As Black Friday strike looms, Wal-Mart files U.S. labour com
OnTheIce @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:21 pm
jeff744 jeff744:
DrCaleb DrCaleb:
Workers don't take too kindly to being moved to 'part time' so they don't get benefits, but still having to work 'full time' hours.
Or not being able to make a union because the company will just close down the store on you. Walmart brought this on itself.
Workers are sold a bag of goods by the union only to see the reality of the situation when the dust settles.
Having seen the affects of a union in retail first hand from Rexall to Shoppers Drug Mart, the union was a huge mistake for Rexall workers and they all know it and there's talk about disbanding the union all together.
Ask the Zellers union how that worked out for them too.
peck420 @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:24 pm
Unions are like any organization. You have good ones and you have bad ones.
That doesn't mean that all unions are bad.
Walmart, on the other hand, does fall pretty deeply into the bad organization list.
jeff744 @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:24 pm
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
jeff744 jeff744:
DrCaleb DrCaleb:
Workers don't take too kindly to being moved to 'part time' so they don't get benefits, but still having to work 'full time' hours.
Or not being able to make a union because the company will just close down the store on you. Walmart brought this on itself.
Workers are sold a bag of goods by the union only to see the reality of the situation when the dust settles.
Having seen the affects of a union in retail first hand from Rexall to Shoppers Drug Mart, the union was a huge mistake for Rexall workers and they all know it and there's talk about disbanding the union all together.
Ask the Zellers union how that worked out for them too.
And yet the only way to get a business to actually listen is with a union, funny how that works.
Lemmy @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:25 pm
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
Workers are sold a bag of goods by the union only to see the reality of the situation when the dust settles.
Having seen the affects of a union in retail first hand from Rexall to Shoppers Drug Mart, the union was a huge mistake for Rexall workers and they all know it and there's talk about disbanding the union all together.
Ask the Zellers union how that worked out for them too.
Having seen the affects of a union in retail first hand from Rexall to Shoppers Drug Mart, the union was a huge mistake for Rexall workers and they all know it and there's talk about disbanding the union all together.
Ask the Zellers union how that worked out for them too.
You're right, but so what? That doesn't mean they don't have the right to organize if they choose and it doesn't mean that management can fire them for taking legitimate steps to improve their working conditions.
CDN_PATRIOT @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:27 pm
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
I'd love to be the store manager of a Wal-Mart where non-union employees waged a "strike". Nothing says "fun" like being unemployed right before Christmas.
So....your against workers that are underpaid, overworked, have little say in their jobs, and have practically no job security? And to top it all off, you'd pink slip them right before Christmas???
Give your head a shake.
-J.
Brenda @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:27 pm
PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:
DrCaleb DrCaleb:
Workers don't take too kindly to being moved to 'part time' so they don't get benefits, but still having to work 'full time' hours.
Nope, they sure don't. I dunno how it works in the US or in various US states but in Ontario, even if yer scheduled to work 39 hours per week, yer still considered to be only "part time".
Or "casual"...
jeff744 @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:28 pm
CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
I'd love to be the store manager of a Wal-Mart where non-union employees waged a "strike". Nothing says "fun" like being unemployed right before Christmas.
So....your against workers that are underpaid, overworked, have little say in their jobs, and have practically no job security? And to top it all off, you'd pink slip them right before Christmas???
Give your head a shake.
-J.
But think of the horror if one of the richest businesses in the world had to give up their 40th house and 20th yacht. How would they be able to live in such a horrible world?
OnTheIce @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:29 pm
jeff744 jeff744:
And yet the only way to get a business to actually listen is with a union, funny how that works.
Wal-Mart is made out to be the worst company for the way they treat their employees which is natural since it's the largest retailer in the World and has a ton of employees.
The truth is, most retail organizations operate like Wal-Mart just on a smaller scale and the amount of complaints is comparable.
Who says Wal-Mart is listening? Are we naive to think they don't know what the issues are within their organization? Name me one retail store where employees are happy with wages and benefits. Not many!
The unions are money hungry and Wal-Mart is their cash cow. The employees don't know it yet but it's not all sunshine and rainbows with cash flowing from the sky.
OnTheIce @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:35 pm
CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
I'd love to be the store manager of a Wal-Mart where non-union employees waged a "strike". Nothing says "fun" like being unemployed right before Christmas.
So....your against workers that are underpaid, overworked, have little say in their jobs, and have practically no job security? And to top it all off, you'd pink slip them right before Christmas???
Give your head a shake.
-J.
I'm against workers, any type of workers, walking out on their job. If you want to walk out on your job, expect consequences.
Retail workers aren't underpaid, they're paid market value for the level of skill required to do such a job. Overworked? Yea, because stocking shelves and answering questions is ball-busting work.
If you want job security and more say in your job, retail isn't the career path for you.
Lemmy @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:40 pm
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
I'm against workers, any type of workers, walking out on their job. If you want to walk out on your job, expect consequences.
Whether you're against it or not doesn't matter. You can't fire people for taking job actions in defence of their working conditions. You're living in the 19th century.
