Wal-Mart Always The Lowest Wage

A Wal-Mart internal audit of one week's time-clock records for roughly 25,000 employees found 1,371 instances in which minors apparently worked too late at night, worked during school hours or worked too many hours in a day. It also found 60,767 apparent instances of workers not taking breaks, and 156,705 apparent instances of employees working through meal times. [New York Times, 1/13/04]

WAL-MART ENDS ONLINE SALES OF BASSINET TIED TO DEATH OF INFANT

• Wal-Mart Ends Online Sales of Bassinet [Associated Press via Forbes]
  Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has stopped online sales of a Simplicity Inc. bassinet that is under investigation by federal safety officials after an infant death, although the bed is still available in the retailer's stores.

WAL-MART, TAINTED TOYS AND CHINA

• China Loses Congressional Republicans Over Tainted-Toy Trade [Bloomberg News]
  Product recalls alarmed Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor enough that he was willing to sponsor measures opposed by his state's biggest corporate resident and the world's largest retailer, Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
  
  
• Recall rebound [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]
  Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer and top toy seller, says it has stepped up toy inspections and is rechecking documentation of previous inspections.
  
  
• Wal-Mart Loves Chinese Imports [24/7 Wall Street]
  Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott had a special message for his investors and customers. Chinese stuff may break or be dangerous. But, it is cheap.
  
  
• LTE: Wal-Mart imports China's problems [Modesto (Calif.) Bee]
  Why aren't more parents and pet owners screaming about Wal-Mart's lack of concern for our kids' and pets' safety? Wal-Mart's connection to the products made in China is now our problem. Wal-Mart's use of inferior materials in baby bibs and lead paint toys in inexcusable. Finding traces of melamine (an industrial chemical used in making plastics) in pet treats is scary. How does melamine get into pet treats?

LTE: WAL-MART AND ITS CONSEQUENCES TO AMERICAN SOCIETY

• Wal-Mart Tottering? Don't Bet On It [Wall Street Journal]
  Your article glosses over the consequences to American society caused by the influence Wal-Mart has exercised over the economy. Unmentioned is the disastrous rush toward the bottom in wages, with Americans settling for appalling salaries in the service sector, yet still remaining uncompetitive with both new immigrants and overseas labor forces.