America’s number one retailer, Walmart, is under fire once again. Walmart has been in the news repeatedly for under paying employees with minimal benefits. The U.S. federal government has now filed a formal complaint against the retail giant stating that Walmart violated the rights of workers who took part in protests and strikes against the company as they illegally fired, disciplined or threatened more than 60 employees.
From a business standpoint, taking on all these complaints including the above is extremely costly and is negatively effecting what the company has to offer which are low cost products. Walmart has to combat these complaints by resolving them quickly and efficiently which are coming from the majority of employees; associates that are “paid less than $25,000 a year.”
The sooner Walmart takes care of the issues addressing them, the less likely they are to lose customer support. The effect of lack in employee support yields crummy service and leads to dissatisfaction. Mcdonald’s for example has been put in a similar situation where they have been known for paying their employees low wages. Due to this, “Mcdonald’s earnings have fallen”. Most of this is due to dissatisfaction of service.
Sam Hananel’s article along with many other’s are bashing Walmart’s image which is expected in our day and age with the easy access to social media. This will cause other companies to become more careful with their actions but in the meantime, disintegrate Walmart’s social image.
Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/04/17/walmart-pays-workers-poorly-and-sinks-while-costco-pays-workers-well-and-sails-proof-that-you-get-what-you-pay-for/
http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/01/federal_government_charges_wal.html
Image: http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/files/2012/11/Walmart-Protest.jpg