Roll THIS Back, Wal-Mart!

By Pepper of the Daily Pepper

I wasn't surprised to hear that Wal-Mart would apply their popular "rollbacks" to their own health-care plan by trying to discourage older workers from applying to jobs. It's another phase in the E. Paige Laurie Health Care Plan, which means your healthcare gets worse while Paige Laurie can keep her nails healthy and shiny.

I am with Ezra's point that the corporate beast is evolving in response to the government's laissez-faire attitude toward skyrocketing health-care costs. He's right: "Wal-Mart is acting exactly as we'd expect, exactly as countless others act." Just this week, I was shocked to learn that a friend who works for Nameless Large Stable Financial Company has terrible health-care coverage. This company can afford to do more, but the stockholders won't be happy. The system is broken, and it is going to take far more to fix it than pointing fingers at Wal-Mart. But I will point a finger at Wal-Mart today because of their use and abuse of the Wal-Mart Greeter.

Shakespeare's Sister inspired me to stand up for the Wal-Mart Greeter in particular: "And by the way, if wanting a rotating workforce of young and skinny and healthy folks who will leave before you have to pay them too much is your new paradigm, then I never want to see one of your lame-ass commercials trumpeting the great work conditions for the elderly ..."

I lived in a place where Wal-Mart was essentially the only place to shop. When I was 10 years old, I loved seeing the Wal-Mart greeters, but now I feel sadder and sadder when I see them. Do you think they really want to be working there? Do you think they would like to be enjoying their retirement? They need that paycheck. Now, the infamous Wal-Mart memo doesn't specifically give greeters the shaft, but M. Susan Chambers said that cart-gathering and other, more physical labor should be added to the list of job responsibilities. Methinks they're about to phase out the Wal-Mart Greeter. In small towns across America, the Wal-Mart Greeter is one of the few jobs that an elderly person can perform without injury. And it's kind of nice to be greeted when you go into the store. It does indeed serve a purpose.

Yes, discouraging unhealthy employees is a business decision that is encouraged by the horrible state of health care in America. But it's also ageist, and I think that someone could legitimately file a suit based on the Americans With Disabilities Act. I'm no lawyer, but, if this cart-gathering scheme is carried out, Wal-Mart will be openly discriminating against a large chunk of the population. I went to the ADA site and looked up information about the act:

Title I requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide qualified individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from the full range of employment-related opportunities available to others.

Just because a person is old or frail doesn't mean they are disabled, but they may be limited in the tasks they can perform. However, they may be able to perform tasks for a company (like greeting) just fine without causing injuries to themselves. Wal-Mart's changing the job duties of greeters or cashiers seems suspect. Any lawyers out there are welcome to chime in, but all people are entitled to the "full range of employment-related opportunties."

Now, Wal-Mart can legally reduce their benefits, and they can create more part-time jobs so fewer individuals receive benefits, but the specific goal of weeding out the unhealthy with "cart-gathering" definitely smacks of something illegal to me.