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Thread: Walmart

  1. #1
    God/dess Deogol's Avatar
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    Default Walmart

    Not like they can afford to go to college or anything anyhow - I am sure they are just sitting around watching TV eating Walmart bon-bons...

    Sich Heil Walmart! I will sacrifice everything for your customers, mein Walmart!

    ---




    Workers who cannot commit to being available for any shift between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., seven days a week, will be fired by the end of this week. The store employs more than 400 workers.

    "It shouldn't cause any problem, if they are concerned about their customers," Knuckles said.

  2. #2
    God/dess Jenny's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    That's obviously symptomatic of a poor labour code in Virginia. Here, and I bet in many, if not most states, that would be illegal for a number of reasons, not the least of which would be religious discrimination.
    I have taught that the sky in all its zones is mortal and its substance was formed by a process of birth

  3. #3
    Featured Member Destiny's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    I fail to see the point. There are lots of jobs where people are "on-call", some even 24 hours a day. There were times when my ex-husband had to carry a pager and be ready to go in to work anytime he was paged. In any job, there are good points and bad points. Everybody knows one of the bad points of working in retail are the shitty hours.
    Dancing is wonderful training for girls, it's the first way you learn to guess what a man is going to do before he does it. ~Christopher Morley, Kitty Foyle

  4. #4
    God/dess montythegeek's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    Except that the manager who implemented this was wrong, as this article from the same day's local paper reports.
    http://www.saturdaygazettemail.com/s...s/News/ap0055r
    Wal-Mart says store manager's worker scheduling policy was wrong

    NITRO, W.Va. (AP) -- A Wal-Mart store manager wrongly told workers that they would be fired if they could not be available to work any shift at any time, a spokesman for the retailer said Wednesday.

    Workers at the company's store in Nitro said they were told that they would be fired by the end of this week if they could not commit to being available for any shift between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., seven days a week.

    "It is unfortunate that our store manager incorrectly communicated a message that was not only inaccurate, but also disruptive to our associates and the store,'' Wal-Mart corporate spokesman Dan Fogleman said Wednesday.

    "Wal-Mart has not implemented a new availability policy, nor do we have an 'open availability' policy.''

    Fogleman said workers are asked to consider increasing their availability to work when "a significant mismatch develops between our customer needs and associate availability ...''

    "But we do not have any policy that mandates termination if an associate does not comply,'' he said.

    He said company officials understand that each worker may have unique needs and try to schedule them to meet those needs.

    He said a Wal-Mart local district manager was at the store on Wednesday to talk to workers and answer their questions.

    "We will also appropriately deal with the poor decision that our store manager made,'' he said.

    ------

    Information from: The Charleston Gazette, http://www.wvgazette.com

    AP-ES-06-15-05 1643EDT

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    Default Re: Walmart

    Sounds like John Knuklehead is in deep shit. He must not be too good to work for. Maybe he will be one of the ones terminated.

    Wal Mart already has so many clerks who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground as it is.

    At some point I bet they will be forced to raise wages "some". Actually the main problem Wal Mart has is that they have lowered traditionally union level grocery clerk wages when they open or convert to Supercenters. Clerks who ring up groceries are supposed to be paid more than those who don't.

    In non Supercenters, I bet Wal Marts wages are no worse than those at Target, Shopko, K-Mart, or any drug store chain. Pay has never been worth a damn in those types of stores unless they operate in a highly unionized city.

  6. #6
    God/dess Deogol's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    Quote Originally Posted by Destiny
    I fail to see the point. There are lots of jobs where people are "on-call", some even 24 hours a day. There were times when my ex-husband had to carry a pager and be ready to go in to work anytime he was paged. In any job, there are good points and bad points. Everybody knows one of the bad points of working in retail are the shitty hours.
    Is he makin 5.15 an hour?

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    God/dess Casual Observer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    Is he makin 5.15 an hour?
    Is that relevant?

    No, it isn't.

    If you don't like the work conditions, get another job, or get an education.
    Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

    William F. Buckley, Jr.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Ana_217's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    Quote:
    Sich Heil Walmart! I will sacrifice everything for your customers, mein Walmart!

    Und läßt uns im Stich
    Einst das treulose Glück,
    Und kehren wir nicht mehr
    Zur Heimat zurück,
    Trifft uns die Todeskugel,
    Ruft uns das Schicksal ab,
    Ja Schicksal ab,
    Dann ist unser Panzer
    Ein ehernes Grab.

    Translation

    And if we are abandoned
    By that unfaithful luck,
    And if we don't return
    To our homeland again,
    If a bullet strikes us down,
    If our fate calls on us,
    Yes calls on us,
    Then our tank will give us
    A metal grave.

  9. #9
    God/dess Jenny's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    Quote Originally Posted by Casual Observer
    Is that relevant?

    No, it isn't.

