Posted on 05/17/2014 8:54:15 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
When I woke up to see the news, I could hardly believe it: President Obama is planning a visit to the Mountain View Wal-Mart where I work.
But the excitement quickly passed when I found out the store would be shutting down hours in advance of his visit. I wouldn’t be able to tell the president what it’s like to work at Wal-Mart and what it’s like to struggle on low wages, without the hours I need. I am living at the center of the income inequality that he speaks about so often, and I wanted to talk to him about how to change this problem.
My situation is not unlike that of many of the 825,000 Wal-Mart associates – and many other Americans – who are working hard, but just can’t keep up. Most of us aren’t even paid $25,000 a year even though we work at the largest employer in the country and one that makes $16 billion in profits.
I wanted to tell the president what it’s like working – and living – like this.
Things have always been tight. After four years working at Wal-Mart in Mountain View, I am bringing home about $400 every two weeks (I’d like to get more hours, but I’m lucky if I work 32 hours a week). That’s not enough to pay for bills, gas and food. All I can afford to eat for lunch is a cup of coffee and a bag of potato chips. I’ve always done everything possible to stretch paychecks and scrape by. Sometimes it means not getting enough to eat.
But then I got some bad news that made stretching my budget impossible.
Two months ago, I started feeling ill. My doctor told me I needed to take a week off to have a series of medical tests. Every day for a week I went to the hospital and had to pay $30, $60 or $100 in co-pays for each appointment, test and X-ray.
With these additional expenses and without a paycheck for the week I was out, it pushed me over the edge. I didn’t have enough money to pay the rent.
Right now, I don’t have a place to call home.
I sleep on the floor of my son’s living room because I can’t afford my own place. All of my belongings are in my car. I don’t know where to send my mail.
I used to think, “At least I have my health and my family.” But my doctor thinks I may have colon cancer, and with all of the money I still owe the hospital, I’m not sure how to finish the tests and get treatment. Even though I do have insurance through Wal-Mart, the co-pays are more than I can afford with only $400 every two weeks.
I wanted to tell the president I am scared. I am scared for my health. I am scared for the future for my grandkids. And I am scared and sad about the direction that companies like Wal-Mart are taking our country.
I don’t wish the struggle I’m facing onto anyone. But sadly, my situation isn’t unique. I know that I am one of many living in the Wal-Mart economy who has no financial stability. We expect to work until our deaths because we don’t have any retirement savings and are concerned about the future in front of our children and grandchildren.
There are so many of us who have it so hard – trying to live paycheck to paycheck. While the president is here visiting my store, I want him to look inside at what is really happening at Wal-Mart.
I want the president to help us and tell Wal-Mart to pay us enough to cover the bills and take care of our families. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask from such a profitable company, a company that sets the standard for jobs in this country. And I hope it’s not too much to ask from a president who believes that income inequality is the defining challenge of our time.
When Democrats are in power via Executive Action...
Depends on where you live. There’re all kinds of good jobs here.
http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=&l=76208
It means his plan is working perfectly.
And you still worship him!
I’m told of a cashier at a nearby WalMart who has worked for more than 20 years, and invested in the stock. They say she has more than a million saved for retirement just in Walmart stock. Which means she earns some really good dividends as well.
“One wonders if Ms. Ramos may have had some “assistance” in writing this.
It somehow has that special “community organized” tone, n’est ce pas?”
You noticed that too.
Did her brain fall out? How bad can it be if her brain didn’t fall out? Most of the jobs I’ve had, your brain falls out. It’s bad, but where do you think generals come from? There were times when my brain went flying out and I thought, “You know, I’d kill for an easy Walmart job where your brain doesn’t fly out.”
If Walmart divided all of its profit between its 800,000+ employees, it would amount to less than $20,000 more per employee. That’s a lot of money if you’re making $25,000, but shareholders, the people who actually invested to make those jobs to start with, would get squat, and Walmart would be unable to do essential things like build new distribution centers that allow it to improve it’s operations to keep pace with its competitors. It would be like a farmer eating his seed corn.
One of the hard lessons to learn in life is that a person will NEVER be paid what they are worth or what they bring into the business. Rather there are two values that provide the upper and lower range of the pay that you will receive.
The lower value is what a person is willing to work for. If the individual is unwilling to work for X dollars, then they will not take the job.
The upper value is what it costs to replace the individual. If the job requires limited skills, there are a LOT of people who can qualify for that job, and the price for that job is thus reduced.
And at SouthbayLabor.org it says:
Walmart employee Pamela Ramos, who works at the Mountain View Walmart the President visited, is living in her car because low wages and medical bills keep her from covering the rent.
Doug McMillon
President and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/leadership/executive-management/doug-mcmillon/
“Doug is a longtime champion of Walmart’s customer, its associates and the company’s culture. In 1984, he started out as an hourly summer associate in a Walmart distribution center. “
It's easy to beat up on this guy, and perhaps for good reason. But he's got a point here.
There is something wrong with this country. Full-time jobs are too difficult to get. I know many good people, hard-working people, who are forced to work 24 hours per week at one job, and then another 8 or 16 hours at another job. They just want a simple 40 hour per week job, but they cannot find one. And that's wrong.
But what they can't see is that it's not the fault of the employer. It's the fault of the government for structuring things so that part-time workers become more attractive than full-timers.
It doesn’t help if illegal aliens are willing to work for much less. That also helps drive down wages. It also doesn’t help when Obamacare penalizes companies for having full time employees. I sympathize with this lady, but she’s probably got it all wrong. Obama and his ilk are a large part of why things are tough. They can’t fix it. They’re the folks who create it.
0bamacare is the reason why many employers have dropped to under 24 hours/week. Walmart is not the place to expect a 40 hour/week job. It never has been.
I'm surprised she does not want to ask her buddy Barry why she still cannot afford health care and may die for lack of money for diagnosis/treatment after the passage of Obamacare. It was supposed to fix everything! You voted for that, Pam. You were just too low information to understand.
Step #3: ROBOCLERK!
She does claim she wants more hours.
“Step #1 — Minimum wage: $50/hr!!
Step #2 — Single Payer Healthcare” make it totally free!!
Step #3 ...”
‘Step #3, we the government tell you how much of that $50 an hour you can take home (not much), where to live, what to do for work, as well as other severe limits on your lifestyle and choices...’
Socialism sucks people. Learn it before we are forced to live it.
Ding Ding Ding... We have a winner!
This drivel is so obviously written by some regime hack its Laughable.
1. She could sign up at a local food bank to get some healthy staple items. Coffee and chips is not lunch. If you only work 32 hours or less, you have time to hard-boil some eggs or make a peanut butter sandwich and take it with you.
2. If she has colon cancer, she can see if her local Catholic hospital has some assistance for her. They sometimes have charitable grants for poor patients to cover their hospital bills.
3. My BIL has a crappy job like this, but he is not bitter, and this person doesn’t have to be, either. That extra time he has, he spends helping out my elderly MIL. And he tries to enjoy the people he works with and seeing what he can do to make the place run a little better. It’s a safe bet that he will move up in the company, or get hired away by a competitor, eventually.
Retail jobs do stink because they never want to put you on full-time. But this writer could do a couple things to improve her lot in life. It’s not all Wal-Mart’s fault.
Well that explains the possible colon cancer. It doesn't take much to bring left overs or PBJ's for low cost lunch options. If you can't afford to live alone, then find a roommate or two.
I'm hard pressed to actually believe any of this is true.
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