It's Prince Spaghetti Day! And oh yeah, WalMart Owns the Department of Labor

I'm on duty over at the American Street and busy with the kidlet, so today is a light one for blogging. I have a call into the DOL about WalMart use of child labor and the press release they used to explain the special deal that WalMart now enjoys with them. Nathan Newman, at the wonderfully throrough LaborBlog found out that there were two press releases and that the second one was missing a crucial phrase:

Here's the press release issued by the Department of Labor. It highlights the fine paid by Wal-Mart and it's agreement to comply with the law, but fails to even mention the deal to prohibit DOL investigations until Wal-Mart corporate headquarters is given a heads up to whitewash their operations.

And this was actually the second press release issued. The first was quickly recalled, because its first paragraph read:

The U.S. Department of Labor has fined Wal-Mart $135,540 in civil money penalties for violating the youth employment provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The department's Wage and Hour Division found that Wal-Mart allowed teenage workers to operate hazardous equipment resulting in one teenager being injured while operating a chain saw.

Watch that last phrase, since in the replacement press release, all that is said is:

The U.S. Department of Labor has fined Wal-Mart $135,540 in civil money penalties for violating the youth employment provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for allowing teenage workers to operate hazardous equipment.

No mention of teenagers being injured by chainsaws. You might wonder about the change, but apparently there is a provision in the agreement with Wal-Mart that they had joint control over how the agreement would be described to the public.

I'm trying to find out what other provisions are in that WalMart agreement with our government. When I called yesterday, I was bounced all over before I was connected with a grumpy woman in the Public Affairs office. She told me that the first release was "issued in error." I asked again why that phrase was removed. She said again that the first release was "issued in error." "Then no children were injured using chainsaws at WalMart?" I asked. She told me that she had to call me back. So far nothing, but I left a message on her voicemail so I'm sure she'll get back to me today with an answer. After all, I'd jump at the chance to explain something so simple - wouldn't you?

Read the whole, original press release at LaborBlog. You'll feel much better about everything that WalMart is going to do to avoid violating worker rights in the future. It's going to make their secret deal to be warned of any complaints and pending investigations worthwhile!