secrets and lies

This is another post in my periodic series about Wal-Mart, and the disgusting, anti-human business practices of the US's largest employer. (My first Wal-Mart post was here, here's one that started a discussion, and here's a recent JibJab cartoon. There's a bunch of others, too. If you're a Wal-Mart Watcher, you can search the archives.)

Last week, I received this email from Wal-Mart Watch:

On Wednesday, the New York Times broke the story of a secret Wal-Mart Board of Directors memo obtained by Wal-Mart Watch. Today, just 24 hours later, millions of people around the world are discovering the true ruthlessness of Wal-Mart's business practices.

Wal-Mart tries hard and spends an unbelievable amount of money to make us believe that they treat their workers like family. We've all seen the television commercials and will see many more in the days and weeks ahead. But we've shattered this myth once and for all.

The secret memo reveals the complete disregard - if not outright hostility - with which Wal-Mart's executives view their more than 1.3 million employees in the US. It confirms facts that Wal-Mart has long denied, including that 46% of the children of Wal-Mart's U.S. employees are uninsured or on Medicaid.

To remedy Wal-Mart's healthcare crisis, the memo lays out plans to:
- Cut spousal benefits
- Hire more part-time employees and encourage faster turnover
- Discourage older and unhealthy people from working at Wal-Mart by requiring more jobs to require physically challenging tasks such as collecting carts and stocking shelves

Read the secret Wal-Mart memo here and join the discussion about it on our blog.

We leaked the memo to the New York Times on the heels of a media blitz by Wal-Mart about its latest plan to offer more affordable employee healthcare benefits. But as this memo proves, yet again, Wal-Mart is ignoring the true crisis of their uninsured and underinsured employees. It's more than a moral crisis, it's one that costs you and all American taxpayers billions each year.

Here's how to get involved. And of course, spread the word.