Walmart Black Friday Nationwide Walkout

Originally posted by thov420

Originally posted by darkhorserider

I HATE workers that don't want to honor the agreement they were thrilled to get the day they were hired. They applied for a job, interviewed for a job, and accepted the job when it was offered, for the pay that was offered, and the requirements that were outlined, but then at some point down the road they think they deserve more?

Since when has asking for a raise/more benefits been unacceptable? Especially after giving years to a company. It used to be that worker loyalty was rewarded with bonuses/raises/pensions but somewhere along the line things changed for the worse. Now loyal employees are only a necessary evil cost of doing business. Pay them as little as possible with as few benefits as possible to make a few extra points on profit margins is the new norm in business today.

I have heard many times over many threads/conversations that employers aren't in business to provide for their employees, only to make a profit for the owners/shareholders. That is exactly right. And they will do whatever they can legally get away with to reduce costs and increase profits, all in the name of capitalism. Damn the costs to humanity/the environment/etc.

I don't want to demonize business owners per say, just the ones that feel cutting workers' hours/pay and taking bonuses for themselves is ok. I think we should have laws like some other countries do where the CEO can only make a certain percentage more than his lowest paid employee.

My husbands family owns a restaurant. he brought home 30,000 this year less then he paid the main worker.

reply to post by jonnywhite


Thanks johnny...I can definatley agree about the youtube videos.

I wonder, if Walmart might someday end up breaking up and franchising their stores? This might end up happening instead of the workers unionizing.

This whole Walmart thing is just a symptom of a much larger issue in America today. Just bounce over to the Hostess discussion to see it.

And your absolutley right about people conserving their energy on the clock. I used to work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day doing scaffolding and various other manual labor tasks.

There was study done (I'd need to search for it) that concluded that workers do not get more done in a 12 hour day than they do in an 8 hour day. Workers, as you said, simply pace themselves.

Originally posted by darkhorserider
reply to post by thov420

 

There is nothing wrong with asking for a raise, asking for a promotion, or jumping ship to a competitor that will pay more. In fact, there is nothing wrong with walking out and opening up your own store to compete for business.

There is a HUGE problem with threatening a walkout on their busiest day of the year, and stomping your feet and refusing to go to work like a child!

If they offer to pay you $9 per hour, and work around your college schedule, but the tradeoff is you'll have to probably work weekends and some holidays, and you agree to that, then you have no right to turn around some time later and say it isn't fair. They did their part, so you should do your part.

I've never worked at Walmart so I have no idea what their hiring/employment practices are from a first person perspective. But I have heard about how they don't pay their employees a living wage and I think it's tragic. They are one of the biggest employers in the US and have a huge profit margin but can't afford to pay their employees a few more dollars per hour or pay for their health insurance.

I also have to add, threatening a walkout seems to be their only course of action ATM. If a bunch of them quit, even for political reasons which would get them hired elsewhere, then in this economy there are scores of people who don't care about working condidtions who would gladly take their place, only to find themselves in the same situation without any recourse whatsoever.

It's a return to the mining towns of yore where you "sold your soul to the company store" because that's what you did if you wanted your children to survive. With huge unemployment numbers and a struggling economy, that's exactly what we will get. Companies more worried about the bottom line, than the workers who make their business work in the first place.

ok I really shouldnt get involved but here's the deal..

back in the day I worked for a walmart, you were given an anti union speach and video to view and then you had to sign your anti-union clause.. the clause basically stated that you would/could be fired if you tried to unionize/ talk of unionizing etc... every worker had to sign it... check check no big deal to me... a job is a job.

My brother who worked for tyson foods lived in arkansas( where they kept headquarters of both companies) would call and tell me stories of the "pits". Wal-mart literally had these "cow" pits were anyone who wanted to sale merchandise in a walmart would come.. the company would come by and tell the manufacturer/seller how much they would pay for their product and if they wanted it placed in walmart, they accepted whatever bid they got or walmart would just go on to the next guy. (I have a ton of stories by the way..) and in this way they kept the products under a certain amount to beat out mom and pop stores. At the same time they can hire 100's of really non productive employees at min wage and still make large profits.

