Illegally in the U.S., and Never a Day Off at Wal-Mart (new facts revealed

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=68&ncid=68&e=4&u=/nyt/20031105/ts_nyt/illegallyintheusandneveradayoffatwalmart

They came from Russia, Poland and Lithuania, and their tales of washing and waxing Wal-Mart's floors for seven nights a week sound much like Pavel's.


Last February, Pavel responded to an intriguing Web site that boasted of cleaning jobs in the United States paying four times what he was earning as a restaurant manager in the Czech Republic. He flew from Prague to New York on a tourist visa and took a bus to Lynchburg, Va., where a subcontractor delivered him to a giant Wal-Mart.


Pavel immediately began on the midnight shift and said he soon learned that he would never receive a night off. He said he worked every night for the next eight months. In this way, Pavel, who refused to give his last name, became one pawn among hundreds employed by subcontractors that clean Wal-Mart stores across the nation, paying many workers off the books.


Pavel's unhappy stay in the United States ended with a shock when federal agents raided 60 Wal-Marts on Oct. 23 and arrested him and 250 other janitors as being illegal immigrants. Yesterday, the company acknowledged that it had received a target letter from federal prosecutors accusing it of violating immigration laws and saying that Wal-Mart faced a grand jury investigation.
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Dose that mean Wal-Mart is given a warning before a worrent is served?

According to last week's TIME magazine--and I almost think this has got to be a typo--they were paid as little as $2 a DAY.

On edit: here's a link to that $2 a day figure:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101031103-526488,00.html

gin

After he was sold a bill of goods.

Probably half the buildings in Atlanta are cleaned by companies formed around the same paradigm.

another travesty in our *free and democratic* country.

if this is true, Walmart should be more than penalized. What's the difference between this and running a sweatshop. I think this calls for more of a penalty than a fine.

Who are the sub-contractors ?

They are the ones encouraging and supporting illegal immigration.
$2 a day ? That's slave labor. Who are the slavers in our midst ?
Who are the overseers ? Who are the Simon Legrees ?

contracting company shamelessly exploiting people don't they? $4 a day??? If we let Walmart continue we'll all be working for that. Revoke their charter, they are no longer useful to America.

n/t

our money. Shop at an independent store. you may pay a little bit more, but it is worth it.

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=200590

I'm locking this thread. Interested DUers are welcome to continue discussing this in the referenced thread.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,
TahitiNut - DU moderator