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Walmart workers demand better wages

No one has said that Wal-Mart doesn't owe this country. But who ever said that they don't do anything for their country? They pay taxes don't they? That is all that is required of them to pay back the country that allowed them to prosper. Yet they also give to lots of charities they also have great...well...maybe not GREAT...but close, medical benefits plus give thier employees 10% discount on most items in thier stores. They also promote healthy life styles and even attempted to get me to quit smoking. Funny how you seem to forget all those good things that they do.

Are you aware of the reason WalMart gives that discount? Well, simply put, it's because, in most cases, if one works at WalMart, they can only afford to shop there. This discount only enforces that.

Funny how you make this company out to be some kind of humanitarian icon.
 
Exactly. Which is why the US needs to extend the level of guaranteed, free education. Back when we promised a free high school education, that was sufficient. But, now that the world's become so technically advanced, folks need more.

The last 2 years of High School could have an optional vocational program, in some places they do. Surely for those who are clearly not going to college. I have seen HS grads go right to an auto dealership and make good money. Their HS auto shop was that good....
 
Why should they pay thier employee's above your poverty line?

Why? Because the workers fill the pockets of the business owners. Do you not find it difficult to swallow that the creators of wealth don't own that said wealth?
 
I've presented my definition of the poverty line. If WalMart cannot provide their employees with a wage that puts them above it, we have a problem. That's all there is to it.

Walmart has no obligation to meet your standard and their employees are under no obligation to take those jobs. You on the other hand are free to but your ass, create a business, and pay got employees whatever you choose. You should DO that. There are so many of you that believe you have this better ideal...yet.. Your ideas somehow never seem to translate to the real world. Shocking...right? People extraordinarily benevolent with others success.

There are more than a few web sites a and instances of actual employees describing decen wages, decent working conditions, and opportunities to advance to shift and section managers. Walmart does what it is supposed to do. You should do what you profess to believe in.
 
Sorry, I meant civic duty. And I wasn't talking about WalMart this time - though I suppose it's still applicable.

Civic duty refers to the basic responsibility we all have to those around us. It refers to the responsibility a CEO has to the folks who earn for him/her. To the responsibility a person has to their countrymen. It refers to the compassion that is the foundation of democratic socialism.

WalMart does indeed give back....the first thing they do is to offer products at an affordable price that allows those in the lower rungs of the economic ladder to have much that they wouldn't have otherwise. The larger picture that WalMart does is evident in their response to Katrina, and Sandy....

"Over the next few days, Wal-Mart's response to Katrina -- an unrivaled $20 million in cash donations, 1,500 truckloads of free merchandise, food for 100,000 meals and the promise of a job for every one of its displaced workers -- has turned the chain into an unexpected lifeline for much of the Southeast and earned it near-universal praise at a time when the company is struggling to burnish its image."

Wal-Mart at Forefront of Hurricane Relief

"What we're doing to help
Some examples of the disaster relief efforts we've been involved in so far include:

Working with the American Red Cross to help support disaster shelter operations by donating essential items (water, food, snack items, personal care products, diapers, blankets) to serve those displaced by Hurricane Sandy.
Pledging up to $1.5 million to our disaster relief partners (American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Feeding America) to help with relief efforts in the hardest hit areas to ensure the essential needs of residents are being met.
Facilitating numerous requests from several government officials in the impacted areas, such as Mayor Booker in Newark, Governor Christie of NJ and Mayor Bloomberg in NYC. Those requests have ranged from transporting generators to schools and hospitals in the city of New York last night to delivering about a million bottles of water throughout the northeast.
By teaming up with a number of our suppliers, we are working to lend an extra hand to the areas that need our support. Some examples of what we're doing include:

JOHNSONVILLE: On Nov. 9-11, we're hosting the World's Largest Grill in select New York store parking lots to serve hot meals for those affected by or responding to the devastation and mass power outages of Hurricane Sandy. Our supplier Johnsonville is bringing the brats and the grill, the stores and clubs are providing the buns and drinks and our associates are volunteering to help feed the community.
Additionally, Sam's Clubs in the Northeast are also offering cell phone recharging stations and temporarily waiving membership fees to those areas affected by the storm."