The company motto is really quantity over quality in not just inventory but in employee standards as well.. there are maybe a handful of actual hard working wal mart employees per store.. the rest of them walk around mindlessly looking busy although they never really do anything to earn their min wage.. I'm sorry but that's a true statement... I made $9/hr mind you this was well over 15 years ago so a decent wage but I earned it because I did my job, susan's job, pete's job, betty lou's job and cindy lou who's job too...

Wal-mart just needs a serious overhaul.. I haven't actually shopped in a wal-mart for over 5 years and I haven't missed it.

Nice to know, I have a friend or two looking for a job I will point them to Walmart... they will have money and a job...

Go ahead and walk you are free to... Walmart however is not Hostess... They will fire them point blank... for not showing up to work... which is legitimate and makes them ineligible for unemployment benefits..


Great strategy, quit your job without another source of income....

reply to post by gnosticagnostic


I've heard of those anti-union clauses. I had quite a few friends that worked at Walmart in highschool part time.

I also did a stint at Home Depot for a few weeks. I left after they locked us all in the store after closing and tried to force me to work overtime.

These companies don't care about their people at all and it does show in the quality of the employees. You're probably right about some of the people just aimlessly walking around.

I wasn't well liked at Home Depot. I had a job pushing carts in the parking lot, so I wasn't in a real department. I did still have to wear that horrible apron. Because of that stupid orange apron, people would always approach me asking questions. Since I didn't know the answers, I'd walk them over to an associate who wasn't busy that knew the answer.

Pretty soon I had all the staff members turning and walking the other direction when they saw me approaching, customer in tow.

Big box retail stores are a visible outward expression of a consumer-minded epidemic in this country. We are obssed with "stuff". We can never seem to have enough "stuff" -- even useless stuff. We feel compelled to buy things we don't even need simply because the price is low.

We marginalize our population's workforce so that we can acquire more junky crap. We don't value quality anymore, we value quantity. Walmart does indeed play to this, and its sad when it trickles down on the employees.

reply to post by thov420


They don't pay the majority of their employees a living wage, because the majority of their employees are part-timers. The managers make very good money, as do the district managers and on up. The cashiers and stockers don't make much money, but they typically are not the primary income for their families. They work 10-30 hours at most. Some of my employees at Walmart used to work 5 hours per 2 week period!

Each store has several hundred, sometimes 1000 employees, but there are typically only 20-30 at work at one time. Actually, sometimes, if you don't count the jewelry, automotive, bakery, butcher, and other small entities within the business, there may be as few as 12 actual Walmart employees on the clock.

There is a reason people complain about not being able to get any help at a Walmart. The things almost run themselves!

You've fallen victim to the typical shoddy journalism that is rampant these days. Sure, the majority of employees at Walmart don't make a living wage, but that is because the majority of employees at Walmart are not interested in being a full-time employee. The ones that do want to advance, usually have no problem in doing so very quickly.

reply to post by gnosticagnostic


The managers at Walmart sign something similar and even more shocking. If a manager catches an employee discussing unions or organizing employees in any way. They are instructed to separate that employee from everyone else, call HR and legal, fire the employee, and bar them from ever returning to the store even as a customer! They take that ish seriously!

I have also known some Walmart buyers, and some Walmart suppliers, and your friend's story sounds very accurate. Walmart will make an offer to a company to be a source for goods, but by the time that offer is made, Walmart has already done all the research, knows the company better than they know themselves, knows the competition, and knows the tip-top bottom dollar that supplier can stand and still stay in business, and they won't pay a penny more. If they have to buy out a competitor and put their own people in it, they will do so! Sam Walton bought the land surrounding the Bentonville Airport when they refused to expand the hangar space and runways to accomodate his business. He literally starved them out, replaced board members, closed down businesses, and put the entire airport out of business for refusing to cooperate with him. Then he built a new airport!

