Labor Dept. to Investigate Its Treatment of Wal-Mart

[Rose Siding]

The inspector general of the Labor Department has decided to investigate its agreement to give Wal-Mart Stores 15 days' notice before investigating any stores facing complaints of child labor violations, according to department officials.

The inspector general's decision comes after lawmakers and children's advocacy groups criticized the department's settlement of child labor complaints against 24 Wal-Mart stores in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Arkansas. Without admitting any wrongdoing, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $135,540 to settle complaints involving 85 youths.

Representative George Miller of California, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, asked the inspector general to intervene, saying that the department was wrong to give Wal-Mart advance notice before investigating complaints. Noting that Wal-Mart executives had contributed heavily to President Bush's re-election, Mr. Miller said that Wal-Mart had received special treatment and that the department had acted suspiciously in not making the settlement public for more than a month.

Criticism of the settlement grew last week. The Child Labor Coalition and the United Food and Commercial Workers union called on the department to rescind the settlement, saying the advance notice might enable Wal-Mart to intimidate or retaliate against complaining workers before an investigation was conducted.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/politics/21walmart.html

[Ilsa]

1. I posted the original story on a nonpolitical board, and

even those non-poly folks could see it was total corporate, fascist bullshit for the Labor Dept to make such an agreement with WalMart.

Yeah, keep it up Bushco. Even the people that voted for you are getting a clue. The rest are keep getting more disgusted.

[Kerrytravelers]

2. There are so many forces of evil taking this country down.

How can we possibly keep up with all this?

[MSgt213]

3. They are counting on us not being able to keep up. Ignorant citizens are

a governments dream. The issues discussed and followed closely on this board only scratch the surface of what our now wholly own corporate government is trying to steal from this country.

[underpants]

4. 15 days? Hell you could repaint the place in that amount of time

Do they tell them when they are showing up and when they will leave?

[truthisfreedom]

5. investigating themselves, are they?

heh. we live in the most openly corrupt times in recent civilization.

[flygal]

6. How do I get my mother to quit shopping there?

She makes min. wage and swears she can't afford to shop anywhere else. I beg, plead that she doesn't need half the shit she buys there - I call it the $40 store b/c you go in for a couple of grocery items and come out with crap you don't need. She loves buying stuff for grandkids, friends, family. She is a big time dem but just DIGS her heals in on this issue!