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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy mom died without me because Walmart would not let me leave work, paraphrasing.
My mom died without me by her side because my boss at Walmart wouldnt let me leave.
In 2015, my mom had a stroke, so I upended my life in North Carolina, and moved to Texas with my son to take care of her. A friend helped me get a job at Walmart, and when I was hired I explained that I was looking after my dying mom. But when I needed a flexible schedule to take care of her, they ignored me. And when I got the call that she was about to pass, my boss told me Id be fired if I left. So she died without me there, as I listened on the phone and cried.
Thats how Walmart treats workers like me. Thats how Walmart respects the work I do for them, and the caregiving work I do for my family. Lots of people already speak out against Walmarts unfair treatment of workers like me. But now Walmart has started buying up other companies, without making much noise about it. So you could be buying from Walmart without knowing it -- and if you shop at ModCloth, you are.
Walmart workers like me have come together with former ModCloth customers and our allies across the progressive movement to speak out.
Together, weve launched a letter to the Walmart CEO: were saying #ByeModCloth until workers like me get fair treatment. Click here to add your name.
It really stings when I hear people talk about ModCloth, and they dont know its owned by Walmart. ModCloth pretends to be a woman-friendly company, creating designs for women of all sizes. But Walmart doesnt work for all women: rich executives get paid leave, and ordinary workers like me get little or nothing.
ModCloths talk of being great for women is just that -- all talk. ModCloth is owned by Walmart, and Walmarts policies of low pay, unfair schedules, and no paid leave are hurting hundreds of thousands of women like me.
Its just not right for Walmart to hide behind the ModCloth brand while they treat women workers like me so badly -- and thats the message well be taking to ModCloth customers this Cyber Monday.
If you wouldnt shop at Walmart because of how they treat women, dont shop at ModCloth. Join Walmart workers and our allies: I wont shop at ModCloth this Cyber Monday.
Walmart forced me to choose between the family I love and the job that I need. But no-one should have to make that choice, and thats why were saying #ByeModCloth.
Thank you for supporting workers like me,
Tiffaney
EDIT: I am NOT Tiffaney. I got this in an email, and thought I should share. Sorry there are no hot links.
BigmanPigman
(51,672 posts)I DO NOT EVER SHOP THERE, even on-line. I did go there twice to protest how they made people work on Black Friday. I am pro union and hate that treatment. I would sign your "petition" but there is no link and I do not use social media. Do you have an option?
Hekate
(91,039 posts)I am deeply sorry for your loss and the way you were abused, and I support you in fighting back.
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)Somehow I thought there would be hot links in it.
FakeNoose
(32,917 posts)...and it's all too familiar. I've boycotted Walmart in the past, mainly because of how our local family-owned businesses all close whenever Walmart moves in. (I know, it happens everywhere.)
I wasn't aware of the ModCloth brand, but I'll be sure to boycott them as well. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Walmart receives economic advantages in the form of bulk-buying contracts from China and other Asian countries. This advantage is used to make the owners extremely EXTREMELY wealthy. On top of that there are legal & political advantages plus huge tax breaks that Walmart gets and nobody else. It's anti-democratic and anti-competitive, in addition to being anti-labor.
I'm sure Walmart would love to layoff all their employees as soon as "retail robots" become viable.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)at that point.
This is a very sad thing to read.
TheFrenchRazor
(2,116 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)I just dont.
RobinA
(9,909 posts)Fake news.
liberalhistorian
(20,822 posts)This is what Wally World does to its employees, without a second thought. They do NOT care for their employees or the communities they claim to "serve." I have seen enough firsthand cases, and heard enough reliable secondhand cases, and read more than enough legal settlements against them for maltreatment of employees (for instance, having to pay out millions to employees they forced to work overtime without paying them).
The_Casual_Observer
(27,742 posts)deny that woman that time off? Only in a place like a walmart in the south.
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)Kaleva
(36,404 posts)Kaleva
(36,404 posts)Other then a link back to the OP, I can find nothing to substantiate this story via Google search. There is a tweet with 2 shares.
Coventina
(27,224 posts)I went from huge fan/customer to boycotter in one second.
I'm never looking back.
ModCloth cut its own throat.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)should ever darken Walmart's door. There are folks for whom the only grocery or department store left is Walmart, and those people don't have the luxury of avoiding it. The rest of us do, and we have a responsibility to make sure that we aren't part of the problem.
AllyCat
(16,267 posts)If they come to my town, I wont shop there.
Coventina
(27,224 posts)I think they have one store in San Francisco, but I could be mistaken about that.
gilligan
(194 posts)But FUCK Walmart.
Turbineguy
(37,420 posts)Early in my career I was working for a company and while I was on leave, I got married. I asked for some extra time off. It was granted, but came with the admonition, "Don't let your marriage interfere with your job!" Now if I had said something like that to someone, I would have laughed and told him to enjoy himself and that would have been the end of it, because it's so obviously bass-ackwards. This manager was actually serious. I left the company a few months later.
The reason you work is not to make the company owners rich, but to take care of your family.
We used to be told in economics class that companies exist for the purpose of organizing production and distribution of goods in an efficient manner, for the greater good of society and civilization. Because people are willing to pay for the value that's added, profits are made.
This idea does not seem valid any more.
perdita9
(1,144 posts)And I plan to keep on doing just that. Target has a lot of the same items, treats its workers better, doesn't sell guns, and isn't run by homophobic executives.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,929 posts)and I've never heard of ModCloth.
There's also something that feels just a bit off about this email. I like to think I'd have walked off the job to be with my dying mother.
But a lot of jobs, like retail, offer zero flexibility to their employees, and often only post work schedules a week at a time, making it impossible for the workers to plan for things like child care, and utterly impossible to take a second job.
It's also not clear if Tiffany still works for WalMart. I hope she doesn't.
Neema
(1,151 posts)I find a brand I like, whether it's organic food, clothing, cleaning supplies or whatever, it's only a matter of time before some horrible company ends up buying them. I enjoy gardening and cooking and making things, but I work full-time and don't have time to make or grow everything. More and more I feel like I have to in order to not give money to companies like Walmart and Monsanto.