Robert Reich: Why You Shouldn’t Shop at Walmart on Friday

[marmar]

Why You Shouldn’t Shop at Walmart on Friday
Wednesday, November 21, 2012


A half century ago America’s largest private-sector employer was General Motors, whose full-time workers earned an average hourly wage of around $50, in today’s dollars, including health and pension benefits.

Today, America’s largest employer is Walmart, whose average employee earns $8.81 an hour. A third of Walmart’s employees work less than 28 hours per week and don’t qualify for benefits.

There are many reasons for the difference – including globalization and technological changes that have shrunk employment in American manufacturing while enlarging it in sectors involving personal services, such as retail.

But one reason, closely related to this seismic shift, is the decline of labor unions in the United States. In the 1950s, over a third of private-sector workers belonged to a union. Today fewer than 7 percent do. As a result, the typical American worker no longer has the bargaining clout to get a sizeable share of corporate profits. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://robertreich.org/post/36219730368

[47of74]

1. K & R

[pinboy3niner]

2. K&R

[laundry_queen]

3. K&R

$50/hr in today's dollars.

[Hermes Daughter]

39. I remember when...

There was a time when, if you worked at one of those 'menial' jobs and stuck with it, you could buy a house. Really.

[myrna minx]

4. K&R

[Lebam in LA]

5. K&R n/t

[BlueCaliDem]

6. Wal-Mart: the rot within a great nation.

and rec'd.

[DirkGently]

7. Excellent.

[TreasonousBastard]

8. Amazon's warehouse workers, Target...

your local dollar store...

There's a long list of places that treat retail workers like shit, but I guess we gotta pile on Wal-Mart because they're the biggest.

And then brag about the deal we got on Amazon.

I wonder if the real reason we pile on Wal-Mart is that they're downscale. That means we're really piling on their customers-- those low-income people we claim to support.

[Patiod]

9. or maybe it's because they sell cheap crap

treat their workers poorly so visibly destroy small communities.

But if you're theory is correct, then we've also just declared war on the middle class Macy's shoppers:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021866836

[Earth_First]

10. Squeaky wheel, brother/sister...

It just so happens that Wal Mart employees have begun to reach out to organized labor for help in desperate situations.

[lunatica]

11. Do you even hear yourself making excuses for a company

that not only destroys the small businesses around every one of its stores but then hires the erstwhile store owners and their former employees at wages that mean they can only shop in WalMart? Do you see such a community thriving because the citizens can't afford to fix their houses, replace their broken appliances and spend any money other than passing it on to their employers?

Really? Are you that blind to cause and effect?

[TreasonousBastard]

56. How did you read that to mean I'm making excuses...

for Wal-Mart?

I'm simply pointing out that with all the wrath pointed toward Wal-Mart, other predators, like Amazon, are highly recommended.

I'm also mentioning that bigshot liberals don't find much they want at Wal-Mart, unlike Amazon, so it's painless to bash.

I have no love for Wal-Mart myself, and rarely darken its doorways unless I absolutely have to use the men's room, but I don't see them as much worse at squeezing than the rest of the pack, just much better at it.

[roody]

62. I don't shop at Amazon either.

[99Forever]

68. You HAVE to start somewhere, and the scumbuckets at...

... are and were the largest driver that fucked over America.

We'll get to the rest of the filthy UnAmerican bastards after we finish bring the Waltons down to Earth.

[Hissyspit]

12. No. That's not the reason.

As it says in the article, they are the nation's largest employer. They invented a whole new form of monopolizing, engaging in unfair practices and undermining our economy. Read "End of the Line."

For the first time ever, a strike is taking place in America aimed at the most powerful company in the economy: Walmart. Workers at Walmart stores across the country, as Josh Eidelson reports, are threatening to walk out on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. These labor actions are coming on top of earlier labor actions at Walmart’s warehouse contractors linked to “non-payment of overtime, non-payment for all hours worked, and even pay less than the minimum wage.”

The possible strike could be very significant, because the target of the strike is the most important driver of the race to the bottom economy. Walmart is massive – the company is the largest private employer in the US, with more than 2 million employees. The average American household spends $3500 at Walmart, and in 2006, the company alone represented 2.3% of the American GDP. The company is so powerful that when a Walmart Supercenter comes into your community, the entire community’s obesity rate increases. It is also, as New America scholar Barry Lynn has argued in End of the Line, a force that has reshaped the American corporate world.

