Walmart ex-workers awarded reparations

New report says Walmart pays so little that many workers can't feed their families. Walmart workers in Cincinnati and Dayton are scheduled to strike today, demanding wages of $15.

(Associated Press file photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Many Walmart workers serve as poster children for food insecurity because their low pay doesn't allow them to adequately feed their families, according to a new report.

Food insecurity isn't unending hunger, but it may cause a family to spend at least a few days a month staring in anguish at bare cupboards and an empty refrigerator.

"Walmart's Hunger Games: How America's Largest Employer and Richest Family Worsen the Hunger Crisis," was released Thursday as some Walmart workers in Cincinnati and Dayton are scheduled to go on a one-day strike. The workers are calling on the company to increase the pay of sales clerks, cashiers and other lower-level employees to $15 an hour. The action serves as a prelude to nationwide strikes scheduled for next week on Black Friday.

Walmart pays most of these workers under $9 an hour, said the report's author, Michele Simon, a public health lawyer, who says she specializes "in legal strategies to counter corporate tactics that harm the public's health."

"All the factors that are contributing to poverty in America exist among Walmart workers," she said. "Walmart is America's largest poverty incubator."

Simon said 49 million people suffer from hunger in this country, not because of unemployment, but because of low-wage work. She said as the nation's largest employer, Walmart bears much of the blame for putting business practices into place that have ultimately led to fewer working Americans being able to feed their families.

The result? These low-wage workers often are forced to skip meals and/or rely on cheap food that frequently is not nutritious, Simon said. She said working more hours to make up for the low pay often is not an option for these employees, because the company has fostered a profit model based on emphasizing part-time work. Also, she said Walmart's system of erratic scheduling makes it difficult for these workers to get a second part-time job with another employer.

Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg all but called the report rubbish. He said its intent was to support the efforts of Making Change at Walmart -- a campaign that includes the United Food & Commercial Workers -- which is focused on getting better pay and working conditions for workers at the retailer. The campaign paid for the report.

"It's no surprise that this union-funded propaganda piece is riddled with errors and inaccuracies," he wrote of the report in an email. "The truth of the matter is 1.3 million people choose to work for Walmart because they understand the company provides its associates with more opportunities for career growth and greater economic security for their families than other companies in America."

Lundberg also wrote: "[O]ur average hourly wage (for both full- and part-time workers) at Walmart is $11.83 an hour and just last year we promoted more than 170,000 people to jobs with higher pay and more responsibility."

Corporate empire supported by food stamps?

Shortly after the report was released, Making Change at Walmart posted on its Facebook page a photo from an Oklahoma store where a food drive is being held for workers. A year ago, The Plain Dealer reported on food collection bins at the Walmart in Canton. Above the bins appeared this sign: "Please donate food items here so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner."

The campaign also reported Thursday similar food collection efforts occurring at a Walmart store in Indiana. For many, such drives raise the question of whether the world's largest retailer is paying its workers enough to put food on the table.

Simon said rising food insecurity has been documented for some time. In fact, she said her report doesn't present new data, but rather "connects the dots" between government data and the findings of think tanks, academics, advocacy groups, etc. regarding the working poor.

For example, the report says 47 million people in the country rely on food stamps - officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - an increase of 42 percent in three years.

Simon said Walmart benefits from food stamps because many of its workers depend on them to supplement low wages. The retailer also benefits because a good share of its business comes from customers - including its workers - who use them to buy groceries. The report says that in 2013, Walmart captured 18 percent of all food stamp spending, estimated to be $13.5 billion. Its workers rely on an estimated $6.2 billion annually in public assistance, the report said.

"The American taxpayer is directly subsidizing Walmart's ability to do business this way because their workers are relying on public assistance," she said. "It is a twisted kind of a vicious cycle, where Walmart is being subsidized by the American taxpayer."

Simon said the cycle begins with Walmart workers having to rely on food banks and public assistance programs because, on average, they make less than $25,000 a year. She said the cycle completes with the Walton Family, the company's owners, being among the richest Americans.

To end this cycle, Simon said the company has to make sure workers are paid more, and also Walmart must create more full-time positions. About half of these employees only work part-time, the report says.

Lundberg wrote that Walmart offers favorable conditions to those who seek them, including full-time hours. He wrote that the company's Open Shifts program allows employees to request available shifts on a first-come basis, which workers can do from computers and mobile devices. On average, Walmart offers about 1 million hours per week through the program, Lundberg wrote.

"Our associates have access to unparalleled advancement opportunities, cash bonuses, a 401(k) plan, education benefits and training programs, plus the unique opportunity to build the type of flexible schedule that best meets their needs, including full-time hours, through our Open Shifts program," he wrote in an email.

La'Randa Jackson, who works in customer service at a Walmart in the Cincinnati area, disagrees with Lundberg's assessment about the availability of hours and flexible schedules.

"I am able to work 40 hours a week, but they won't allow me to," she said. "Walmart won't let you get more than 30 hours a week."

Jackson agrees with Simon's assessment that scheduling is erratic. She said often workers are only given a few days notice of the hours they will work that week. Jackson intends to begin taking college courses, and worries about being able to juggle them with an unpredictable work schedule.

Jackson is among the Walmart workers featured in Simon's report. Though only 20, she has been the family's primary breadwinner during her yearlong tenure at Walmart. Her brother, 18, got a job two months ago as a dishwasher in a restaurant. Jackson has three other brothers, ages 13, 2 and 1. Her mother is so severely diabetic that she often cannot leave home.

They rely on food stamps and the local food bank, but often that is not enough. For Jackson and her family, the food insecurity of which Simon writes is more than academic.

"I skip a lot of meals," she said in the report. "The most important thing is food for the babies, then my younger brothers. Then, if there's enough, my mom and I eat."

Jackson can't help thinking that that wouldn't happen if she made $15, instead of $8.75; and could get a steady 40 hours.

She said those who work in America shouldn't have to face hunger.

"That is not cool," Jackson said.

'Tis the season for striking

In recent years, Black Friday has not only marked the official start of the Christmas and holiday shopping season, but also strikes by Walmart workers.

Just as the shopping season is off to an early start this year, so are the strikes. Our Walmart, the organization that has organized these actions, launched the first round of seasonal protests Nov. 13, when sit-down strikes were held at some Los Angeles area stores.

Saria McCollum, who works at a Dayton-area Walmart, said it is significant that she and other workers in Dayton and Cincinnati are striking Thursday.

"I like to think Ohio is giving Walmart a preview of next week," she said in an email. "Black Friday isn't just one day anymore, anyway. Walmart has turned Black Friday into five days. It's like its own season. Our Black Friday is a season too."

Lundberg said the strikes and demonstrations have been more hype than action.

"[F]or the last two years, this group has made big predictions about the number of demonstrations they plan to hold; and for the last two years they've turned out a small fraction of what they promised," he wrote in an email. "In fact, last year this group claimed 1,500 demonstrations and only showed up at about 300 of our 5,000 locations, and roughly 20 of our 1.3 million associates participated."

McCollum said the strikes and demonstrations have drawn the numbers organizers have reported, including plenty of workers. As a result of these actions, Walmart has made some changes, she said. This includes a recent policy allowing employees to perform less demanding work if pregnancy makes it difficult for them to carry out their regular duties.

"It's not enough," McCollum wrote in an email about the changes she believes have resulted from strikes and demonstrations. "But it's enough to see that together, we're having an impact. That's why we won't give up."