Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

[jiimbergin]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

Are you arguing that the exploitation of 1 million fellow Americans is OK or are you arguing that Walmart does not exploit their workers? Or, are you saying it is OK because their labor practices are subsidized using my taxes?

what I am saying is that Walmart employees about 1% of us employees but about 16% of americans are on food stamps! You can not blame Walmart for this. How about all the other employees of lots of other companies who are in the same situation. I am biased because I have always liked Walmart. In fact when I was working I thought the perfect retirement job would be a greeter at Walmart. Never followed through, however. Whatever subsidy that Walmart gets pales in comparison to FIRE enterprises.

[flintlock]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

Are you arguing that the exploitation of 1 million fellow Americans is OK or are you arguing that Walmart does not exploit their workers? Or, are you saying it is OK because their labor practices are subsidized using my taxes?

Yeah, where is my subsidy? Or is that just for companies that can afford to put a politician in their pocket? I'm no Walmart hater, just like to point out its false economy if we think we are getting anything out of it in the long run. The same people who think the are getting a "bargain" by shopping there are often the same ones complaining about high taxes. I shop there if they have what I want at a decent price. Often they do not. The horrible service, apathetic staff, and hit or miss quality makes it not worth the hassle most of the time. Walmart long ago(post Sam Walton)decided to go for the customer with low expectations, to whom they could pass off cheap merchandise for cheap prices. The place gives me the creeps. Where Shoplifters go in droves.

[GRG55]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

Are you arguing that the exploitation of 1 million fellow Americans is OK or are you arguing that Walmart does not exploit their workers? Or, are you saying it is OK because their labor practices are subsidized using my taxes?

You are correct. WalMart owners should liquidate the company and reinvest their capital into enterprises that are able to pay their employees a good wage.

Auto manufacturing perhaps? Like General Motors and Chrysler. Maybe an agriculture job working for Cargill. The oilfield pays pretty good, and I understand Halliburton is hiring. Of course that's sort of old economy, so perhaps a biofuels manufacturer in the ethanol business would be better. Weapons manufacturing might be another good business to get in to.

I know...they should start a bank like Citi or an insurance company like AIG, and really treat the employees to some decent compensation.

After all one wouldn't want to be accused of exploiting either the workers or the US taxpayers, would one...

[Thailandnotes]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

Who benefits? The (former) employees? The (former) customers? The (former) shareholders? The taxpayers?

Who??

Plenty of people argue yes to three out of those four.

[GRG55]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

Plenty of people argue yes to three out of those four.

I'm all ears...

[flintlock]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

what I am saying is that Walmart employees about 1% of us employees but about 16% of americans are on food stamps! You can not blame Walmart for this. How about all the other employees of lots of other companies who are in the same situation. I am biased because I have always liked Walmart. In fact when I was working I thought the perfect retirement job would be a greeter at Walmart. Never followed through, however. Whatever subsidy that Walmart gets pales in comparison to FIRE enterprises.

I agree Walmart is not entirely responsible for the situation, and they are merely taking advantage of the situation as any soulless, amoral, corporation should. Its their unholy alliance with our leaders that is the real evil. They want people poor, dumb, and broke so they will work for poverty wages and then have no better place to shop with what little they have. Like someone else said, its like the old company store.

Their are some admirable aspects of Walmart's business model (distribution) but overall I think they lack a lot as a retailer in many regards. Their financial success lately has as much to do with the previously mentioned taxpayer subsidy and the limited means of much of their customer base as any particular business acumen. Not advocating this, but wipe out all welfare type benefits overnight and the whole thing folds in a month. They lose half their customers and half their staff. I don't really mean to single them out, its just that they are the biggest
and best practitioner of this scam. The home construction industry does the same. At least Walmart hires people legally for the most part, and pay the payroll taxes, insurance, etc. A Walmart type business did not exist in 1955 because it lacked the necessary welfare state host to attach itself to.

[Thailandnotes]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

Thailandnotes, I am not trying to be mean, but isn't one of the reasons you live where you do is because of the lower cost? Walmart's competitors also benefit from government subsidies. They simply aren't as large and well run so their prices can't compete (except for AlDIs). This is not new, Walmart always had the lowest prices far before our current situation.

Yes, I retired here, in part, because it’s cheaper, just I would have retired in a cheaper part of the states.

I’m not picking on Walmart per se, but it would be hard to defend them with a “everyone else is doing it too” argument.

Back to the irony of the original post where people who are making 9.00 dollars an hour are being asked to donate food to their peers while Walmart’s heir’s wealth now = the total wealth of the bottom 40 %. Why not the bottom 70 % ala, "...just do a Krugman and pay everyone 100,000 a year?"

[jiimbergin]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

I agree Walmart is not entirely responsible for the situation, and they are merely taking advantage of the situation as any soulless, amoral, corporation should. Its their unholy alliance with our leaders that is the real evil. They want people poor, dumb, and broke so they will work for poverty wages and then have no better place to shop with what little they have. Like someone else said, its like the old company store.

