Local 1500 Recorder
Rhonda Nelson
As the third officer of Local 1500, Rhonda Nelson is responsible for recording and reporting of each Local Union membership and Executive Board meetings, keeping an accurate and permanently bound or unalterable electronically stored record of all proceedings.
In November of 2009, the Local 1500 executive board unanimously voted to appoint Rhonda Nelson as Trustee. Mrs. Nelson also serves as a Trustee on the Local 1500 Pension and Welfare Funds.
In addition to these duties, Mrs. Nelson also serves as chairwoman of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Women's Network. She has previously served as Field Director, Organizer & Representative for Local 1500. An activist at heart, Rhonda Nelson has never missed the opportunity to fight for the membership of Local 1500.
June 2011
As you may know, Walmart, the nation's largest employer, is facing the nation's largest class-action employment lawsuit over gender bias in pay and promotions. Ruling against the company could potentially cost Walmart billions of dollars. The case will be heard before the United States Supreme Court this year. This finally gives former Walmart employee Betty Dukes, who first sued the company for sexual discrimination in 2001 with five other co-workers, her day in court.
Dukes and the other plaintiffs filed the suit with the case being extended for all women who had worked at the com- pany since 1998, a number of plaintiffs exceeding more than one million.
a place as this foster female leadership among their associates as it so boldly claims.
While we wonder how such discriminating behavior went on for over a decade without any damages to the company, we recall this company has gotten away with far more than gender discrimination over the years.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it has more than 3,400 stores in 41 regions and the power to settle lawsuits with large sums of money.
Take for instance the fact that with 15 per- cent of all truck drivers being African- American, they make up only 4 to 6 percent of the truck drivers at Walmart because they are either not hired or not encouraged to work there. Consider also how the company paid $6 million dollars to settle 13 lawsuits claiming discrimination and violations of the Americans with
Disabilities Act. Walmart also
remains one of the few retailers who do not extend health care and other ben- efits to same-sex domestic partners.
They have faced lawsuits from peo- ple claiming racial profiling while shopping at the store and from not treating their elderly employees with respect.
Walmart has been accused of discriminating against almost every existing demographic and we doubt they will suffer any major damages for their discrimination against women.
We all look forward to the Supreme Court's decision and hope that Walmart will soon be held accountable for their irresponsible behavior.
The suit, as Reuters said, "argues that female workers were paid less and received fewer promotions at Walmart than male counterparts, and that the retailer's corporate structure fostered this gender discrimination."
Yet, Walmart argues otherwise. They said in a recent statement, "We do not believe the claims alleged by the six individuals who brought this suit are representative of the experience of our female associates. Walmart is an excellent place for women to work and fosters female leadership among our associates and in the larger business world."
We fail to see how less pay and fewer promotions makes "an excellent place for women to work." As if making 19 cents less than the average full-time male worker isn't enough to put a damper on the aver- age female's payday, a study by Dr. Richard Drogin showed that a woman working at Walmart makes up to 37 cents less than their male counterpart.
Further, female full-time employees working at least 45 weeks per year earn on average about $5,000 less than men in yearly salary. Moreover, they are rarely given the chance to climb the ladder and increase their pay.
Women make up 72 percent of Walmart's total workforce, yet make up less than one-third of the store's management. In no way does such
