Wal Mart Employees protest, I call BS

Wages should be based on the employers ability to pay X amount, the difficulty and value of the job, the employees ability and performance, and overall whats best for everyone involved. That may sound idealistic, or unrealistic, but its what makes a healthy system thrive, IMHO. I get irked when I hear words like entitled, deserve, qualified, etc. in relationship to things like this. It seems to denote that someone else is "less" than another.
A college degree isnt an automatic sign of a better person.
(and I have a college degree,btw)

Originally posted by gemdog
Wages should be based on the employers ability to pay X amount, the difficulty and value of the job, the employees ability and performance, and overall whats best for everyone involved. That may sound idealistic, or unrealistic, but its what makes a healthy system thrive, IMHO. I get irked when I hear words like entitled, deserve, qualified, etc. in relationship to things like this. It seems to denote that someone else is "less" than another.
A college degree isnt an automatic sign of a better person.
(and I have a college degree,btw)

A few things... First of all, a college degree does NOT mean one is a btter person, but it indicates that they are a MORE QUALIFIED employee! Those who have more qualifications deserve to be compensated more in exchange for their increased abilities and the value they bring the company.

Beyond that, the rest of your post reeks of naivette. If not " entitled", than what drives this incessant whining!? They certainly do NOT "Deserve" to be paid more when they do not possess the "Qualifications" that warrant a pay increase. If they desire higher wages and better benefits, then it is up to THEM to increase their qualifications, not to simply demand it.

Originally posted by EarthCitizen07
reply to post by schuyler

 

Do you value truth at all? You do realise a lot of the bargain items sold are "made in china" for usa consumption, correct? Chinese wages are significantly lower than american wages due to cost of living differences.

These products are then imported into the usa and sold as american-brand merchandise. Companies like walmart who have bare minimum skeleton crews, refuse to pay overtime to the majority of employees, low decoration within store, and cheaply manufactured foreign items.

You get to save some money buying these items, because on top of everything else the items imported into the usa are tarrif-free. But considering all the shortcuts taken by walmart and other high discount retail outlets they could probably resell that merchandise at even half price and still turn in reasonably high profits. Walmart is not doing anyone any real favor at all except to their shareholders who value every single penny in dividends regardless of how unethical or even illegal their malpractice is.

Barely anything you say is accurate. Lots and lots of propaganda has me convinced you are a wall street shill and right wing lunatic.

"Truth"!? Was that sad diatribe truth? I think not!

Walmart has ONE obligation as a publicly traded company - and that is to the shareholders. Take a business class for Christ's sake!!! I'm not the least bit surprised that "Lot's and lot's of propaganda has [you] convinced" as you continue to espouse lots and lots of propaganda. It is apparent you have no real world experience running a company.

It is becoming rather obvious that attempting to have an intellectual debate with those who will only employ empty emotional pleas is both pointless and a waste of time and energy. All of this fantasy land idealism is exactly what is wrong with this country. We have a generation of adults who behave like 5 year old children - and possess about the same amount of logic and real-world knowledge!

EDIT TO ADD:

Noted.

I jumped the gun:

Walmart remains a family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family who own a 48% stake in Walmart.

====================================================

Originally posted by kozmo
Walmart has ONE obligation as a publicly traded company - and that is to the shareholders.

Walmart is NOT a publicly traded company. It's family owned. Do you understand the difference?

Take a business class for Christ's sake!!!

You would do well to heed your own advice.

It is apparent you have no real world experience running a company.

It is apparent you don't know basic stuff most people take for granted.

reply to post by buddhasystem


Wal-Mart's common stock symbol is WMT. it is traded on the NYSE.

Originally posted by GreenGlassDoor
reply to post by buddhasystem

 

Wal-Mart's common stock symbol is WMT. it is traded on the NYSE.

Noted.

I jumped the gun:

Walmart remains a family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family who own a 48% stake in Walmart.

Yes, Walmart is a family owned publicly traded company with shareholders and board members to deal with.

Anyways, for those that are interested in some real-life mathematics:

- The US GDP sits at around $15 trillion.

- More than two thirds (2/3) of the US GDP comes from consumer spending, believe it or not.

- Walmart accounts for about 3% of that $15 trillion GDP.

Anyone still wondering why the Waltons are having tea and cookies at the White House on a regular basis ?

Shut down Walmart ?
Hardy har har... We've created our own monster here folks and only have ourselves to blame.

Originally posted by buddhasystem
EDIT TO ADD:

Noted.

I jumped the gun:

Walmart remains a family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family who own a 48% stake in Walmart.

====================================================

Originally posted by kozmo
Walmart has ONE obligation as a publicly traded company - and that is to the shareholders.

Walmart is NOT a publicly traded company. It's family owned. Do you understand the difference?

Take a business class for Christ's sake!!!

You would do well to heed your own advice.

It is apparent you have no real world experience running a company.

It is apparent you don't know basic stuff most people take for granted.

edit on 26-11-2012 by buddhasystem because: (no reason given)

Nice... well thought out responses.

First of all, Walmart is most definitely a publicly traded company. It is registered on the NYSE and traded under the symbol WMT. Today it closed at 69.91, a loss of -0.29 for the day. The family owns 48% of the outstanding shares, a minority ownership when compared to the public but likely a substantial voting bloc. The remaining 52% is held by members of the public.