Their are some admirable aspects of Walmart's business model (distribution) but overall I think they lack a lot as a retailer in many regards. Their financial success lately has as much to do with the previously mentioned taxpayer subsidy and the limited means of much of their customer base as any particular business acumen. Not advocating this, but wipe out all welfare type benefits overnight and the whole thing folds in a month. They lose half their customers and half their staff. I don't really mean to single them out, its just that they are the biggest
and best practitioner of this scam. A Walmart type business did not exist in 1955 because it lacked the necessary welfare state host to attach itself to.

you may be right, however, I know lots of people who shop there regularly and are anything but on welfare and most of them also shop at Sams.

[flintlock]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

i know, Im not on welfare and I shop there! But at least in my area they obviously cater to a large number of lower income. Makes sense as they have pretty good prices. Not the necessarily the best though. The quality is pretty bad on some items. If i buy anything its either food or auto supplies like oil, batteries,etc. I've about given up on them because the service is horrible and its full of the real dregs of society. Wife has witnessed shoplifters and people being chased out the door by security the last two visits. And this in a county in GA where you just dont see that often. Ive been to some in FL that were very nice stores though. But all around my area are semi nasty.

[jiimbergin]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

I agree that there are certainly some semi nasty ones. The one near my Mothers just outside Pittsburgh is one of those. The three near us here in Hickory NC are quite decent, although we prefer two of them because the other one really is too busy!

[jiimbergin]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

I also buy their jeans. I wear a lot of jeans and I have found out the cheaper ones do just as good as job as expensive ones. We too mostly purchase food there along with dog food, some gardening things and other selected items. When we rented a house in Michigan last year that slept 44 (we ended up with no more than 35 at any one time) we bought towels at walmart for $4.50 each that were as good as any we had ever purchased at much higher prices. They came in a multitude of colors and they did not run or fade when washed. We also purchased a lot of the bulk food for the week from SAMS. Did I mention that I am biased Now if someone starts a thread on ALDIs we will really have a battle!!

[flintlock]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

You are correct. WalMart owners should liquidate the company and reinvest their capital into enterprises that are able to pay their employees a good wage.

Auto manufacturing perhaps? Like General Motors and Chrysler. Maybe an agriculture job working for Cargill. The oilfield pays pretty good, and I understand Halliburton is hiring. Of course that's sort of old economy, so perhaps a biofuels manufacturer in the ethanol business would be better. Weapons manufacturing might be another good business to get in to.

I know...they should start a bank like Citi or an insurance company like AIG, and really treat the employees to some decent compensation.

After all one wouldn't want to be accused of exploiting either the workers or the US taxpayers, would one...

All of which, while I'm generally in agreement with you, doesn't really address the taxpayer subsidy thing. Anyone looking down the road very far can see this doesn't end well if something doesn't change. Just saying, "let them eat cake, thats the new economy" won't serve us well when they are electing anyone who advocates taxing businesses into oblivion and we have to live in walled compounds like in South Africa. We Ignore the masses at our peril.

[vt]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

I'll see your Walmart attack and trump it with this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/08/federal-employees-back-taxes_n_2839212.html

These people are paid well; there no excuse for those without medical problems to be delinquent on taxes.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kylesmit...ck-on-walmart/

Walmart employs 1.4 million:

http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-employees-pay


What we see in the attack on Walmart is the plight of part time workers everywhere in this jobless recovery. It's difficult to come up with numbers but liberal Alan Grayson has a few states. Extrapolating his state numbers you might come up with 300,000 Walmart employees on food stamps. A good percentage appear to be single Moms who are always having difficulties; they do need and deserve help.

Leftists use stories like this to get publicity, but avoid the waste of crony socialist deals like the bankrupt solar companies that have taken billions of taxpayer dollars.

The bailout using hundreds of billions of taxpayer money to bail out the banksters also is never mentioned by the left.

Leftists: "Facts" check in but they don't check out.

[aaron]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

You are correct. WalMart owners should liquidate the company and reinvest their capital into enterprises that are able to pay their employees a good wage.

Auto manufacturing perhaps? Like General Motors and Chrysler. Maybe an agriculture job working for Cargill. The oilfield pays pretty good, and I understand Halliburton is hiring. Of course that's sort of old economy, so perhaps a biofuels manufacturer in the ethanol business would be better. Weapons manufacturing might be another good business to get in to.

I know...they should start a bank like Citi or an insurance company like AIG, and really treat the employees to some decent compensation.

After all one wouldn't want to be accused of exploiting either the workers or the US taxpayers, would one...

Liquidate the company or pay reasonable wages... jeeze, there might be a middle ground, no?

[GRG55]

Re: Walmart holds Food Drive for its Own Employees

All of which, while I'm generally in agreement with you, doesn't really address the taxpayer subsidy thing. Anyone looking down the road very far can see this doesn't end well if something doesn't change. Just saying, "let them eat cake, thats the new economy" won't serve us well when they are electing anyone who advocates taxing businesses into oblivion and we have to live in walled compounds like in South Africa. We Ignore the masses at our peril.

It's going to take a deflationary bust to reset the entire cost base of the economy...sort of what happened to housing, but across the board. Or an inflationary outcome to boost nominal wages.

In the meantime I can't help but think that taxpayer subsidies for the employees of WalMart et al may be preferable to taxpayer subsidies to Jamie and Lloyd...