When we used to price shop and price match competitors we had a 3 step rule. If someone has a lower price than Walmart, we mark ours 1 cent below theres and check back next week. If we have to do it again, do so. BUT, if we have to reduce the same item a third time, we reduce it to 10% below our own cost, sell it at a loss, because we can afford to do so, and because nobody else buys as low as Walmart buys, and we'll drive the competition right out of the marketplace for daring to try and match our price.

reply to post by MystikMushroom

true story... we are a bunch of brats always wanting more and more and more and can't afford any more to begin with.. that is a societal problem.( never mind a financial disaster) It's not that i don't agree with unionizing.. in fact i do believe in unions and have been in a few myself however what i do have issue with Wal-mart practices in who and how they hire, do business, and annihilate local businesses. Nor I am shocked that it's finally come about that more and more people are talking of unionizing, esp after the lawsuits wal-mart has incurred recently due to it's hiring practices. I'd much rather save and buy a quality product that going to last for years and years, than the crap that comes out of wal-mart. Wal-mart has changed the american landscape in huge ways..( notice how appliances no longer last as long as they used to...) cheaper products means returning business because after all you have to replace crap more frequently and this has rolled over into everything we buy. Why business outsource to make things cheaper, to sell more at a lower rate because it's about how many you sell not the selling price point of a quality product..... so yes i will continue my boycott of the wal-mart franchise.

Walmart would put up Now Hiring signs and the millions of people coming in to the stores would find a job. I don't see this happening. I'm sure a few people will but lets face it - if you are working for Walmart you likely are not a politically principled leftist.

reply to post by darkhorserider


What's really creepy I've heard is the level of security for some of the Walmart data centers deep underground.

You never hear about them, but I've been assured they exist. The way they've been described sound almost like some kind of D.U.M.B or NORAD facility. Retinal scanners, voice print ID checks -- the works.

reply to post by Char-Lee


If he made a profit I congratulate him because it isn't easy in this economy. If he didn't make a profit but paid his workers what they were worth regardless, then I applaud him. I'm not an economist or even a business owner but I know when people are being shafted by the government. All taxes on businesses are passed onto the consumer, I understand that but don't agree with it.

It's hard to describe my opinion because it's always multifaceted. Great thread btw.

Originally posted by CranialSponge
I'm not sucking up corporate anything.

The simple fact of the matter is that inflation has gotten to a point that minimum wage is no longer a livable wage. This is simple fact and has nothing to do with "Walmart" per se.

Like I said, you people are boycotting the wrong entities.

You're not looking at the real gorilla in the room.

Yes it has a lot to do with walmart. When they announce every year that it was another record breaking year then they can pay their employees more money. Why should our tax dollars support people who are working for multi national corporation that's too cheap to pay a decent wage?

Originally posted by buster2010

Originally posted by CranialSponge
I'm not sucking up corporate anything.

The simple fact of the matter is that inflation has gotten to a point that minimum wage is no longer a livable wage. This is simple fact and has nothing to do with "Walmart" per se.

Like I said, you people are boycotting the wrong entities.

You're not looking at the real gorilla in the room.

Yes it has a lot to do with walmart. When they announce every year that it was another record breaking year then they can pay their employees more money. Why should our tax dollars support people who are working for multi national corporation that's too cheap to pay a decent wage?

I agree with you. Someone else pointed out that many employees don't want to work full time. That may be for some locations, but around here the people I know that work there wish they had MORE hours!

Because the pay can be so low for these people at Walmart, they end up doing most of their shopping at Walmart as well. We even had a couple that met working at Walmart get married at the Walmart here. Keeping it classy folks.

Walmart has a good PR campagin to mitigate their real image. People buy into it. In some towns it's actually called, "The Walmart". For some communities it's the largest building in town, and the biggest employer. People actually love Walmart, they really buy into the whole corportocracy thing.

