Five Walmart Stores Shut Down After Giving Workers Only Five Hours Notice

Save money, live better…don’t work at Walmart?

Last week Walmart closed five stores in four states and only gave employees five hours notice. That’s right—five hours. Why the sudden closure? The retailer cited plumbing issues that could take up to six months to complete.

Courtesy of Giphy.

That’s right, Blanche Devereaux—something doesn’t add up here. Plumbing work, even extensive plumbing work, does not take six months to complete. Additionally, what are the odds that the plumbing systems of five geographically unrelated stores would all need repairs at the same time? The situation was ridiculous enough to warrant a proper lampooning from Larry Wilmore on Tuesday night’s episode of The Nightly Show. [Note: despite claiming problems with plumbing, none of the Walmart stores that were abruptly closed have filed for plumbing permits yet].

Walmart workers say that the company probably closed at least one store in retaliation against workers protesting for better pay and working conditions. [So that’s why they can justify shutting down stores and losing revenue from five stores for half a year]. Walmart does not want its workers to unionize. In fact, it never has.

Back in 2000 a group of Walmart butchers voted to unionize. After the butchers formed their union, Walmart stopped cutting meat in stores and only sold pre-packaged meat. This year, it appears Walmart has evolved its bullying tactics by closing entire stores rather than just closing down smaller sections.

A rather wacky theory has emerged online as to why Walmart has closed some of its stores, and it has nothing to do with plumbing or unions. Some Internet users believe that the military will be using the closed stores as shelters once Martial Law is declared.

Courtesy of Giphy.

All theories and conjectures aside, the reality is that more than 2,200 Walmart workers were laid off and given two months of severance pay. Will they be forgotten like the Walmart butchers, or will they find ways to stand up to their bully?

Corinne Fitamant

Corinne Fitamant is a graduate of Fordham College at Lincoln Center where she received a Bachelors degree in Communications and a minor in Theatre Arts. When she isn’t pondering issues of social justice and/or celebrity culture, she can be found playing the guitar and eating chocolate. Contact Corinne at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.