Op Ed - Wal-Mart store closure follows labor activism

It's certainly possible that Wal-Mart is temporarily closing five stores, including one in Pico Rivera, Calif., "due to ongoing plumbing issues that will require extensive repairs," as it claims.

It's possible that the Pico Rivera closure, which will cost the jobs of more than 500 employees and will last six months to a year, isn't part of an effort to punish workers who have been at "the center of concerted action by Associates to improve the wages and working conditions of all Walmart Associates around the country," as the workers asserted in a complaint filed Monday with the National Labor Relations Board.

If so, however, there wouldn't be so many questions about Wal-Mart's repair plans. Why hasn't the giant retailer applied for building permits for the work? Not at Pico Rivera, nor at any of the other four stores — two in Texas and one each in Florida and Oklahoma, according to a Tampa, Fla., TV station. Why, of the list of 50 "plumbing issues" Wal-Mart provided to The Los Angeles Times dating to July 2014 for the Pico Rivera store, were half identified as "non-emergency" problems such as leaky urinals and broken toilet handles?

Why weren't problems fixed when the store underwent a recent $500,000 refurbishment — during which it didn't have to be closed — that included the restrooms and the grocery department, according to papers on file with the Pico Rivera building department?

Or, if the plumbing problems were so severe that the building has to be completely closed until Christmas and possibly beyond, why didn't Wal-Mart say anything about it until April 13? On that day, according to Venanzi Luna, an employee at the Pico Rivera store, managers called workers to a meeting at 1 p.m. to inform them the location would be closed as of 7 p.m.

The other stores were closed with similar suddenness. No advance warning to customers, to the communities or to the employees.

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/wal-mart-store-closure-follows-labor-activism/ar-AAby93q