Wall Street Journal points out, Wal-Mart is within it's legal responsibility to advocate for candidates to it's salaried employees. That said, The Federal Election rules do not allow them to extend this influence/intimidation to hourly employees, ie; Dept. Supervisors. Should Wal-Mart wish to influence how it's employees vote, it should adhere to Federal laws, and only encourage voting. Yet, they have long been advocates for the GOP, and would hate to see Unionized employees in their stores. God forbid another sexual harrassment allegations, God forbid an employee getting paid for hours worked (on the damn clock), and God the employees have the protections and metaphorical safety net a Union can provide. Wal-Mart has long turned my stomach over their business practices, their "cheap plastic crap", and total disregard for workers rights. They have now broken Federal law, and should be held accountable. Yes they have gotten away with breaking laws in the past, but this one should stick. Many of us have known better over the years, my Mother, many of my friends, myself, and probably you if you are reading this. My question is, how many times have you heard of a friend or relative who said "I got such a great on this at Wal-Mart", what was your response? Did you excuse yourself? Did you explain to them why it is bad to shop at Wal-Mart? I hope it was the latter. It's Friday, take care and keep it lit.