Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "Some people at WalMart make good money. My late wife had a relative who was a WelMart manager in a small town... he was in his mid-twenties and made $40K per year. That made him damned near rich compared to most local wages." If this person was a department manager, like the manager of Housewares dept or the Electronics dept., then this is about the average wage for the industry, maybe a little less. If this person was the manager of the entire store, then WalMart is getting away with murder because WalMart store managers normally average 3-4 times this salary nationwide, thereabouts.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip He was a department manager. He was offered a store manager position but he turned it down because it would have meant moving to another town.
Originally Posted By mawnck 11 Reasons to Love Costco That Have Nothing to Do with Shopping <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/reasons-love-costco_n_4275774.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...774.html</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Note to self: drive that extra couple of miles to the Brooklyn Costco. Are they still a "membership" or "club"-type store?
Originally Posted By ecdc Yes, but it's so completely worth it. I loves me the Costcos. I think I have the small business membership. It costs a little more for the yearly fee, but then I get cash back. Costco sends me a gift card every year for a few hundred dollars, well more than the cost of the actual membership.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan While I agree that it's pretty disgusting the the Walton heirs have so much while Walmart employees struggle to get by, I also wonder how Walmart compares to other retailers. Are Target employees vastly better off? The Target shopping experience is usually far better. Target has festive displays, some cool designer products and clothing, the stores are usually clean and easy to navigate. Walmart feels somehow "cold" to me. They have lots of stuff, many of the same products as Target, but there's a general depressing atmosphere that I can't quite figure out what it is. The merchandise tends to get sloppy on the shelves -- if this happens at Target they do a better job of straightening things up it seems. Walmart has a lot of aisle-blocking bins of merchandise, target doesn't seem to do that as much. And I've never been in a Walmart without hearing a child crying loudly somewhere in the store. Every time. But beyond that stuff, is Target substantially better to its employees than Walmart?
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder I worked at Target while in law school. Overall, I'd say marginally better. I do know at one point after I left they took steps to lower "full time" hours to just below what would be required to provide health insurance and other benefits. Side note- in the 80's or 90's, they licensed their customer service philosophy from Disney. Customers are guests, managers are team leader, the sales floor is onstage, stockrooms are offstage, etc.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Walmart in twenty years will be the Sears of 2013. >>> I dunno. It all depends on whether WalMart is able to stay ahead of the trend, rather than fall behind like Sears did. Keep in mind that about 20 years ago, WalMart did an almost complete about-face regarding sourcing. As late as the early 1990's, WalMart was still heavily promoting its "Made in America" merchandise. But it figured out that the trend was to offshore manufacturing, and instead of fighting to keep things the way they used to be, they embraced the change and in fact became the leader in selling "Made in China" merchandise. It may very well be able to stay ahead of whatever the next sea change turns out to be.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip In Minnesota I had a friend who worked at Target. It sucked. It may have been marginally better than WalMart, but not much.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip One thing WalMart had going for it in the Twin Cities... there is a fairly large Muslim population there and WalMart allowed Muslim women to work as checkers while wearing head coverings. At Target they had to work "backstage".
Originally Posted By skinnerbox Email received from ColorOfChange.org today: <> Dear Skinnerbox, Did you hear about how Walmart is "helping" workers? An Ohio Walmart was caught holding a canned food drive for its own underpaid employees, who don't make enough to afford Thanksgiving dinner.1 Wouldn't it be better if Walmart just paid workers a living wage? It’s this type of shameless behavior from America's largest employer that has more and more people coming together to say enough is enough. Fed-up workers have walked off the job at Walmart stores in Dallas, Seattle, Chicago, Miami and Southern California.2 And Walmart is facing federal prosecution for its pattern of illegal firings and threats to workers across at least 13 states.3 Momentum to end exploitative wages and poor working conditions at Walmart is growing — but with more protests planned this week to coincide with the kickoff of the crucial holiday shopping season, workers need to know we're with them now. Be a part of the movement to hold Walmart accountable to workers: Share this image with family and friends today. With 1.4 million US employees, Walmart is the single largest private employer of Black workers in the country.4 The company's exploitatively low wages, unfair scheduling, wage theft and aggressive worker retaliation make Walmart a critical battleground in the fight for improved economic outcomes for Black families and communities nationwide. Walmart reported a profit of $15.7 billion last year, yet Walmart workers must rely on food stamps, Medicaid and other anti-poverty programs to put food on the table and keep the lights on. Taxpayers subsidize this worker exploitation to the tune of $900,000-$1,750,000 per store,5 and there are over 4,700 Walmart and Sam's Club stores in the US. Protests are ramping up for Black Friday, with demonstrations expected at more than 1500 stores across the country: Stand with workers by sharing this image