ELLSWORTH, Maine — While their numbers were dwarfed by the large crowd that turned out for the Black Friday buying bonanza, members of Occupy Ellsworth joined activists and employees around the nation Friday in pressing the nation’s largest private employer to raise employees’ wages.
About 15 activists — but no Walmart employees — stood on Myrick Street, across the entrance from the city’s Walmart Supercenter on Black Friday, holding signs sporting slogans such as “Support the strike!” and “Boycott Black Friday!”
This year, the company has been the target of protests and a union organizing campaign by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which had promised a nationwide employee walkout and strike on Friday as part of its “OUR Walmart” campaign. While the Ellsworth protest took place several hundred yards from the Walmart store, motorists made their opinions known with supportive waves and horn honks or drive-by jeers.
Similar protests were planned in Augusta and Portland, according to Maine AFL-CIO mobilizer Sarah Bigney.
Despite the nationwide protests, which UFCW claimed took place in more than 100 cities across the nation, including Chicago, Miami and Dallas, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported the most successful Black Friday ever.
Walmart boasted impressive Black Friday figures. By late Friday morning, the company said it had already sold more than 1.3 million televisions, 1.3 million dolls and 250,000 bicycles during sale events, which began Thursday in some states. The company said it sold 5,000 items per second in the four hours between 8 p.m. and midnight Thursday.
An associate manager at the Ellsworth supercenter declined to comment on the protests, referring all questions to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.
The company claimed in 2011 that its average wage is $11.75 per hour for full-time employees, but a 2011 study by the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education said the actual average for all employees — after taking into account the number of full-time versus part-time workers, and the disparity in wages — is much lower than that. According to protesters, the average wage for all Walmart employees is really $8.90 per hour.
The study showed that an increase in pay to $12 per hour for all Walmart employees would result in minimal price increases for consumers. Even if the company passed the entire cost of the wage increase to consumers, it said, the average shopping trip to Walmart would only cost 46 cents more.
Like other Occupy groups, Ellsworth’s protesters decry the wide disparity of income between the country’s wealthy elite and, well, everyone else, claiming that the Walmart family heirs’ wealth is equal to the bottom 30 percent of Americans’ incomes combined. (The actual figure, according to Economic Policy Institute, is even starker. That firm’s July analysis puts Walmart founder Sam Walton’s heirs’ wealth at equal to the bottom 41.5 percent.)
“Walmart has hundreds of thousands of employees struggling to make ends meet, and that’s not fair,” said one of the Ellsworth protesters, Elizabeth Roberts of Quincy, Mass. Roberts was in town visiting family for Thanksgiving.
Walmart has yet to respond directly to questions from the Bangor Daily News, but in a news release celebrating what the company said has been the most successful Black Friday in Walmart’s history, the company dismissed the national protests, and disputed the OUR Walmart’s report of worker-supported protests in 100 cities across the country.
In the release, the company estimates that fewer than 50 employees participated in the protests, and said the number of workers who missed scheduled shifts Friday was more than 60 percent less than Black Friday last year.
“The number of protests being reported by the UFCW are grossly exaggerated,” wrote Walmart spokesman David Tovar in a press release. “OUR Walmart group doesn’t speak for the 1.3 million [U.S.] Walmart associates. We had our best Black Friday ever and OUR Walmart was unable to recruit more than a small number of associates to participate in these made-for-TV events.”
In Ellsworth, protesters didn’t seem to mind that there were no Walmart employees among them, and said they were encouraged by the number of employees who have spoken up in recent months to demand higher wages, better health care or union representation.
“We’re encouraged that more and more Walmart employees are standing up for a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work,” said Ellsworth resident John Curtis.
They also reiterated a common criticism of Walmart, supported by the Berkeley study, that Walmart’s low wages externalize the cost of healthcare and other social safety net benefits paid for by taxpayers.
Said protester Ann Roberts: “For me, this is about the discrepancy in wealth that the country’s gotten to, that the Walton family can have so much money and not pay a living wage. … It’s a drain on everybody because everybody has to pick up the cost of their health care, their food stamps.”