Originally posted by MystikMushroom
reply to post by darkhorserider

 

What's really creepy I've heard is the level of security for some of the Walmart data centers deep underground.

You never hear about them, but I've been assured they exist. The way they've been described sound almost like some kind of D.U.M.B or NORAD facility. Retinal scanners, voice print ID checks -- the works.

I've never seen one underground, but my wife worked in one near Bentoville, Arkansas, and it was very much like entering the Pentagon. RFID badges (and this was almost 20 years ago), with differing levels of security. Rings inside of rings, etc. There were even areas where you could not wear a bulky coat or take a purse.

They are extremely concerned with corporate espionage, unions, and lawsuits. They aggressively defend their business, and when it nails them somehow, they pay the fines or lawsuits and move on. It is cheaper to pay off the few than it is to battle the entirety.

Originally posted by darkhorserider
reply to post by gnosticagnostic

 

The managers at Walmart sign something similar and even more shocking. If a manager catches an employee discussing unions or organizing employees in any way. They are instructed to separate that employee from everyone else, call HR and legal, fire the employee, and bar them from ever returning to the store even as a customer! They take that ish seriously!

I have also known some Walmart buyers, and some Walmart suppliers, and your friend's story sounds very accurate. Walmart will make an offer to a company to be a source for goods, but by the time that offer is made, Walmart has already done all the research, knows the company better than they know themselves, knows the competition, and knows the tip-top bottom dollar that supplier can stand and still stay in business, and they won't pay a penny more. If they have to buy out a competitor and put their own people in it, they will do so! Sam Walton bought the land surrounding the Bentonville Airport when they refused to expand the hangar space and runways to accomodate his business. He literally starved them out, replaced board members, closed down businesses, and put the entire airport out of business for refusing to cooperate with him. Then he built a new airport!

When we used to price shop and price match competitors we had a 3 step rule. If someone has a lower price than Walmart, we mark ours 1 cent below theres and check back next week. If we have to do it again, do so. BUT, if we have to reduce the same item a third time, we reduce it to 10% below our own cost, sell it at a loss, because we can afford to do so, and because nobody else buys as low as Walmart buys, and we'll drive the competition right out of the marketplace for daring to try and match our price.

oh i'm well aware of how walmart managers operate lol... which is why you don't even breathe the "U" word there. I was on the Inventory control team so I'm well aware of how they annihilate the competition through "price matching". My manager went "shopping" every Wednesday to beat the competition and under bid the selling point from everything from a can of tuna to a pillow and it's not really selling it "at a loss" when the price point is already well over manufacturer's prices, They still make money selling a large quantity for a penny less than selling 100 at a penny more... and the consumer still thinks they are getting a bargain and will continue shopping there which is why they "price and ad match"

Everyone will be replace by machines

I just had a thought:

If Walmart reduces the hours of its employees, and these same employees now have to go on foodstamps -- where will they be shopping? Walmart!

Now, Walmart accepts foodstamps, and that foodstamp money is probably more than the people would be spending if they just barley didn't qualify for foodstamps.

Walmart is basically making customers out of its employees, and encouraging them in an indirect way to get on foodstamps and spend that foodstamp money there.

Does anyone else get what I'm trying to explain here?

It's a win-win for Walmart.

Originally posted by MystikMushroom
reply to post by darkhorserider

 

What's really creepy I've heard is the level of security for some of the Walmart data centers deep underground.

You never hear about them, but I've been assured they exist. The way they've been described sound almost like some kind of D.U.M.B or NORAD facility. Retinal scanners, voice print ID checks -- the works.

Wal-mart does have high security... you have to have clearances to pass even the gates at headquarters.. I can't remember everything and have no idea what kind of technology they have going now but back then I know it was easier to get on a military base than it was to get onto wal-mart headquarters.. they are very very weary of corporate espionage and the likes... it's all very 007.

reply to post by MystikMushroom

lol you just figured that out?


Welcome to the Wal-mart nation.