Wal-Mart Watch | Fighting for Wal-Mart Workers | Employee Free Choice Act

Pay the Kids

1. Address Information
2. Compose Letter
3. Preview Letter

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Recipient*
Eduardo Solorzano, President of Walmex
Javier Lozano Alarcon, Mexican Secretary of Labor
Mike Duke, Head of Wal-Mart International

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First Name* Last Name*
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Use the sample letter and talking points provided as a guide, but remember that the best letters -- and the letters most likely to get published -- come from your own words and experiences:

Subject*

Talking Points
Writing Tips

Wal-Mart Mexico employs 19,000 teens aged 14-16 to work as grocery baggers, but the company considers them “volunteers” and forces them to work only for tips.
The teen baggers wear Wal-Mart uniforms and service Wal-Mart customers, so they should be paid by Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart earned more than $1 billion in Mexico last year. Minimum wage in the country is less than $5 a day.
Wal-Mart’s teen baggers deserve to be paid for the work they do, and they need that money for food, rent, education, and health care.

Message*

I am writing about Wal-Mart's practice of employing unpaid teenage "volunteers" to work as grocery baggers at stores in Mexico. It is unfair and irresponsible of Wal-Mart to exploit these teenagers by forcing them to work only for tips. They wear Wal-Mart uniforms and serve Wal-Mart customers, so they deserve to be paid like Wal-Mart employees.

Wal-Mart earns more than a billion dollars per year in Mexico. It can certainly afford to pay its grocery baggers Mexico's minimum wage of $5 per day. By refusing to pay them, Wal-Mart is failing to live up to its responsibilities as Mexico's -- and the world's -- largest private employer.

This is yet another example of Wal-Mart's consistent attempts to avoid paying its employees a fair wage. The company has a history of sweatshops overseas and unfair labor practices in countries across the globe. And in the United States, Wal-Mart has more than 80 wage and hour lawsuits pending.

With such massive power and influence, Wal-Mart has a responsibility to set the global standard for fair and humane business practices. That cannot happen while the company employs thousands of unpaid teenage "volunteer" workers in its stores. This practice must end, and Wal-Mart must pay its teen workers in Mexico.

I hope you'll stand up against this disgraceful practice and make Wal-Mart live up to its responsibilities to all its workers.

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