On its website, Walmart defends its jobs, saying that the company offers competitive wages, good benefits and a chance at a career. The company touts figures showing that 75 percent of management began as hourly employees and that 300,000 Walmart employees have worked at the company for more than 10 years, about 13 percent of its global workforce of 2.2 million.
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
The only bright spot in Baracks economy and people are protesting. We must achieve full unemployment is the mantra now.
People protested during other presidencies. We have the right to protest as we believe in this country.
The economy will improve….. Wal Mart still sucks. So do minimum wage jobs.
“this year, roughly the same number of associates missed their scheduled shift as last year.” -As hard as the liberal/progressives have tried, I guess the value of a welfare check is not yet greater than the value of a pay check. The Unions only hope is with the Public sector and payola with our elected , liberal, officials. An Ideology based on envy and class warfare will eventually eat itself. I just wonder if there will be enough of our Country left that we might recognize it when that happens. .
Said the guy who pays minimum wage to his employees too.
You know this? I did give an unfair advantage by posting with my name so finding the truth to this would have been easy. But, I guess being wrong is easier when you hide your identity,no? Have you gotten use to it? Being wrong I mean?
I have never met a working stiff who thinks the minimum wage is just fine where it is. Only people who daddy left the business and a hatred for employees in general. I suppose you could be one of those elusive clock punching Republicans, but I doubt it.
I guess you need to get out more, off the farm from time to time. The world is full of hard working folks who are not looking for a hand out. Who understand that higher wages directly translate into higher prices goods and services or fewer employees. . They understand that the wage increase will be off set by higher living expenses . This is just a feel good exercise, no real gain will ever come of it, Just another attempt to add flame the fires of Class warfare.
Oh yes, how many folks do you /have you employed ?
I owned my own trucking business, construction business, and commercial diving business and have had many employees over the years. I have always payed good wages and treated my people with respect. I find that you get better performance from an employee when you crack a sweat instead of a whip. Lead by example. I slept better at night knowing my guys didn’t need to sign up for food stamps after working for me all week.I am getting older now and I am a one men band these days for simplicity and peace of mind reasons. Merry Christmas.
Past tense? Obviously things didn’t work out all that well!
It also sounds like you were hiring SKILLED employees and not entry level.
You couldn’t be more wrong. Take a class in economics and get back to us.
You just lost your argument!
more like, said the guy who started out a minimum wage job and never looked back through a life of hard work and a dedicated persistence to moving ahead in life
Again, I have never met anyone who actually has to work for a living being against raising the minimum wage. Regardless of what their pay ends up being later in life. It is called empathy for your fellow workers. Something fathers often fail to give their sons when they give them the business.
Wow, you are stuck on this farther son’s thing. Daddy issues?
And obvious Mommy issues, too!
Empathy? Get real! No wonder you no longer have any of the businesses you bragged about!
First of all, I never brag. The poster asked me how much experience I had employing people. I am still self employed, just on a much smaller scale. This is by choice, not a lack of business acumen. Yes, I do have empathy for others. It is one of those things that separates us from the apes. The thought of this offends you? Have a banana.
Enjoy that ‘much smaller scale’!
So who is the fool, the employer or the employee who agrees to work for minimum wage, then whines and cries about it?????
get use to it,, 4 more years. the dem’s have the country by the short hairs and soon we won’t even be in the running as a major wealth society but,, we’ll lead the world on welfare and laziness..
have the State and Federal Goverment make the minium wage a living wage.
And when the State and Federal Government makes “the minimum wage a living wage” who do you think is going to pay that? The employer? Yes. The consumer with higher cost for goods and services? Yes. And when the cost of goods and services increase and that gets past on, the “living wage” becomes a minimum wage again.
Which is why people are demanding that the wealthy pay a fair share of the tax base. When the wealthy are made responsible for their fair share and are required to pay their employees a wage equal to the lowered cost of living created by same, we’ll see a balance created. Again, follow the money, kids.
Barb in case you missed it life is not “fair”. We can “create” a $20.00/hour “living wage” and as soon as the companies adjust there prices to cover the “living wage” they have to pay employees we are right back were we are right now.
Companies are already reacting to the Affordable Care Act by eliminating full-time positions, dropping healthcare benefits, etc…
One of the mid-Atlantic states upped the amount of income taxes paid by the “wealthy” and do you know what happened? They wealthy in some cases moved out of that state.
