German Court Upholds Wal-Mart's staff right to flirt at work

[Champ]

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A German court has upheld the right of Wal-Mart staff in Germany to flirt at work, a spokesman said Thursday, showing that Germany's restrictive labor laws also have their permissive aspects

The court rejected parts of Wal-Mart's code of conduct relating to employees' love lives, alcohol and drug use and a requirement for staff to report code violations via a so-called ethics hotline, the spokesman said.

He could not immediately confirm the grounds on which the Wuppertal employment court had ordered the clauses to be removed for German staff, saying the judge's opinion was still in the process of being written.

The Financial Times Deutschland said the court had found the clauses, including one banning "any kind of communication that could be interpreted as sexual," contradicted German labor law, in its ruling on the case brought by Wal-Mart's works council.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050616/od_nm/walmart_germany_dc;_ylt=AtWRH43uYTYka6yqqrVvzXPtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[CottonBear]

1. There are WalMarts in Germany?

I apologize to the Germans. So sorry that the US has exported such rubbish to your lovely country.

[Kellanved]

2. don't worry

We retaliated with Aldi. Retail in Germany is not exactly a field where Walmart has any chance of being worse-than-average.

[CottonBear]

3. Well that's a relief.

What is Aldi?

I've been to Berlin. It's a very impressive city! I was there in 1991. I'm sure much has changed since that time. I especially enjoyed the museum in the former East Berlin that housed entire Greek and Egyptian temples inside the museum building! Amazing!

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

4. Ha you want to know what is Aldi ? I will tell you my friend .

I practically lived in Aldi when I lived in Germany and now we have one in my city in North Carolina .

Taken from the Aldi website :
What is ALDI?

Aldi is an international retailer specializing in a limited assortment of private label, high-quality products at the lowest possible prices. Our unique way of operating makes it almost impossible for competitors to match our combination of price and quality. This means ALDI can offer Incredible Value Every Day.

Aldi introduced the limited assortment concept to the United States in 1976 when the first stores were opened in southeastern Iowa. Today, Aldi Inc. operates over 700 stores in 26 states, primarily from Kansas to the east coast.

ALDI—AN INTERNATIONAL BRAND LEADER IN GROCERY RETAILING
Aldi is a leader in the international grocery retailing industry with more than 5,000 stores. Aldi has operations in Europe, the United States and Australia. The first ALDI store opened in 1948 in the German town of Essen. The company grew steadily during the 1960's and the limited assortment concept was developed and adapted to fit the company philosophy.

http://usa.aldi.com/about_aldi/index.html

[CottonBear]

5. Cool. I wish we had an Aldi in my town!

I've got Target, K-mart, two super WalMarts and one Sam's Club but no Costco. :(

[Kellanved]

6. Pretty much German for "Walmart"

Aldi is a (actually two) German supermarket chain, founded by the Albrecht brothers.
Their basic principle is to offer un-branded groceries far under the normal price and without any service whatsoever.

Aldi has a slightly better track record in treating employees than Walmart.

They are currently expanding to the US market with two of their store-brands: "Aldi" and "Trader Joe's".



Yeah, Berlin has changed a lot in the past decade, really. The whole government has brought a lot of new aspects to the city, making it more interesting (which is why I ended up there). Some parts of the east are now in much better shape than the west, and maybe the local economy will get going sometime in the future as well. At least tourism looks promising.

The Pergamon is currently under extensive re-construction, at the moment it still has a certain GDR-esque appeal. Many other museums are already back to their former glory , although it hasn't yet been decided how many new museums will be added to the island.

:hi:

[CottonBear]

7. Thanks for the info! I know about Trader Joes. They are in CA.

The Pergamon! That's the name. I forgot! East Berlin was very GDR at the time. I took a train to Prague and I had to go to an East Berlin train station because the western and eastern parts of the city were still divided by two separate train systems. They had not yet started the massive reconstruction of the divided portion of the city.