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Walmart Threatened Workers For Trying To Organize, Judge Rules

Meister said:
I'm not trying to sell you my premise, but most who buy at Walmart don't buy at Costco or Macy's.
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That may well be true, however trying to say why one can organize and the other can't, or why one pays less because of their business model is just silly. All companies; franchises included, have their own dynamic that plays out. If that dynamic is divisive and hostile, then that company is going to under go an organizing drive if the employees want one.
 
Helix said:
because we all get together quarterly, drink taxpayer funded cognac, and scheme of ways to steal walmart from you and help more people get access to education / job training.

either way, **** this. go to walmart if you want. i don't give a ****.
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Yeah right, and in the process force the poor to pay more for their food. That's liberal compassion for ya. :roll:

Oh, and I will continue to shop at Walmart, I'm one of those working stiffs who benefits from low prices. Though I'm sure you would rather see prices on everything from energy, to gas, to groceries "necessarily skyrocket", and suck the life blood right out of working stiffs like me. I'm not sure how much more liberal compassion I can endure before it makes me homeless.
 
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Helix said:
of course it's my business. i pay taxes that fund public assistance.
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That doesn't give you the right to demand businesses bend to your will.

either way, it doesn't matter. treat your workers badly enough for long enough, and they will unionize.
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Then let them unionize and you worry about your own job.
 
jimbo said:
Apparently there are ways. Companies including Walmart have closed stores in conjunction with employee situations. Huffpo at least caims this happens:

Walmart's War Against Unions -- and the U.S. Laws That Make It Possible*|*Julie Gutman Dickinson

Walmart has a superior legal staff. If there is a way, they will find it. The unions have superior legal staffs, including in many cases the backing of NLRB and DOJ. If there is a way, they will try to stop it.
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Here's what's happening: from your article -
Perhaps Walmart's most powerful tool in resisting unionization efforts is the incredibly weak penalties for employers that violate labor law. There are no punitive awards for labor law infractions, which means that employers -- particularly those with the enormous resources that Walmart enjoys -- have little economic incentive to obey the law.
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What deep pocket employers do, is delay, delay, delay hearings and trials. Because they have the money, they thumb their noses at the labor law. Closing or threaten employees is still illegal and walmart is undergoing more and more pressure as a result of their behavior. Companies that close are called run-aways. The trouble is there are no punitive measures that the law can take against people who make such decisions, as you source states, so what always winds up happening over time; just like in the 30s, the movement builds to such a crescendo that the law has to step in. The law has banned walmart from setting up in several cities across the country for this very reason. Mark my words: walmart will change or they will be run out of business.
 
Helix said:
because we all get together quarterly, drink taxpayer funded cognac, and scheme of ways to steal walmart from you and help more people get access to education / job training.

either way, **** this. go to walmart if you want. i don't give a ****.
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I just went to Walmart and Aldi's and Lowe's. I broke my rake handle. Turns out that a new rake costs less than just a new handle for the same rake, but I digress. Not everyone who works at Walmart is oppressed. Have a relative who started there part-time with a GED. They liked her, and eventually helped her go to college while working, and transferred her to a management position at Sam's. She also had a baby during all of this and had to be out of school and work for a period. They are not a bad company for their employees. There just are a limited number of positions one can move up into and a wide pool of employees gunning for them. It is the nature of that business.
 
countryboy said:
Yeah right, and in the process force the poor to pay more for their food. That's liberal compassion for ya. :roll:

Oh, and I will continue to shop at Walmart, I'm one of those working stiffs who benefits from low prices. Though I'm sure you would rather see prices on everything from energy, to gas, to groceries "necessarily skyrocket", and suck the life blood right out of working stiffs like me. I'm not sure how much more liberal compassion I can endure before it makes me homeless.
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cool. shop there every day if you want.
 
Declan said:
I just went to Walmart and Aldi's and Lowe's. I broke my rake handle. Turns out that a new rake costs less than just a new handle for the same rake, but I digress. Not everyone who works at Walmart is oppressed. Have a relative who started there part-time with a GED. They liked her, and eventually helped her go to college while working, and transferred her to a management position at Sam's. She also had a baby during all of this and had to be out of school and work for a period. They are not a bad company for their employees. There just are a limited number of positions one can move up into and a wide pool of employees gunning for them. It is the nature of that business.
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like i said, i don't paint walmart as some demon. i just support their workers organizing to sell their labor for the best price they can get for it.
 
Helix said:
cool. shop there every day if you want.
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There you go. That is how free people are supposed to interact in a free society. You don't like Walmart? Don't work there or shop there. I like Walmart? I work there and/or shop there.

The problem is, that is never good enough for liberals. They want to impose their will on others rather than allow for free and independent interactions to decide things.
 
jet57 said:
Threatening to shut down a business because your employees are thinking about it, is management thuggery, illegal, and most often an empty threat.
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LOL they have done it before and so have other companies. they will do it again.
 
Helix said:
like i said, i don't paint walmart as some demon. i just support their workers organizing to sell their labor for the best price they can get for it.
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But do you support workers who choose not to organize to sell their labor for a certain price (I find "best" to wishy washy a term in this context)?
 
ludin said:
LOL they have done it before and so have other companies. they will do it again.
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You can say whatever you want about it. It's illegal.
 
