Wal-Mart is sneaking into the City (Oakland: buyers, prices, shoppers)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Scott456

So, how would Walmart jeopardize those mom and pop stores?
Why do we allow Costco and Target, but not Walmart?

Have you read the thread?

[TVC15]

How strange people here think about a place that offers great value for products.

Boycott it for what?

If you want to complain about poor employee treatment take a good look at BevMo.

[TVC15]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

How many stores do you know of where cashiers and other staff don't know from one week to the next whether they'll be working 40 hours or 36 hours or 32 hours?

BevMo

[TVC15]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

The difference is that at Wal-Mart, cashiers are told they're being hired for full-time positions. Whole Foods and other grocery chains hire cashiers full-time, and guarantee them full-time schedules and good benefits. There's a cashier's union that negotiated that. (Wal-Mart is non-union for a reason. So is Whole Foods, but Whole Foods treats their people a lot better.)

Really? First of all Whole Foods started in TX and is HQ in Texas. Texas is a Non Union state. Those positions were not negotiated by a union. Unions SUCK big-time. Take a good look at this state...that should clue you in on how great Unions are.

Second. Wal-Mart would be out of business if it promised full time work but lied about it to employees

[CousinMaynard]

the trend-bots up there would have to tolerate the mouthbreathing miscreant walmart shoppers and employees invading *their* turf.... "OH THE INDIGNATION!"

[peninsular]

Originally Posted by CousinMaynard

the trend-bots up there would have to tolerate the mouthbreathing miscreant walmart shoppers and employees invading *their* turf.... "OH THE INDIGNATION!"

Nonsensical cheap shot.

Where would these "mouthbreathing miscreant walmart shoppers and employees" be coming from to SF to shop at wal-mart? Peninsula? Marin? East Bay and South Bay have their share of wal-mart stores. Or have they invaded the "trend-bots' turf" already and just don't have a spot to congregate?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by TVC15

Really? First of all Whole Foods started in TX and is HQ in Texas. Texas is a Non Union state. Those positions were not negotiated by a union. Unions SUCK big-time. Take a good look at this state...that should clue you in on how great Unions are.

Second. Wal-Mart would be out of business if it promised full time work but lied about it to employees

Did you read my post? I said the Whole Foods positions are not negotiated by a union and that WF is non-union. Union cashier jobs in Seattle pay twice what Whole Foods pays. I would guess CA would be similar. That tells me a lot about how great unions are.

What is "BevMo"?

We shouldn't care about "great value for product" (i.e. what's in it for us, the consumer). We should support labor and fair labor practices. When labor is treated like trash, that limits their purchasing power, thereby eroding the economy. Wal-Mart (as previously stated, review the thread) is a dangerous business model, a sort of Trojan Horse that, if emulated, would really send the US economy down the drain.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Did you read my post? I said the Whole Foods positions are not negotiated by a union and that WF is non-union. Union cashier jobs in Seattle pay twice what Whole Foods pays. I would guess CA would be similar. That tells me a lot about how great unions are.

What is "BevMo"?

We shouldn't care about "great value for product" (i.e. what's in it for us, the consumer). We should support labor and fair labor practices. When labor is treated like trash, that limits their purchasing power, thereby eroding the economy. Wal-Mart (as previously stated, review the thread) is a dangerous business model, a sort of Trojan Horse that, if emulated, would really send the US economy down the drain.

Good points. WF is considered a relatively enlightened employer (though the CEO's rants on healthcare and global warming have made the company a lighting rod for criticism) but unfortunately not all employers are that way.

BevMo (short for Beverages and More!) is a discount wine/liquor retailer.

And yes, WM gets a lot of attention because it is the biggest retailer, and sets trends in the industry, many of which are not very favorable to communities and workers.

[TVC15]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Did you read my post? I said the Whole Foods positions are not negotiated by a union and that WF is non-union. Union cashier jobs in Seattle pay twice what Whole Foods pays. I would guess CA would be similar. That tells me a lot about how great unions are.

I did read it and I am not sure how I misunderstood this...

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

The difference is that at Wal-Mart, cashiers are told they're being hired for full-time positions. Whole Foods and other grocery chains hire cashiers full-time, and guarantee them full-time schedules and good benefits. There's a cashier's union that negotiated that.

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

What is "BevMo"?

I guess you either don't drink or don't buy from them

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

We shouldn't care about "great value for product" (i.e. what's in it for us, the consumer). We should support labor and fair labor practices. When labor is treated like trash, that limits their purchasing power, thereby eroding the economy. Wal-Mart (as previously stated, review the thread) is a dangerous business model, a sort of Trojan Horse that, if emulated, would really send the US economy down the drain.

Well how do we know that every item that we purchase or consume was produced by people being treated according to fair labor practices? There is no possible way to know this. Also we are not a 3rd world country and if you are being abused by your employer there are laws that protect you. Furthermore you don't have to work where you are not being treated fairly.

Out of all the times I shopped at Wal-Mart it did not appear to me that the people who worked there were being treated badly. They appeared to willing want to be there.

Sure fair labor practices are necessary but boycotting Wal-Mart is obviously not going to make a dent with respect to forcing fair labor practices...that is if that is really what they are negligent in.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by TVC15

I did read it and I am not sure how I misunderstood this...

yeah, I don't know, either. Unless it's that you didn't read the whole paragraph...

Originally Posted by TVC15

Well how do we know that every item that we purchase or consume was produced by people being treated according to fair labor practices? There is no possible way to know this. Also we are not a 3rd world country and if you are being abused by your employer there are laws that protect you. Furthermore you don't have to work where you are not being treated fairly.

Out of all the times I shopped at Wal-Mart it did not appear to me that the people who worked there were being treated badly. They appeared to willing want to be there.

Sure fair labor practices are necessary but boycotting Wal-Mart is obviously not going to make a dent with respect to forcing fair labor practices...that is if that is really what they are negligent in.

Well, see, that's what the movement for fair labor practices by suppliers is all about. That's why there's been such a hullaballoo the last couple of decades about work conditions in China, Mexico and Central America, Bangladesh, etc., with some corporations changing the way they do business with their suppliers abroad, and stepping up to supervise conditions in the factories they buy from. The public is getting more conscientious about this issue, and has demanded more corporate responsibility in this regard. There very much IS a "possible way to know this", and some corporations responding to consumer demand and public outcry have implemented ways to know this. See the Nike scandal, and others.

What "appeared" to be the case to you means nothing. How would you know what's going on behind the facade of cashiers working at their stations, ringing up your goods? In my town, there's chronic turnover in those positions, to the point that Wal-Mart can't keep the cashier positions adequately staffed. They're willing to work there until suddenly their hours get cut without warning. Then they're gone.

And it's funny about economic necessity; it can drive people to accept miserable working conditions. (See the history of coal mining in Appalachia for examples.) Just because people are desperate doesn't mean it's ok to deprive them of basic and hitherto universally accepted minimal labor and benefits standards in developed countries, including the US. It's the first sign of the slide to 3rd World status that this business model has been introduced in the US, and that people are defending it!! Hey, while we're at it, maybe we should roll back child labor laws (a great potential source of cheap labor!) and the 8-hour day?