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Off Topic Chat => The Conversation Parlor => Topic started by: Don Boyer on April 22, 2012, 04:28:11 AM
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/business/at-wal-mart-in-mexico-a-bribe-inquiry-silenced.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120422
It seems that the company's dramatic expansion into Mexico - to the point that 20% of all its stores are now in Mexico - were largely the result of an extensive bribery campaign... This, from a company that prides itself on its ethics while at the same time keeps its low-wage employees from getting enough hours to qualify for health care...
And the best part? When they learned of the corruption at the Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters, they violated US laws and swept it under the rug!
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yea walmart is just screwed, but they will find a way to get out of this. My friend works at walrmart and brag that he gets paid more and other things, such as they get a discount and i dont. So I can't wait to tell him this.
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I like big chain stores. Better prices, good for the economy generally. Obviously, I'm not happy about monopolies or corruption, though.
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I like big chain stores. Better prices, good for the economy generally. Obviously, I'm not happy about monopolies or corruption, though.
A big chain in a small-town setting can have a highly-disruptive effect on the local economy, to the point where quality of life actually drops because jobs that once paid a living wage get replaced by jobs that pay far less and with fewer benefits. Local shops don't have the buying clout that a company like WalMart does, plain and simple, and can't do the price cutting that they do.
I wouldn't care less if WalMart was a genuinely ethical company that took care of its employees as well as its cusotmers. But it's very clear after this they aren't, if it wasn't crystal enough before.
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I work at a locally owned store and we are always fighting to stay in business because of places like wal-mart. also when they opened the "super wal-mart" they took out an area of town where people lived.
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I work at a locally owned store and we are always fighting to stay in business because of places like wal-mart. also when they opened the "super wal-mart" they took out an area of town where people lived.
If you haven't read this yet, I strongly recommend it.
http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335145864&sr=8-1
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I work at walmart, the thing is they refuse to pay anyone but managers a full time wage. Probably so they dont have to provide health care or whatever. They just hire twice as many part time people. Its really a shitty company. If you want to live own and tyou work at walmart you are forced to work two jobs, and they start you off at minimum wage. Also the people that are customers there are generally jerks, and dont make the job worth 7.50$ an hour at all.
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I work at walmart, the thing is they refuse to pay anyone but managers a full time wage. Probably so they dont have to provide health care or whatever. They just hire twice as many part time people. Its really a shitty company. If you want to live own and tyou work at walmart you are forced to work two jobs, and they start you off at minimum wage. Also the people that are customers there are generally jerks, and dont make the job worth 7.50$ an hour at all.
My sister-in-law worked for them for a while when they were pretty much the only ones hiring. Even working in management, she saw the writing on the wall and realized the job was doing little more than almost keeping her afloat and keeping her too busy to even think straight (she worked the '11/'12 holiday season there, missed a lot of family face time). She quit for the sake of her health and sanity.
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Not to say it is right, but this is standard practice in many countries. We (my wife and I) had a small business in China. Although the Chinese government says it is cleaning up its act, it is impossible to conduct business without greasing palms. I know of one international company (I will with hold the name) that paid large bribes. It is the cost of doing business in many countries. I am surprised people are surprised about this.
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Not to say it is right, but this is standard practice in many countries. We (my wife and I) had a small business in China. Although the Chinese government says it is cleaning up its act, it is impossible to conduct business without greasing palms. I know of one international company (I will with hold the name) that paid large bribes. It is the cost of doing business in many countries. I am surprised people are surprised about this.
Did you read the article? When they discovered the corruption at WalMart HQ, they violated US Federal law by trying to cover it up. That's what some like to think of as going that extra mile...
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Hec, might as well push it to the wall at that time. It is not the cover up that gets you, it is the cover up of the cover up. I leaned that when I worked for G.Gordon Liddy.
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I work at walmart, the thing is they refuse to pay anyone but managers a full time wage. Probably so they dont have to provide health care or whatever. They just hire twice as many part time people. Its really a shitty company. If you want to live own and tyou work at walmart you are forced to work two jobs, and they start you off at minimum wage. Also the people that are customers there are generally jerks, and dont make the job worth 7.50$ an hour at all.
My sister-in-law worked for them for a while when they were pretty much the only ones hiring. Even working in management, she saw the writing on the wall and realized the job was doing little more than almost keeping her afloat and keeping her too busy to even think straight (she worked the '11/'12 holiday season there, missed a lot of family face time). She quit for the sake of her health and sanity.
