Walmart is not happy. After Gawker's Hamilton Nolan
posted stories emailed in by Walmart workers, the company put up a post on an internal website asking current employees to send Nolan cheery stories of how amazing and wonderful it is to work at Walmart. While some people complied,
others responded directly to the boss's request,
on the Walmart employee website, with comments like:
"Sadly, the Gawker stories match my Walmart experience."
And:
"Isn't it funny that these stories 'aren't true,' and yet many of us are too scared to post our disagreement, lest we lose our job? I read the Gawker reports: There's not one bit of that that I haven't experienced myself."
The initial stories, by the way, included reports of rats and health violations, sexual harassment, and, of course, low pay and unpredictable part-time scheduling. And that's what Walmart workers are saying directly to the company, on an internal website, matches their experiences.
All of this is happening against the backdrop of Walmart's threats to pull out of Washington, D.C., if the city follows through on instituting a $12.50 wage for workers at stores with more than $1 billion annual corporate sales and more than 75,000 square feet. The city council passed the Large Retailer Accountability Act with just short of a veto-proof majority, and Mayor Vincent Gray has hinted he might veto the ordinance. Urge Mayor Gray to give big box workers a living wage.