DEAR EDITOR:
Wal-Mart spokesperson Amy Hill says that Wal-Mart employees
are
”
satisfied
”
and do not want or need a union.
DEAR EDITOR:
Wal-Mart spokesperson Amy Hill says that Wal-Mart employees are “satisfied” and do not want or need a union. I worked at the Gilroy Wal-Mart for 6 1/2 years – the last four as a supervisor. I can tell you from my experience that Ms. Hill simply does not know what she is talking about.
When I left Wal-Mart I was making $9 and change per hour. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The most important problem I had at Wal-Mart was the lack of decent health benefits – this was particularly important to me as a parent of two small children. Wal-Mart took $30 per week out of my check to pay for health benefits that were full of loopholes and totally inadequate. Dental and vision care would have been another $100 per month. I couldn’t afford that.
We had no rights. We were not treated with respect. We were forced to work off the clock. We were forced to work on our days off. There were many times I went to work sick – once on the day after root canal surgery – just because my supervisors made it clear to me that I would lose my job if I called in sick.
The union tried to organize our store. The store manager threatened us that we would be fired if we supported the union. “You are a dime a dozen,” he said, “and we can always replace you.” It was the old “my-way-or-the-highway” approach. Needless to say, morale was extremely low.
There was rampant discrimination against women. I know from personal experience that men who had less skill and experience were promoted faster and got better pay than myself and many other women in the store. The entire attitude toward women – which came out in many ways, every day – was degrading.
The difference between working at Wal-Mart and my current job at the Morgan Hill Safeway, is like night and day. I made more money the first day I went to work at Safeway than I did after all those years at the Wal-Mart. I have great and complete benefits, paid for by the employer. I have a real pension plan, regular days off, a decent vacation and sick leave. I am treated with dignity and respect.
It’s not always heaven. There are always going to be problems on any job. But a union contract gives us a way to resolve our problems in a mutual way, as opposed to Wal-Mart’s approach, where the employer has absolute authority. I am treated with respect, I know my rights and I know the employer’s rights. Together we do an outstanding job for our customers.
Wal-Mart’s low prices (and great profits) are based on their mistreatment of people just like me. Wal-Mart is a bottom feeder. As a grown woman, I cannot compete with someone making $7.50 per hour. Every Wal-Mart Supercenter shuts down two conventional grocery stores. Maybe it’s not important to Ms. Hill if I lose my job. But it’s important to me, and it’s going to be important to the local merchants of Gilroy and Morgan Hill when I have half as much money to spend. And of course, the city treasurer will notice the difference.
I’m not going to comment here on some of the other misstatements and untruths made in Ms. Hill’s letter. But she’s got this part dead wrong, and that should make readers suspicious of the truthfulness of the rest of her letter. Wal-Mart is not a good citizen. They do not care about their employees or about the community, and I hope they are not permitted to open a Supercenter in Gilroy.
Pam Robasciotti, Gilroy
Submitted Friday, Oct. 24 to [email protected]
