This is why you shouldn't shop at WalMart

[Disch]

I don't know how many people here shop at WalMart/Sam's Club. Guessing by how large a company is, I'm guessing it's a lot of you.

Well.. you shouldn't.

Read this article (or just the headline). It made me laugh out loud at how absurd it is, but it's also really depressing:

http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-asks-customers-to-donate-food-2013-11


BTW: this is not joke news. It's real.

I don't know if this was audacious of WalMart to do this... or if they're just that oblivious and out of touch with reality that they don't even recognize how horrible they're being. Either way it drives that knife through my heart even further, ensuring that I won't ever shop at this store ever again.

EDIT: also from the article: "The store has been doing this for several years..." says the WalMart spokesperson... not really helping his case.

[3qX21hU5]

I really don't see what is wrong with this... It's not like they are forcing anyone to give anything... They are just saying if you have some extra food or cash you want to donate then you can.

Many companies do this and for the article to assume that those who work at Walmart are somehow not good enough or don't make enough to do it also is quite ridiculous.

What I don't like is how the article just assumes that everyone that works as Walmart is a low wage worker or is poor which is just completely bs.

Yes there are probably low income families that work at Walmart but there is probably also many middle income workers and above also. So what is the harm in asking your employees to donate food to those that aren't as fortunate?

I swear this society is getting so up tight about every little thing. Our culture in the US is going down the hole. Heck we are criticizing food drives now as being insensitive...

[N36fSL3A]

Kind of ironic that they're doing that since they're like a department store. They have tons of food there.

[ModShop]

I agree with Zereo on this one for the most part. I do think it's really stupid that this huge corporation is having a food drive in between its employees, rather than just "tapping" into its vast reserves to help out, but I think it's equally as stupid to get offended and upset about it too.

[naraku9333]

@Zereo
You missed the point completely. The problem is that walmart is asking other employees to donate rather than paying a living wage.

[S6k9GNh0]

I think the more obviously wrong thing about this situation is that the employees were okay with this.
Also, the employees that protested were threatened and/or fired, possibly even against various laws concerning this situation.

There are various companies like this that treat people like idiots and/or garbage but the masses overall simply don't care. If anything, society needs to be more uptight.

[3qX21hU5]

You missed the point completely. The problem is that walmart is asking other employees to donate rather than paying a living wage.

It's business you can't just give employees as much pay as you want.

Yes it would be nice if everyone could make $50,000+ for every job but the fact is if they paid them that much they would go out of business.

You can't expect to go into Walmart and apply to be a cashier or something and demand a huge salary (Many Walmarts by me have starting wage of $12 a hour for cashiers which is quite good). It just isn't feasible and businesses wouldn't be able to stay open and everyone would be out of a job and even worse off.

Don't get me wrong I do feel sorry for those that aren't as fortunate as others but I don't think it is right to blame a company for it.

If they don't want to make only $8 - $15 a hour as a cashier then they should start looking for another job. I know this will bring up the point that some people don't have the opportunities as others and it's hard to find a job (Which is it), but I really believe that if you try hard enough and have enough determination you can do it.

I am living proof of it. I never completed highschool, was very stupid when I was younger which got me in trouble with the law but I worked hard to get educated and find a good job and now I wouldn't consider myself rich but I am middle income.

What I am basically trying to say is that people need to look to them selves to improve their lives and not try and blame it on others or expect the world to owe them something because it never gets you anywhere.

So yes maybe the food drive wasn't the smartest thing in the world for Walmart to do but the fact of the matter is it is a food drive that is giving food to people who need it. They aren't forcing people to contribute if they can't.

Sorry for the rant ;p This is a subject that gets on my nerves these days because it seems like so many people these days aren't looking to better themselves instead they are looking to have someone else do it for them.

But with that I will bow out of this debate.

[S6k9GNh0]

That's not what they're asking for. They're asking for slightly more than minimum wage because they can't live off of minimum wage.

EDIT: Also, jobs aren't always easy to come by. If a company is manipulating it's employees, it should be punished (by way of karma).

[Superdude]

I just read the news article, and nothing in there makes me mad or bitter at WalMart, especially to make me not want to shop there. (Not that I have a choice where my parents shop) And besides, that Walmart is all the way in Cleveland.

I have no idea why I should reject Walmart as a whole when they are a great retailer and a success in the business.

That's like if a chicken did something atrocious, and I decided not to eat chicken ever again. Crazy.

[S6k9GNh0]

Wat? That analogy can't apply to anything. Chicken did something negative, so I'm not going to do anything negative to him!

It's more like if the chicken did something atrocious and then you refused to nestle its feathers for it. Chicken did something negative so I'm not going to do anything positive for him!

EDIT: Someone shot my dog... so I'm not going to press charges against that guy! Take that!

[Superdude]

No, it is this. Chicken did something atrocious, so you don't hold a grudge against all other chickens and not eat them ever again. Sure, maybe you kill that chicken.

Walmart store A did something atrocious (That's debatable, but we will assume it so) so, we give it a hard time, and leave it at that. We still shop at other Walmart stores. The CEO of Walmart didn't make some fundamental change so that all the stores have to hold a food drive for its employees.

If that was so then it would be like all chickens in the world started making a 30% chance of salmonella no matter how you cooked it.

