Thread: Fayetteville : Dropped after immigrant arrests at Wal-Marts

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Fayetteville : Dropped after immigrant arrests at Wal-Marts , floor cleaner sues

BY MICHELLE BRADFORD

Posted on Tuesday, August 9, 2005

FAYETTEVILLE â€â€

Tension in the Ranks of Wal-Mart. If this cleaning company wasn't doing anything illegal then Wal-Mart should not have the right to breach its contract without paying damages.

Wal-Mart paid $11,000,000 in "fines" to the US Government for only 245 illegal workers employed by others. As upset as I am with Wal-Mart for their purchase of 70% of their goods from China, I believe they were shafted by the US Government for the 245 illegal workers they didn't hire to begin with. These were European Illegal Workers hired by cleaning companies.

There are probably more than 245 illegal workers in just one BIG CHICKEN plant in Arkansas.

Oh well, Wal-Mart, they're Big Boy Globalists...what goes around comes around.

HEY Wal-Mart, why don't you choose some better friends and try some American People for a change? Quit hanging out with the CLUELESS IN DC, wasting what did I read, $1 Billion a year on PAC money; quit hanging out with the National Council of La Raza and all that Riff Raff; return to the ways of the great founder, Sam Walton....drive pick-ups and hang out with some Americans that don't work for the government.

Walmart should ask the cleaning company to pay the 11 million fine in exchange for the 2 million they owe in the contract. That would shut up the cleaning company.

I wonder why Southern Cleaning Services were not the ones getting fined since they employed the illegals? As much as I hate Walmart it really doesn't appear they are at fault in this situation. I guess the government thought it had a wonderful opportunity to grab some easy money.

Fayetteville attorney Michael Hodson said Monday that Wal-Mart broke its contract with Southern Cleaning as an indirect result of the settlement.

Hodson, an attorney for Southern Cleaning, said the company did not hire illegal immigrants as employees and wasn’t part of the labor investigation.

Brian, this particular cleaning company was not the company involved with the labor investigation. The name of the company that was is not known, but an article revealed that the cleaning company that was responsible was fined heavily instead of sending their owners to jail. It was either $400,000 or $4,000,000. I think it was $4,000,000 in addition to the $11,000,000 they fined Wal-Mart. The Labor Department got "real serious" with these European illegal workers.

What I think has happened is Wal-Mart is changing its policy so that they use their own employees nation-wide so they have more control over the situation and can avoid these illegal practices taking place in their subcontractor organizations. I still don't understand how they could fine Wal-Mart who was not the employer except under a "conspiracy" charge.

Anyway, the Southern Cleaning and I'm sure several others have been cancelled with time left on their contracts even though they did not hire illegals and were not part of the investigation. Wal-Mart uses many cleaning contractors across the country. A guy from my hometown in the midwest has one of these companies and cleans alot of stores for Wal-Mart. Now, his business is over. Another Mom and Pop hits the dust.

My mistake. I misinterpreted the article when I skimmed through it.

Actually I don't blame Walmart for eliminating the outside contractors. It has proven to be more trouble than it's worth. Also this is a good example how the illegal market would vanish if the government did start cracking down on employers.

By the way don't you find it kind of strange one of the few times the government goes after a business over illegals it involves immigrants from Europe? I wonder if this would have happend if they were from Mexico? I really don't care what country the illegals came from as long as they all get deported, but it does appear it was a selective crackdown on OTMs that were not hispanic. Makes me a little suspicious.

I think the reason they went after them was because they were Northern European. I saw some at our store here late one night. They were tall blond and didn't speak any English. I was trying to ask them a question about a battery. I thought maybe they were student workers that worked the beaches in the summer and then extended to work alittle longer in the stores. It was just a few months later that I saw the labor investiation in the news.

I don't feel sorry for Wal-Mart but it doesn't seem right to me either. Of all the employers hiring directly so many more employees, it looks like they would have many of these in action.

Yet, I believe there has only been three investigations and Wal-Mart was one of those that didn't even hire the illegals to begin with!!

It's odd anyway you look at it. I mean I'm glad to see them "cracking down" but it's just odd, plain and simple.

Almost a case to make it "look" like they're "cracking down".

245 employees---that's nothing when you've got millions fiing tax returns with the social security administration every year?!?!?!

Bizarre, really.

My only question is why isn't the Owner of Southern Cleaning Services in jail for hiring the illegals in the first place. The whole case sounds like so much window dressing, so they can show how tough on illegal immigration they are without offending any Latinos.

Originally Posted by Judy

Tension in the Ranks of Wal-Mart. If this cleaning company wasn't doing anything illegal then Wal-Mart should not have the right to breach its contract without paying damages.

Wal-Mart paid $11,000,000 in "fines" to the US Government for only 245 illegal workers employed by others. As upset as I am with Wal-Mart for their purchase of 70% of their goods from China, I believe they were shafted by the US Government for the 245 illegal workers they didn't hire to begin with. These were European Illegal Workers hired by cleaning companies.

There are probably more than 245 illegal workers in just one BIG CHICKEN plant in Arkansas.

Oh well, Wal-Mart, they're Big Boy Globalists...what goes around comes around.

HEY Wal-Mart, why don't you choose some better friends and try some American People for a change? Quit hanging out with the CLUELESS IN DC, wasting what did I read, $1 Billion a year on PAC money; quit hanging out with the National Council of La Raza and all that Riff Raff; return to the ways of the great founder, Sam Walton....drive pick-ups and hang out with some Americans that don't work for the government.

You should have your own radio talk show. I'd listen.

Defens--you took the words right outta my mouth! I'm shedding no tears for Walmart paying some fines, but it sounds to me like the cleaning service oughtta be paying up as well. These labor operations have been getting away with this illegal crap for decades now but it seems like the feds are starting to go after them, Thank God.

Things are changing for the better

Thanks Dman1200 and BobC!! A radio show...mmmm....

I could call it "JUDY LIVE FROM "deep in the heart of " ILLEGAL LAND"!!