Walmart Corporate - Hurricane Sandy Disaster Response

Ok? so what would you like to see?

Regardless of what you wish this country of our was, what it is, is NOT a democratic socialist society.

I disagree, with both your ad hom and the bridge you try to build between Democrats and myself.

Whiter you choose to agree or not, the idea that government should have it's hand in the economy has been primarily positive.

"ad hom"? What ad hom? You know, when you can't hold your own in the debate with facts, it is the weak way out to claim that you're being attacked....No one attacked you.

But, show me where top down governmental control of an economy has worked long term.
 
Kal'stang said:
No one has said that Wal-Mart doesn't owe this country. But who ever said that they don't do anything for their country? They pay taxes don't they? That is all that is required of them to pay back the country that allowed them to prosper. Yet they also give to lots of charities they also have great...well...maybe not GREAT...but close, medical benefits plus give thier employees 10% discount on most items in thier stores. They also promote healthy life styles and even attempted to get me to quit smoking. Funny how you seem to forget all those good things that they do.

I wish.

Walmart is known for pretty good tax dodging - legal tax dodging, but still...

Many states, counties, and principalities will actually pay a Walmart to open shop, and almost universally are they given relaxed taxes for a considerable amount of time after opening. This is on top of them being a massive recipient of corporate welfare and subsidies.

Sam Walton was not a savior of the masses. They do some good with offering employment to...I can't remember the exact number of jobs, but it's over a million. If these workers want to strike, let them strike. However, they are running serious risks. Usually, it makes more sense to strike if your labor is in demand, and cannot be filled by any fool walking the street.
 
I worked for Wal-Mart for about 6 months. I started out at $9.50/hr. Not a bad wage around these parts. In those 6 months that I worked that I got three raises and by the time I left Wal-Mart I was making $11.10. Yeah,, it may not be no $30 bucks an hour but for the cost of living in these parts it was pretty damn good. Wal-Mart is one of the highest paying jobs you can have in this area for the most basic worker around here. Outside of logging or working at a saw mill or working for the government it is among THE highest in this area.

As for working conditions, they're pretty top notch really. So long as you stay out of the politics that is. They demanded that you use the buddy system for anything over 40lbs. Required you to take multiple tests to get certified for working any type of machine. Seperate tests for produce and chemicals on safety and cleanliness.

The only reason that I don't work there anymore is because I got sick a few times and couldn't make it to work along with a few things from nature that also made it to where I couldn't get to work. I exceeded my 10 days allowance per 6 months so they let me go. Understandable to a degree.

I think the fact is not how little Wal-mart is paying but how long is the list trying to be hired by Wal-mart, where the waiting list is quite long , maybe it will shorten for the holidays buit after it will be long again.:peace

There is little compition in the job market for the midwest..

As teenagers graduate and grow up they either need a job or stay at home where the parents are probably working at Wal-mart.
 
Well, both of these articles talking about an opinion from the same place, shows nothing illegal in this. Romney just like nearly every 401K, or divested mutual fund has money invested in foreign entities. Funny how progressives love to use the meme of a 'global economy' until it comes to raiding wealth that others have made.
Sure there is nothing illegal about it because Uncle Sam doesn't know anything about it, but I have to report every dime I get paid to the IRS. And it's not raiding wealth; it's paying taxes on your money like everyone in the USA has to do. ;)


In this article they are talking about Romney, in relation to State and local taxation to which Romney, or Obama has any authority to change. You want change in that arena? Vote local issues. But to tie that to anything concerning national policy is disingenuous.
I'm referring here to the big picture--who pays the most taxes. When one considers all factors the whole problem becomes elementary. ;)
 
I worked for Wal-Mart for about 6 months. I started out at $9.50/hr. Not a bad wage around these parts. In those 6 months that I worked that I got three raises and by the time I left Wal-Mart I was making $11.10. Yeah,, it may not be no $30 bucks an hour but for the cost of living in these parts it was pretty damn good. Wal-Mart is one of the highest paying jobs you can have in this area for the most basic worker around here. Outside of logging or working at a saw mill or working for the government it is among THE highest in this area.