I have no idea why people think that creating a “living wage” is the magical answer when all one has to do is look at what happens when the price of gas goes up….everything else up too.
Follow the money all you want but when you pay more you have to charge more to cover your labor costs. That’s economics 101.
The higher cost of goods come from inflation. The value of the dollar is going down and the minute the government borrows more money in January the price of all good will go through the roof. The Federal Reserve note can only go one way and that is into the toilet.. Until this country leaves the federal reserve notes behind and goes back to the US treasure notes the price of everything will skyrocket.
Yeah, and a big mac should cost what?……….$20?….so unskilled workers can live like skilled workers? The real world doesn’t work like that.
People who go to to work each day should be getting a living wage and health insurance in return. It’s not that much to ask for.
And who should decide what that “Living wage ” is? What type of coverage will this insurance be required to have, and who decides that? I assume that you would have the Government decide,control, these things.When the Gov. decides what a company pays it’s people, what benefits it offers, regulates them in most all ways, what do we call that system of Government ? Has history shown us the affects of this type of Government? Do you really trust the Government ,our Politicians that much?
No one should work for poverty wages.
I don’t think that is hard to understand or too much for folks to ask for.
Poverty wages? You now how much of a joke that is, right?
I’m not laughing.
What’s a “Living Wage” gadael?
It’s not $8.90 an hour jd.
You didn’t answer the question asked Gadael. Your saying WalMart (and others) don’t pay a “living wage”. OK for arguments sake let’s say they don’t. So in your opinion what IS a “living wage”? How much do you believe WalMart (and others) should pay hourly?
If you apply a 3% COLA going back to 1961 when JFK signed the Fair Labor Act and raised the minimum wage to $1.65 an hour, it should be around $15 an hour in 2012. Even $15 an hour these days is just barely enough to avoid the government cheese and stand on your own two feet financially. Here is where you scare everyone with the $10 hamburgers jd.
That $10 would be a reality , wouldn’t it ?
More like $12+ per hour.
Not sure Rocky. The McDonald’s in Williston, North Dakota has to start out at $15 an hour because of the oil boom and a lack of labor in the area. I am not sure what their hamburger prices are, but I would bet my last peso they are not $10, or anywhere near that.
I don’t have to scare anyone voice. Economics 101 says when you increase the cost to produce a product or provide a service the cost of that item increases. We all pay more and without wages increasing, our buying power just decreased.
A friend of mine rents trailers. He uses people who have to work under the table and pays them $5 an hour to do his maintenance and repair. He was complaining to me a little while ago that his rents are the same as they were in the early 90’s. I said just raise your rent. He said he couldn’t because that was all people could afford and he would have empties if he went up on his rents! lol.
Oh poor him!
Sorry the irony was lost on you. I accept full responsibility. I should have realized that there would be simpletons reading this post, as well as those with blood flowing to both halves of their brain. I should have kept things a more basic level, intellectually.
Wrong again, my wife was single with two kids and made it on less then $14 and hour, she was on state aide before, got an education went to work as a cna, and as soon as she got her 1st pay ck, lost all aid, and what a majic trick she raised her two kids just fine, and only spent what she earned, hows that for a concept, spend less then you make.
And just where are you going to find an entry level job that pays $15/hr?!? You are so far out of touch with reality it is astounding. You can’t blame the employers, they don’t force ANYONE to work there, employees work there by choice.
I was merely stating what the minimum wage should be, had it kept pace with inflation since 1961. If these “public assistance” wage jobs are the only ones available, do people really have a choice? Because of the oil boom and a lack of available labor, the McDonald’s in Williston, North Dakota starts their employees at $15 an hour. Google it.
They pay that wage because of local competition for workers, not because they are being more socially responsible and keeping up with the cost of living. Unfortunately local economics does play a big part in determining wages. Businesses have a responsibility to maintain a budget in order to be profitable, paying a fair wage is a part of that…. Obviously a fair wage means different things to different people
I agree, they only pay that wage because they have to. It has nothing to do with social conscience. Big corporate America hasn’t had one of those in years, if ever. I have had employees in the past and always paid them a decent wage. I guess the thought of my guys having to sign up for food stamps after working for me all week would have been embarrassing. I know a lot of business owners who do not struggle with that though.
