Wal Mart Loses Labor Dept. Exemption

[Dr Dave]

I went looking for the original thread on Wal Mart's rather unusual arrangement to have the Labor Department notify it in advance before taking enforcement action against the company. At the time I pointed out that Wal Mart had made contributions in excess of $1 million to the Bush election campaign, and that it might not stretch credulity too much to suggest that the contribution and the ruling might somehow be connected.

Anyway, this item appeared in yesterday's NY Times:

January 19, 2006
Inspection Pact Ends for Wal-Mart Stores
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - Labor Department officials said on Wednesday that a much-criticized agreement that they had signed with Wal-Mart Stores regarding workplace inspections was allowed to expire last week.

In October, the department's inspector general, Gordon S. Heddell, issued a scathing report on the agreement, in which the department's Wage and Hour Division gave Wal-Mart 15 days notice before inspecting its stores.

The inspector general said the agreement gave Wal-Mart preferential treatment, while many Congressional Democrats and labor groups attacked the agreement, saying it gave Wal-Mart an opportunity to hide child labor and wage violations.

The inspector general said the notice violated the division's handbook.

The agreement let Wal-Mart avoid fines if it brought stores into compliance within 10 days of being notified of violations.