As for working conditions, they're pretty top notch really. So long as you stay out of the politics that is. They demanded that you use the buddy system for anything over 40lbs. Required you to take multiple tests to get certified for working any type of machine. Seperate tests for produce and chemicals on safety and cleanliness.

The only reason that I don't work there anymore is because I got sick a few times and couldn't make it to work along with a few things from nature that also made it to where I couldn't get to work. I exceeded my 10 days allowance per 6 months so they let me go. Understandable to a degree.

Hell, nonunion factories were doing that before they got outsourced .:peace
 
Are you aware of the reason WalMart gives that discount? Well, simply put, it's because, in most cases, if one works at WalMart, they can only afford to shop there. This discount only enforces that.

Funny how you make this company out to be some kind of humanitarian icon.

At $11.10/hr I could easily afford to shop elsewhere in my area.

And its funny how you make the company out to be some evil entity that does absolutely nothing for its employee's or the country. Yes Wal-Mart has its faults. Getting 99% of thier products from China for instance. But treating their employee's like crap isn't one of them. I didn't even mention everything that they do for thier employee's. Like 401k plans (not all companies offer this), stock in thier company, they even created a new position for me just so I could work there without having to hire a babysitter.

Despite what you think Wal-Mart is not obligated to do any of those things that I mentioned in my last post or in this one. The only obligation that they actually do have is to pay taxes. Everything else they do for either charitable reasons or because it simply makes good buisness sense.
 
I wish.

Walmart is known for pretty good tax dodging - legal tax dodging, but still...


This is an interesting phrase "tax dodging"..... It connotes something shady, while there is a form of avoiding taxes that is fully legal, and indeed promoted by the IRS. For example, as a truck driver, I am extended $53. per day per diem, write off on my gross income for every day I am driving. It is set by the IRS, and legal to take, and allows me to lessen my taxable income by about $13K per year. I also pay a mortgage that since I am a relatively new 'homeowner', most every payment I make is all interest, so I get to write that off as well, lowering my taxable income by another $13K per year....

This allows me to by goods, and contribute to the economy through out the year, that without those deductions, I would have NO expendable income, and probably wouldn't have been able to afford the house we have in exchange for something more modest, if at all....Am I 'dodging' taxation? You're damned right! Is it illegal, or a bad thing? I don't think so, see, I believe that I own my labor, not the government.
 
Many Wal-Mart employees qualify for food stamps.

Myself and just about everyone in the military qualified for food stamps when I was in. Yet I don't see anyone complaining about that situation. Oh wait.... the complainers don't REALLY care about the military. Forgot.
 
Actually in a way Walmart is not the bad guy here,.

I haven't done the statistics but I'd be willing to bet Walmart stores across America hire more unskilled labor than the manufacturing ind. in America.
Which can be good and bad
Good for Chinese products
bad for American products.

This much I know I saw Walmarts in Forbes magazine, didn't see Sears or Penny's or Target.:peace
 
j-mac said:
This is an interesting phrase "tax dodging"..... It connotes something shady, while there is a form of avoiding taxes that is fully legal, and indeed promoted by the IRS.

Oh, it's shady. I prefaced my comment by saying that it was legal (and it is), even though dodging tends to create the illusion of illegal behavior. Having said that, if people knew exactly how much Walmart was being floated along at all levels of the public, it'd make most of you sick. Walmart isn't a monopoly, but a monopolistic competition. However, given that the fact that they can choose to charge lower prices simply given the fact that they're receiving so much help, it could one day become a pseudo-monopoly. It's no coincidence that when a Walmart sprouts from the ground, approximately one-third of all local mom-and-pops have to close shop due to financial difficulties.

