Via the Cleveland Plain Dealer comes this report about a Wal-Mart in Canton, Ohio collecting food for its needy workers.
The storage containers are attractively displayed at the Walmart on Atlantic Boulevard in Canton. The bins are lined up in alternating colors of purple and orange. Some sit on tables covered with golden yellow tablecloths. Others peer out from under the tables.
This isn’t a merchandise display. It’s a food drive – not for the community, but for needy workers.
“Please Donate Food Items Here, so Associates in Need Can Enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner,” read signs affixed to the tablecloths.
The food drive tables are tucked away in an employees-only area. They are another element in the backdrop of the public debate about salaries for cashiers, stock clerks and other low-wage positions at Walmart, as workers in Cincinnati and Dayton are scheduled to go on strike Monday.
This is absolutely shameful, and it shows that above all else, Wal-Mart is concerned about its profits above all else.
This sounds like a case of people helping people to me. A good thing. That was reaffirmed on public radio today via a Walmart employee in Canton.
Walmart is the elephant in the room in many regards, but, to call this activity “proof of low wages” is ridiculous.
I don’t shop at Walmart either.
This is a new low for Wal-Mart. I avoid going to Wal-Mart unless I cannot avoid it mainly because of the negative economic conditions it places on the economy by treating workers like crap. The other reason and it may rank just as high is because it is such a rat race and I always prefer to shop in a less crowded store to save time and receive better service.