Court: Wal-Mart to face massive class-action suit

The company i work for, pharmacutical retail chain in southwest ct,...its enouraged to sleep with the women, thats how corporate sees it. They tried that with me quite a few times, and backed off. thats when my job was being made very difficult for me. its all silent of course* its kept secret amongst eachother, so that if people like me also tried to sue for unfair business prcatices and labor rigths violations,..ide look like a liar or crazy.
human resources in retail comapnys arnt thier to help the employee. theirs thier, to suport the favored managers* not the employees...thatts the sad truth.

Originally posted by Raist
Funny how I can go to my local Wal Mart and see products I have made (or others I work with). These products are made for another company in America and sold at my local Wal Mart. I can also find products that are made at another local factory sitting on the shelves at Wal Mart...
40% of the products sold in the U.S. are made in China. I can find that sort of stuff at Target, Sears, K Mart, Schnuck’s, Save A Lot, or any number of high dollar brand name stores as well. It is not just a Wal Mart plague but an American plague. Raist

I appreciate your comments...especially your final sentence. We...Canadians too...are being treated like ATMs, victims of cheap overseas labour and the margins going to Wall Street. It should have been the robbed middle class that got bailed out, not the gamblers in the investment houses.

But Walmart is both a symptom and a cause.

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


I will agree to a point that they are both a symptom and a cause. I even agree that they should pay fines for the wrongs they have done to employees both past and present. After all things cannot change or at least have the possibility of changing until they are caught and fined.

I left there because being employed by them sucked. When I left I told them so too. But it still remains I can find things in Wal Mart made by Americans, and Canadians, and Mexicans, and Chinese plus a number of other places. I just get sort of sick of all the blame being laid on Wal Mart when many other companies do things just like Wal Mart but are nowhere as big. In the post on the other thread I list other companies and links about their crimes or the way they treat people.

For me and my family shopping at Wal Mart works better. I work hard for the money I make and spend a lot of hours away from my family. I am not upper-class but I most certainly am not underclass nor receiving government (taxpayer) money.

I think the blame though for the massive amount of Chinese products starts with our governments and works its way down from there. I have to look for bargains because while I get paid better than if I worked for Wal Mart I still see my money eaten away by rising costs. Rising costs cause me to buy things at a bargain price. If my employer would give good raises, have given me a raise at all this year, give me more of a raise than the 1% they are saying we will be lucky to get this year and stop raising the cost of my insurance weekly I might not be looking for bargains. Yep they gave us no raises last year and will only give us “maybe” a 1% this year even though they had the most profitable year ever last year. But there is little choice but to accept this as the job market is slim. I guess I could follow the idea that if a company screws people I will not support them but then I would be sitting at home (if I could still keep it) getting tax payer money while watching TV.

A co-worker of mine is pretty liberal and even he said it is fine to choose not to shop Wal Mart if you can afford it. Most of the people in this area cannot afford it. Yet I can still find doctors and lawyers shopping there as well. There is a company here that treats people just as bad if not worse than Wal Mart. But they own half the city/town. They employ a large number of people that have no other place to go. The cost of living is not outrageous here as it is in many places but just picking up and leaving without some place to stay or a place to work does not fit into the life plans of anyone I know.

Raist

Most Wal-Mart patrons are immigrants in my part of the country. You about have to know Spanish to work there and many of the immigrant customers are rude in general. They shop with their WIC vouchers and then have to ask for directions on how to use them IN SPANISH! They break in line and ruin the bread by mashing the loaves not to mention many of them don't how to put up a shopping cart after they're through using them.

When Sam Walton started Wal-Mart, he stocked his stores with American made products and that's what made the store become so popular. The only products you can find easily in Wal-Mart these days are groceries and this wouldn't be true if eggs could be shipped from China.

It's time for Wal-Mart to come crumbling down!

reply to post by marg6043


That's a good question, Marg. Are they too big to be allowed to fail? If the auto makers are...so too is Walmart.

Different industry. Service, as opposed to manufacturing...but those thousands of employees spend money...

It'll be interesting to see if they, too, get a bail out...if it becomes necessary.

reply to post by Raist


Thank God there's at least one person that realizes other retailers aren't any better than Walmart.

I worked for a local (Northern Virginia) grocery store a few years ago. The store was a union shop, but since Virginia is a right to work state you were not required to join the union. Per the union contract, all new employee hires were part-time. Therefore NO health insurance. If you're willing to work the hours, they'll work you 35 to 39 hours a week, but you're still considered part-time.

