Construction at a Wal-Mart supercenter in Sweetwater, Texas suddenly came to a halt this past week when it was discovered that one of Wal-Mart’s contractors had hired “undocumented workes.” Wal-Mart is understandably sensitive to the issue, since it faces charges with the office of Homeland Security that it has been using undocumented workers at many construction sites across the country. According to the Sweetwater Reporter, a Wal-Mart spokesman told the newspaper that illegal workers were found at the retailer’s construction site. Wal-Mart then stopped construction at the site because of a possible pending investigation. “We require all of our contractors… to follow all employment laws,” the Wal-Mart spokesperson said. He said once the investigation is complete, work will re-start at the site. Wal-Mart officials did not blow the whistle on themselves. They learned of the “undocumented workers” by phone from the U.S. Border Patrol.
Newsflash carried a report just last week that Wal-Mart was negotiating with federal officials in Pennsylvania to settle invesetigations that were brought against the company for using illegal workers for cleaning crews in 61 of their stores. The whole incident has become a black eye for Wal-Mart, which likes to claim “our people make the difference,” and reconciling that statement with the reality that “our people” have been illegal workers. For earlier stories of how Wal-Mart used undocumented workers to not only clean its stores — but to build them too, search this database by “illegal.”