If they truly wanted to put themselves on the open market, the government could allow for it. In fact, I hope for that day. I support their right to exist, but damned if I'll say that I can stand the sight of them.
 
Why? Because the workers fill the pockets of the business owners. Do you not find it difficult to swallow that the creators of wealth don't own that said wealth?

And without those buisness owners the workers wouldn't have money either. It works both ways. But like ANY buisness be it small or large they only have to pay thier workers what they are willing to work for. If the workers don't like the pay rate then they can go elsewhere. No buisness has an obligation to pay thier employee's more than minimum wage.
 
Sure there is nothing illegal about it because Uncle Sam doesn't know anything about it, but I have to report every dime I get paid to the IRS. And it's not raiding wealth; it's paying taxes on your money like everyone in the USA has to do. ;)

Bull Hockey! Show me where Romney hid money from reporting to the government, and you would have a case, but just because you claim it doesn't mean it is true. The government not only knows about it, but encourages it.

I'm referring here to the big picture--who pays the most taxes. When one considers all factors the whole problem becomes elementary.

Oh you want to get into the macro picture? I am sure that the poor, and middle class pay the lion share of taxes overall, when you include everything. However, most of this is caused by misguided regulation, and taxation spurred by liberal policies....Yet, the masses that are being fleeced continue to vote in these vampires time and time again....How foolish is that?
 
they have the right to want higher wages as long as they make their bosses richer .
 
Oh, it's shady. I prefaced my comment by saying that it was legal (and it is), even though dodging tends to create the illusion of illegal behavior. Having said that, if people knew exactly how much Walmart was being floated along at all levels of the public, it'd make most of you sick. Walmart isn't a monopoly, but a monopolistic competition. However, given that the fact that they can choose to charge lower prices simply given the fact that they're receiving so much help, it could one day become a pseudo-monopoly. It's no coincidence that when a Walmart sprouts from the ground, approximately one-third of all local mom-and-pops have to close shop due to financial difficulties.

If they truly wanted to put themselves on the open market, the government could allow for it. In fact, I hope for that day. I support their right to exist, but damned if I'll say that I can stand the sight of them.

All companies that pay lower wages are "subsidized" in the exact same way WalMart is subsidized. What are you talking about? All the mom-and-pop stores . . . you name the entry-level type positions -- they're all subsidized. WalMart is no different than any of them. But WalMart?? THEY are a nice and juicy union target.
 
Walmart is NOT the problem. Its the employees that has NO knowledge of how a business works, how supply and demand works, how economics work. Youre NOT working at Walmart because youre intelligent or special or have some special "something" to add to the company. Youre working there because you can schlep out the very basics that the company needs in order to operate!!!

If you work for Walmart and bitch about the pay or the "hard work" youre a freakin moron!!! You KNEW what the pay was before you started!!! :slapme: If you dont like it, get trained on something in a school and provide the workforce a trade skill or some special training where it is WORTH paying you more!

Every time a Walmart employee says they deserve more money or benefits or better benefits, its reinforces how freakin' ignorant they are regarding how the economics of business works and because of that, they DONT deserve anything more than what they have.
 
And without those buisness owners the workers wouldn't have money either. It works both ways. But like ANY buisness be it small or large they only have to pay thier workers what they are willing to work for. If the workers don't like the pay rate then they can go elsewhere. No buisness has an obligation to pay thier employee's more than minimum wage.

And no employee has an obligation to buy American products, any American products.:peace
 
Oh, it's shady. I prefaced my comment by saying that it was legal (and it is), even though dodging tends to create the illusion of illegal behavior. Having said that, if people knew exactly how much Walmart was being floated along at all levels of the public, it'd make most of you sick. Walmart isn't a monopoly, but a monopolistic competition. However, given that the fact that they can choose to charge lower prices simply given the fact that they're receiving so much help, it could one day become a pseudo-monopoly. It's no coincidence that when a Walmart sprouts from the ground, approximately one-third of all local mom-and-pops have to close shop due to financial difficulties.

