Employee quits to avoid lack of air conditioning, low wages
“I have worked at the Wal-Mart in Texas for six months. I had to quit because of the heat in the store. They hired me to work in the cosmetics section but I ended up working at the paint counter or as a cashier – whatever they wanted me to do. The air conditioner is set at around 80 degrees and everyone has complained about it. However, management doesn’t take responsibility; instead they blame the home office in Arkansas. Anyone who has ever lived in South Central Texas knows that it gets hot as hell. Average summer temperatures are usually over 100 (with humidity around 102-107). Wal-Mart doesn’t care if you dehydrate on the job.
Wal-Mart hires part-time employees so they won’t have to pay insurance benefits. The managers tell us that we should be grateful for our $7.45 an hour wage. $7.45 an hour is not even paying for my gas. Most people who work there are on skid row and barely able to make it. Most are so poor that they can’t even afford to eat and most have such rotten teeth that it’s a wonder they don’t get sick from infection.
I told the managers I was ashamed to work there and I mean it. They used me and the other workers but they won’t say anything because if they do, they’ll get fired. Wal-Mart will just hire more teenagers and pay them minimum wage and work them part time. I’m thankful I don’t have to work in oppressive conditions anymore. I quit yesterday!”
- D.C.
