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Walmart workers demand better wages

Retail has always been low paying, part time entry level work, and always will be, so you can drop the drama. The sky will not fall if WalMart employees only make $10 per hour.
no drama about it, this is the road we are heading down, the constant downward pressure on wages is leading us there.
 
no drama about it, this is the road we are heading down, the constant downward pressure on wages is leading us there.
There is no downward pressure on wages. Wages are not being cut. Hours might be being cut in certain industries but that is mainly because health care costs are out of control. Attacking business wont alter that. Address the cause, not the effect.
 
There is no downward pressure on wages. Wages are not being cut. Hours might be being cut in certain industries but that is mainly because health care costs are out of control. Attacking business wont alter that. Address the cause, not the effect.
sorry, disagree with you, i believe you to be badly misinformed.....
 
Nonsense. Walmart cannot unilaterally raise its wages by 30% and remain competitive within its market. You obviously misunderstand what constitutes a discount retail outlet. Walmart's net profit margin is now about 3.5%, and I am sure that labor costs are more than 10% of its operating expenses.

See link: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) | Profitability

Study: Increasing Wages at Wal-Mart Would Barely Affect Shoppers - Working In These Times

And you can remain competitive, Walmart isn't so successful due to low wages, it is due to economies of scale, which further allows it to suppress wages for it's own employees and suppliers.
 
Thoughts anyone?

First, union security agreements should be legal. Laws that prohibit them are an affront to a free market, since in a free market, all private contracts should be allowed.

Second, American workers need to improve their work ethic. One of the reasons that Wal-Mart can get away w/paying its employees such low wages is that its employees in the US simply work too hard for that level of pay. If low-skilled workers just all got lazier, in general, they would be in a better position to negotiate for higher pay.
 
There is no downward pressure on wages. Wages are not being cut. Hours might be being cut in certain industries but that is mainly because health care costs are out of control. Attacking business wont alter that. Address the cause, not the effect.

True, and they were being cut prior to any reform. Some call it the McDonald's effect. A friend of mind calls it the Mexicanization of America. So, regardless of medical costs, companies THINK they are better off with cheaper and cheaper labor costs. However, as the best consumers in the world, us having less money ultimately means less business.
 
First, union security agreements should be legal. Laws that prohibit them are an affront to a free market, since in a free market, all private contracts should be allowed.

Second, American workers need to improve their work ethic. One of the reasons that Wal-Mart can get away w/paying its employees such low wages is that its employees in the US simply work too hard for that level of pay. If low-skilled workers just all got lazier, in general, they would be in a better position to negotiate for higher pay.
No, actually the reason WalMart can get away with paying the wages it does is because it is a competative wage that allows it to employ all the people it needs. That you think the wage is too low is irrelevant.
 
There are a few reasons for that. First is that walmart is one of the biggest employers in the US and some people need those things called jobs. Also Walmart would be a company that can employ people from the least skilled up to the skilled people who handle the higher up functions of the company. Just because Walmart pays their retail employees like dung does not mean that they do not employ skilled workers nationwide for a number of purposes at reasonable salaries. Still, many of the people who find retail work in Walmart simply need the job.

This leads to why Walmart is able to be such a crappy employer, and there is little the employees can do about it. Simply most employees in a specific walmart store are unable to walk out and strike.

They can; all they have to do is just get together on a specific day w/high demand and call in sick.

The threat of being fired from a place like Wal-Mart for collectively calling in sick on a day w/high demand is near zero.
 
No, actually the reason WalMart can get away with paying the wages it does is because it is a competative wage that allows it to employ all the people it needs.

Wages only become competitive if workers don't act like exploitable stooges. Whenever you walk into a store like Wal-Mart, you will always notice that some employees work hard, while others do little or nothing.

The ones doing little or nothing are the smart ones and should serve as role models for the rest of the employees; after all, they prove that it isn't necessary to do much work to stay employed.
 
True, and they were being cut prior to any reform. Some call it the McDonald's effect. A friend of mind calls it the Mexicanization of America. So, regardless of medical costs, companies THINK they are better off with cheaper and cheaper labor costs. However, as the best consumers in the world, us having less money ultimately means less business.
As far as I can tell, the only companies that can get away with that are entry level, no-skill-needed employers. Those types of jobs will never pay well, nor should they. I cant imagine that there are too many high skilled jobs that are cuting people to part time as a general stratagy. You can lose an unskilled employee without any real loss to your business since there is another ready to take his place. If you want to increase the pay for the unskilled, the only way to do that is to have fewer of them, thus making scarcity the engine of higher pay. But I dont see that happening any time soon. If ever.
 
Wages only become competitive if workers don't act like exploitable stooges. Whenever you walk into a store like Wal-Mart, you will always notice that some employees work hard, while others do little or nothing.