If they truly wanted to put themselves on the open market, the government could allow for it. In fact, I hope for that day. I support their right to exist, but damned if I'll say that I can stand the sight of them.


Stand the sight of them? Hell, I like WalMart. Because of them, I am able to have things I couldn't afford otherwise. My standard of living is better with them than without. They employ my son as he works his way through collage, and likes his job. Because of that he can afford to have a pretty nice car, and spending money to take his girlfriend out, plus contribute through his purchases to the economy.

They are building a more local store closer to my home here, and I can't wait until they complete it because you know why? Along with that there is a strip mall going in with it to provide space to localized businesses that can benefit off of Wal Marts traffic. Mom and Pop's aren't failing solely because the big bad Wal Mart came to town, no, they are failing because they refuse to update their business models and go to where the shoppers are.
 
MaggieD said:
All companies that pay lower wages are "subsidized" in the exact same way WalMart is subsidized. What are you talking about? All the mom-and-pop stores . . . you name the entry-level type positions -- they're all subsidized. WalMart is no different than any of them. But WalMart?? THEY are a nice and juicy union target.

Not to the level that Walmart is. Now, I'm aware that the SBA and other government organizations exist to help businesses get off the ground, but once you get to a certain point, you're cut off. Walmart is far beyond that point.

They're also a big union target because they essentially ask for it. I've seen Walmart recruitment and employee training videos, and I've met many employees. I've never seen a company work so hard to prevent unions. Hell, I...well, we'll say "dated" for politically correct purposes...a girl who said that she was hanging out in the parking lot after hours with a couple other employees. They were smoking, chit-chatting, just carrying on like normal people do. Apparently a manager saw this on tape and called Bentonville to the HQ (as required by company policy) and reported it as "union creation activity". Apparently a few weeks later, some stuffed shirt flew in from Arkansas and droned on some anti-union rant. Seems like slight overkill for such a situation, but the vitriol Walmart has against unions is bordering paranoia. It makes me wonder why they're against it so much.
 
It makes me wonder why they're against it so much.

Because it would put them out of business. Their profit margin is 24% of gross sales. Average cost to a company when the union comes to town? 25-35% increase in costs.
 
This is an interesting phrase "tax dodging".....as a truck driver, I am extended $53. per day per diem, write off on my gross income for every day I am driving. It is set by the IRS, and legal to take, and allows me to lessen my taxable income by about $13K per year. I also...........

Seems strange that $53(80% tax free?)a day lessens your taxable income by 13k a year.

But I am not a tax guru either.
 
Not to the level that Walmart is. Now, I'm aware that the SBA and other government organizations exist to help businesses get off the ground, but once you get to a certain point, you're cut off. Walmart is far beyond that point.

They're also a big union target because they essentially ask for it. I've seen Walmart recruitment and employee training videos, and I've met many employees. I've never seen a company work so hard to prevent unions. Hell, I...well, we'll say "dated" for politically correct purposes...a girl who said that she was hanging out in the parking lot after hours with a couple other employees. They were smoking, chit-chatting, just carrying on like normal people do. Apparently a manager saw this on tape and called Bentonville to the HQ (as required by company policy) and reported it as "union creation activity". Apparently a few weeks later, some stuffed shirt flew in from Arkansas and droned on some anti-union rant. Seems like slight overkill for such a situation, but the vitriol Walmart has against unions is bordering paranoia. It makes me wonder why they're against it so much.


There is a term for this, called 'salting'....In the recent Kabuki theater from the UFCW outside wal marts, it was reported that around 30 some employees joined the walk out. maybe these were the 'salter's' IOW, UFCW plants inside the ranks of wal mart employ that are there solely to stir division, and rancor, making it easier to get the union in....This manager did the right thing, and so the employees had to hear a speech....so what.....
 
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