Walmart putting it to the people again

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color=blue>""this thread has certainly become unraveled!"</font color=blue>

Yes, it has. I'm certainly sorry for whatever part I had in it. I guess you can never tell when something you write might strike a tender nerve in someone else. Regardless, to avoid furthering any negativity, I'll not write any more on the topic here.

Again, my apologies to all for whatever perceived affront I caused. It was not at all my intention.

 

[BB_TX]

I, too, am sick of hearing people rant about "I don't go to WalMart because they put the little guy out of business". Can they also say they don't go to Target, KMart, or the other big discounters? What about Home Depot, Lowes and the others? They may have put the small hardware store out. What about the big grocers, Safeway, Kroger, Albertson, etc.? They probably put the mom and pop grocery out of business. It goes on and on. Do these people actually boycott all these big chains? I doubt it.
What about tractors? Didn't the big guys drive the little guys out years ago. How about Kubota and other foreign owned manufacturers? Don't most of those profits go overseas? Do you boycott them?
WalMart has 1 million employees. If they provide $1000 dollars per year per employee for heath care coverage, that is 1 Billion dollars off the bottom line. And I am guessing they actually spend much more than that.
As was previously stated, no one is forced to work there or buy there or anywhere else. But I am not going to penalize myself by buying items at premium price when I can get it cheaper at a large chain regardless of what the item is.

 

[Mosey]

I guess part of the problem with supporting Walmart (which I do because I hate to pay more for the same items somewhere else), is what the long term affects could be on our "quality of life".

For example, when self serve gas stations came to being they sold gas cheaper, so most people went there, and now all gas stations are self serve (except for a very few rare exceptions, none of which exist in my area). That means that when it's 10 degrees outside and the wind is howling and I'm in my Sunday cloths, I have to get out and pump my own gas. I do miss the days I could just sit inside where it's warm and dry and let someone else do it!

A similar thing could happen in retail. It gets harder and harder to find someone at Walmart to help me find what I'm looking for because they keep trying to get by on the bare minimum number of employees. And, if I do find an "associate", they often don't know and/or don't care. When all of the "associates" in the store are "minimum wage mentality" it makes Walmart a frustrating place to shop. Combine that with too few checkouts open and it won't be long before I'll be ready to pay more for a better place to shop. I guess the reason it hasn't happened yet is because I haven't found another place that's enough better to make it worth paying more.

 

[TresCrows]

The problem many people have with Walmart goes well beyond "they put the little guy out of buisness" though they often do exactly that by moving into a market and selling below market and then when the competition is eliminated they raise their prices and reduce their variety. They also pay miniscule wages removing most of the money they take in from the local economy so their is a negative multiplier effect. The thing that irks me about Walmart however is their false patriotism claiming Made in America when in fact they often misrepresent the origin of various products. Now, I own a Kubota, I have nothing against foreign products entering our market but please Walmart, don't lie about it. Whenever possible I do in fact patronize the small buisness owner, sometimes I pay a bit more but I also make a friend who is there when I need him/her. It is also better for the community and produces a positive multiplier. True also that many shop owners and small buisnesses hardly make more than Walmart wages after expenses but they are SOMEBODY that owns something and took a risk whereas Walmart Associates are simply disenfranchised hired help. J

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Never been in a Wallmart store. Don't understand how a business could make a go of it, selling walls. When I go to the store I turn right at the county road, Wallmart would be to the left. . I have been turning right for 50+ years and don't intend to change anytime soon. When I turn right I get what I want from knowledgeable people who appreciate my business. They know that CDX isn't music from a group two letters from the end of the alphabet. They have what I want and if not, know how to get it. Their stock is based on what people have needed for the past 80 years not what some smart fellows in marketing told them they needed. What do you call this kind of service - Priceless

 

[cowboydoc]

Very well said Tres Crow. Unfortunately we are at the crux of capitalism. Choices get fewer and fewer every year. It's all about corporate america. Corporations run the politics, run the money, and thus run the country. Many of you have said if you don't like the job leave it. That's just not the choice for alot of people that have kids at home to feed and clothe. You have to take what you are given to do and many don't ahve a very good choice. It was said by someone that somehow these people deserve less. That's pretty harsh in my mind. There has to be someone that works at walmart. If everyone went and got a college education who's going to work at walmart? Just because they take a minimum hour job I don't think means they have to have poor benefits and such.