The ones doing little or nothing are the smart ones and should serve as role models for the rest of the employees; after all, they prove that it isn't necessary to do much work to stay employed.
I see. Is that the type of advice you would give your own children? Would you have people like those serve as role models for them? Or do you a different standard of right behavior that you would apply to you and yours?
 
If you went around the nation and took a survey asking this question - WHICH NATIONAL COMPANY DO YOU REFUSE TO PATRONIZE BECUAE YOU HAVE STRONG DIFFERENCE OF OPINION WITH HOW THE COMPANY OPERATES? is there any doubt who would win going away? I cannot even think of a company which would finish second.

Just ask people, "Do you ever shop at WalMart?" What a loaded question you would ask!! :rofl

First, union security agreements should be legal. Laws that prohibit them are an affront to a free market, since in a free market, all private contracts should be allowed.

Second, American workers need to improve their work ethic. One of the reasons that Wal-Mart can get away w/paying its employees such low wages is that its employees in the US simply work too hard for that level of pay. If low-skilled workers just all got lazier, in general, they would be in a better position to negotiate for higher pay.

I hope you don't mind, Solletica...that bolded sentence is the Post of the Year.
 
No, actually the reason WalMart can get away with paying the wages it does is because it is a competative wage that allows it to employ all the people it needs. That you think the wage is too low is irrelevant.

"The free market did it, therefore it's good."

Have you accounted for the massive subsidies WalMart is receiving from the taxpayers?
 
Just ask people, "Do you ever shop at WalMart?" What a loaded question you would ask!! :rofl

Point taken Maggie - they do have tons of willing customers. That is very true. But they also have a large group who loathes them and will go to lengths NOT to patronize them.

So is there any other major company in America where the population is so divided about other than Wal Mart?
 
If they want better pay, they should seek employment elsewhere. Walmart is notorious for its crappy conditions, and why anyone would ever seek employment there is baffling.

Because they need the job. As Democrats vote to increase the number of unemployed into the 10s of millions out of their principles - ie Democrats love-affair with the super rich, some people actually can't live on welfare and food stamps - or prefer not to. I suppose an argument could be made that a person is smarter to live on government support than working, though, per Democratic social policies, but some people don't agree with that.
 
I'm confused why people are attacking workers for asking better working conditions.

I think it's because I see it not being "the people" who are asking for better working conditions. I see it as "the union" pushing from the top down...instead of the workers pulling from the bottom up.

Websites paid for by unions are continually reporting mis-information . . . tried to disrupt the company's business this last weekend . . . conducting a huge media blitz against WalMart . . . busing in what I must assume are "bought-and-paid-for demonstrators" . . . why? Because they are salivating at the thought of 1.5 million unionized WalMart workers paying $20-$25 a month in union dues. They have no altruistic intent. As usual? It's all about the money.
 
I see. Is that the type of advice you would give your own children? Would you have people like those serve as role models for them? Or do you a different standard of right behavior that you would apply to you and yours?

Whenever someone works harder than what's required, it amounts to theft of time and effort. In an ideal free market, theft should = 0.
 
I think it's because I see it not being "the people" who are asking for better working conditions. I see it as "the union" pushing from the top down...instead of the workers pulling from the bottom up.

Websites paid for by unions are continually reporting mis-information . . . tried to disrupt the company's business this last weekend . . . conducting a huge media blitz against WalMart . . . busing in what I must assume are "bought-and-paid-for demonstrators" . . . why? Because they are salivating at the thought of 1.5 million unionized WalMart workers paying $20-$25 a month in union dues. They have no altruistic intent. As usual? It's all about the money.

You have absolutely nothing to base this on, but you "must assume" all of it anyway.

Get a job at WalMart. Then tell me how peachy you think they have it. You've concocted this whole conspiracy theory from... what, exactly? What actual evidence do you have to support any of this?
 
Whenever someone works harder than what's required, it amounts to theft of time and effort. In an ideal free market, theft should = 0.

BS, total unadulterated BS, working harder than required is how people get ahead, its how people earn promotions. your marxist ideas are total BS!
 
Whenever someone works harder than what's required, it amounts to theft of time and effort. In an ideal free market, theft should = 0.

Ladies and gentlemen, libertarianism.
 
Whenever someone works harder than what's required, it amounts to theft of time and effort. In an ideal free market, theft should = 0.

No it doesn't ... Anytime the employer takes more money that he didn't work for, he's stealing from the worker ... So basically, as long as walmart is profitable, barely, or even just cutting even, the workers arn't stealing a thing.

If you buy a car and the car isn't perfect, you havn't been robbed.
 
BS, total unadulterated BS, working harder than required is how people get ahead, its how people earn promotions. your marxist ideas are total BS!

And wages go up overall when workers organize.
 
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