Im pretty sure this is the same thing with a lot of retailers, but another problem with walmart is the jobs you get are endless monotony, that you are forced to work at high speeds. At the end of the day I cannot have a full conversation with anyone ( even best freinds ) for at least a few hours, because my brain has had the life sucked out of it.
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Im pretty sure this is the same thing with a lot of retailers, but another problem with walmart is the jobs you get are endless monotony, that you are forced to work at high speeds. At the end of the day I cannot have a full conversation with anyone ( even best freinds ) for at least a few hours, because my brain has had the life sucked out of it.
WalMart is worse, trust me. They expect a full-time commitment, but pay a part-time wage, they want everyone to be a happy, perfect employee and they'd sooner kill you than let you sign a union card. There's a reason why a lot of people nickname the employees there "WalMartians"... The company exemplifies everything that's wrong with monopolies and concentrating too much power in one place.
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So since I now work with walmart I just wanted to say this. They are not super horrible. Though I am "part time" but still get 40 hours. So they don't want to consider me full time and give me benefits. Few positions are actually considered full time most of the employees are part time which means they can cut your hours when the feel fit. I went from 40 to 16. I am finally getting them to start getting me back to my standard.
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We don't have walmart , but we do have Asda who are part of Walmart .. I know some of the staff, went to school with some of them, they say they like working there.
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So since I now work with walmart I just wanted to say this. They are not super horrible. Though I am "part time" but still get 40 hours. So they don't want to consider me full time and give me benefits. Few positions are actually considered full time most of the employees are part time which means they can cut your hours when the feel fit. I went from 40 to 16. I am finally getting them to start getting me back to my standard.
So, getting your paycheck slashed by 60% because of the store's perceived "scheduling requirements" makes them "not super horrible"? How about the lack of health benefits? The kind of crap that chain does really should be illegal and most certainly is immoral.
We don't have walmart , but we do have Asda who are part of Walmart .. I know some of the staff, went to school with some of them, they say they like working there.
What kind of wages and benefits do they make, and how many hours per week?
I suppose it's different in Britain because you have socialized medicine, rendering the need for health care benefits a moot point.
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Not too sure about the benefits , although I know they get free groceries lol wages for regular staff ( as opposed to managers and team leaders) was £7.94. That was last year. I'm pretty sure it's gone up since. Full time staff work a minimum of 37.5 hrs per week and part time staff tend to work 20 hrs per week.
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Most people dont lose the hours. And if you get 40 hours on average after a year, you can get benefits, or so I am told. I have not been there long enough to know.
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WalMart definitely could do things better. The truth of the matter is, they are not the only corporation that is giving it's employees the shaft. They just have the biggest target. With over 2.1 million employees, they beat the next highest employer by almost 5 times. With that many people, a small change in wages would be major for the company . If you gave everybody a $1 raise, and the average person worked 25hrs a week. That would be over 2.7 billion a year. I pay over $250 a month towards health insurance were I work. My employer pays over $400. If only half of the workforce was eligible. That would be another 3-4 billion. Could WalMart afford it? Yes, but that would cut into investor profit.
My stepson worked at Home Depot for a while. They would not allow him to work over 25 hours a week. They were doing this to all part time employees. Only management was full time. All thanks to the affordable health care act. This is going on all over.
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I don't want to get us too far off topic but I have to chime in real quick. I have been employed by Home Depot for over 16. While the new health care program does limit the number of hours part time associates can work from a business standpoint. I assure you that over half the hourly associates in the company are full time. Some companies such as Walgreens have elected to dissolve all full time, hourly positions, Home Depot has not. No big deal, I just wanted to correct that particular bit of misinformation.
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The thing that's really galling to me is that these companies are putting a few extra dollars over the welfare of their own people, their own employees. They consider people less important than money and certainly much more disposable. It's a very callous attitude to take and it's why there's not much of a middle-class left in this country. The gap between haves and have-nots not only widens, but the ability to cross that gap diminishes.
The top one percent of Americans measured by wealth own 40% of all American wealth. The bottom 80% own only 7%.
The top one percent of Americans take home 24% of the national income. In 1976, they only earned 9%.
The top one percent of Americans own just over 50% of all the stocks, bonds and mutual funds. The top 10% own 90%. The bottom 50% own just 0.5%.
The top one percent of Americans have only 5% of all the personal debt. The bottom 90% have 73% of it.
