I agree with just about everything you posted. I would add the word "leadership" to union. The only thing I didn't quite agree with was the claim about entry level positions. I believe you said transitional jobs.
I would offer to you that as we exit the industrial age andprogress well into the technology age, service jobs cannot be called just entry level or transition for all time. They are simply too many to do so. I would offer that if service based jobs are to be called entry level or transitional for all time then this country will fall on its face with a workfoce comprised mostly of entry level positions. I think that is a recipie for disaster.
Does this mean I would hammer wal mart? No, not at all. I Like wal mart. I would hammer the other entities you named very hard and I would call for people to accept that lots and lots of gen X and gen Y will always be in service based jobs and that they are indeed careers.
An example. My wife has been a CNA, always been a CNA. This is considered unskilled labor. An entry level position. Take a good look where that attitude leads by noticing the utterly disgusting care (and respect) we give our elders in this nation.
She doesn't want to be a nurse, RN LPN etc. She likes the direct care that she can provide to folks that spent a lifetime earning at least a clean shave a bath and a person to actually show they care about them in their last days. I offer it takes a very special kind of person to do that and calling it unskilled labor ( and paying a wage that reflects that) is about as much a slap in the face as the care nursing homes provide for their $6000 a month fee.
Not an attack man, just an observation a couple comments and an example to show where I am coming from.