[quote]cwill1973 wrote:
Don’t you understand Beans? If it wasn’t for Walmarts exploitation of its workers, they would all be CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies making millions a year. Jeez, haven’t you been keeping up on all the stories of Walmart’s press gangs kidnapping and forcing these poor people to work for wages far less than their experience and education should command in a fair market economy?[/quote]
It’s called having enough self respect to not have other people support you . Definition of a straw man is exaggerating to the point of absurdity
[quote]Menthol wrote:
So that Wal-Mart can be the next Hostess? I think that we need good governess, treat our workers well, but union rolls have been dropping due to workers finding fewer needs for them. Additionally Wal-Mart has problems as do many big box retailers - the internet. Fewer people are shopping at stores. Instead people are bargain hunting online. Thought economist Thomas Sowell had a nice write up about Hostess and past union efforts that led to the companies bankruptcy.
“Unions Kill The Goose That Made Hostess Brands Gold”
[quote]tmay11 wrote:
The point I’m trying to make is that Walmart largely provides jobs for people that would otherwise be unemployable.
[/quote]
I know there are a lot of people that get a star spangled erection when people fuck other people , but Walmart treats the labor market just like every other market they are in , they exploit it
That is the question. What is it that happens that makes you think of “wage slavery”?
What actual events bring you to this conclusion?[/quote]
I am curious why or what you do not understand ? IMO exploiting cheap labor is mistreatment[/quote]
What I don’t understand is what does Wal-Mart do that exploits its labor force.
Let me try this another way:
Do the employees get paid over or under market wage? [/quote]
They get paid under a living wage, and we are nipping at the issue. If Walmart were not under paying these employees. Some one else would. This is why I think Walmart is the IDEAL battle ground for Organized Labor
They are paid market wages, which means they are paid what they are worth given the skills they have, the value they bring.
These market wages aren’t “living wage” Well why aren’t they? Because the cost of living is too high.
Okay, so here is the rub:
Why do people shop at Wal-Mart? Because they sell cheap shit, Wal-Mart decreases consumer’s cost of living.
If Wal-Mart was forced to increase its expenses (wages for employees) what is going to happen? They would have to lower costs or raise prices. Wal-Mart is a success because of volume at the margin, it already strong arms for the lowest suppler costs possible. So it looks like prices are going up.
What happens when prices go up? The cost of living is higher.
What does that mean? The workers need another raise.
And the cycle starts all over again, and no one is in any better shape than they were before.
Walmart is a retail type of business and working in retail basically sucks. Nice that they get benefits though, pretty rare actually. In some rural areas, WM is the only game in town and people would work for less than minimum wage, if they could steal someone elses job out from under them.
I really doubt it could ever be unionized. The sheer numbers of those happy (or complacent) with what they got surpasses the disgruntled minority by far.
The WM bashing… I don’t get it. I’ll shop there for workout clothes, personal care products, stuff for my pool, etc. The store is well stocked, well run and the price is almost always right.
The idea of a “living wage” is flawed. It’s based on entirely subjective criteria of what constitutes enough to “live on”.
It IS possible to live on what Walmart pays. I have done it myself while spending 6 months skiing and not working. I lived on roughly $900/month. Working at Walmart here in B.C you would make around $ 1300 -1400/month.($8 to $9 multiplied by 160hrs)
My budget was roughly as such -
Room in house with 5 others - $450/month
Food(no eating out,just staples) 200
Gear/Clothing 90
Booze(two 40s/month) 80
Misc personal items 50
Cell phone 30
Internet 5
So many people now have this mindset that you need to have your own apartment (or at least share a larger one), have a $60 phone plan, spend $400+/month on food, etc. None of that is necessary, it’s just what we have come to expect.
They are paid market wages, which means they are paid what they are worth given the skills they have, the value they bring.
[/quote]
This is actually your best argument. They are paid what organized employers will pay . That is dictated by Geography , Political climate and labor market pressures . So a Unions effect would only be another force to shape the employment market .
I think the fine posters here are missing my point , I think the Teamsters , AFL/CIO , AFSME all should come together and organize Walmart use it as a first stand to a long war on the anti union sentiment . The unions could shine a light on Walmart so bright there would be no hiding retaliation on employees that want to unionize >
