https://themilitant.com/2019/07/20/walmarts-attendance-policy-shows-need-for-a-union/
As I See It
Walmart???s attendance policy shows need for a union
??By Todd McGivens
Vol. 83/No. 27
July 29, 2019
LOS ANGELES ??? Workers at Walmart stores across the U.S. were informed by
the bosses in February that the company was implementing a new
attendance policy. The giant retailer slashed from nine to five the
number of days a worker can call off in any six-month period. And any
worker who calls off on special days the company designates around
holidays now incurs two of the five allowed marks against their record,
instead of just one.
Drew Holler, Walmart vice president for associate experience, told the
press that more than 300,000 hourly associates currently have spotless
attendance records. ???Our associates told us they wanted to be rewarded
for their dedication, and we couldn???t agree more,??? he claimed.
I constantly encounter the opposite reaction at the store where I work.
The new policy has been met with confusion and anger as the threat of
being fired and actual firings based on the onerous new restrictions
came rapidly. Company bosses are constantly seeking new ways to get an
edge in their cutthroat competition with Amazon and other retailers.
They are cutting workers??? weekly hours, and demanding workers be
available to come to work whenever Walmart beckons. Company favorites
are rewarded with extra hours. This is but one more example of how
workers bear the brunt of the profit-driven competition between these
giant rivals.
In an attempt to get workers to accept the new policy, the company has
assigned us six days of ???protected time off??? during the year that we can
use if we have to take off.
Instead of increasing our hourly pay ??? something Walmart workers across
the country sorely need ??? at the end of every quarter the company issues
what they call a ???MyShare??? bonus. This is really a bribe to accept low
wages and poor working conditions. The size of this so-called bonus is
arbitrary. It is determined based on the ???performance??? of each
particular store. Managers use the promise of a higher bonus to try and
get workers to press each other to speed up.
Walmart is using both the carrot and the stick with the bonuses to get
workers to toe the line. If you???ve got ???perfect??? attendance, the company
bumps up your bribe by 25%. This is intended to get workers to come to
work even if they???re sick, have a personal emergency or whatever. Every
absence above 2.5 ??? half of what you???re allotted ??? means your bribe goes
down.
Class-conscious workers reject taking the bribe. I contribute whatever
???MyShare??? check I???m given to the Socialist Workers Party to advance its
work building the working-class movement and explain to my co-workers
the reason why.
As it stands now, Walmart is an ???at will??? employer, and can do whatever
it wants whenever. If you don???t like it, you can quit, they say.
This attendance policy is just the latest example why workers at Walmart
need to organize a union.
A fighting union can prevent the bosses arbitrarily imposing draconian
absentee policies, shifting schedules and hours, and playing favorites
in the workforce on a profit-driven whim.
Todd McGivens is a Los Angeles area Walmart worker.
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Letters
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York, NY 10018?? -?? themilitant@xxxxxx
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Voltaire
??? Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
???
??? Voltaire,
