Wal-Mart workers plan Black Friday walkout

[Kristy]

I don't know where you base your opinion, Kristy... clearly it's not business related as you don't seem to understand the simple dynamics of Wal-Mart's labor force and the competitive retail industry in general.

I'm sure there are many instances of crappy management activities that go on in Wal-Marts across the country. It may seem huge but you have to contrast that with their relative size compared with other employers. Of course... you don't hear of any of the good things that go on because they don't make dramatic headlines and feed bullshit gossip circles.

Such as? It's more than simple "crappy management" politics. Wal-Mart constantly pushes their bourgeois brand of feel good bullshit. Where have you been? Remember their reading program? I bet you do. Problem was Wal-Mart never gave a shit about literacy for this country as they did for their employees so they could under the basics of how to understand the basics of counting when it came to stocking. How about their "generous donations" to Catholic Charities food banks for no other purpose than a tax write off? Wal-Mart constantly bombards the consumer with their spoon fed lies of how great they are, how they save you money (while robbing their employees) and how wonderful it is to have a Wal-Mart in your area sucking dry the surrounding economical commerce. Come up with something better for an augment, okay?

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Such as? It's more than simple "crappy management" politics. Wal-Mart constantly pushes their bourgeois brand of feel good bullshit. Where have you been? Remember their reading program? I bet you do. Problem was Wal-Mart never gave a shit about literacy for this country as they did for their employees so they could under the basics of how to understand the basics of counting when it came to stocking. How about their "generous donations" to Catholic Charities food banks for no other purpose than a tax write off? Wal-Mart constantly bombards the consumer with their spoon fed lies of how great they are, how they save you money (while robbing their employees) and how wonderful it is to have a Wal-Mart in your area sucking dry the surrounding economical commerce. Come up with something better for an augment, okay?

so what, they still donated

[Nickdfresh]

Excellent post, Zah. I'm sure it will be rebutted with the usual 'anyone who works harder and achieves more than me is evil' bullshit. Clearly you don't know what you're talking about.

Dumb, smug comments that have nothing to do with the topic, much? How about Wal-Mart flagrantly violates labor laws as part of it's corporate culture and has been sued for routinely FORCING workers to work off the clock to AVOID OVERTIME? Just one little example, actually.

It's not necessarily everywhere, nor in every state or store. But Wal-Mart does have a long track record of scofflaw-ism that they've only recently tried to at least mitigate with their feel good policies of low drug prices, etc...

[Nickdfresh]

I don't know where you base your opinion, Kristy... clearly it's not business related as you don't seem to understand the simple dynamics of Wal-Mart's labor force and the competitive retail industry in general.

...

Part of what you're completely ignoring is that Wal-Mart long ago began sitting down suppliers in boiler-maker, back room negotiations to gain the absolute bottom-line price stripping profit from everybody but them. It was then Wal-Mart executives that essentially told companies how to outsource to China in order to cut out wages in the U.S....

Watch the excellent PBS Frontline program on Wal-Mart which features one of their more successful store/regional managers that then turned against them and their practices...

[Kristy]

so what, they still donated

Great counter-argument, hippy.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Great counter-argument, hippy.

thanks. your "it doesn't count cause they can write it off" was stellar too, angry person who missed the hippy train

[ZahZoo]

Sorry I don't recall any reading program... doubt it had anything to do with employees counting for stocking shelves. They've led the industry in automated sales and inventory tracking systems and RFID tracking so they didn't have to rely on manual methods.

Is your issue with a company using the US tax code legally or because it was a Catholic charity and played to some sort of conservative bullshit political contraceptive angle..?

What does that have to do with poor Joe Public getting paid $8.50 an hour to stock bananas in the produce section on 3rd shift?

[Romeo Delight]

Part of what you're completely ignoring is that Wal-Mart long ago began sitting down suppliers in boiler-maker, back room negotiations to gain the absolute bottom-line price stripping profit from everybody but them. It was then Wal-Mart executives that essentially told companies how to outsource to China in order to cut out wages in the U.S....

Watch the excellent PBS Frontline program on Wal-Mart which features one of their more successful store/regional managers that then turned against them and their practices...

Now I know why Mittens wanted to cut funding for PBS...

