A federal agency that controls labor laws last Monday said that they are going to press charges against Walmart for threatening and punishing workers who planned to go on strike last year. They claim that Walmart "unlawfully threatened" employees. The federal agency said that Walmart intimidated, stalked or punished employees in 14 different states which broke U.S labor laws. The reason why Walmart did this was because of how early Walmart was opening for Black Friday sales last year. As well as forcing the workers to work all night hours when they wanted to spend time with their family. The Walmart union called OUR Walmart say that they plan even more protests at more stores in more states this year.
Question? Does Walmart have the right to punish there workers for going on strike?
Jamieson, Dave. "Walmart Broke Labor Law And Retaliated Against Workers, NLRB Charges." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/18/walmart-nlrb_n_4298387.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592
8 comments:
I think it depends on the punishment. If they are just firing the workers I think that is ok because that is a risk they took by protesting. Anything other than firing the employees I don't think is right. I also don't agree with Walmart forcing their employees to work when they wanted to spend time with their families.
Amanda Berberich
I would say Walmart should not have the right to punish their workers. I think the worker are fighting for a good cause and the cause should be considered among the board. Therefore in this predicament the employs should not be punished for what they believe in.
It is hard to answer this question without knowing what time they were expected to begin working after Thanksgiving, who intimidated them, and how they did it. From what I understand from this it is ridiculous of the owners and representatives of Walmart to force their employees to work extraneous hours during times that would normally be spent with family. On the other hand the ability to request time off does exist especially in an establishment such as this, and with careful planning and organization quality time with loved ones could still be achieved whether or not it is the immediate day after a special holiday.
Leandra---No, I don't believe Walmart has the right to punish its employees. But if they decided to go on strike it is at there own risk. Therefor Walmart can fire them for not working
I don't believe Wal-Mart should punish their workers for going on strike. The workers can do what they feel is necessary.
Sydney Blair
Alex Darrington and Levi McKercher
We believe consequences such as firing the employees are adequate, but stalking and intimidating employees into not acting out again is wrong. This seems similar to slave holders scary their slaves into working. Obviously in a different context, but similar to an extent nonetheless.
I don't think that Walmart should be able to punish its employees for going on strike. They should be allowed to fire them but they should not be allowed to unlawfully punish their employees. If anything, they should try to change their ways so that workers won't have a reason to go on strike.
Walmart does not have the right to punish their workers. They are restricting their freedom of speech.
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