I see everyday the big execs. at the companies in our area have excellent insurance. They rarely have a copay and no deductible. Then when it gets down to the factory workers they have a huge copay and deductible. It hardly seems fair that the ones that can afford to pay it don't have to and the ones that can't afford to pay it have to pay more.

If we don't hold corporations to be somewhat socially responsible then what other choice is there but for the govt. to come in and give national healthcare?

 

[Mosey]

"It was said by someone that somehow these people deserve less."

That is not how I intended it to come out. This is why I should have stayed out of this discussion in the first place, things get said that bothers someone and then there's a chance it can get unfriendly. What I was trying to say is that there are some people out there that I wouldn't want to hire, but Walmart does, so Walmart is doing them some good even though they don't provide good benefits. Like I said, I go one way then the other as far as Walmart is concerned. I like 'em and I hate 'em! I'm going to stay out of these off topic things for good now!

 

[BB_TX]

If you want to see corporate irresponsibillity, look here

<font color=blue>AT&T Company recently announced $1 billion in restructuring costs and more than 10,000 job cuts. No matter how far the stock price falls, CEO C. Michael Armstrong gets a $10 million minimum guarantee on his restricted stock.
Coca-Cola After cutting 5,200 jobs, company looses domestic market share and misses earnings goals. CEO Douglas N. Daft takes home $105 million and gets the earnings targets on his restricted stock reduced.
Enron Company bankrupt, 6,100 out of work and 401(k) participants lose millions. In 2000, CEO Ken Lay exercised $123 million in stock options prior to the accounting scandal.
General Electric Workers' pension plan boosted company earnings by $1.5 billion in 2001. CEO John Welch Jr. gets a pension of almost $10 million annually for the rest of his life.
Hewlett-Packard 15,000 jobs cut in controversial merger with Compaq. Executives to receive $337 million in retention bonuses.
IBM Pension conversion to a cash-balance plan saves company $200 million a year. Retiring CEO Louis V. Gerstner Jr. is entitled to a double pension benefit worth millions.
Kmart Company bankrupt and 22,000 laid off with no severance. CEO Charles Conaway bagged at least a $9.5 million severance package.
Lucent Technologies Company cut its workforce in half and froze workers' 401(k) plan as the stock plummeted. Ousted CEO Richard McGinn gets a $5.5 million cash severance payment plus pension.
Polaroid Company bankrupt, 2,000 laid-off and ESOP plan erased. Executives had wanted $19 million in retention bonuses, including $1.7 million for CEO Gary DiCamillo.
Tyco International Company plans to break up into four pieces after cutting 11,000 jobs in merger consolidations. CEO and CFO cashed out half-a-billion dollars in shares and stock options. </font color=blue>

That's 75,000+ layed off with little or no benefits and the CEOs living in luxury. At least the WalMart and other big box stores workers still have jobs.

 

[cowboydoc]

Mosey,
I didn't mean that like you took it. I really didn't know who said that. My point there is that I know someone has to fill those jobs for low pay. My real question is have we really come so far as a society that we go backwards with healthcare and benefits? I'm not a democrat but I do believe that everyone deserves healthcare if they work. You're right though that is the perception. You aren't in as important as a job as the manager so you don't deserve as good of benefits. Ok sure I buy that for retirement, vacation, etc. but this country's healthcare is in a shambles right now and the corporations that keep doing these things, cutting healthcare, are just going to force us into a national healthcare system.

 

[cowboydoc]

I couldn't agree more BB and that's pretty much my point. Where does the corporate greed start? I know Gary's going to be all over me for this, /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif, but those kinds of salaries in that kind of a market is just insane. What is wrong with these corp. giving those kinds of salaries on one hand and screwing the people with the other.

If they won't stand up and make themselves accountable then what other choice is there but for the government to do something? Do we just keep going on and on and on until there's one gas company, one retail chain, etc.