Posted on 11/22/2012 8:08:31 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
About 20 people gathered in front of the Oakland Walmart store on Edgewater Drive Wednesday to demand better pay and work schedules.
Richmond Walmart store employee Anthony Bravo joined fellow demonstrators and said the company starts associates at minimum wage, but reported $15 billion in profits last year.
We didnt see nothing. I didnt see none of that. It really makes me upset that they can make all of this money out of profits and were barely surviving, Bravo said.
With the chant of Walmart, Walmart youre no good. Treat your workers like you should, Bravo and the others marched through the stores with signs for about 10 minutes.
(Excerpt) Read more at sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com ...
That would be 16 bucks a week, if they were allowed to work a full week, which they aren't...Before taxes...
>>And these days, where would that hypothetical better job be?<<
My company is hiring — we need TONS of people who know technology, large systems, payroll, finance, analytics, etc.
You know, the “jobs of the future” we were told about 30 YEARS AGO!
There should be a training wage, for those under the age of 18, and new hires for a period of six months. It’s ridiculous to force the same minimum wage on everyone, regardless of age or experience, it makes companies more hesitant to hire people.
And of course Union Contracts are tied to the minimum wage, that’s what makes it such a big deal....but nobody ever mentions that.
“US industry has been driven out from America as if by an Angel with a flaming sword”
Not driven out, but cheerfully abandoned America. And the “angel with a flaming” sword was the understandable urge by CEOs to make as much money as possible, even if that meant moving to some Fourth World dump where workers could be paid almost nothing and refuse could be dumped almost anywhere. And if that meant the American worker got screwed in the process, then that was his tough luck.
>> A man ought to find a way to contribute to our economy at a higher level if hes going to take a higher level of return out of itsuch as to support a family.<<
Any “man” who daily doesn’t ask himself “is this a job that will still be here in a year?” and then acts on the answer is a self-delusional fool.
I always hear footsteps and take advantage of EVERY chance to add more tools to my toolkit.
Value is the name of the game. Operating a 40-year old oven should never have been a career choice for anyone who started less than 30 years ago.
Service jobs have always been low paying with lousy/if any benefits. Nothing's changed....
If anything has changed it's the unrealistic expectation that these jobs should be high paying with good benefits.......
Ah, hahahaha, hahahahaha, you should be educated before buying the liberal talking points. Son works there, full time, 40+ hours a week, since he started there, 3 years ago. As does everyone he works with, unless they choose to work part time. But even part time employees are scheduled for close to 40 hours a week if they want it.
I see that leftists continue to use nominal amounts like “$15 Billion in profit” to describe the profits of some of the largest corporations in the world, as if these words mean anything without looking at the asset size needed to make that money. They did the same thing with Exxon, calling it the most profitable company in the world. They conveniently didn’t mention their profit margin, which is tiny. For Exxon and Walmart to make their profit, they have had to use some of the largest amounts invested in the world, and these leftists want a piece of it!
Where those other jobs are is not Walmart’s responsibility or problem. And having insight into the employees that end up at Walmart, these are by and large not quality employees. There are reasons that they end up at Walmart, and they end up not being able to keep that job.
>>Not driven out, but cheerfully abandoned America.<<
No, driven out — you think they WANTED to move? It is a big mess, a huge hassle and has its own set of complexities and costs.
The liberals with such insanity as Living Wage jobs and bureaucratic hoops not imagined in Dante’s Inferno forced them out.
>>sword was the understandable urge by CEOs to make as much money as possible<<
Come close, I wanna tell you something — no, closer. Now get a pen and write this down: THAT IS THEIR JOB!!!!!!!!!!
They agreed to work there for the wages that were offered. If their skills are that great they can go on down the road and find another job with the wages they desire. Or they can disrupt the store, get fired, get banned from all walmart property and have a great Christmas with their totally broke family. We will be shopping at wally later today and I will complain loudly to law enforcement and management if a single one of them gets in my way.
And why can't they today? Could it be that perhaps the wages of the unskilled production workers in our UAW automotive plants are unrealistically high and the benefits packages too exhorbitant?
Protected, Goverment approved brands would be anything and everything made in the U.S., by American workers...And it wouldn't affect any money moving out of the U.S...People would still be free to move any or all of their money out of the U.S...
The question is; is it still worthwhile for a company to make and sell American made goods in America...I'd say definitely so...If it turns out that excessive regulations prevent a certain good(s) from being available to the general public, pressure on Washington would be so great that there would be an immediate cessation of those regulations...
The thing that controls prices is competition...Something innovative Americans are very good at...
“And having insight into the employees that end up at Walmart, these are by and large not quality employees. “
Sadly, I have to agree with that. Although some of the people I’ve dealt with at my local Wally World seem reasonably happy and intelligent, a combination of low pay and poor-quality management does not tend to attract quality employees, even in an economy with scarce jobs.
Yes.
Now if they proposed putting the exact same trade barriers against a country that it puts against us, that would be worth a discussion.
>>Now if they proposed putting the exact same trade barriers against a country that it puts against us, that would be worth a discussion.<<
I’ll go with that — it is rough balancing act.
Is the value of the money you were making per hour back then the same as the value of the money your son is making???
But don't kid yourself...Your son's job may not turn out to be a temporary stopping point...Ask him to check with other employees to see if there are any college grads doing the same as he's doing, for the same money...
The jobs are leaving by the millions...There may not be anything soon, beyond a Wal-Mart job...
But there isn’t much price difference between GM/Ford/Chrysler (UAW) and US-built Honda and Toyota (non-union) equivalent vehicles (e.g. malibu, fusion, chrysler 200 vs. camry accord). They all cost roughly the same given similar trim levels. Now healthcare costs are a real PITA, but foreign companies don’t have that problem because of their single-payer systems (not that I’m advocating that here!!).
Rhodesia, the breadbasket of Africa, descended into a tribal hell-hole due to the loving action of Government intervention.
It’s really curious that you saw the word ‘agriculture’ and decided to shriek something irrelevant about the US food industry. It’s almost as if you didn’t have an argument and decided to ‘Biden’ your way through the thread.
Perhaps you could address my actual point - which is that the crushing hand of Government has destroyed Argentina, Venezuela and Zimbabwe (amongst many, many other countries) by destroying or driving out the capital and the wealth producers.
In the same way the crushing hand of Government has been driving the capital and wealth producers from America. You (apparently) believe that the wealth producers should be stopped from leaving, or give of their time and capital for free, or something.
Believe me, all those ruined countries tried exactly the same thing. They are now all hellish socialist prisons.
My son was promoted to merchandise supervisor there in just over a year of working, went back to a stocking position after just over a year, because he was jerked around by different managers throughout the day and week. Morning: do this. Afternoon: why were you doing that. He realized this isn’t worth it. I am just trying to get through college and have a little spending money to enjoy.
The skill of management is lacking, but what is expected when your pool for management is the dregs of society, for the most part. No different than what you see in government systems. You get what you put in.
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