Hint: Getting married and starting a family while making $8.90 an hour isn’t a bright move. Perhaps people should give that some thought.
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You obviously have no clue what you are talking about! No one forces people off the street and MAKES them work at Walmart! If you apply, you are told UPFRONT what the pay is! If that isn’t enough for you, then move along to another job!
If you agree to take the job at $8.90, then you have no one to blame but yourself! Whining won’t pay the bills, but you expect Walmart Employees to do it. Any one of us are free to go get a higher paying job any time we want!
And by the way, I make out just fine! I’ve been there for 3 years and make enough to get by! If I made more, I would be taxed more. the LAST thing I want is to give this obama government one dime more than I have to!
Until you walk in our shoes, best to keep quiet!
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That is EXACTLY what YOU were doing about Walmart!
I work there! I know EXACTLY what it’s like, and it’s NOTHING like what YOU make it out to be!
Perhaps all thatfresh air is getting to you!
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“If I made more, I would be taxed more”. No fecal matter, Sherlock. You can’t possible believe that you are better off making less so you pay less in taxes. Do you tell the fine folks at Walmart to not give you any raises, because you don’t want to give any more money to Obama? lol. I am sure those skin flints are happy to oblige! lol. We are in a race to the bottom in this country these days. What amazes me is there are people like you who want to step on the gas.
Okay brainiack, I’ll spell it out for you! Walmart income is NOT my only income! If I make more at Walmart, I WILL pay more in taxes!!!!
Since you obviously don’t know, the more you make, the more they take in taxes!!!!! No kidding!
Yes, I have turned down raises! And yes, we are in a race to the bottom! That’s exactly what you wanted when you voted for obozo!
You should be happy there are those of us willing to get us to the bottom faster! After all, it’s what you wanted when you voted for obozo!
Hum, I did it on $6 something, had two kids paid mim wage, and seem to learn how to make it, not today, every room has a tv, every kid has a computer, phone ect.., get your priorities straight, and do not expect everyone else to pay for them.
A family? What business does anyone have starting a family if you can’t provide for them? What happened to getting an education, getting a decent job, and THEN starting a family?
There are plenty of people at Walmart who are earning their way through college or as a second family income. You can’t expect to have the pay and benefits of someone working 40-50 hours per week just because you want it.
Minimum wage in Maine is $7.50/hr, so these places paying an average of $8.90/hr are well above minimum wage that they could be paying. What is to complain about?
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Who is forcing them to work there? Certainly NOT management!
So, what do you expect people to do? Go home & sit on their duffs & let the ones who are working support them? All that would accomplish is to cause the ones who are working to have to pay higher taxes to support the deadbeats. Yes, wages could be better, but even minimum wage is better than nothing.
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Do you know that wal-mart does not have the lowest prices as they claim
I don’t care, even a little.
Do you know that I have a bridge to sell?
Why on earth would you believe a commercial?
Some of them I trust more than the CEOs of companies like Wal Mart, yes.
And history has shown us how well that will work out, no?
And there is a fool born every minute!
Responsible employers that value their employees should decide it. Many do so without prompting. When they don’t, someone needs to put in a correction – 1) the employees 2) the consumers / the free market or 3) the government / regulations. 1+2 would obviously be preferable.
The Walton family that owns WalMart has as much wealth as the bottom 40% of all Americans combined. They can well afford to pay their workers a living wage. The greedy so-and-sos simply choose not to. The taxpayers have to supplement the lifestyles of WalMart employees via EBT cards and subsidized housing.
Have you or anyone in your family had the good fortune of coming up with an idea, following your dreams and working your tail off to make it successful and building a nice nest egg? Should you be forced to give that back because someone else sat on their couch while you were working and are crying that they deserve to have what you have even though they have done nothing to earn it? Granted, the people who work in entry level positions aren’t sitting on their couch, but they certainly have the opportunity to work their way up or look for a job elsewhere with a higher wage.
Guess what Gadael? If you don’t like where you work or the benefits offered you aren’t required to stay at that job. You have the right to leave and go work somewhere else.