The top one percent of Americans are taking home more of the country's income than at any time in the past 80-plus years - not since the years just prior to the stock market crash of 1929.
So forgive me if I don't cry a river because a company thought it was better to please the stockholders just that much more than to provide decent wages and benefits to their employees. These people and these companies are as wealthy as they are because they're taking the money out of the pockets of the people below them and no one is stopping them. They started to care more about their own greed and stopped giving a shit about the people who got them where they are in the first place - because not a single one of those one percenters got where they are all by themselves.
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I'm just gonna leave this here:
(http://aethercards.com/discourse/profile_pictures/26989_1380293258.jpg)
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I don't want to get us too far off topic but I have to chime in real quick. I have been employed by Home Depot for over 16. While the new health care program does limit the number of hours part time associates can work from a business standpoint. I assure you that over half the hourly associates in the company are full time. Some companies such as Walgreens have elected to dissolve all full time, hourly positions, Home Depot has not. No big deal, I just wanted to correct that particular bit of misinformation.
Sorry if it seemed like I was blasting Home Depot. I was just making a point that WalMart is not the only company that isn't treating employees right. I know HD pays more, but they could step up and let part timers work more hours and offer health insurance as well. As far as my local HD- they are no were near your 50/50 ratio.
My kids can't pay there bills because they do not get enough hours (my kids are all over 18) My 1 stepson only got a full time job because his father was able to get him hired were he works.
I'm also not defending Walmart- just playing devils advocate. With the Walton family worth well over 100billion, they could afford to do a lot more.
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No worries Rob. All understandable viewpoints in this thread.
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I don't want to get us too far off topic but I have to chime in real quick. I have been employed by Home Depot for over 16. While the new health care program does limit the number of hours part time associates can work from a business standpoint. I assure you that over half the hourly associates in the company are full time. Some companies such as Walgreens have elected to dissolve all full time, hourly positions, Home Depot has not. No big deal, I just wanted to correct that particular bit of misinformation.
Sorry if it seemed like I was blasting Home Depot. I was just making a point that WalMart is not the only company that isn't treating employees right. I know HD pays more, but they could step up and let part timers work more hours and offer health insurance as well. As far as my local HD- they are no were near your 50/50 ratio.
My kids can't pay there bills because they do not get enough hours (my kids are all over 18) My 1 stepson only got a full time job because his father was able to get him hired were he works.
I'm also not defending Walmart- just playing devils advocate. With the Walton family worth well over 100billion, they could afford to do a lot more.
They have the hundred billion they have because of the greed they apply in creating their corporate policies. To them, anything that costs the company money is anathema, regardless of whether it improves the lives of their employees. Is it any wonder why Sam Walton's company is deathly afraid of union organizers? Or that WalMart donates to politicians who will change a closed-shop state to a right-to-work state? "Right-to-work state" sounds like a good thing (a good name can make the most evil things sound wonderful), but it means that unions can't create contracts requiring all employees to be in the union, shattering their collective bargaining power when dealing with management. I'm in one of the few unions in the country that's actually growing right now, and it's all service workers.
I live in New York - a big city, not easily "crushed" by big-box discounts stores. Many neighborhoods petition against them because of the traffic they would create. But I've seen smaller towns all over the country where all kinds of shops just vanish right off the map, shops and even chains that provided not just goods and services to the community, but also a decent, livable wage to their employees with benefits that offer at least some measure of security in an uncertain world.
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I live in New York - a big city, not easily "crushed" by big-box discounts stores. Many neighborhoods petition against them because of the traffic they would create. But I've seen smaller towns all over the country where all kinds of shops just vanish right off the map, shops and even chains that provided not just goods and services to the community, but also a decent, livable wage to their employees with benefits that offer at least some measure of security in an uncertain world.
That happened were I live. Lowes and Depot killed just about all the other hardware stores around. We had a hardware store downtown that started in 1914. It was family owned the whole time. It shut down in 2004. They're building condos there now.
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I live in New York - a big city, not easily "crushed" by big-box discounts stores. Many neighborhoods petition against them because of the traffic they would create. But I've seen smaller towns all over the country where all kinds of shops just vanish right off the map, shops and even chains that provided not just goods and services to the community, but also a decent, livable wage to their employees with benefits that offer at least some measure of security in an uncertain world.