Fletch said:
There you go. That is how free people are supposed to interact in a free society. You don't like Walmart? Don't work there or shop there. I like Walmart? I work there and/or shop there.

The problem is, that is never good enough for liberals. They want to impose their will on others rather than allow for free and independent interactions to decide things.
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reread my posts. i'm good with you shopping there every day. i also support the workers' right to organize if they feel that walmart isn't treating them well.
 
jet57 said:
That may well be true, however trying to say why one can organize and the other can't, or why one pays less because of their business model is just silly. All companies; franchises included, have their own dynamic that plays out. If that dynamic is divisive and hostile, then that company is going to under go an organizing drive if the employees want one.
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Well, apparently not at Walmart, and good for them. And....their business model really isn't silly, people that have the least can go there and spend money and get more than they could at a union shop. But, yes, you are right, all companies, franchises included have their own dynamic that plays out and that includes Walmart.
 
Declan said:
But do you support workers who choose not to organize to sell their labor for a certain price (I find "best" to wishy washy a term in this context)?
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i don't support forcing anyone to join a union. i also don't support unions having to negotiate for non-union workers' wages and benefits.
 
Meister said:
Well, apparently not at Walmart, and good for them. And....their business model really isn't silly, people that have the least can go there and spend money and get more than they could at a union shop. But, yes, you are right, all companies, franchises included have their own dynamic that plays out and that includes Walmart.
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Walmart is undergoing an organizing drive right now. Why do you think you're seeing picket signs showing up in news stories?
 
jet57 said:
Walmart is undergoing an organizing drive right now. Why do you think you're seeing picket signs showing up in news stories?
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Because of the activists from the labor unions....that probably are paying minimum wages to do the picketing.
Doesn't mean squat.....Walmart is standing firm and is going to protect themselves.
 
jet57 said:
Walmart is undergoing an organizing drive right now. Why do you think you're seeing picket signs showing up in news stories?
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Because lazy ****s think they deserve more than they're worth?
 
jet57 said:
That may well be true, however trying to say why one can organize and the other can't, or why one pays less because of their business model is just silly. All companies; franchises included, have their own dynamic that plays out. If that dynamic is divisive and hostile, then that company is going to under go an organizing drive if the employees want one.
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That is the rub of it. People just don't want to be in unions any more. My dad used to be a local union official until he finally got pissed off enough at the working masses to quit and work elsewhere. They were already recognized, but most people at his work (as in the overwhelming vast majority) refused to join. The workers hated the place mind you and were screwed on a daily basis, but they just did not want to be involved in AFL-CIO union politics or give money to an group that they did not believe would change anything either. The local for the few dozen electricians were the only ones who had any sway because they were critical employees to the company and they were in a separate union and they were the best paid blue collar employees at the plant.
 
jet57 said:
Here's what's happening: from your article -

What deep pocket employers do, is delay, delay, delay hearings and trials. Because they have the money, they thumb their noses at the labor law. Closing or threaten employees is still illegal and walmart is undergoing more and more pressure as a result of their behavior. Companies that close are called run-aways. The trouble is there are no punitive measures that the law can take against people who make such decisions, as you source states, so what always winds up happening over time; just like in the 30s, the movement builds to such a crescendo that the law has to step in. The law has banned walmart from setting up in several cities across the country for this very reason. Mark my words: walmart will change or they will be run out of business.
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Sure they do. I was adressing the statement that Walmart could not close stores. They can and do.

It is almost certain that Walmart at some point will either change their business model or close and be replaced with something else. Remember WT Grant, FW Woolworth? That's the nature of the market. Always changing.

Meantime, a lot of people shop at Walmart, a lot of people work there.
 
Meister said:
Because of the activists from the labor unions....that probably are paying minimum wages to do the picketing.
Doesn't mean squat.....Walmart is standing firm and is going to protect themselves.
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The walmart employees are doing the picketing and the walmart employees are organizing through their choice of a union. Walmart has every right to dissuade a union drive; just don't cheat.
 
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jimbo said:
Sure they do. I was adressing the statement that Walmart could not close stores. They can and do.

It is almost certain that Walmart at some point will either change their business model or close and be replaced with something else. Remember WT Grant, FW Woolworth? That's the nature of the market. Always changing.

Meantime, a lot of people shop at Walmart, a lot of people work there.
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Yeah; those companies were low-balled out business, by k-mart, walmart, and others like them. What about protection for small business? I thought that was the backbone of the economy.

People that work at walmart are dragging teh economy down because the have to rely on the government for what walmart doesn't pay. But walmart is nonunion so I guess that's okay,
 
jet57 said:
You can say whatever you want about it. It's illegal.
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You can keep saying it that won't stop them. they just have to prove that the store is no longer profitable to remain open.
 
Helix said:
reread my posts. i'm good with you shopping there every day. i also support the workers' right to organize if they feel that walmart isn't treating them well.
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90% of the private workforce in not unionized yet somehow Walmart is constantly singled out by leftist agitators as the symbol of corporate tyranny. Why is that? The employees are generally content and not interested in unionization, so why does the left continue to beat this drum? I suspect that like everything else with liberals, this is all about politics and power masquerading as concern for the little guy.
 
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