Walmart employees are being equipped with bodycams. The company claims it's for their safety, but the point of bodycams is to watch the wearer and the cameras are marketed as a way of preventing shrinkage. CNBC gave anonymity to a Walmart spokesperson who wanted it to insist that it's not for loss prevention.
Walmart intends to use the tech for worker safety — not as a loss prevention tool, according to a person familiar with the program.
In a document titled "Providing great customer service while creating a safer environment," staff are instructed on how to use the devices, according to a photo of the document posted on an online forum for Walmart employees and customers. It instructs employees to "record an event if an interaction with a customer is escalating" and to not wear the devices in employee break areas and bathrooms. After an incident occurs, staffers are told, they are to discuss it with another team member, who can help them log the event in the "ethics and compliance app," according to the document.
And in fairness, CNBC does point out that bodycams don't do anything to avoid or resolve conflict with angry or otherwise troublesome customers, and that the unions aren't fooled.
the RWDSU is concerned that body cameras are more about surveillance and deterring theft than making employees safer. "Workers need training on deescalation. Workers need training on what to do during a hostile situation at work. The body camera doesn't do that. The body camera doesn't intervene," said Appelbaum. "We need safe staffing and we need panic buttons." Bianca Agustin, the co-executive director of United for Respect, a workers organization for Walmart and Amazon staffers, said the group has asked Walmart to provide more training for its employees but that the company hasn't met those demands.
The cameras high up are watching customers. The cameras on employees are watching employees. If it makes workers feel safer, let them wear cameras.