OT - Wal-Mart did something slimy? no

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by Ragone

I mean, look how well the owner of wal mart runs his business that is a part of the union.. whoops.. thats the kc royals.. Bad example


I have no problem with unions, being in one myself.. but i just don't see a need for min. wage jobs to be unionized.. especially where the biggest health and safety risk is a 5 pound bag of tidycat falling on your head

i see the point BUT sometimes the reason why theyre min. wage jobs with bad benefits or none at all is BECAUSE theyre not unionized.

[Warhammer]

Well, if the average consumer was worried about something other than cost, Wal-Mart would not be an issue.

I pretty much refuse to shop at Wal-Mart for a variety of reasons, their product quality sucks (for non-name brand items), the lighting is terrible at the stores, every thing is tossed around in there, and the attitude of the employees there. Every time I walk into a Wal-Mart I feel like I am walking into a barn.

SO, I shop at Target and Costco. Anything that needs to be bought in bulk is bought at Costco (plus I love their meat department, that's why the hotties work there! They LOVE their meat!). Everything else is bought at Target.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

i see the point BUT sometimes the reason why theyre min. wage jobs with bad benefits or none at all is BECAUSE theyre not unionized.

It's all supply and demand. If someone is willing to take a minimum wage job, tough. If they think their labor and time is worth more, they should hold out for a better paying job. If they cannot find one, then they are over-valuing their skills.

[Ragone]

Don't worry.. before too long there will no longer be checkers.. just those bastardized automated ones that never read the freaking barcodes.. once someone figures out how to keep shelves stocked with minimal crew.. it won't matter

[st.cronin]

Ok, here's my feelings about all this:

The national minimum wage should be $10.00 an hour or so. However, it is not Walmart's fault that it is what it is. Walmart is not the problem. They are a symptom. Blaming them is worse than useless - it distracts us from the real problems.

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Ok, here's my feelings about all this:

The national minimum wage should be $10.00 an hour or so.

Oh yeah, that's going to help keep all those Mom & Pop stores in business.

[stkelly52]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Ok, here's my feelings about all this:

The national minimum wage should be $10.00 an hour or so. However, it is not Walmart's fault that it is what it is. Walmart is not the problem. They are a symptom. Blaming them is worse than useless - it distracts us from the real problems.

I don't get why people think that increasing minimum wage would make any difference. Changing minimum wage does not change people's spending power. The value of the dollar is determined by supply and demand. if you increase the minumum wage people have more money, meaning the cost of everything increases to compensate. Within a year, after all of the prices have settled to their new levels, people's spending power becomes basically the same. And then people will think that we need to increase minumum wage to 12.00, and then 15. If we would stop increasing minumum wage you would see an end to inflation.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by stkelly52

I don't get why people think that increasing minimum wage would make any difference. Changing minimum wage does not change people's spending power. The value of the dollar is determined by supply and demand. if you increase the minumum wage people have more money, meaning the cost of everything increases to compensate. Within a year, after all of the prices have settled to their new levels, people's spending power becomes basically the same. And then people will think that we need to increase minumum wage to 12.00, and then 15. If we would stop increasing minumum wage you would see an end to inflation.

Agreed. Not only that, but the wages of other employees would have to increase as well, to maintain status, etc. Also, most minimum wage laborers are not full-time employees.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by stkelly52

If we would stop increasing minumum wage you would see an end to inflation.

That's idiotic. There are arguments against inflation, but that's not one of them.

Something like 1/6 to 1/8 of this country lives in poverty. Whatever your politics, that's outrageous. Increasing the minimum wage may or may not be the answer; I think it is a partial answer at best. My point is that Walmart lives in the world we created.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

That's idiotic. There are arguments against inflation, but that's not one of them.

Something like 1/6 to 1/8 of this country lives in poverty. Whatever your politics, that's outrageous. Increasing the minimum wage may or may not be the answer; I think it is a partial answer at best. My point is that Walmart lives in the world we created.

Actually it would lead to inflation.

1) Increase the minimum wage to X.
2) Unions then claim that since the minimum wage is X, their pay must be increased to (pick a number) Y times X.
3) Other laborers begin doing the same thing when asking for their pay during job interviews.

Even though 1/6 to 1/8 of the country lives in poverty there are other ways of getting them above the poverty line. Send them to trade school to acquire job skills, get a second job (in some cases they need to get a first job!), etc. The answer is NOT a government mandate on how much people should be paid.

[Sharpieman]

Prices will rise regardless of wages. If what you're saying is true, no companies would be against raising the min. wage because they would believe what you're saying. It's not just about the minimum wage, its also about safe work conditions, overtime and stopping the exploitation of workers. Thats where the government should step in because big businesses don't check themselves.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

That's idiotic. There are arguments against inflation, but that's not one of them.

Something like 1/6 to 1/8 of this country lives in poverty. Whatever your politics, that's outrageous. Increasing the minimum wage may or may not be the answer; I think it is a partial answer at best.

No, the best answer is finding creative ways to get "low skilled" people the ability to learn more skills in demand. I'd much rather see more time/money spent on skills training for those that want to support a family and better their situation (not nec college either - skills needed for plumbing, lanscaping, general business,...) and let the high school kids and retirees continue using the minimum wage jobs to suppliment their income.

The answer isn't overvalueing a greeter job at Walmart or increasing the wages at all retail jobs (many which are done by kids). It's trying to get people supporting a family that are trapped in a minimum wage job learn more valuable skills to improve their situation. But, again, a lot of this depends on the desire of people to improve their situation. I think many in this situation do desire to improve their situation and would take advantage of some skills training. But there's no reason to reduce the spending power of the other 85% not in poverty. Just try to do the best you can to provide those in poverty with a manner to improve their situation.

Originally Posted by Sharpieman

Prices will rise regardless of wages. If what you're saying is true, no companies would be against raising the min. wage because they would believe what you're saying. It's not just about the minimum wage, its also about safe work conditions, overtime and stopping the exploitation of workers. Thats where the government should step in because big businesses don't check themselves.

Ever heard of Osha? I'd be interested in hearing one major company (like a Wal-mart) based in the US that has "unsafe" working conditions or breaks US overtime rules. I hear this claim a lot, but rarely are any companies named in support of it.