Posted on 02/11/2005 1:58:23 PM PST by quidnunc
When unions get burned, things always turn ugly. They have a scorched earth vindictive mentality.
Its in French Canada..no big loss to anyone
"Wal-Mart is trying to send a message to the rest of their employees that if they join a union the same thing could happen to them," said Michael J. Fraser, the union's national director in Canada
Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding! The man deserves a gold star! Gooooo Walmart! I always look for the union label: I always buy from a non-union shop any time I can!
Probably paying higher prices for the same old chinese made stuff. Try to find stuff made in the usa today.
When I was in college I worked for a retail giant on a part-time basis. There was a union drive at my store that was prompted by some very legitimate concerns on the part of the work force, and it was quite a learning experience for me both ways (from the union's perspective and the store management's perspective).
"Where should we shop instead of Wal-Mart to prove our patriotism?"
Try made in the USA vs made in China at Walmart if you wish to be patriotic.
Young and Idealistic, didn't last long.
Yeah, I've seen some of those concerns. Seems that most of them can be defused by firing incompetent management.
I thought that was Haliburton. :)
Not too many alternatives are there?
The only time i go to wal mart is when i want to watch a fat lady beat her children!!!
I rarely do. But it's a fine, low-end store with good merchandize, and a surprizing number of non-China brand names. I hate the checkout lines. Those are a nightmare, and the Wal-marts should consider opening a few more registers in the departments and allowing people to checkout there.
It's a disappointing corporate entity, no doubt. They apparently bent over backward to avoid saying - MERRY CHRISTMAS - when it was Christmas. Shame on them. There's another like that, whose management tend to be even Dem supporters. That's Costco. But I don't know where I'd be without the quality and discount of Costco. So I can't say I appreciate either management, or either corporation. But they still have very good stores, despite themselves. Maybe they'll manage all that away at some time, too. But not yet.
As for the union, I can't see that a reasonable union would be so offensive to Wal-mart, or any. But an intrusive union that sees Wal-mart as a money tree, and is plain in that cyncism, that sees Wal-mart as a sort of junior partner even, is one that might just make a Wal-mart close the store and say - fie upon it! Which is apparently what they did. If the unions would just stick to a few work rules, as they call them, a very few, to pure emergency leave, to perhaps a 'union wage', but not so much that it becomes unreasonable to the business model, and so on, I think Wal-mart and others would consider it. But unions aren't like that, now. Because they have labor or Dem support, they think they're practically an arm of government, and can command economies and businesses and bend them to their will by force of legislation. I'm glad some lousy managements are saying, despite their own incompetence, heck with you. Maybe if more business had the will, and the will to enact pro-business legislation with regard to unions, the unions might repair, gain genuine public support, and find their way back to productive legislation on behalf of the worker, rather than trying to run economies into the ground so that the workers, don't get any work.
The union drive failed by a narrow margin, and company management immediately fired a few people and implemented a bunch of things that made it a great place to work.
I suspect you'll find a lot more foreign and slave labor goods at a Nordstrom or Macy, at a Cost Plus or others, than at Wal-mart. Probably more at Target or K-mart. But to buy American, you almost have to seek out small stores, or go mail order. You want Dan Post, or other, boots. Maybe a local saddle store? Or order direct (or ebay, ugh). Ben Davis, union jeans and shirts. Mail order. And so on.
I know someone close who actually was a negotiator for the local union, some years ago, who might well agree with you, today - as he's a small entreprenuer (racing business).
But I, who have never worked for a union, would still remind anyone that there has to be a balance against management who are not always the sharpest tacks. And a fool can easily reduce a man to time-motion studies and a 'burden on expenses/costs', etc. And a lot of b-school bred management are just that stupid - watch any group of these contestants on Trump's contest show to see for yourself.
Not all unions are the same. Not all union members are slackers. I'm sure many are. But I've seen public sector employees, essentially clerks, put in long hours for no money, and apparently for no other reason than professional pride and the idea of good service to the public. Amazing. And other union members, some, might do just the same.
If there's a clubby, clannish cynicism seen even in the hiring process, then I suppose it sends the message that work is for suckers, and collecting lawyer's pay for goofing off is what 'work' is. But again, not all unions are the same. Without unions, I see little that would protect workers who cannot lay claim to being key people. Most employees are not key people, and can be replaced, sometimes easily. They are at a disadvantage in that negotiation. And a union can help give them at least less of a disadvantage, if it's a good union that doesn't overlook the treatment of even one member (many unions do overlook such).
Conversely, there's really no excuse for sweetheart wage deal where unionists are known, citywide, statewide, for being grossly overpaid, typically of course from taxpayer, and often property tax! payer, dollars. It's obscene, abusive, and leads people to hope that the villians get theirs. A union doesn't have to be seen like that. Too many are.
The radio news report yesterday was talking about some of the employees crying too.
On CBC radio yesterday, (Canada's airamerica) they were interviewing some one high up in Wal-mart who described a most bizarre situation. When the Quebec government receives a phone call or two from employees, they are automatically required to judge the viability of a union in that business. The Quebec officials then took it to a judge, who ruled that Wal-Mart should have a union.
This was imposed on the employees by a Quebec judge.
Our federal government is owned and operated by Quebec. No wonder our country is so ****** !
You're right. That is covered by Federal law under the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board.)
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