Walmart Sees No Need to Panic

Walmart is opposing New York state’s panic button mandate for retail worker safety because it will cause too many false alarms.
“Eight out of 10 times somebody thinks something’s going on, there’s actually not,” said Dan Bartlett, Walmart executive vice president of corporate affairs, Reuters reported on June 7.
On Friday, the New York State Senate passed legislation requiring most big retail chains to put panic buttons in easily accessible in-store locations or give staff wearable or mobile phone-linked access.
If enacted, the legislation would also require violence prevention training for retail employees.
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The parent of Jasso Express failed to pay 46 workers time-and-a-half in overtime wages, as well as failed to keep proper records, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has determined.
LJ2 Investments, LLC, was ordered to pay $78,664 in back wages and an equal sum in liquidated damages.
The food truck is regularly parked on a Pharr, Texas street corner, where the agency’s inspection took place.
The agency said food service investigations produced the third-highest amount of back wages recovered in 2023 and the second-highest amount of civil money penalties assessed.
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Pilgrim’s Pride’s Moorefield, West Virginia chicken plant, has been highlighted as one of the most dangerous non-coal industrial workplaces in the state.
From 2015 to late 2023, 12 factory employees had workplace injuries that led to amputations or overnight hospitalizations, according to data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Mountain State Spotlight reported in a two-part series in recent days.
That ranked the workplace just behind a Weirton tin mill for most severe injuries.
Debbie Berkowitz, a former OSHA chief of staff, said the number of severe injuries at Pilgrim’s Moorefield plant was notable, according to the report.
“This is a red flag on safety conditions in the plant,” Berkowitz said, adding that these types of serious accidents are often indicative of larger health and safety problems within a workplace.
The report, which alleged that immigrant workers shoulder a disproportionate amount of the danger in the plant, has been syndicated to multiple immigrant news outlets, including The Haitian Times.
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The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed a bill that would help to protect workers at meat packing and food processing facilities.
Sponsor state Rep. Jim Haddock said the Keystone state has more than 2,300 food processing facilities, ranking it among the country’s biggest food processing exporters.
He said Pennsylvania didn’t have any law that specifically protects workers in the industry.
Among the requirements under House Bill 2235, which would apply to employers with 100 full-time workers, would be to set safety training requirements for meat packing and food processing workers.
That training would have to be provided in languages that at least 5% of the workers speak.
The state Senate is expected to consider the legislation in coming days.
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