From Newsweek:
19,000 youngsters between the ages of 14 and 16 work after school in hundreds of Wal-Mart stores, mostly as grocery baggers, throughout Mexico—and none of them receives a red cent in wages or fringe benefits. The company doesn’t try to conceal this practice: its 62 Superama supermarkets display blue signs with white letters that tell shoppers: OUR VOLUNTEER PACKERS COLLECT NO SALARY, ONLY THE GRATUITY THAT YOU GIVE THEM. SUPERAMA THANKS YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING. The use of unsalaried youths is legal in Mexico because the kids are said to be "volunteering" their services to Wal-Mart and are therefore not subject to the requirements and regulations that would otherwise apply under the country’s labor laws.
So let me get this straight: Wal-Mart has inspectors allegedly looking for kids working for wages in Chinese factories. Why then are they working kids in their own Mexican stores for no money at all? The answer is worse than you think:
Although Wal-Mart’s worldwide code of ethics expressly forbids any "associate" from working without compensation, the company’s Mexican subsidiary asserts that the grocery baggers "cannot be considered workers."
Technically that's right. You have to get a wage to be a worker, but they certainly are doing work. If cashiers do the customers' bagging, then Wal-Mart will have to hire more cashiers or the line will slow to a crawl. While that's no problem in an American store (where customers have come to expect bad service) Wal-Mart Mexico is actually upscale. The more kids they have, the fewer adult cashiers they'll hire.
If you read the article, you'll see that Wal-Mart seems to think it's doing these kids a favor by keeping them off the street. To me, that's the perfect definition of exploitation. We'll exploit you less so that you don't get exploited more. It also violates the whole principle behind the idea of universal human rights which, apparently, Wal-Mart doesn't grasp too well:
Wal-Mart says the bagger program was designed "in accordance with the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) guidelines." That’s questionable: Article 2 of the ILO’s Convention 138 specifically prohibits the employment of 14-year-old children.
I can't wait to hear their next lame excuse.
JR