Help walmart strikers!

[O Really]

Looks like Bimbo is buying Twinkies.
Probably wouldn't have expected ever to write that sentence not in jest.

[Leo Lyons]

Looks like Bimbo is buying Twinkies.
Probably wouldn't have expected ever to write that sentence not in jest.

They felt that with diversity, the bimbos and twinkies would feel right at home. Good business strategy.

[mike]

Nick Hanauer makes a great case with all this ...



'nuff said ...

[billy.pilgrim]

I gotta quit going to that site - these marooms are even dumber than tag and the terd rolled all rolled up together


the one called solar is a "hero" poster and he hates them unions - even has a bunch of "real true to life reality" stories to prove his pointed head

seems we have somerealityone here who does the same

solar "About 35 years ago I was working for a private investigative company, I got a call from the Sacramento branch of Hostess, they had a serious theft issue.
After reviewing to situation, the only avenue was to go under cover, the guy in charge said I needed another option, there was no way to get me inside, I questioned why, he said the Union needed to approve any new hires.
I said have me come in as mechanical upgrade specialist, he said they have that covered as well, janitor I said? Covered.
Point is, they could not create a way to even get me in the facility without involving the union.

It's sad when the parasite has the last word on what it's host does."

[O Really]

Support striking Walmart workers

Walmart retail workers are risking retaliation by the world's larget retailer as they struggle against near-poverty wages and chronic abuse. For the first time in the company's fifty years, Walmart workers are going on strike. And we're here to support them.

Courageous Walmart workers are planning to go on strike on Black Friday to protest Walmart’s abusive working conditions. Let’s make sure that they can afford to do both. Donate now to buy a gift card for a striking Walmart worker to help make up their lost wages.

Clearly, I'm no Wal-Mart fan, but the petition sponsors - as well as the unions - are exaggerating a bit. The average floor "associate" gets $8.84, as compared to, for example at Target where s/he gets $8.23. So nobody's getting into the 2%, but it's well over the federal minimum of $7.25. And to use the term "chronic abuse" is a bit drama-queenish. The problem with Wal-Mart isn't so much the base wage - it's the work scheduling. They don't let workers be full-time (save on benefits), but they work them enough hours, and frequently differing hours that they can't really work anywhere else, either. Market control issue, just like everything else they do. Wal-Mart's policies out of Bentonville are clear - no working off the clock, no working long shifts without breaks, yada. But store managers have a lot of ummm, "discretion" in how they run their store. No "discretion" on layout or temperature of the store, though, strangely enough. So they get a bit creative in how they schedule people, in the use of contract labor (without regard to papers), and general treatment of employees. When they're caught, Bentonville tosses them under the bus. Taking individual aspects (e.g. average hourly rate, etc.) it wouldn't look too bad, but cumulatively, the anti-employee practices add up and you've got generally a really really foul workforce that's tired of it.

[O Really]

Why isn't all that "chronic abuse"?

Understood. The comparison to Target wasn't so much to say they (or any big boxer) are that great, but Target employees don't generally have the animosity that Wal-Mart people do. And you're right - "poverty" is relative to a lot of things, and a person making $18K a year is likely to be at or below the poverty line. But retail has always been on the low end of pay, and generally isn't - at least at the floor working level - a place where a person could keep their families fed on that pay alone. To that extent, Wal-Mart isn't much different from anywhere else. But the general treatment of employees - sure, we can call it "abuse" is the difference.

[Colonel Taylor]

Not every job is a career and other then some upper management positions I don't think anyone at walmart will get rich or even make a living wage. They are entry level positions and that's all you will get. Unskilled labor is all.

[Wneglia]

[O Really]

True, but Walmart is the elephant in the room, has more money than God and, sadly, now sets the standard that all else must compete with.

That is indeed the bottom of the issue. Wal-Mart brings down the entire economy or at least the labor market economy of the communities they're in. So much for "free enterprise" on the part of the employees. Taking it out of the labor subject, it's the same as they do with the "match any ad" deal. They don't spend the money to advertise it; they only have to give it to the minority who ask; and they've got you in the store buying other stuff. Nothing illegal about it, but it is market control.

[O Really]

And yeah, your pic would be more apropos, Doc, if working on Thanksgiving was the only issue. But anyway, let's look at that. Most employers, using full-time employees, pay double time or double time and a half for working on a holiday. It's like this - say the employee normally works a 5-day, 40-hour week. If they don't work on Thanksgiving, they get four days regular pay (for which they worked) and 8 hours holiday pay (as part of their benefit package). If they work on the holiday, they get the four days, plus the holiday pay, plus the hours for work actually done on the holiday. If they worked five days in addition to the holiday, they get holiday pay, plus time and a half for hours worked on the holiday because those hours are over 40 in that workweek. By using a lot of "part time" employees, who get neither holiday pay nor 40-hour workweeks, Wal-Mart wants employees to work the holiday for straight-time pay. Yeah, yeah, they know that once they've accepted the job, but it's not like anybody actually negotiates terms and conditions of employment with Wal-Mart. Pretty much an "our way or no way" arrangement. At Ingle's, on the other hand, last year I went to the store on Thanksgiving to get something or other. I told the cashier, "I'm sorry you have to work the holiday, but thanks for being here." She said, "Oh, I don't care - I watched the parade this morning, had a nice Thanksgiving with my family and I'm getting overtime for being here tonight."

