A previous WM store manager had a promoted Rveva Barrett to full-time community involvement coordinator. The current one cut her pay and her position, so she became an anti-WM advocate:
Manuel Guzman, manager of Pinellas Park's Wal-Mart Supercenter, asked Barrett to sit down. "I'm sorry," he told her, "but your job's being eliminated."The pay cut was a really dumb idea, IMHO, although I understand the restructuring of the job, especially if the store manager wanted to handle those duties himself.That was in July. It was the second blow for Barrett, the store's coordinator of community involvement, or "good works," and a 15-year Wal-Mart veteran. In April, Guzman had cut her community involvement hours to 20 per week. The other 20 were to be spent in the fabrics and crafts department.
But this was much worse.
Not only was Barrett's job eliminated, her pay was cut $1.30 an hour, from $19.46 to $18.16. Her hours were shortened. Guzman told her she had to be available to work any time from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. "or leave," Barrett said.
"I was mad," Barrett said. "I was shocked. I couldn't believe it."
For three years, Barrett had been the public face of the company and its main local cheerleader, badgering reporters for positive stories about Wal-Mart's good deeds and schmoozing state and local leaders.
Barrett was, as she put it, a "believer."
No more.
The article contains this delightful sentence:
Barrett's are not the first such allegations against Wal-Mart.Is it really possible for regular newspaper readers to think otherwise?
There's not much information on Ms. Barrett, except that her position put her on the local Chamber of Commerce. Elsewhere, Ms. Barrett is an "assistant store manager" (Jan 04), which is BEFORE her duties were split, so there are details missing...
Posted by Kevin on September, 26 2005 at 09:16 AM