Though known for suppressing wages, I found evidence that the company is willing to change working conditions with sufficient pressure. According to St. Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole, the last time there was significant labor unrest at Walmart, in 2006, the company raised wages at 700 stores. Poole, like many at the Fed, regularly spoke with Walmart executives, and they gave him unvarnished views about their business practices because they believed (as did Poole) that the information would be used solely for macro-economic forecasting. On March 27-28, 2006, Poole said that his Walmart contact told him the company would not raise wages, and was planning on moving their work force increasingly towards part-time employment. Poole was interested in this because of its bearing on inflation. “Wages,” he said, “and these are for hourly workers, are absolutely flat – no increases whatsoever in the last year and no increases planned going forward.” Poole continued, “About 20 percent of their associates are part time and that they are going to be increasing that share to 40 percent so they can staff at peak times and get more productivity out of their workforce.”

Just two months later, Poole offered some very different and shocking news, “My Wal-Mart contact also said that “Wal-Mart is in the process of raising starting wages in about 700 stores. This is the first time in eight years of talking with him that I’ve heard any comment like that. He said that some of the raises are part of the Wal-Mart, I’ll call it “Social/political” agenda because of all the controversy about Wal-Mart.” The FOMC transcripts are as close as we’re going to get to internal corporate dialogue without discovery or leaks. The reason I found this information is because Walmart has become a significant presence at the Fed; forecasters at the key Federal Open Market Committee meetings increasingly rely on what the retailer tells them about the economy. Now, FOMC transcripts aren’t released for at least five years, so we don’t know whether this strike is registering with those high level policymakers. But the last time there was a far less aggressive union-backed attack on Walmart‘s business practices, it did.

Read more at http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/10/walmart-the-most-powerful-company-in-the-world-admits-that-protests-and-strikes-lead-to-wage-increases.html#lKQ4K1Gol5qcRhKP.99

[LongTomH]

43. Hissyspit, Thank you for this post!

I wish I could K&R a comment!

[ReRe]

53. Henry Gonzalez is rolling over in his grave and hollering:

I told you so! God I miss that little man from Texas on the House floor during those 1 hour speeches, re the rise of monopolies and the changing of long-standing bank laws, which were going to lead us to financial ruin.

[brush]

13. You go after the biggest . . .

. . . and get them unionized and the others will follow suit and wages will begin rising. It's not that complicated. It's not that complicated. Eight dollars and change versus the fifty dollars GM workers made back when GM was the largest corp. should open a whole lot of eyes and minds. I back the Walmart workers. I say Target and Amazon take notice.

[byeya]

16. The UAW would only target one of the Big Three when it came time to negotiate a new

contract. Made sense then, makes sense now.

[shireen]

20. +1

it happens one mega-corporation at a time.

It still baffles me that these corporate overlords have such blatant disrespect and contempt for their employees. No basic human decency in that lot.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Maybe it's cause they set the pace

And if the unions get them...well unionized, the pressure on the rest to well...unionize will suddenly be there?

By the way, yes Target treats their workers like shit, but not there yet. Now Amazon...their chain of supply is managed by the same company that does the Walmart chain of supply, perhaps tat has a smidgen to do with it.

[TreasonousBastard]

58. That's probably the best reason...

it should be easier to pressure the other guys if Wal-Mart caves.

[bluedigger]

31. None blinder than those who will not see.

[SomethingFishy]

36. Wal-Mart employees get an average of $420,000 in government

assistance per store per year.

If a company's business model is so poor that they have to accept government handouts in order to stay in business, then something is seriously wrong with their model.

The reason I "pile on" Wal-Mart is they deserve it.

[TreasonousBastard]

59. Well, just about every business gets some kind of a handout...

and it's easy to juggle the figures to add up how much (do we count the roads delivery trucks use?)

But, isn't this a good reason to simultaneously build a political movement trying to push the "fiscal conservatives" to drop corporate welfare? Yeah, I know-- it's talked about for years. But, might the constant small causes, often working against each other, work better if they were in a coordinated movement?

[SomethingFishy]

74. Can't argue with you there...

But to clarify, the 420k I am talking about has nothing to do with taxes, or infrastructure use. That 420k is just in government assistance to poor people. Food stamps, TANF and the like...

But I agree with you, all corporate welfare should be stopped, but until we come up with a way to convince the other half of America that corporate welfare does not create jobs we will be spinning our wheels.

[PatrynXX]

41. amazon isn't the worst of it

but Target is. Especially behind the scenes like the distribution centers. Require College degrees, then they treat one like a dog...

[LTR]

46. Gee, retail pays poorly and has shitty hours

What? People just finally got the memo?