That happened were I live. Lowes and Depot killed just about all the other hardware stores around. We had a hardware store downtown that started in 1914. It was family owned the whole time. It shut down in 2004. They're building condos there now.
There's only a few hardware stores left in my old neighborhood besides Home Depot, back when I lived just north of the city. The only thing keeping them afloat are the people who are fed up with shopping in understaffed stores employing people with inadequate training dispensing advice that's no better than guesswork - and the long register lines. Those people go to the few hardware shops left. There's also some supply shops around here because of the high concentration of contractors - they're selling close enough to wholesale that they're able to stave off big-box stores, but only if you're buying contractor grade in contractor quantities.
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So one of my higher ups recently told me since I was getting full time hours to talk to my manager and switch to full time and I could get benefits. I don't stock fast enough in his opinion so he decided to cut my hours. I know will be getting 32 per week instead of the 40 I am use to. roughly $280 less per month. :(
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So one of my higher ups recently told me since I was getting full time hours to talk to my manager and switch to full time and I could get benefits. I don't stock fast enough in his opinion so he decided to cut my hours. I know will be getting 32 per week instead of the 40 I am use to. roughly $280 less per month. :(
Wait - so someone higher up in the company says, "You're working full time, so ask your manager to switch you to full time." Your manager responds with an excuse and a cut in your hours? That's bullshit, pure and simple. If your work was inadequate, why did he wait until you requested full time status to tell you - and why keep you on staff in the first place? If I had an underperforming employee, I wouldn't cut his hours, I'd fire him, period. He's doing this because he has orders from someone above him to keep you and the rest of your fellow drones without benefits.
WalMart - great prices, shitty policies towards its workers.
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I've been watching this thread, so excuse the mini rant, lol
I think the problem with companies like Walmart (and many others) is that it's not just incompetent floor managers, it goes up the chain. Their ladder is filled with "Handlers" not managers. They don't manage, they keep the numbers/employees in check. My wife is in the medical field and it;s no better, her immediate sup was a "Handler" his job was the bottom line, he took advantage of peoples fear of unemployment and used it against them, used any small discretion to keep from giving out raises, but fail to remember that you offer to cover shifts to avoid being short handed at a moments notice. I think a lot of Big Box stores do the same thing....not to offend anyone, but they know that if you don't like it, there is someone else who will fill your shoes over night, but the worst part, as Don stated, their to lazy to actually fire you and have to go through that process, so they string you along as long as they can or until your finally fed up.
The problem with many companies is that they aren't concerned with building a strong team/organization from the ground level. I used to work for a very large advertising company and I remember sitting in meetings with upper management when looking for new sales associates to better "Grow" the business. There mentality was insane, they would actually adhere to this type of reasoning "Give him whatever he asks for, if it doesn't work out in a month we'll just get rid of him" so rather than look for the right people they just keep putting band aids on it and keeping the "Hiring Funnel" full. Oddly enough, when they do have the right people they and many companies do everything they can to keep you "In your place".....Handlers.
You couldn't be more accurate in your middle class statement Don, it's disappearing, if it exists at all anymore. It's a struggle for me, I can only imaging what my kids are going to go through. Things have definitely changed, a college education is a 50/50 proposition at best for guaranteeing anything and being with a company for 30,40. 50 years and retiring, just unheard of....unless your at the top of the food chain of that company.
We've turned into a disposable uncaring society and in a way we're to blame, but that doesn't excuse the business practices of these companies.
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So one of my higher ups recently told me since I was getting full time hours to talk to my manager and switch to full time and I could get benefits. I don't stock fast enough in his opinion so he decided to cut my hours. I know will be getting 32 per week instead of the 40 I am use to. roughly $280 less per month. :(
Wait - so someone higher up in the company says, "You're working full time, so ask your manager to switch you to full time." Your manager responds with an excuse and a cut in your hours? That's bullshit, pure and simple. If your work was inadequate, why did he wait until you requested full time status to tell you - and why keep you on staff in the first place? If I had an underperforming employee, I wouldn't cut his hours, I'd fire him, period. He's doing this because he has orders from someone above him to keep you and the rest of your fellow drones without benefits.
WalMart - great prices, shitty policies towards its workers.
They had mentioned my performance earlier. You get 3 strikes at walmart. I have them all. I actually talked to the stores manager about the last one since I believe it was given unfairly and we have an open door policy. I am going to mention this to him as well.
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..but the worst part, as Don stated, their to lazy to actually fire you and have to go through that process, so they string you along as long as they can or until your finally fed up.