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
Retail workers aren't underpaid, they're paid market value for the level of skill required to do such a job. Overworked? Yea, because stocking shelves and answering questions is ball-busting work. If you want job security and more say in your job, retail isn't the career path for you.
If you want job security and more say in your job, retail isn't the career path for you.No, retail workers are not paid market value. They're significantly OVERPAID as a result of minimum wage laws.
andyt @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:44 pm
Lemmy Lemmy:
No, retail workers are not paid market value. They're significantly OVERPAID as a result of minimum wage laws.
Better that than the alternative. Think of the social costs if retail workers were paid less than min wage. We would all be subsidizing the retail businesses with our taxes to try to ameliorate the effects. Of course buying cheap crap from China might be even a bit cheaper, so that's a bonus.
bootlegga @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:44 pm
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
bootlegga bootlegga:
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
I'd love to be the store manager of a Wal-Mart where non-union employees waged a "strike". Nothing says "fun" like being unemployed right before Christmas.
And people wonder why labour and management can't see eye to eye...
Managers don't typically take too kindly to workers walking out mid-shift.
Given the wages, working conditions and lack of benefits Wal-mart gives its employees, they should be thankful everyone doesn't walk out en masse.
I've no doubt that if the US economy was stronger and there were lots of other employment options, Wal-Mart would be pretty far down the list for most people.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of unions myself - mostly because when I have worked in union shops, all that happened was tehe union took its dues and pissed off - but unions were a big factor in growth of the middle classes in the US in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Big business' efforts (in the 80s and 90s via down-sizing, outsourcing and offshoring) to kill unions are, in large part, a key factor in the decline of the middle class (and as such, the growing gap between rich and poor).
Perhaps it's time for unions to become resurgent and protect the little guy again, otherwise North America might revert to the land of robber barons it was in the late 19th century.
bootlegga @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:45 pm
CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
I'd love to be the store manager of a Wal-Mart where non-union employees waged a "strike". Nothing says "fun" like being unemployed right before Christmas.
So....your against workers that are underpaid, overworked, have little say in their jobs, and have practically no job security? And to top it all off, you'd pink slip them right before Christmas???
Give your head a shake.
-J.
I don't often agree with you, but you've hit the nail on the head here!
andyt @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:45 pm
bootlegga bootlegga:
Given the wages, working conditions and lack of benefits Wal-mart gives its employees, they should be thankful everyone doesn't walk out en masse.
I've no doubt that if the US economy was stronger and there were lots of other employment options, Wal-Mart would be pretty far down the list for most people.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of unions myself - mostly because when I have worked in union shops, all that happened was tehe union took its dues and pissed off - but unions were a big factor in growth of the middle classes in the US in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Big business' efforts (in the 80s and 90s via down-sizing, outsourcing and offshoring) to kill unions are, in large part, a key factor in the decline of the middle class (and as such, the growing gap between rich and poor).
Perhaps it's time for unions to become resurgent and protect the little guy again, otherwise North America might revert to the land of robber barons it was in the late 19th century.
I've no doubt that if the US economy was stronger and there were lots of other employment options, Wal-Mart would be pretty far down the list for most people.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of unions myself - mostly because when I have worked in union shops, all that happened was tehe union took its dues and pissed off - but unions were a big factor in growth of the middle classes in the US in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Big business' efforts (in the 80s and 90s via down-sizing, outsourcing and offshoring) to kill unions are, in large part, a key factor in the decline of the middle class (and as such, the growing gap between rich and poor).
Perhaps it's time for unions to become resurgent and protect the little guy again, otherwise North America might revert to the land of robber barons it was in the late 19th century.
If Walmart employees don't like it, they should just go back to school and get a better job.
bootlegga @ Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:47 pm
andyt andyt:
bootlegga bootlegga:
Given the wages, working conditions and lack of benefits Wal-mart gives its employees, they should be thankful everyone doesn't walk out en masse.
I've no doubt that if the US economy was stronger and there were lots of other employment options, Wal-Mart would be pretty far down the list for most people.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of unions myself - mostly because when I have worked in union shops, all that happened was tehe union took its dues and pissed off - but unions were a big factor in growth of the middle classes in the US in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Big business' efforts (in the 80s and 90s via down-sizing, outsourcing and offshoring) to kill unions are, in large part, a key factor in the decline of the middle class (and as such, the growing gap between rich and poor).
Perhaps it's time for unions to become resurgent and protect the little guy again, otherwise North America might revert to the land of robber barons it was in the late 19th century.
I've no doubt that if the US economy was stronger and there were lots of other employment options, Wal-Mart would be pretty far down the list for most people.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of unions myself - mostly because when I have worked in union shops, all that happened was tehe union took its dues and pissed off - but unions were a big factor in growth of the middle classes in the US in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Big business' efforts (in the 80s and 90s via down-sizing, outsourcing and offshoring) to kill unions are, in large part, a key factor in the decline of the middle class (and as such, the growing gap between rich and poor).
Perhaps it's time for unions to become resurgent and protect the little guy again, otherwise North America might revert to the land of robber barons it was in the late 19th century.
If Walmart employees don't like it, they should just go back to school and get a better job.
