By
Wal-Mart loves keeping
track of data. For instance, the retail giant’s researchers know that
before and after major storms, customers buy strawberry Pop-Tarts at a rate that’s seven
times faster than normal.
How does Wal-Mart use
this data? To stock its shelves with more — or less — of a certain good based
on consumer demand.
When no storms are in
the forecast, Wal-Mart doesn’t need as many strawberry Pop-Tarts. Known as just-in-time ordering, this approach allows
the company to maximize its profit by predicting consumer behavior.
Lately, Wal-Mart has
taken to treating its workers just like Pop-Tarts.
The practice is just
what it sounds like: a system where employers set workers’ hours according to
the ebbs and flows of consumer activity.
Wal-Mart workers have
repeatedly protested their low wages. But last month, workersconvened on Capitol Hill to protest Wal-Mart’s
just-in-time scheduling practices.
Unlike Pop-Tarts, of
course, Wal-Mart workers are people whose lives get totally upended by
unpredictable scheduling. These workers may find themselves scheduled to work
40 hours one week and 15 hours the next. This puts their personal lives and
economic livelihoods in constant upheaval.
How would you feel if
you never knew from one week to the next how many hours you’d be working, which
shifts, and on which days?
Workers report that Wal-Mart retaliates against workers who demand steadier
hours or more predictability by cutting their hours even more. The company
rewards workers who are always available — like Pop-Tarts — with more hours.
Here’s what happened to
Tiffany Beroid, a customer service manager at the Wal-Mart in Laurel, Maryland.
After she requested
a more regular schedule because
she had decided to enroll in college, Beroid’s supervisor cut her hours so
drastically that she couldn’t keep up with her tuition payments. She had to
drop out.
“I started working at
Wal-Mart because I thought if I worked hard, I could give my family a stable
home and lift us out of poverty,” Beroid said. Instead, she explained to
federal lawmakers last month, “Wal-Mart punished me for not being available at
all hours and cut my hours well beyond what was needed.”
Ronee Hinton, another worker at the Laurel Wal-Mart,
said that its unpredictable scheduling prevents her from being able to get a
second job. “Even though I work at the country’s largest employer and want to
work full-time, I don’t know when I will work from week to week.”
Unpredictable
scheduling derailed Tiffany Beroid’s career plan to get out of poverty and
prevented Ronee Hinton from taking a second job to pay the bills.
A recent study also found that just-in-time
scheduling increases barriers for parents trying to find quality child care.
“Workers need
scheduling predictability so they can arrange for child care, pick up kids from
school, or take an elderly parent to the doctor,” explained Representative
George Miller (D-CA).
Some members of
Congress are taking action. Representatives Miller and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
alongside Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tom Harkin of Iowa
introduced the Schedules That Work Act. This bill would
require employers to provide more predictable and stable schedules for workers.
It would also protect workers against retaliation for requesting schedule
changes.
This legislation would
make a real difference for countless women and men in the retail industry. In
the current do-nothing Congress, however, it’s unlikely to pass. As the
nation’s largest employer, Wal-Mart should take the lead on this issue and stop
treating people like Pop-Tarts.
OtherWords
columnist Marjorie E. Wood is an economic policy
associate at the Institute for Policy Studies and the Managing Editor of
Inequality.org IPS-dc.org
Distributed via OtherWords.org
Distributed via OtherWords.org