As if we needed another reason not to shop at Wal-Mart

This one comes from down the road from us via West Virginia's Charleston Gazette:

Wal-Mart officials in Cross Lanes told employees on Tuesday they have to start working practically any shift, any day they’re asked, even if they’ve built up years of seniority and can’t arrange child care.

[snip]

Workers who have had regular shifts at the store for years now have to commit to being available for any shift from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. If they can’t make the commitment by the end of this week, they’ll be fired.

“It shouldn’t cause any problem, if they [store employees] are concerned about their customers,” Knuckles said.

Knuckles is the store's knuckleheaded manager. As the article notes, single mothers with children will have no choice but to quit working for the "family oriented" store. I will note that either Mom or Dad would also have to quit in a two income family.

I will also note, that this is an excellent way to get rid of the employees who have worked there the longest and who are therefore paid the most.

Wal-Mart's incentive system for managers encourages cost-cutting which usually translates into getting rid of workers. A little birdie told me that one such fire-happy Wal-Mart manager in the South Pittsburgh area managed to get rid of so many employees in order to boost his bonus that sales are down there because shoppers are disgusted with the lack of service.

Rock on Wal-Mart managers!

WCHS TV 8 reports that, "Legal Aid of West Virginia says workers who are fired because they cannot meet the new requirement will likely qualify for unemployment benefits. "

Now all we need to is wait for the inevitable comment: "No one is forcing them to work there." Yep, you're right. But it'd be nice if the store that's so concerned about putting on a family friendly face to the public would show half as much concern for the people with families who work there.