Testy tonight?
Testy? Not at all.
Simply stating fact. If a person doesn’t like where they are working they have the right to seek employment elsewhere.
If they wish better benefits they have the right to seek employment with a benefits package that is more to their liking.
Those are facts. People are not required to work for WalMart, Sears, Target, etc….
By the way, what would you pay a farm hand on your farm? What is a “living wage” for a farm hand?
NP
And that amount would be what Gadael? What hourly amount should WalMart pay they entry level employee?
You really don’t seem interested in answer that question. Why?
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Its always interesting when posters make statements about people needing a “living wage” but refuse to state what that “living wage” is in hard money.
Then people hide behind “I don’t set the wages” and “demographics plays a part in determining what that wage would be”.
I may be right or I may be wrong but until someone puts a dollar amount on a “living wage” we really will not know will we,
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Who said I was an attorney?
….
Same problem I run into when I ask how much of their money should the Government take away from the “rich”, 40, 50 55%?What amount of his money is OK for a taxpayer to be able to keep? I usually get a response like “I’m not playing your game , find someone else to play with blah blah blah
“demographics plays a part in determining what that wage would be.”
Did you actually think about what you said there?
So a single person should have a different minimum wage than a married person? What about children? Every time a couple has another child should the minimum wage go up for them? What if both WANT to work?
You are proposing an impossible standard and i think you know it. Maybe that is why you cannot come up with a number for JD.
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You are WAY overpaid! No wonder no one can afford ‘farm fresh’ any more!
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It’s every bit as legitimate as anything you’ve posted here. You’re part of the reason people eat so badly in this country. Fresh food costs too much. I guess it comes down to greed, right?
Those that rant about hypocrisy and the biggest hypocrites.
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I’m pointing out your hypocrisy. You decry every aspect of the capitalist system except YOUR production, pricing and participation.
Careful of those probes.
=%-O
But completely accurate! You don’t see the masses buying designer ‘farm fresh’! Who (besides you) would intentionally pay more than they have to? No one!
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On a farm I was raised on a farm, so maybe you will understand this then, how may horses does it take to pull a full cart? lets say 4, now take two and put them in the cart, harder to pull, not take another one put him in the cart, not it pulls a lot harder, same with taxes, if more people are getting takes, Disibility, EBT cards, SSN, Health Care ect… then paying the taxes, the cart is bound to stop, and get to heavy to pull.
People do have that option. They have the option to leave that job and take another low paying job that still doesn’t meet their needs. How does that make the employees plight better?
And they have another option….gain a marketable skill.
No one forces anyone to work there. If you agree to the pay, then do the job! Otherwise go get a job elsewhere! Not EVERY job HAS to pay $100,000 a year!
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But $100,000 is a livable wage, and well below obama’s threshold for being rich, so why not. Since YOU were the one that brought up a living wage, why not? Let’s make all entry-level jobs pay 100K!
So what if a coffee and Big Mac costs $132. With a living wage of 100K, we can all afford it!
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We should remember that it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way, though. If people who are making ridiculous amounts of money now were paid a more reasonable salary, the rest of the workers could make more, and the cost would not have to be passed on to the consumer. The likelihood of that actually happening…
In 1965 the average CEO made 24 times what their average employee earned. In 2005 it was 262 times more. Is this what you were driving at?
If the average company these numbers were taken from is also 10 times larger then that compensation makes sense.
Sounds like that statistic is taken from only the largest companies. I do not know of any small or midsized company with a pay ratio like that.
That’s exactly what I was driving at. I’m surprised such a modest proposal received so many down votes…
That is called Communism – a movement that has contributed to the deaths of more than 100 million people over the last century. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.
Do to a lack of regulations, since the dawn of Capitalism far more people have lost their lives. Did you know about 100 million have lost their lives due to Capitalism in the 20th century? Fun fact.
By the way, I’m a huge fan of Capitalism (best system on Earth), but throwing around numbers can be misleading and even irrelevant to the actual problem.
Stats to prove your claim!
Fun, and completely fabricated. This number can not possibly be verified by any factual,credible means. It was pulled from the ether.
And how many people lost their lives under “Uncle” Joe Stalin?
