Wal-Mart--What it's REALLY costing you

[texastoast]

The Houston Chronicle actually had some huevos this weekend and told the truth about Wally World.

snip

The trip from Walton's original store to Wal-Mart's world headquarters is a few minutes. The journey from Walton's desk to the internal memo about Wal-Mart benefits that surfaced last week is far longer.

Somewhere along that road, the company lost its soul.

snip

The memo, written by Susan Chambers, the executive vice president for benefits, outlines ways Wal-Mart can reduce employee benefits expenses, which cost the company $4.2 billion between 2002 and 2005 and are growing at 15 percent a year.

snip

As Chambers notes, an associate with seven years experience is almost 55 percent more expensive than someone with one year on the job, "yet there is no difference in his or her performance."

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

full story

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/steffy/3424769

[swimboy]

1. I have never once set foot in a WalMart and I never will.

Evil, evil bastards. :nuke:

[tanyev]

4. I think I may go visit a few after Robert Greenwald's new DVD

comes out and ask them if they have it in stock. :evilgrin:


Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005)

Producer, director and activist Robert Greenwald takes aim at the corporate giant that's come to symbolize big business in America: Wal-Mart. Blasting the box-store Goliath for allegedly paying substandard wages, skimping on employee health benefits and eviscerating communities, this hard-hitting, emotional documentary profiles the struggle of everyday folks from around the country who've committed themselves to fighting the mega-retailer.
Releases on DVD Jan 17, 2006

[durablend]

5. What happened with that?

Got pushed back from next month to January.

[Neocondriac]

2. This weekend....

my wife who has been warned about my feelings regarding Walmart, bought a vacuum there. I took it back yesterday. The cashier did ask why I was returning it and when I said because they treat their employees like shit , she with her head on a swivel leans forward and says," Boy , have you got that right!"

[IndyOp]

8. Score! Good Job Neo --

Lots of people who are treated like shit at work begin to believe that they are shit -- and then they put up with even worse treatment.

I am glad to hear that you told the cashier what you thought - it helps to have people see what is happening to you and say so -

:kick:

[Bob3]

3. well so much for those smarmy ads about Wal Mart

being such a good place to work for.

It's hard to keep going sometimes when people like these exist and instead of being smote by lightning bolts the instant they step outside or being visited by the furies the instant they try to eat anything they thrive and prosper.

I remember a book a few years ago "When bad things happen to good people" talking about the crisis of faith that brings. Hell I can deal with that: "Man is born to trouble as sparks fly upward and all that" that I can handle. What gets me is when the shits of the universe have rose pedals tossed in their path by fate - absolute bastards go from strength to strength to the sighs of an adoring public. That is what drives me close to despair.

[ArkDem]

6. I had Huevos Rancheros saturday morning, myself. Nothing like

a paper with eggs!

[swimboy]

7. gasp

:wow: :rofl:

[stevedeshazer]

9. Nice.

No further comment needed. :rofl:

[texastoast]

12. But only on weekends n/t

[Mr_Spock]

10. WalMart - permanent boycott here...

Don't go there, never will...

[dcfirefighter]

11. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's the (tax) laws.

You take your untaxed labor to move yourself to the store, rather than someone's taxed labor to move merchandise from a warehouse to a local store.

You take your untaxed labor to wander the aisles, rather than someone's taxed labor to bring stuff from the stockroom.

You park in the parking lot, that because it isn't a building, requires only a small property tax, vs. the store on main street who must pay top dollar for his lease.

You probably pay, with your income, fuel, and property taxes for road & interchange improvements demanded by Wal-Mart in order to open their store.

Because employers can deduct medical coverage from their taxes, there are few insurers looking for individuals to insure.

Because we spend several billion a year on securing cheap oil (mostly raised from individual income taxes), it's economic to drive some distance to the Wal-Mart rather than around the corner to the local store.

Because we allow the owner of the main street lot to collect rents based on his title, we must raise public revenue from the sales & employment of people - generally suppressing sales and employment.

And, as a point of order, I don't believe every job absolutely has to offer the prospect of a career. Some jobs are better suited for part-time or temporary work. Some jobs are best done for only a couple of years. Wal-Mart is still heartless, but it's an argument I hear a lot, and despise. Some jobs are best done by the young, or for only 4 hours a day, or only a month at a time.