Twice a year they annouce the openings for full-time positions and the part-timers get to try and grab one of those fleeting slots. And if someone with greater seniority in another location wants the position in your store? You're just out of luck.

Also the pay wasn't that much better than Walmart. And if you joined the union, you got the priviledge of them taking the first hour or two of each week's pay in dues. Once you subtract out the union dues, there really wasn't a difference in pay.

So somebody tell me how the union shop is better than Walmart. Tell me how the union takes better care of me than Walmart's management. It's just the same stuff in a different store.

I don't personally know about the discrimination aspect of walmart. I know when I worked there, they talked often about equality and being open. No matter what race, gender, religion, etc. you were. They even received awards for this stuff. I didn't and still do not have a problem with walmart.

As a test just the other day, I went to my local walmart, (we have 8 in the area) and I began picking up random items to see where they were made. Granted, I did find a lot of stuff made in China, but I also found a lot of stuff made right here in USA. And some stuff made in Mexico. It would appear to me that they are looking to make a profit. Get good deals. Just like us Americans are doing by shopping there, or using coupons and so forth.

I personally do not want to see walmart fall. I cash my checks there for $3. Any place else requires a bank account, or they'll take out much more from my check. Not to mention all the other services it provides.

Furthermore, you people saying you want to see this giant fall... what about the people who work there? Do you want to see the economy crash? See more families starving? I understand you're peeved at them for some reason. Perhaps the destruction of many mom and pop stores, but this company employees lots of Americans. To wish their destruction is selfish and absurd.

I'm sure they can afford to give some raises. To change some things within their company, but walmart doesn't need to fall.

Originally posted by Angus65
So somebody tell me how the union shop is better than Walmart. Tell me how the union takes better care of me than Walmart's management. It's just the same stuff in a different store.

Wait until things get hinkey with management. Wait until the rules get bent or broken at the whim of a supervisor. Then you see the difference.

Wal Mart is simply a 21st century business. I have to imagine Sam Walton is rolling in his grave right now though. In the south the cloth mills (my area especially) have all closed down and I wouldn't be surprised if Wally world had something to do with it. I do know that we had a Char Broil plant in my town that had been here for years. Discussions with Char Broil and Wal Mart went like this. "You will keep your prices low or we won't sell your grills." This happened a few years ago and the next thing we knew was people that had been working at this plant for years and years were jobless as Char Broil went overseas. They may have just used Wal Mart as a scape goat though, that is just what the workers told us. I do believe these corporations are a plague on society. I work for a small business and while I am unskilled labor and I don't make much money, if I have a complaint I go to the person that owns the company, not some bureaucrat.

reply to post by seagull


They no only employ millions of workers they also have paid in law sues closes to 2 billion across the nation.

With retail profits of 13 billion a year I wonder how much all this law sues will hurt those profits.

Now how big is Walmart? I see it as too big to fail when it comes to the miserable jobs they offer in communities been ravaged by unemployment.

And then people think that lowering the standards of living in the US is a good thing.





[edit on 27-4-2010 by marg6043]

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


That goes for every job I have ever held.

If you hold favor with those above you things are fine. If you have an opinion things can get rather hairy for you. The best way around it is to use your opinion wisely when dealing with them. I got treated no differently at Wal Mart than most any other place I have worked. The pay sucked as well as the benefits but the treatment of employees was really no different.

This next part is not directed at you but to the thread as a whole without starting another post.

One more thing to add to this discussion. The company I work for is German based, they were sold in part to a financial place that is based in California but is also German owned. Much of the equipment that is bought at this plant is from Germany. China and Wal Mart are not the only issues America has. I think America has just become over globalised. Like I mentioned in an earlier post my research for another thread showed me that 40% of products sold in the U.S. are made in China. If that is you big issue with Wal Mart throw away every electronic item in your home, as well as much of the stuff in your car/truck/SUV. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Chinese products are here to stay. You also cannot blame Wal Mart for most of the silicon valley type jobs moving to India. India is fast becoming a leader in such jobs including the telemarketer/info hot line type jobs (calling one of these places you nearly need someone else to tell you what they are saying). People are leaving the U.S. to go work there.

moneycentral.msn.com...

money.cnn.com...

www.shortnews.com...

www.cbsnews.com...

www.pbs.org...