No real numbers are know but the estimates range from 5,000,000 to a high of 40,000,000 http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/stalin.html
By the way the source of your number is what?
Lets see 500,000 lost thier lives in Iraq .
Two questions Bobby….
Your source for numbers, and
What does that have to do with a “Living Wage”.
It has to do with capitalism . No one really knows how many died Most pot the civilian death toll between 100k and 1 million . For what reason? Bush in the days before the war gave Sadam 24 hours to hand over WMDs . That what we were told . Just why did we go to war? If you use Sadam was a tyrant excuse why did we support him ?
@ Christopher Lord, you’re talking Mercantilism there pal
please get a clue and understand the difference
there was not a country on the planet that was practicing true capitalism in 20th century….lay off the misinformation for an hour or so
They simply don’t care MD
they call themselves compassionate and would happily kill you to prove it!
I’m sorry, how is suggesting that CEOs who make disproportionately huge amounts of money could take a lower salary, pay their employees more reasonably, and not pass on the cost of a wage increase “communism”, and how would that possibly kill anyone? I thought it was a modest idea that would benefit everyone, including the companies.
Also, I should point out that “communism” (yes, I have heard of it) is simply a variant of socialism that does away with private property. Socialism is an economic system based on cooperative ownership of “means of production.” Communism has never killed anyone. Autocrats and mad men have killed plenty of people, and that’s not something that the “communist” party has a monopoly on. Perhaps you’ve heard of Andrew Jackson, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, George Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. All presidents of the United States, and all killers…
Anyways, my point still stands that Wal-Mart’s workers could be paid more without it necessarily being passed on to the consumers.
Well In god if you can get 5 years in Jail for selling Fake maple syrup The walmart owners should be rounding up In put in prison for sell 55 BD gain back of set TV antennas . Just saying they commit fraud in so many ways but do not go to jail for it. Make laws equil to all and see how rich they get.
And what does any of that have to do with “living wages”.
It shows the unethical greed that Walmart has . Most of my ventures to be self employed were regulated to a point were profit was hard to make . Walmart dose not have that problem because they can have laws made in thier favor . Even when Laws are broken the owners of Walmart do not go to jail. Fake maple syrup = 5 years in Jail Wamart sell 1000s of things that are not what they claim to be. How many go to jail for that?
It is what they are selling inside the store that is causing the low wages folks, not just the cheap Waltons. Our trade deficit with communist China was $350 billion, or $350,000 million. In 1985 it was $6 million on Reagan’s watch. WalMart, being communist China’s largest customer, is responsible for a large percentage of this deficit. The number is so large, it is known only to the chosen few in Bentonville and is a closely guarded secret. Get out your calculators and figure out the percentage of increase from $6 million to $350 billion. See if you can figure out where the real problem lies with the wages and our economy in general.
Wal Mart is NOT responsible for the trade deficit…the people who buy the goods are. Wal Mart wouldn’t buy/sell junk if people didn’t buy it!
When all that is available for the average wage earner ($11.75/hr) to be able to afford are shoddy goods , yes, they do have to buy cheap.
Not necessarily. We have to buy smartly. Wants-versus-needs kinda smarts. It’s not easy and the human species likes to often take the path of least resistance.
:-)
One of the reason I began shopping at Walmart those many years ago was their policy of providing only American made goods. Guess who shops as little as possible at Walmart now? Since January of 2012, for convenience’s sakeI’ve purchased 3 big items at Walmart. All 3 were defective and had to be returned. In one case, so many of that particular item had been returned Walmart instituted a new policy that only a store credit would be given for that returned item. That certainly made me feel all warm and fuzzy; now I could purchase MORE cheap and/or defective items.
I haven’t stepped foot in one in years Barb. My girlfriend and I work very hard to buy local and buy American. We both believe it is the only way we can wrestle our country back from those who are bent on selling it to China. We have four kids and five grand kids between us and they are all receiving certified union made American products for Christmas. We did it online and it was a snap. We spent a total of $1,000 and every nickel of it stayed right here in America. This country saw it’s last trade surplus in 1975. That should tell us something.
