Wal-Mart forgoes holiday recruitment

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart will offer existing employees additional hours instead of recruiting temporary workers for the winter holiday rush. Labour groups cautiously praised the move, which addresses long-simmering discontent among underemployed workers. “The struggle to get enough hours has been the number one issue angering associates,” said Dan Schlademan, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers affiliate OUR Walmart. “We’ve never been able to understand why Walmart continues hiring seasonal workers when there are so many people begging them for more hours.” Labour advocates expressed concern however about employees being pressured to take additional hours or penalized for taking holiday time off.