[left coaster]

70. "those low-income people we claim to support."

I see lots of BMW's and other high end autos, pulling in to the Wal-mart parking lots in my area. That Wal-mart primarily serves poor folks is a fallacy.

[Teamster Jeff]

14. K&R

[ReRe]

15. Not gonna... never shop there anyway...

K&R

Yeah, if this isn't proof in our face that we're going backwards, I don't know what could make it clearer. Hear! Hear! for Robert Reich! Can anyone name a former Dept of Labor Leader who speaks out like Robert Reich does? As per labor...I've been screaming it for years now: THIS IS NOT PROGRESS! Jeesh!

Happy Turkey Day, and say a thank you for all the workers who are working today. EMT's. Nurses, Taxi Drivers, Police & Fire Depts, FOOTBALL PLAYERS, Wal-Mart workers getting ready or already picketing at over 1000 stores throughout the USA!!!

[byeya]

17. Yeah, Reich is correct most of the time. What is the current Sec'y of Labor doing to rebuild

workplace justice?

[tblue]

23. How I wish Reich was in this administration!

Maybe I should start one of those petitions.

[closeupready]

18. And Mr. Reich played a role in the weakening of labor unions.

I can't read anything he says without remembering how he championed NAFTA during the Clinton administration. Further, he has never admitted that he was wrong, as far as I know.

>>But, there is a reason that Reich needs to frame the argument that way: he himself is a so-called "free trader." In fact, he was a big proponent of NAFTA during the Clinton Administration. So, to actually give credence to a very legitimate argument--that "free trade" and Ricardo's theory cannot exist in today's world (an argument advances by so-called "Free trade" advocates Sen. Charles Schumer and Paul Craig Roberts in a New York Times op-ed a while back...because it's a gorgeous day and I have to get out in the sunlight I don't have time to find the link for you'all but, trust me, they said it!)--would undercut Reich's own worldview.

----------------------------------

Earth to Bob: don't you think it might have behooved you to point out that you played a central role in promoting NAFTA? The New York Times makes a big deal about making sure book reviewers don't have conflicts of interest--meaning that reviewers don't know the people who wrote the books. But, what about requiring intellectual honesty?<<

http://workinglife.typepad.com/daily_blog/2006/04/robert_reich_ca.html

[byeya]

28. Thanks for refreshing my memory. I think you are right that Prof Reich was pro-NAFTA

when he could have remained silent and kept his job.

[satxdem]

30. +1

[underthematrix]

19. Not shopping at WALMART on Friday. We try to avoid shopping

there because they mistreat their employees.

[mountain grammy]

22. Robert Reich is a champion for working people

When the corps decided they no longer needed to share their massive earnings and profits with their employees, it was the beginning of the end. Unions were vilanized and destroyed by the very people they benefit. Sadly,I remember a few occasions when unions were their own worst enemies, like when some endorsed Ronald Reagan. The only reason my husband and I are able to retire with a little (and I do mean little) cushion is because we both had union jobs while we were working.
Take away unions and you destroy the dignity and security of working people! That's America today.

[freshwest]

24. +1

[Bainbridge Bear]

25. How about not shopping at "WankerMart"

on ANY day? I find them to be reprehensible and their "business model" is a disgrace. I simply will not set foot into a Walmart. I want nothing to do with their exploitation of workers and their predatory capitalism that drives smaller local stores out of business and takes local money and sends it to the overstuffed coffers in Bentonville, AR. Check out the documentary "Walmart" the High Cost of Low Prices" and decide for yourself. It is available on YouTube.

[avebury]

26. K&R nt

[flpoljunkie]

27. More: Increasing salary to $25K would lift 700K out of poverty and cost only 1% price increase

Most new jobs in America are in personal services like retail, with low pay and bad hours. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the average full-time retail worker earns between $18,000 and $21,000 per year.

But if retail workers got a raise, would consumers have to pay higher prices to make up for it? A new study by the think tank Demos reports that raising the salary of all full-time workers at large retailers to $25,000 per year would lift more than 700,000 people out of poverty, at a cost of only a 1 percent price increase for customers.

And, in the end, retailers would benefit. According to the study, the cost of the wage increases to major retailers would be $20.8 billion — about one percent of the sector’s $2.17 trillion in total annual sales. But the study also estimates the increased purchasing power of lower-wage workers as a result of the pay raises would generate $4 billion to $5 billion in additional retail sales.

This seems like a good deal all around.

http://robertreich.org/post/36219730368

[Locrian]

29. amazing...