WalMart never had a policy of selling ONLY American made products. Sam Walton kicked off a buy American campaign in the 1980’s that featured a hundred or two hundred products that WalMart carried. The biggest reason that WalMart sells so much merchandise made in countries like China, Bangladesh and the such is because the American consumer wants inexpensive products and that surely will not support what those same people in turn want for wages.
I wonder how many people are using iPads, Macs, etc…to post comments? I wonder how many people posting are using iPods to listen to music? I wonder how many people posting are texting with iPhones?
Spot on. Business Week did a story on labor cost estimates and determined that a $499 I-Pad would retail for roughly $2000 if manufactured in the US.
Walmart commits Fraud in so many ways . Bribes Mexico, China , And other countries . Sells things that are outright wrong . 55db rabbit ears for digital TV (rival SETI) that do not work as well as a piece of coax with a length out the outer jacket stripped . HDMI cables with the claim that gold is the best conductor . At last check copper is better than gold. Brag about how they donate $100s of millions but claim the credit for all the money the customers give as money they gave. If they did not have lobbyist to change laws just to benefit themselves and were honest I would have no issues with how much they make.
You’re a real solid state electronics wiz!
Ham radio operator extra Class . During the digital transition of TV I watch so many people get ripped off . Best Buy and Walmart would tell people you needed Digital Antennas ( no such thing exist). It was not just the employees that did not know they would even have signs in the stores Telling people these lies.
You need a little more electronics, (and physics for that matter), education.
Gold is the # 1 electrical conductor. Just too expensive for general use. It is used in special applications. Silver is # 2. Copper is # 3. Even if one of the really rare elements is better than these three gold will still be better than silver and silver better than copper.
Just where did you go to school? I think you need to look up the resistive properties of gold and copper again . i stand by my statement copper is a better conductor than gold . Might not be as corrosion resistant but it you have major corrosion at the back of your TV you have more issues than bad HMDI cables. In the real world the signal is digital today so it will not make a whole lot of difference except the price .
Gold is #3 silver #1 copper #2 it is you who needs more education .
Why not 80K salaries at the minimum.Then Walmart can raise their prices. Then we will need to give more bennies to the “poor” and “needy” who favor shopping at Walmart. Unionize them and the unions can grab their share too. That’s what this is really all about anyway. The union smells dues money and could care less about Black Friday or any other Friday.
I could care less if Walmart went out of business. Supply and demand Walmart dose not make jobs . If people need goods they will buy them more stores will open and hire more people.
Lower wages = lower costs of goods, higher wages = higher costs of goods. Sorry, folks, you can not have it both ways.
You could. Walmart dose not have to be so greedy . Owners worth 104 billion if the raised wages 1$ an hour that would only cost a couple billion . Chump change .
Yes, typical liberal comment…always good at telling somebody else how much they can earn.
Ok toss them In jail for fraud . Like really those 55 DB gain back of set TV antennas produce 55 DB of gain .
They do provide 55 DB of gain. Problem is that consumers are ignorant of technology and have no idea that the real critical factors are signal strength, noise factor, and signal to noise ratio. What it amounts to is that 55DB gain of 0, (ZERO), is still 0, (ZERO).
They do not produce 55 DB of gain if they did they would overload then receiver . They may be about 25 DB but you are right about the noise floor and other factors . Net Gain is 0 DB
Here’s.your chance to open your own store. You can pay yourself less and you’re free to pay your employees $50 an hour if you want to.
I am honest . I do work for myself already.
No, you work for the government! They take their share first!
How about shareholders, Bobby? I’m one, and I want a return on my investment. So do pension plans.
Look if the money they made was made dishonestly I guess you are out of luck . I do not blame shareholders .
I see nothing dishonest in their way of doing business. I see profitability and return on investment, something sorely lacking at union shops.
Tell Me selling a Back of set TV antenna that Claims to amplify the signal almost a millions times is not dishonest . Telling people how much better gold plated HDMI cable work . That’s the point not many see what is really happening.
Consumers need to educate themselves. If you are so fired up about marketing gimmicks, call the FTC. Start with the “organic” food producers.
