US retail giant Wal-Mart is being been taken to court over allegations that it failed to monitor working conditions at overseas factories.
The court action has been organised by the Washington-based International Labor Rights Fund, which says it has compiled tales of forced overtime, denial of minimum wages and even violence against workers.
The fund is seeking class-action status for the case and claims that grocery workers in southern California have been harmed because Wal-Mart’s low prices – allegedly made possible by substandard overseas factories – forced competing grocery chains to cut wages and benefits.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two classes of plaintiffs, reports Retail Week magazine.
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The first includes factory workers in China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Swaziland and Nicaragua. The second group includes California grocery workers in smaller stores, who saw their wages and benefits cut as a result of competition from Wal-Mart.
A spokesperson for Wal-Mart said it had not seen details of the case, but added that it has started to research the issues raised.