I mean that we're even talking about $25,000 as a huge improvement (yes, it is ) but my point is in how far we've fallen.

It's not like Walmart is not profitable, or the owners need any more billions. At some point it's just what we want form our society and how we recognize greed when we see it.

We've got to make it so that 'good companies' mean good members of our society. Not good at sucking out resources from society.

[TeamPooka]

32. k+r!

[Not Me]

33. I don't ever shop at Walmart.

And I don't do Black Friday. Anywhere.

[colsohlibgal]

34. No Way No How

The Waltons are exhibit A of callous rich barons squeezing their workers. All so they can have 900 billion dollars or whatever instead of 700 Billion Dollars. They have low prices because of how they stiff their workers and how they employ slave labor overseas. They are among the scum of the earth in my mind.

I won't go there I don't care how cheap they sell stuff.

I'm basically agnostic, but if there is something like Hell the Waltons should be ticketed to spend eternity there.

[LongTomH]

44. I do remember this hippie kid from Nazareth...

....seems this commie pinko made a comment about: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven!"

I also remember that he took a whip and drove the moneylenders (think 'banksters!') out of the temple. Gotta love a guy like that!!

[marmar]

35. Turkey Time Kick.

[upi402]

37. never do

k&r

[cui bono]

38. It's time to make "union" a good word again. n/t

[Not Sure]

40. I don't shop there...

...but if Walmart became a union shop, I wouldn't hesitate to give them a chance.

[blackspade]

42. Kick to the moon.

[limpyhobbler]

45. k/r

[liberal N proud]

47. GREED!

[dcmfox]

48. whats K&R?

??

[Chellee]

49. K & R

Kicking a thread moves it to the top of the page so more people can see it.

Recommending a thread means you agree with the OP.

[Maynar]

51. OK, I know where the Rec button is

Is there a button for Kick?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

52. Yes, it looks like this

right after you type some text.

[daleanime]

63. Any reply is a kick.

[66 dmhlt]

64. Took me the longest time to figure "K&R" out, too ...

As near as I can tell, adding a Comment to the thread counts as a "Kick"
Apparently "Kicking" povides a post some type of mojo.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12564431

[Maynar]

73. Thanks, folks.

[the devil]

50. Shop at Costco instead

Costco takes good care of their employees. Instead of advertising, they put that money into health and employee benefits packages.

[senseandsensibility]

71. I agree about Costco.

K and R.

[DinahMoeHum]

72. Yep, don't just boycott. "Buy-cott"

IOW, instead of just refusing to shop in abusive stores, take your business to those stores who treat their employees as human beings.

And let those abusive businesses know that you've switched.

[lbrtbell]

54. I'm not shopping there on Friday

Even though I'm forced to shop there at other times (damned rural area I moved to has NOTHING but Wal-Mart), I do my best to avoid it when I can by shopping elsewhere and online for non-food items, and NOT going there tomorrow.

Sadly, I'm in a red state, so I'm sure all the other vultures will swarm on the place tomorrow.

[ibegurpard]

55. I never shop at Wal Mart anyway

And I would actually go OUT of my way NOT to shop there if there were fewer options for me...luckily we have quite a few here.

[Lugnut]

57. K&R! n/t

[UnrepentantLiberal]

61. Never have,

never will.

[Botany]

65. Wal-mart has assets of 194 billion and a profit of 16 billiion and yet they can't pay ...

.... their workers a living wage? Nobody should shop there until that shit changes.

[TBF]

66. I won't cross a picket line -

but I rarely shop there anyway.

The only chance in this service economy is for groups like sales to unionize.

[99Forever]

67. I wouldn't go into a Wallyworld if they were giving stuff away.

Ever.

[Jack Rabbit]

69. K/R

!!

[jody]

75. For every 2 employees that work 40 hr/wk rather than 28, roughly 1 employee will lose a 28 hr job.

[nikto]

76. I promise...

Not to get in a time machine, go back to friday, and shop.

[CarmanK]

77. I wont shop WALMART ever again. They R monoplists and danger to democracy and US middle class

[BlueinOhio]

78. Just think

Wal Mart is the biggest employer in China and almost all their merchandise is made there. So here we are with the supposedly American store subsidizing china's economy which means that they are also subsidizing China's military. Sam's heirs are making billions. That is being subsidized by taxpayers in the form of food stamps, public housing, free lunches and employees having to get federal and state health care which should be payed for by Wal Mart. I almost forgot they have employees who entire salary is reimbursed by the government.