Monday, July 7, 2025

Grocery baggers are not Walmart employees, company says

Walmart Mexico has clarified that senior citizens who bag groceries are not company employees.

The statement came in response to President López Obrador’s call last week for an investigation into what the grocery baggers are paid.

The retired senior citizens are engaged through an agreement with the National Institute for the Elderly (Inapam) which states that they are volunteers.

“The elderly citizens who work in our stores are part of a program of senior citizen volunteers. We signed an agreement with Inapam, which is in charge,” said company spokeswoman Gabriela Buenrostro.

At a press conference for Walmart’s “Irresistible Weekend” campaign, the store’s own version of the national shopping event called “Buen Fin” (Good Weekend), she said the workers receive government pensions.

“They are not Walmart employees. They are part of an Inapam program . . . retired people between the ages of 60 and 65 can have additional remuneration [through tips] in our stores and elsewhere in the industry.”

Seemingly unaware of the program, the president said the Labor Secretariat would intervene, calling it “a great injustice against the elderly on the part of Walmart.”

“The Labor Secretariat must intervene, it will intervene because all human beings have the right to a fair salary, it’s an enshrined right in the constitution,” he added.

The president said he had faith that Walmart executives would decide to pay the baggers now that the issue was being discussed in the media.

Most big-box grocery stores participate in the program.

Source: Forbes México (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Texas flooding

Mexico aids 30 citizens, celebrates heroic counselors following deadly Texas floods

0
The president said the Mexican Consulate in San Antonio is in communication with Mexican families affected by the floods and will visit shelters as soon as possible.
Anti-gentrification protest Mexico City

Hundreds protest gentrification in Mexico City’s Condesa and Roma neighborhoods

3
Most of the protesters were young people, including residents and former residents of inner-city Mexico City neighborhoods that have seen rents triple since the COVID-19 pandemic.
light phenomenon in the sky

NASA astronaut captures glimpse of mysterious ‘sprite’ over Mexico

0
The atmospheric phenomenon is rarely seen from the ground. But astronauts on the International Space Station have the best seat in the universe, especially when hovering over Mexican skies.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity