It ain't illegal to underpay youth laborers, apparently, if you never promise to pay them at all.
"Wal-Mart is taking advantage of local customs to pinch pennies at a time when its Mexican operations have never been more profitable," this NEWSWEEK piece alleges.
Thanks, Rob Walker!
There's always kid baggers in chain grocery stores like Arteli (my cousin works at this one), Gigante, and I forgot what the other big one is called, but even these chain stores, which are nowhere near being as big as Wal-Mart, pay their kids! I would imagine that a billion dollar corp. could afford to pay these kids but hey, coming from Wal-Mart, this type of crap should be expected.
When I was a kid living in North Miami Beach, FL I did this type of work with my friends mike. We weren't "employees" and didn't have to be there at any specific time or anything but we would stand outside the Grand Union grocery store and "help" people carry their bags to their cars and most of the time they would tip us.
Not really related, I guess, but this story reminded me of it.
out now
The use of unsalaried youths is legal in Mexico because the kids are said to be “volunteering” their services to Wal-Mart
I think those kids should be applauded for being so civic minded. Seriously, that's pretty messed up. But they do the same thing at a lot of supermarkets in my area. Usually it's old folks and alchies from the neighborhood, though, not kids. I never know how much to tip a person for tossing a 12 pack of High Life on top of a carton of eggs, and they'll fight you if you say "that's okay, I can bag it myself..."