So, please tell me again about how I need to take a business class...

reply to post by kozmo

Walmart has ONE obligation as a publicly traded company - and that is to the shareholders

Nice slave mentality you got there

Originally posted by Trustfund
reply to post by kozmo

 

Walmart has ONE obligation as a publicly traded company - and that is to the shareholders

Nice slave mentality you got there

Do you have a 401K? A Pension? How about a Certificate of Deposit or Money Market Account? Maybe an IRA? ALL of those mean that YOU are also a shareholder. Presently I am a shareholder in over 300 companies via various funds.

How is investing a "Slave mentality"? I place my hard-earned money into those organizations so that they may grow and prosper. As a result, I benefit by having my investment provide returns, not losses. This also means that I OWN a piece of that company and, as a result, they are obligated to be great stewards with my money. Allow me to correct you... not getting an education when one is available to you, not striving to improve your position in life, not trying to out-hustle or outwork your peers in order to advance, expecting (demanding) increases and wages and benefits that you haven't earned - THOSE are the making of a "Slave mentality".

I went out on my own with nothing more than $20 in my wallet and enough in the bank to pay next month's bills- barely. I had no guarantees - no steady paycheck, no benefits, no pension, 401K - NOTHING! Today I own and operate a small business (THAT I BUILT Mr. President!!!) and bust my ass every single day to turn a profit. Yet somehow you see fit to accuse me of having a slave mentality???

Attempting to maintain one's composure when dealing with obvious trolls and the grossly misinformed and uneducated is becoming both tedious and tiresome!

Originally posted by buddhasystem

Originally posted by boymonkey74
reply to post by foodstamp

 

Makes me sick to my stomach that some people think the job you do defines you as a person

I do.

and If you are on Min wage people think you are not intelligent.

Well I don't really think so, but let me come to the first point.

Your choices do define what you are. I'm very lucky to have been born in a family that was technically rather poor, but which valued good education above all things. I was working my butt off in school and was twice accepted to different magnet school on merits. I'll spare you the rest of the detail, but after a long while it really paid off. I had a choice to slack off, I didn't. I'm not saying that I'm more intelligent than the next guy, but what you choose to do in this life does define you as a person. And oh, when I neglected to make sure I'm 100% committed in one of my jobs, that didn't work exactly in my favor.

Many jobs need to be done, I get paid bugger all, I care for people and do a job many of you would say is beneath you.

When I was younger, I did menial jobs that paid pittance, and worked to exhaustion. I didn't think I was "below" anyone at some deep philosophical level, but in terms of sheer achievement and being able to help others, well this was too early to tell.

My personal theory, in this day and age there is a way... If there is the will. I've seen building contractors becoming doctors (my students, actually) and before that they were simply workers.

edit on 26-11-2012 by buddhasystem because: (no reason given)

Around a decade or so, Britain saw a drive to send 50% of all teenagers through college and on to university and get a university degree. We've got more people with university degrees in 2012 than at any other time in history. What's actually happened is that many employers see a degree as 'worthless' now, in a similar way to arseholes and opinions: everyone's got one. Many employers are looking at 2nd or even 3rd degrees. However, at the same time, we're now seeing a 25% unemployment rate for graduates and a million young people generally unemployed. Everyone accepts that both statistics are going to increase.

Also, around the same time, there was another drive to give people a skill set that would feed into an emerging employment market. Again, this is Britain, so the mileage will vary in various ways. Historically, since the Thatcher years, we saw traditional 'working class' blue collar jobs disappear. Not just the jobs: whole industries. Traditional avenues of employment for the working class disappeared in a generation: mining, light and heavy industries, clothing production and so on. Basically, the lot went abroad. Unions, minimum wage, quality of British workers weren't really factors (the minimum wage was introduced long after all this started): it was basically shareholder and ownership driven. In the late 90s, offices were suddenly opened up to the working classes; white collar jobs, even low down on the ladder were always seen as a 'dream job'; particularly for families that were used to long shifts in factories. Adults and teenagers alike were developing IT skills, ICT skills and so on. It came at the right time because, basically, this was to be the way all work was going and the working class needed new fields of employment.

A few years later, the bulk of this type of work (call centres, data processing, programming &c) followed the blue collar jobs abroad. Eventually the majority of the remainder of these types of jobs were public sector/government related.

Fast forward to 2010, and the new Tory-lead government decides that those lucky enough to still have these types of jobs are now deemed wasteful and unnecessary. The positions are being made redundant and/or are going abroad.

In meantime, we've seen training opportunities for trades like building, plumbing, electrics, engineering and so on, also disappear. Courses have been cut by an increasingly privatised college system as they were getting more funding for the IT type courses. What trades courses are still available often have waiting lists running into years to get on them, especially for the night courses available to adults. Even then, they're often unaffordable (I remember, about 12 years ago, Level 3 qualifications costing £3,500 for a 2 hour a week course with no concessions for the unemployed - who are the ones that need retraining more than anyone else). There was this idea that, again, the private sector would step in and offer apprenticeships. However, the reality was that the private sector would rather bring in East European workers rather than train people, the same East Europeans and private sector who are undermining the minimum wage, employment rights &c of the people who actually do have jobs.

What you've said is right in an ideal world. Education and training should be the solution. Unfortunately, in Britain, it's just not.

reply to post by Merriman Weir


Great post dude.
About training ect in my job I have to pay for my own training, my boss told us all we have 6 months to complete 7 courses and If we do not we will be let go.
Each course costs around £50 so in total it is around 400 quid I have to find (Not a chance).
Thing that gets me is outside she has a sign saying "Investors in people" BS.