Weimart

Via LaborBlog (to which Kos and the Alternate Brain are pointing, among others), we find a link to a NY Times article reporting that the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart:

has agreed to pay $135,540 to settle federal charges that it violated child labor laws in Connecticut, Arkansas and New Hampshire.

Labor Department officials said most of the 24 violations covered by the settlement involved workers under age 18 operating dangerous machinery, including cardboard balers and chain saws. In the agreement, Wal-Mart denied any wrongdoing.

[…]

The Labor Department and Wal-Mart signed the agreement on Jan. 6, but made no public announcement. The department disclosed the settlement yesterday after a reporter questioned officials about concerns raised by several department employees that the agreement gave Wal-Mart special favors.

[…]

A provision also promises to give Wal-Mart 15 days' notice before the Labor Department investigates any other "wage and hour" accusations, like failure to pay minimum wage or overtime.

Needless to say, no other company has the privilege of getting 15 days’ advance warning to clean up any potential violations before inspectors arrive, particularly a company with such a long history of employee abuses.

Unbelievable. Guess $275 billion dollars a year of business buys a lot of favors.