now. Thanks and Peace, --Rashad, Matt, Arisha, Aimée, Johnny, Kim and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team November 26th, 2013 Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU — your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don't share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. References 1. "Walmart Store Holding Thanksgiving Food Drive For Its Own Workers," Huffington Post, 11-18-13 <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3091?t=9&akid=3191.1645266.uva0rf">http://act.colorofchange.org/g...6.uva0rf</a> 2. "Walmart Strikes Spread to Miami Ahead of Black Friday Protests," Colorlines, 11-25-13 <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3112?t=11&akid=3191.1645266.uva0rf">http://act.colorofchange.org/g...6.uva0rf</a> 3. "National Labor Relations Board to Prosecute Walmart For Violating Workers' Rights," ThinkProgress, 11-18-13 <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3087?t=13&akid=3191.1645266.uva0rf">http://act.colorofchange.org/g...6.uva0rf</a> 4. "Walmart Retaliates Against Black Friday Activists," AlterNet, 11-22-12 <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3113?t=15&akid=3191.1645266.uva0rf">http://act.colorofchange.org/g...6.uva0rf</a> 5. "Are Wal‐Mart's Low Wages A Drag On The Economy? New Report Says Yes," Forbes, 05-31-13 <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3115?t=17&akid=3191.1645266.uva0rf">http://act.colorofchange.org/g...6.uva0rf</a> <> Did you catch this: "Walmart reported a profit of $15.7 billion last year, yet Walmart workers must rely on food stamps, Medicaid and other anti-poverty programs to put food on the table and keep the lights on. Taxpayers subsidize this worker exploitation to the tune of $900,000-$1,750,000 per store,5 and there are over 4,700 Walmart and Sam's Club stores in the US." We, the American taxpayers, are subsidizing the health and well-being of Walmart workers so those six Walton family heirs can keep half of that $15.7 BILLION in profit, as majority shareholders in the company. That is immoral. And it needs to end now.
Originally Posted By doombuggy Just how big is the gun that's being held to peoples heads that apply for jobs at walmart knowing what crap pay they have? "Martinez said he went on strike because he was sick of the treatment he received after almost 16 years at his job." I'm sorry but staying at a job you hate for 16 years and bitching about it instead of moving on is just laughable.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip The major problem is that most other retailers aren't substantially (if any) better. To concentrate your wrath on Wal-Mart really avoids looking at the larger issues.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>The major problem is that most other retailers aren't substantially (if any) better.<< That's what I was wondering about too. Growing up, we had a neighbor who worked at Sears, I think selling appliances. A job like that could provide a stable middle class income for a family. Today, outside of perhaps a store manager level, I'd be surprised if that's the case. And I don't even pretend to know what can be done to really change all that. If somehow there was a mass boycott of Walmart, the first to suffer would be those same front line employees. Hours slashed, layoffs.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Retail has ALWAYS sucked. My mother worked part-time retail when I was in High School back during the 60's. We didn't need the income... my father made an excellent living. She used it as a chance to get out of the house more than anything. The wages were almost irrelevant. Sadly, most retail jobs were never intended to be living-wage jobs. They were for teens first starting out, college students, and people supplementing the family income; NOT supporting it. Unfortunately, with all the GOOD jobs disappearing from this country, those are the only jobs people can get and they are forced to try and support themselves in a job never really intended to do that. So what do you do? Tell companies they have to pay $15 per hour for someone running a point of sale terminal, or bring back MEANINGFUL employment to this country. I think the second option would be far better.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Walmart is in the unique position of being able to lead the charge in terms of bringing manufacturing jobs back to this country. There's no financial incentive for Walmart to do so, because they are clearly winning with the current arrangement. But public opinion and trends can influence big entrenched industries. Big companies like Coca-Cola and other food companies are having to rethink their business model as consumers continue to shift towards healthier choices. If we the people got serious about wanting to pay a little more for made in America goods, and I mean on a massive, relentless scale, then the tide could indeed turn. This is something both parties *could* work together on, and the country would be better for it. I wish I could say I was optimistic that it might happen, but I'm just not. I don't think it's on the political radar, except as a talking point on stump speeches.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< But public opinion and trends can influence big entrenched industries. Big companies like Coca-Cola and other food companies are having to rethink their business model as consumers continue to shift towards healthier choices. >>> The difference is that there is a direct self-benefit to making healthier choices. People aren't doing so for the betterment of the country, or to increase the profits of their health care provider. <<< If we the people got serious about wanting to pay a little more for made in America goods, and I mean on a massive, relentless scale, then the tide could indeed turn. >>> It will never happen on a massive, relentless scale. Go to any rust belt town that has had a "plant" shut down, putting people out of work. Both before and after the shutdown, workers in droves were driving their cars (many with "America First!" or similar) bumper stickers to the nearest WalMart to shop as soon as it opened in town. It's a variant of the "tragedy of the commons" logic problem.