    If you don't like the work conditions, get another job, or get an education.
    The wage itself actually isn't relevent (unless we are talking about the inadequacy of minimum wage), but A) the people at Walmart are (or should be) protected by all work place standards that protect everyone else and B) OBVIOUSLY they don't feel that they can. Do you really think that everyone at Walmart is like "Well, I was offered a much better position at IBM, but I just can't give up the employee discount."?

    If you don't like the work conditions get another job? Tell it to the coal miners and steel workers. Employers do have SOME duty to their employees. Geesh.
    I have taught that the sky in all its zones is mortal and its substance was formed by a process of birth

  10. #10
    Featured Member Destiny's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    Quote Originally Posted by Jenny
    ...If you don't like the work conditions get another job? Tell it to the coal miners and steel workers. Employers do have SOME duty to their employees. Geesh.
    I'm pretty sure coal miners and steel workers make more that your typical clerk at Wal-Mart. The reason they make more is that it is dirty, sweaty, dangerous work, and the only way to get people to do it is by paying them appropriately. That's the point CO was making, and I agree with. Nobody forces people to work at Wal-Mart, or in the coal mines for that matter. You have to convince people to work there through a combination of things, such as compensation, benefits, scheduling flexibility, etc. An employer's absolute duty to an employee is to provide a reasonaably safe working environment. Everything else should be negotiable between the employer and employee.

    As far as my own personal situation with my ex-husband. It was shitty sitting around one weekend a month, never knowing if he was going to get paged or not. We'd be like, "well, we could go to a movie, but what if you get paged?". But we felt like his job fairly compensated him, so we dealt with it. Which is my point exactly. Those types of things should be left to workers and bosses to negotiate on their own.
    Dancing is wonderful training for girls, it's the first way you learn to guess what a man is going to do before he does it. ~Christopher Morley, Kitty Foyle

  11. #11
    God/dess Jenny's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    Quote Originally Posted by Destiny
    I'm pretty sure coal miners and steel workers make more that your typical clerk at Wal-Mart. The reason they make more is that it is dirty, sweaty, dangerous work, and the only way to get people to do it is by paying them appropriately.
    The pay wasn't that great though, before legislation existed determining that yes, employers did owe something to their employees (besides the crappiest work condition that they can live through - or not).

    That's the point CO was making, and I agree with. Nobody forces people to work at Wal-Mart, or in the coal mines for that matter.
    Well, that depends on what you mean by force. Obviously if someone is working for 5.15 an hour at Walmart, they have limited other options. The same reason, I might add, that people worked under such shoddy conditions in steel mills and coal mines. I mean Walmart is not really offering anyone anything above the federal/state/province mandated minimum, so how are they getting people to work there then? Sweet talk? No. It is people who have no other place to go. Except maybe because they are uneducated, and perhaps downright stupid, they don't deserve the protection afforded to other workers?

    An employer's absolute duty to an employee is to provide a reasonaably safe working environment. Everything else should be negotiable between the employer and employee.
    That's not entirely true (thank god). There are a whole myriad of laws dictating what an employer owes to an employee - maximum number of working hours, maximum number of working hour before overtime applies, vacation, etc., and that is not including union rules and activities. Minimum wage, for crying out loud. Minimum number of hours for full time employees.

    My point is simply that organization are not allowed to run rampant over worker rights and then say "If you don't like it, work somewhere else."
    I have taught that the sky in all its zones is mortal and its substance was formed by a process of birth

  12. #12
    God/dess Deogol's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    Quote Originally Posted by Casual Observer
    If you don't like the work conditions, get another job, or get an education.
    I am disappointed. You generally have more intelligent answers than this.

  13. #13
    Featured Member Destiny's Avatar
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    Default Re: Walmart

    Quote Originally Posted by Jenny
    ... That's not entirely true (thank god). There are a whole myriad of laws dictating what an employer owes to an employee - maximum number of working hours, maximum number of working hour before overtime applies, vacation, etc., and that is not including union rules and activities. Minimum wage, for crying out loud. Minimum number of hours for full time employees.

    My point is simply that organization are not allowed to run rampant over worker rights and then say "If you don't like it, work somewhere else."
    Why? Why do we need a "myriad of laws" governing what is essentially a private contract between an employer and employee? Now, I am definitely not talking about safety laws. We don't want truck drivers racing semis down the highway with only two hours sleep. But that's a public safety issue. I've never understood what the compelling public interest is that justifies passing laws governing private business dealings between workers and their employers. No other area of our country's economy is as strictly controlled as employment. When you go to the store to purchase some food, the government does not set the price you pay for a loaf of bread, or mandate that if you want to buy some bread you must buy a minimum of three loaves. But if you want to purchase some labor, it suddenly becomes the governments business and they do establish these things by law. Why?
    Dancing is wonderful training for girls, it's the first way you learn to guess what a man is going to do before he does it. ~Christopher Morley, Kitty Foyle

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