Now if Wal-Mart was some little local retailer with 40 employees, you could say it would make sense for employees just to go find some other barely-above-minimum-wage job. But Wal-Mart eats up most of the community's retail jobs, and a lot who just quit wouldn't get other jobs. It may not meet the exact definition of "indentured servitude" but from an economic reality standpoint, it's close.

[mike]

Done, Vrede. Thanks!

[Bungalow Bill]

This is even more dangerous then being caught shoplifting at Walmart.

[mike]

This is even more dangerous then being caught shoplifting at Walmart.

Maybe, Bill. Regardless, sadly, I'll be picking up food there tomorrow (I shop at WalMart very carefully).

I hadn't been there in fifteen years until very recently when I found I could save some money and needed to do so.

It is, indeed, a moral dilemma ... I hate it ...

[Bungalow Bill]

I used to do some of my food shopping at Walmart before I lived here. The prices and
selection were pretty good, though the crowds were sometimes a bit much. At least
the companies that make sharp cheddar cheese don't pay starvation wages and
endanger their employees. At least I don't think they do.

[mike]

Yeah, the worst part of going to a WalMart is the crowds.

I swear all of them are in their own little world and not cognizant there are others around them.

Even so, I have complimented the better clerks at the register ... they work hard (most of 'em) and I tell them when I see it. They always appear shocked that someone appreciates their efficiency and ability to deal with the public.

No wonder they want to strike. What the hell is the management doing to make them think a compliment is out of the ordinary?

[Stinger]

There are alternatives to WalMart's way of cutting costs on the backs of its employees.

How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart
Combining high quality with stunningly low prices, the shirts appeal to upscale customers - and epitomize why some retail analysts say Mr. Sinegal just might be America's shrewdest merchant since Sam Walton.

But not everyone is happy with Costco's business strategy. Some Wall Street analysts assert that Mr. Sinegal is overly generous not only to Costco's customers but to its workers as well.

Costco's average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam's Club. And Costco's health plan makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish. One analyst, Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco "it's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder."

Mr. Sinegal begs to differ. He rejects Wall Street's assumption that to succeed in discount retailing, companies must pay poorly and skimp on benefits, or must ratchet up prices to meet Wall Street's profit demands.

Good wages and benefits are why Costco has extremely low rates of turnover and theft by employees, he said. And Costco's customers, who are more affluent than other warehouse store shoppers, stay loyal because they like that low prices do not come at the workers' expense. "This is not altruistic," he said. "This is good business."

He also dismisses calls to increase Costco's product markups. Mr. Sinegal, who has been in the retailing business for more than a half-century, said that heeding Wall Street's advice to raise some prices would bring Costco's downfall.

...

IF shareholders mind Mr. Sinegal's philosophy, it is not obvious: Costco's stock price has risen more than 10 percent in the last 12 months, while Wal-Mart's has slipped 5 percent. Costco shares sell for almost 23 times expected earnings; at Wal-Mart the multiple is about 19. Mr. Dreher said Costco's share price was so high because so many people love the company. "It's a cult stock," he said.

Emme Kozloff, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, faulted Mr. Sinegal as being too generous to employees, noting that when analysts complained that Costco's workers were paying just 4 percent toward their health costs, he raised that percentage only to 8 percent, when the retail average is 25 percent.

"He has been too benevolent," she said. "He's right that a happy employee is a productive long-term employee, but he could force employees to pick up a little more of the burden."

Mr. Sinegal says he pays attention to analysts' advice because it enforces a healthy discipline, but he has largely shunned Wall Street pressure to be less generous to his workers.

"When Jim talks to us about setting wages and benefits, he doesn't want us to be better than everyone else, he wants us to be demonstrably better," said John Matthews, Costco's senior vice president for human resources.

New York Times

[Colonel Taylor]

You have to be pretty desperate to shop at wallyworld to begin with. It didn't take long for us to realize it's a ghetto store. Over the years and raising many kids it didn't take long to realize that the quality of their merchandise is horrible, kids cloths are the worse. As far as food if you are a coupon clipper Bi-Lo is unbeatable, double coupons and don't harass you when leaving. I tried using coupons at wallyworld once many years ago and more then half were declined for no reason at all. The lines were usually 5-6 deep and their attitude of not liking their job is evident. I will not self check it's a ridiculous concept.
I still don't know why your all pants are in a wad. These are entry level jobs at best, don't like it leave.

[Reality]

"Yeah, the worst part of going to a WalMart is the crowds."

"I swear all of them are in their own little world and not cognizant there are others around them."

Must be lefties.

[Stinger]

Blah, blah, blah.
I still don't know why your all pants are in a wad. These are entry level jobs at best, don't like it leave.

Entry level to what? Dead-end jobs is more like it.

[Colonel Taylor]

Blah, blah, blah.
I still don't know why your all pants are in a wad. These are entry level jobs at best, don't like it leave.

Entry level to what? Dead-end jobs is more like it.

A youngens first job, their introduction to the working world. A student who is in school and just needs cash to get by. If you plan on making wall mart a career it is pretty much a dead end. Crash more like it.
Why do so many think every job should be a career? Heck my first job was $1.85 an hour and you had to stand outside in snow and cold in the winter and it was hot in the summer. Oh no what was I to do. It was an entry level position, my entry into the work force. I learned real fast you had to move on!!!