Posted on 11/09/2004 1:11:34 PM PST by Willie Green
In Circleville, Ohio, population 13,000, the local RCA television manufacturing plant was once a source of good jobs with good pay and benefits. But in late 2003, RCA's owner, Thomson Consumer Electronics, lost a sizeable portion of its production orders and six months later shut the plant down, throwing 1,000 people out of work.
Thomson's jobs have moved to China, where cheap labor manufactures what the American consumer desires--from clothing to electronics--and can buy at "everyday low prices" at the local Wal-Mart.
On Tuesday, November 16, at 9 P.M. on PBS (check local listings), FRONTLINE® explores the relationship between U.S. job losses and the American consumer's insatiable desire for bargains in "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" Through interviews with retail executives, product manufacturers, economists, and trade experts, correspondent Hedrick Smith examines the growing controversy over the Wal-Mart way of doing business and asks whether a single retail giant has changed the American economy.
(Excerpt) Read more at pbs.org ...
"...100 years from now, PBS won't be able to"
Please, not another century of government subsidized TV.
The hardware store you mention is probably like the one where I shop, they are selling service. They can tell me how to do or fix almost anything around my house and then sell me the tools to do. I like that. Walmart doesn't do that for me.
It is the opposite in my town.
K-mart is usually not crowded, but WM is Hell.
If my town had a quaint little downtown area with mom & pop stores, that is where I'd do ALL my shopping. Target or KM usually gets my $$$.
Wal-Mart
Always the LONG line.
Always.
the stock is listed on the NYSE. it's a money generator. if they don't like it Frontline,it's a good thing. no-brainer.
'That would keep those consumers poor and government dependent'
Those consumers are already poor as their jobs went to China and now Chinese workers are buying cars and running
the cost of fuel through the roof for the worker trying to find another job here.
I prefer Texas, thank-you-very-much.
I, for one, am not a communist, a socialist, nor a capitalist. I think the concern, certainly mine, was how rural areas might avoid commiting suicide. I was wondering how such small towns could possibly offset the loss in wages and taxes when an oligophy, such as Walmart, crushes competition.
Wal-Mart was originally bankrolled by Clinton's buddy
Jackson Stephens and put Hillary on the Board of Directors.
That's been enough to keep me away.
I'm not certain that anyone here really knows that much about Walmart. They are the largest consumer of energy in the country. They employ over 1,800,000 people. Any company that large has an impact on our country. Are they bad for us? Yes and no.
They offer low prices. They offer longer hours. They offer convenience. They buy 80% of their non-grocery items overseas. They pay low wages. Their employee benefits programs are not all that great, to say the least. Many of their products are older models.
There's more to Walmart then meets the eye. I won't go into their abuses of overtime and breaks, etc. These are pretty well-known. I worked for Walmart for 4 years. I quit and went to work for a large specialty retailer. Would I work for Walmart again? No. I've worked for 3 other large retailers. Two treated their employees fairly, one was just like Walmart. In order to keep prices low these are the things retailers do.
I don't think that we can avoid buying products from China and other countries such as India any more. But in turn we have to be willing to quit complaining about out-sourcing of jobs.
Thanks for the suggestion ... I'll check the phone book!
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