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Wal-Mart Woes: Audit Finds Thousands of Labor Law Violations
Aired January 13, 2004 - 06:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for a little 'Business Buzz' right now. The world's largest retailer could be guilty of thousands of labor law violations.
Carrie Lee has more on the story live from the Nasdaq market site.
Hello -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
We're talking about the one and only Wal-Mart. An internal audit at Wal-Mart of 25,000 workers has revealed thousands of labor violations, including over 1,300 violations of child labor laws, minors working too late, during school hours or working too many hours in one day. They also include over 60,000 apparent instances of workers missing breaks and over 15,000 instances of employees working through meals.
Now the audit was conducted in July of 2000, distributed to Wal- Mart executives. The audit is now under seal by several courts at Wal-Mart's request. Wal-Mart says the findings aren't accurate because workers often forgot to punch in and out during breaks or they skipped lunch so that they could leave early. But still, Wal-Mart already faces over 40 lawsuits claiming it forced workers to miss breaks and lunches. So it will be interesting, Carol, to see how this story develops.
COSTELLO: Quick look at the futures.
LEE: Things looking a bit flat right now. We did see a very nice session for stocks that trade here at the Nasdaq though yesterday. That index hitting another two-and-a-half year high. The Dow, the S&P 500 fractionally higher. Why the technology gains? Well, it looks like people really gearing up for the profit-reporting season, which really kicks off tomorrow with Intel and other names.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, Carrie, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Violations>
Aired January 13, 2004 - 06:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for a little 'Business Buzz' right now. The world's largest retailer could be guilty of thousands of labor law violations.
Carrie Lee has more on the story live from the Nasdaq market site.
Hello -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
We're talking about the one and only Wal-Mart. An internal audit at Wal-Mart of 25,000 workers has revealed thousands of labor violations, including over 1,300 violations of child labor laws, minors working too late, during school hours or working too many hours in one day. They also include over 60,000 apparent instances of workers missing breaks and over 15,000 instances of employees working through meals.
Now the audit was conducted in July of 2000, distributed to Wal- Mart executives. The audit is now under seal by several courts at Wal-Mart's request. Wal-Mart says the findings aren't accurate because workers often forgot to punch in and out during breaks or they skipped lunch so that they could leave early. But still, Wal-Mart already faces over 40 lawsuits claiming it forced workers to miss breaks and lunches. So it will be interesting, Carol, to see how this story develops.
COSTELLO: Quick look at the futures.
LEE: Things looking a bit flat right now. We did see a very nice session for stocks that trade here at the Nasdaq though yesterday. That index hitting another two-and-a-half year high. The Dow, the S&P 500 fractionally higher. Why the technology gains? Well, it looks like people really gearing up for the profit-reporting season, which really kicks off tomorrow with Intel and other names.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, Carrie, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Violations>
