Thursday, August 02, 2007

Wal-Mart Tries Out A New Wage In Mexico: $0 An Hour

On the day my kids start working at the State Fair where they will be making $8/hour, I read this article about teenagers in Mexico working for $0/hour. I can't imagine my kids going for that!

I suppose the possibility of tips is better than nothing. The article seems to say that Walmart has the money to actually pay these kids, so it's wrong for them to go along with the generally accepted practice. However, I'm personally wondering if that would be wise. Other businesses in Mexico cannot afford to pay the kids. All the teenagers would want to work at Walmart and none of them at any other businesses. I think it could cause more problems instead of helping.

The article: Thousands of adolescents work as unpaid baggers in Wal-Mart’s Mexican stores. The retail giant isn’t breaking any laws—but that doesn’t mean the government is happy with the practice.

read more | digg story

2 comments:

  1. I don't know about now, but baggers at military commissaries in the US used to work only for tips.

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  2. Hey! I was just going to make the same comment :) As of 3 years ago when I exited the military, they still weren't getting paid. It was actually a little weird at first to stop tipping baggers :) Of course, they actually brought your bags out to the car and loaded them in for you. . . which was great when you have kids in tow.

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