It's the preferred method, because your unemployment insurance doesn't kick in if you quit rather than being "laid off" for non-specific reasons. Only in cases with firm, provable, just cause or theft will they be eager to terminate someone. So if you cut someone's hours back enough, it's practically like they're not even employed - most people take the hint and start looking for work elsewhere. Also, if they keep people on who are only somewhat incompetent but are still of use to them, slashing them to part time gives them room to increase their hours should it suddenly become convenient for the company.
Really, when you boil it down to brass tacks, it's always about what's more convenient for the company, rather than the people who actually work for the company on the front lines in retail operations. This thinking is great for the shareholders and the bottom line, but it involves treating people like disposable, ephemeral commodities, to be used up and cast aside.
In contrast, a company like Apple makes a serious effort to make their employees happy. They're paid better than in most retail positions and many of them aren't even directly involved in sales - they're focused on the customer experience, the thing that keeps people coming back. Compare your experience in an Apple store to your experience in a WalMart - I'm willing to wager you enjoyed the Apple experience far more.
This, right here, is the biggest thing all of the big box retailers seem to forget. An experience like the one in an Apple store happens because they create positions employees WANT to keep, rather than HAVE to keep. The staff is happier, they help make the customers happier, and happy customers are more likely to spend than unhappy ones. (Having good products doesn't hurt, either.) That kind of experience is very difficult to replicate. On the other hand, the only thing needed to replicate a WalMart is another big box company operated just like WalMart. The barrier to entry at that level is enormous, but certainly not impossible. One CEO of one out-of-country retail giant deciding to expand into the US could be all it takes. WalMart's efficiencies of scale are nothing new and not impossible to replicate - certainly not as difficult as copying an Apple experience.
WalMart spends a lot of time and effort squashing unionization in their stores. Company-wide, Apple probably spends about as much as I do on union dues to do the same. Why so little? When everyone's happy with their work and gets treated like human beings, who wants to bother with a union? Imagine what would happen if instead of blowing money on legal actions and union breakers, WalMart took the same amount of cash and spent it on improving the lives of their employees...
I'm the last person to knock a union - I've held a decent-wage position for nearly 23 years now with the same company, something that practically no one employed today in the US can say unless they or a family member owns the business. I lived in South Florida in '89 and '90 and saw the same position I'm working in today - I had a couple of uncles in the same industry. Florida is an "open shop" state, meaning that by law, a union can't force an employer to have all of its employees join the union - this weakens unions tremendously, taking away one of their strongest bargaining chips, which is why, aside from the Teamsters, unions are nearly non-existent in Florida. Those guys down there, doing the same job I started doing in New York City in '91, earned about half the pay and virtually no benefits to speak of. Technically, it's like I was making triple what they were because my benefits were worth (and still are worth) about 50% of my salary. I'm almost afraid to inquire what they're making now - my memory of working in South Florida was that very few employers actually gave a crap about their employees, with a great number of companies using the "take it or leave it" attitude that strips so many of their humanity and basic dignity. The bigger or more successful the company, the more they tended to treat you like dirt.
They had mentioned my performance earlier. You get 3 strikes at walmart. I have them all. I actually talked to the stores manager about the last one since I believe it was given unfairly and we have an open door policy. I am going to mention this to him as well.
If there is one thing that I learned as an employee, it's that if ever an unfair event comes up that's likely to tarnish your record and affect your rank or earning power, protest it IMMEDIATELY while it's fresh in people's minds. The longer you wait, the more details that get forgotten until eventually all anyone sees is the tarnished record. It's like the expression, "History is written by the victors." (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the gist of it.) Did the US and its allies do terrible things to their enemies in World War II? Sure they did, but most of them get swept under the carpet and forgotten because those enemies lost - all most people know of is the atomic bomb and Japanese internment camps. In the case of your record, if you lay down and let management win the argument of what was right and fair, they write the history in your record with no mitigating input from you to soften the blow or alter the outcome.
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yea, it happen less then a week ago, I just have to wait to the stores manager is there, I have to catch him in the morning.
UPDATE: The other night manager decided last night to offer me maitnence, skip the trial period and give me the job offer. Full time, extra 50¢, and benefits. The assistant manager tonight was actually a fellow magi and he has done shows, and did some managing for some bands back in the day, he took my card and is going to see if he hears of anything I might be able to do. So all in all great night.