美国国家公共电台 NPR Walmart Is Eliminating Greeters. Workers With Disabilities Feel Targeted

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Walmart is saying goodbye to its greeters. The company has confirmed to NPR that it is eliminating the jobs of people who famously welcome you at the door. Greeters can take new positions as what are called customer hosts, but the new job requirements cause trouble for the many greeters who have disabilities. NPR business correspondent Alina Selyukh is here. Hi there, Alina.

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE¹: Hi, good morning.

INSKEEP: What are you hearing from Walmart greeters?

SELYUKH: So I've spent a week hearing from greeters who are essentially² expecting to lose their jobs on April 25 or 26. All of them are people with disabilities, and they're worried because this new job of a host has requirements that can be pretty impossible if you're in a wheelchair. I've read the job description, and it says you must be able to, for example, lift 25 pounds or stand for long periods of time.

And then to qualify for other jobs at the store, workers say they've been told they must be able to climb a ladder which is the same issue. And, you know, this greeter job has historically been quite attractive for people with disabilities. It is easy to learn, and also it is not very physically³ strenuous⁴, but now they're getting replaced with these more demanding jobs...

INSKEEP: Where people are supposed to be moving about in the store a bit more and more actively⁵ helping⁶ customers.

SELYUKH: And helping shoppers.

INSKEEP: Yeah.

SELYUKH: Exactly. And this change from greeter to customer host is happening in about 1,000 stores, and I've spoken to workers from five states. One of them was Mitchell from Alabama, who's been a greeter for four years.

MITCHELL: It gives me a place to go every day, where I'm not sitting at home. I'm not one of these people in the wheelchair that want to draw Social Security. I'm able to work. I want to work. I want to be out in society.

SELYUKH: We're not sharing Mitchell's last name because he's worried about retribution.

INSKEEP: What has Walmart been saying when you've gone to them and reported what you're hearing?

SELYUKH: Well, Walmart has acknowledged the unique situation of workers with disabilities, and the company actually told me they've now decided⁸ to give greeters with disabilities more time past April 25 to figure out their job situation.

And you know, Walmart is huge. It is the biggest private employer in the U.S. And so it is one of the largest employers of people with disabilities, and the Americans With Disabilities Act does not preclude⁹ companies from changing job descriptions as they see fit.

INSKEEP: Sure.

SELYUKH: But the law does require companies to provide, quote, "reasonable accommodations" as long as the worker can do the essential functions of the job.

INSKEEP: Is this the first time Walmart has been eliminating greeters who are so iconic?

SELYUKH: So we are in the latest wave, actually. Walmart says it's already made the change in about 1,000 stores, and it has been happening since 2016, this replacement¹⁰ with, quote, "customer hosts." And the frustrating¹¹ part has been that none of the workers I've talked to have actually seen any kind of document explaining the policy or its rollout or how it might be disproportionately affecting workers with disabilities.

I spoke⁷ to the family of two workers who were affected¹² by this last year. They're actually cousins, Joe and John Wirth. Both of them use wheelchairs, and say they both lost their jobs as greeters in April. Here's John.

JOHN WIRTH: They were like - they just said good luck with whatever you decide to do. And that's after almost 12 years - just a handshake. And that made me feel like, oh, OK.

SELYUKH: Well, he's clearly not OK. He's pretty distraught. He's been there for 12 years, as he is saying. It's messed up his income, his independence. He says back in April, he took two buses to work like he usually does only to discover his badge didn't work. And he had to turn in his yellow vest.

INSKEEP: Meaning that he was fired without any kind of notice.

SELYUKH: Well, they are sorting all of this out, actually, because the Wirth cousins have a claim against Walmart with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Michigan. I know of two other claims in Texas and Wisconsin, as well as a lawsuit¹³ in Utah. Walmart has not commented on those to NPR.

INSKEEP: OK, so April - late April is the date for about 1,000 different stores.

SELYUKH: Correct. And if you're a worker with disabilities who is being affected by this, Walmart says you should have more time.

INSKEEP: Alina, thanks so much.

SELYUKH: Thank you.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Alina Selyukh.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

4 strenuous   

adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的

参考例句：

• He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
• You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。

5 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 preclude   

vt.阻止，排除，防止；妨碍

参考例句：

• We try to preclude any possibility of misunderstanding.我们努力排除任何误解的可能性。
• My present finances preclude the possibility of buying a car.按我目前的财务状况我是不可能买车的。

10 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

11 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。