The sad facts are is that is what modern business has become. The maximum profits with as little overhead as possible. It is all about the corporate big wigs getting it all and screw the rest of the world, including you and I. It is not just Wal Mart but the corporate world in general that is stepping on heads to get further ahead.


Raist

Originally posted by Raist
Much of the equipment that is bought at this plant is from Germany. China and Wal Mart are not the only issues America has. I think America has just become over globalised.

At least the Canadian/American worker can compete with Germany. But you can't compete with a labour force that is paid absolute peanuts in comparison to our market...no benefits, sometimes not even paid. That's where the inequity lies.

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


But again it is a modern business thing. We cannot compete with Mexico either or many other places.

We cannot solely place the blame on Wal Mart. It must be placed on corporations as a whole. For using near slave labor for workers. Globalization is what is destroying our economies and taking away jobs.

Raist

Originally posted by Raist
reply to post by JohnnyCanuck

 

But again it is a modern business thing. We cannot compete with Mexico either or many other places.
We cannot solely place the blame on Wal Mart. It must be placed on corporations as a whole. For using near slave labor for workers. Globalization is what is destroying our economies and taking away jobs. Raist

Oh, I agree...but consider that jobs are leaving Mexico because it is considered too expensive:

(December 27, 2008)
How important is salary to the Detroit Three?

Well, the automakers bargained a wage cut from the United Auto Workers in the U.S., slashing pay for new workers about 50 per cent to about $15 an hour, creating a two-tier wage structure. They also got concessions on benefits, especially health care. Then, Ford announced it will build a new assembly plant for its Fiesta in Mexico. Then, the Detroit Three executives bargained another two-tier wage structure in Mexico, dropping the average wage of a Mexican auto worker to $2 an hour from $4.

Think about that -- $2 an hour. How much money will that really save them? While it is true automakers pay higher wages than other manufacturers, the Mexico example is proof they will squeeze money out of its workers where it can regardless of economics or equity -- it is their corporate culture. www.caw.ca...

I know people whom have worked for wally world. She told me that when people are working there for five years they get access to stocks, unions, benefits, ect. However I was also informed that they lay off anyone approaching that 5 year mark. Again, this is just what I have heard from a walmart employee that I'd say I can trust, still it's hearsay so take it as you might.

reply to post by Xilvius


I have a friend who has worked at Wal Mart of nearly 20 years. She has not been laid off.


Raist

Let me tell you something about good ol' walmart.

I bought a nice new truck a few years ago. Well it was time for an oil change and I decided to be lazy so I took it to good ol' walmart for an oil change.

They dry fired my engine and blew it up. Then when they refused to do anything about it I decided to sue. The security footage from the garage for the exact time of the incident just happened to disappear.

This is not uncommon. People who try to sue wal-mart for injuries caused by negligence (aka no wet floor signs, vehicle damage, stock falling on customers etc.) stay in litigation for decades. Basically they bury attorneys under so much paperwork that the case will never even get settled. Most of the time they can run this out for a lifetime. Most of the time they clear all evidence of wrong doing before any of it comes to light.

I have no sympathy for this destroyer of small business and in some cases people's lives. They make it a company policy to not be responsible for any wrong doing whatsoever. This is only one side of the coin. As we can see the employees are finally fighting back.

I bet this case will go on for years, with no results.

Not the first time and wont be the last. They have funds set aside for these kind of law suits. I'm sure the bad publicity hurts more than what the judgment will be.

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


Your link proves my point though as far as the corporate world goes. I cannot answer for Mexico aside from the possibility that transporting product and keeping companies safe from bandits or whoever else might have a criminal mind there. Maybe insurance of the company might play into that as well.

Add to that the “cost” of a God awful $2 an hour and they are looking at you know them (CEOs) missing out on tipping a stripper or whatever.


Seeing that this is a thread about Wal Mart, I think we finally found the real answer and there should be a seperate thread for that. Wal Mart is not fully to blame but they fall in line with the corporate world around them.


Raist

reply to post by DaMod


When it comes to vehicles you should never cheap out. Either take it to a reputable mechanic to do the odd jobs or do it yourself. I might use Wal Mart for some things but I would never let them lay a figure on any of my vehicles, even my beater S10.

The video thing though is not really that uncommon. The cameras in the grocery section of the local Wal Mart here are just there for show. They are not hooked up and never have been since the day they opened. If anything happens they say the video is lost.

Raist