You know, in case you needed one. Which, really, you don't.
Wal-Mart de Mexico, like Wal-Mart U.S., takes pride in cutting costs wherever they can, and their cheap philosophy extends underage "volunteer" grocery baggers, coming dangerously close to being criminal. The 19,000 teenage grocery baggers working in Wal-Mart stores across Mexico are laboring under large blue signs reading "OUR VOLUNTEER PACKERS COLLECT NO SALARY, ONLY THE GRATUITY THAT YOU GIVE THEM."
That means no pay, no benefits, and no protection from corporate giants looking to explolit families who are plagued by poverty. Although Wal-Mart’s code of ethics - if it can be called that - forbids employees from working without compensation, the Mexican
subsidiary insists the grocery baggers “cannot be considered
workers.” This from the largest private employer in the country, who reported $280 million in profits in the second quarter of this year. Shameful.
The worst part, though, is that Wal-Mart de Mexico is in full compliance with a 1999 agreement covering the teenage baggers that the Mexico City
municipal government negotiated with the Supermarkets and Department
Stores Association of Mexico. Federal District Labor Secretary Benito Mirón Lince argues "“To my mind, that is not an accurate description because the bagger is
providing a service on the store’s premises that benefits the company
by serving the customer better." True, but as far as I can tell, though, no one's doing anything about it.
I wonder how many Wal-Mart employees let their children "volunteer" for no pay?