[Kristy]

They've led the industry in automated sales and inventory tracking systems and RFID tracking so they didn't have to rely on manual methods.

Did they now? Sure they didn't steal that from the major railroads' on how they track freight? By the way, much of that freight filled to the top with imported Chinese made shit headed for Wal-Mart.

Is your issue with a company using the US tax code legally or because it was a Catholic charity and played to some sort of conservative bullshit political contraceptive angle..?

I could care less who Wal-Mart choose to give their tax write to. It's the guise in which Wal-Mart does it. Giving to a food bank for media purposes while placing their own employees on food stamps. Yeah, go figure.

What does that have to do with poor Joe Public getting paid $8.50 an hour to stock bananas in the produce section on 3rd shift?

Because unlike your myopic view, Wal-Mart is not made up entirely of "Joe Public" Must be so easy for you to discount human beings as "Joe Publics" Mr. IT Guy.

[Nickdfresh]

Now I know why Mittens wanted to cut funding for PBS...

Yep, one of the few independent organizations that still takes on corporations. Which is ironic, since corporations like Exxon-Mobil still donate heavily to PBS...

[ZahZoo]

Part of what you're completely ignoring is that Wal-Mart long ago began sitting down suppliers in boiler-maker, back room negotiations to gain the absolute bottom-line price stripping profit from everybody but them. It was then Wal-Mart executives that essentially told companies how to outsource to China in order to cut out wages in the U.S....

Watch the excellent PBS Frontline program on Wal-Mart which features one of their more successful store/regional managers that then turned against them and their practices...

I'm not ignoring their predatory product sourcing methods. We were discussing labor issues.

Very much aware of their aggressive product sourcing practices. Clearly they've leveraged their size and volume to drive for competitive wholesale prices. I did mention previously that they were a customer of my employer. They're no wimps... But they are no different than any other big outfit.

As I mentioned, I hate the outsourcing to BRIC countries. But it's a reality that's not going away... although there are promising signs of the out-flow tide slowing significantly and in some cases shifting back to the US. We have to quit bitching about it and find ways to compete with the rest of the world.

[ZahZoo]

Did they now? Sure they didn't steal that from the major railroads' on how they track freight? By the way, much of that freight filled to the top with imported Chinese made shit headed for Wal-Mart.

Because unlike your myopic view, Wal-Mart is not made up entirely of "Joe Public" Must be so easy for you to discount human beings as "Joe Publics" Mr. IT Guy.

Yes, LOL... I'm sure they didn't steal a damn thing from the railroads who are operating an infrastructure built on 17th & 18th century technology and are still struggling to adopt 20th century... let alone 21st century technology.

The primary reason for lower wages in a large majority of positions is due to the extensive use of inventory and Point of Sale (POS) technology. Their IT infrastructure is one of the most advanced in the industry... which means many of the positions held in the company require less "skills" for inventory and POS activity than competitors using more manual methods of inventory and POS controls.

With 2.2 million employees... plus all the automation. Most of those jobs paying an average of $8-10 per hour are basically "hands & eyes" positions. I'm not discounting any human element. I'm just continuing to point out the basic facts of these jobs in a rational business perspective.

I know Wal-Mart hasn't always been the perfect employer... nor are they today. I just don't think that a large majority of their employees are abused... nor are being significantly under-paid for the level of work they do.

[BigBadBrian]

Have you ever shopped at a Wal-Mart where they have like two out of twenty-five registers open and there are long lines? It's pretty fucking frustrating. They most certainly aim for the low side of staffing...

In today's economy, most places do.

[envy_me]

They certainly have the right to strike if they wish, though I wouldn't think that is too smart of an idea, not in this economy.

It takes what, a day or two to train the average Walmart worker?

I can see a whole bunch of people getting fired and others getting hired.

You can't fire people for striking. It is their right. Didn't you know that?

[BigBadBrian]

Part of what you're completely ignoring is that Wal-Mart long ago began sitting down suppliers in boiler-maker, back room negotiations to gain the absolute bottom-line price stripping profit from everybody but them.

That's called revenue. You don't make money unless you sell something for more than you paid for it. You don't make money paying employees $5 an hour more than their labor is worth.