[BHX]

I worked at Walmart for a year and was let go right after I got my yearly pay raise, cost of living raise, and then was required to get a pay raise because I regularly worked in Electronics and Sporting Goods (two high risk theft areas). Soon as my raise passed they quickly wrote me up for bs reasons and then let me go and wrote on my report "Is re-hire-able". This was 2003 or so, and then I read this in '05 and swore I would never help Walmart or work for them again. They are so anti-union that, while that article isn't accurate (they union vote had passed and within like three days they closed it to avoid dealing with unions). Hell, they have Computer Based Learning (CBL) modules you have to do by a set number of weeks after its release or you lose your job and one of the modules tells you not to talk to union representatives and if any approach you to immediately take it to your supervisor when the union rep leaves.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0210-13.htm

[Disch]

You missed the point completely. The problem is that walmart is asking other employees to donate rather than paying a living wage.

This. Thank you, naraku. I figured this went without saying, but apparently it didn't.

It's business you can't just give employees as much pay as you want.

They can pay more than they do. They intentionally work people just under the minimum time to avoid having to provide benefits, and they don't pay a livable wage.

By contrast, WalMart made $17 billion in profits last year. With 1.5 million employees nationwide, if it gave an across the board $4/hr raise to everyone, assuming everyone works 30 hrs a week and 50 weeks a year (they probably work less than that on average), that mean they only make $8 billion in profits a year instead of $17 billion.

( http://www.statisticbrain.com/wal-mart-company-statistics/ )

I don't know what a company can do with $17 billion that can't be just as easily done with $8 billion... other than maybe buying an airport.


Of course... an across the board raise would be stupid. A smarter thing to do would be to level out wages so there's not such a wide income gap.

Yes it would be nice if everyone could make $50,000+ for every job but the fact is if they paid them that much they would go out of business.

Nobody's saying they have to pay $50,000.... I'm just saying they should pay a livable wage.

The irony of the original article is that WalMart recognizes that is employees are struggling... but instead of paying higher wages... it's asking other employees to pick up the slack. So they're aware, yet oblivious. (Or just sickeningly greedy).

(Many Walmarts by me have starting wage of $12 a hour for cashiers which is quite good)

If that's fulltime, then yes that's decent for 1 person with no dependencies. I budget myself for about $2000 a month and I live pretty cheaply (small 1 bedroom apt, no car payments, no outrageous purchases).... so if I made $12/hr full time (12*40*52=~$25000) that just barely meets my $2000/month minimum. Assuming you don't pay anything in taxes...

Of course... doing that means living paycheck to paycheck with zero possibility for retirement... so even that is not sustainable. And it doesn't cover any emergencies that pop up.

And if you have a kid, forget about it. $12/hr is not livable. At least not in my area.

I wouldn't consider myself rich but I am middle income.

I question whether you realize what middle income actually is. Have you seen this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM

The poor allow themselves to be placated and tricked into thinking they're not poor.

Sorry for the rant ;p This is a subject that gets on my nerves these days because it seems like so many people these days aren't looking to better themselves instead they are looking to have someone else do it for them.

That's BS. The people that are upset (at least the ones worth listening to) are just looking for a level playing field. It's not that people aren't willing to work... it's just that they expect that putting in the effort will actually yield rewards. Currently, it usually does not.

There's this stereotype perpetuated by right-wing media that low income households are all just lazy people looking for handouts. Nothing could be further from the truth.

[Superdude]

OK, I get your point. But it still isn't a reason not to shop there ever again.

[kingcong]

I read about this the other day. My mom and one of my brothers work there. They got all that money, but are asking for other people to donate food items when they can donate it with easy. It makes me sick.

[Mats]

There would be a lot of very unhappy shareholders if Walmart pushed basic wages up. Something else big companies do here... I wonder if this happens in US to? They give people short term contracts (<12 months) because employee rights are very limited until you have been there 12 months in UK law. Then they do not renew the contract and just get someone else.
I'm not specifically accusing Walmart (or Asda, which is their UK arm), but it's a common business practice here. =/

[Disch]

Superdude wrote:

OK, I get your point. But it still isn't a reason not to shop there ever again.

Giving them your business allows them to continue with this crap. In a free marketplace... you vote with your wallet. It's better if you give you business/money to companies that are less crooked.

Mats wrote:

There would be a lot of very unhappy shareholders if Walmart pushed basic wages up.

I guess you're right. Some millionaire might only make $4000 when the stock goes up a quarter point instead of $8000 when it goes up a half point. That's a pretty serious problem. Much more serious than hundreds/thousands of families struggling to feed their children.



It's also worth mentioning that stock prices are bullshit. To say "but the stock holders will complain if we raise wages" is virtually the same as saying "I'd rather WalMarts profits go to people that do absolutely nothing rather than go to the people actually doing the work."


EDIT:

Mats wrote:

They give people short term contracts (<12 months) because employee rights are very limited until you have been there 12 months in UK law. Then they do not renew the contract and just get someone else.

In the US it's more about full-time vs. part-time. If you work part time (less than 30 hrs/week) you aren't legally entitled to employee benefits. But if you work longer than that, then you're considered full-time and there are perks.

And yeah... to get around this, it is standard practice here to work people 29 hrs every week.

[Mats]

30 hours is such as disgusting limit to have in law. It's such a shame we live in a world in which politicians often have a vested interest in big business doing well and only minimal interest in the quality of life for their citizens. It's a shame the rich are so quick to trample the poor. It's a shame that 400 years of brilliant scientific method has not produced a way to overcome (in)human indecency.

=[

[Superdude]

Quite.

It's a shame that 400 years of brilliant scientific method has not produced a way to overcome (in)human indecency.

[Cheraphy]

I refused giving them my money ages ago. there are a number of places I simply don't frequent on principle. I may not be a drop in the water, but as someone else here said, it's a free-market economy.