I agree with that statement . But even when I explained to Walmart managers what they were doing is wrong . Gave them an education they still kept the thing on thier shelves. If I sold fake diamond rings and tried to pass they off as real i would care to bet i would be in Jail . What they do is the same thin In my book . Some elderly people on my neighbor even bought those TV antennas . Well I built them ones for free that really did work . Just seems to be no integrity in this word anymore its all about the profit. I is hard for an honest man to make a decent living but it can be done. Like the used car man who is a bit dishonest I bet make more than the honest one.
The very worst at pushing those useless gold plated connectors and oxygen free copper monster cables are the small independent retailers.
Then go do it! Put YOUR MONEY where your mouth is! Prove it!
You need to understand the difference between wealth, (In the WalMart heirs case most of that is in the paper value of stock and not cash they can spend), profit, income, expenses, etc….
What about Kmart,Target,Kohl’s and many other national chains? They are no different than Walmart. Why don’t these people protest the others?
Because the whole uproar is symbolic and not based in reality.
It is, indeed, symbolic; much like the Tea Party that was the catalyst for the American Revolution. An attitude of sit back, shut up, and take it has never brought about change. I have no idea who anybody in this forum is, however, I’d be willing to take the chance that those who are viewing that answer to low wages as either ‘find another job or shut up and go to work’ are collecting significantly more than $11.75/hr as a gross wage.
So, $11.75 an hour is not enough? What do you suggest as a Minimum? Oh, and how much would goods and services go up when we raise wages to the level you suggest? Wouldn’t this negate any gains the higher wages would offer?
Protesting for the sake of protesting, revolution only for the sake of revolution never works out. Look to Egypt for the latest example of this.
Like I said, symbolic, I will add uniformed.
The cost of goods and services will continue to rise no matter. The minimum wage has not kept up with these increased costs… and it’s a global thing…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/5/wages-not-keeping-up-with-pace-of-inflation/?page=all
Something that has been occurring more so has been the passing on of all costs incurred onto the consumer by companies. Increasing wages however is a yes and no cause of a goods increased costs. If we increase wages by a significant amount then we will see it in the higher prices of goods. The ideal is to adjust workforce to compensate for increases in wages, or layoffs (not a good place during a poor economy to begin with). Similar to increases in prices of materials, human resource wage increases can be adjusted for without taking it out entirely on the consumer. The increase of production worker’s wages for instance will also increase the wages of management. With these increases a properly run company will determine the necessary management positions, retain the best managers, and discharge the rest (same with production workers). These savings are available to increase production positions in order to reach equilibrium between production (output) and profitability.
The business model of not just Wal-Mart, but many others
relies upon passing much cost onto the consumers, their employee’s (by way of low wages, part time hours, and no benefits), and society (welfare). The fact is nobody except the company is the winner.
I agree toss in best buy sears and many others . The point is Walmart probably makes the most .
I know….Gawd forbid that a company actually make money for the items and services they provide.
My point I was making if they were honest I would not have an issue if they break they law they should be in jail . They break many laws or outright lie of profit but they are not in jail .
“This year, the company has been the target of protests and a union organizing campaign by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which had promised a nationwide employee walkout and strike for Friday”
Ah yes the same UFCW that made back door deals with Shaws supermarkets to layoff union employees! The same UFCW that screwed the meat and deli union employees at Stop & Shop supermarkets when they came under one contract with the rest of the store! Who buy the way start at minimum wage even though they are union.
Simple you protest and not go to work then you lose your job and they will find someone willing to work! Shame on you employees! For those who do look for work and can’t get a job this would be a great opportunity to go and find one. I hope you are all very happy putting these slime ball politicians back in power so they can destroy our country!
Why don’t these protesters just go out & start their own company? I’m sure they think they know it all. For a company to be successful, it needs to be profitable. Unions don’t get that & that’s one reason they are on the way out.
How many Walmart employees qualify for MaineCare and food stamps?
Lots.
Walmart needs to pay its employees a living wage and stop bleeding taxpayers to support them.
Wake up.
Yessah
Or unskilled workers at wal mart can become skilled workers (more education, etc) and look for higher paying jobs. THEY can take responsibility for improving their lot in life instead of thinking that a cashier job that a 16 y/o could do is somehow worthy of $15-20/hour and health benefits.
Where in Maine are those “higher wage” jobs?
Aroostock County?
Washington County?
How does one train them?
Who pays for their education if they only **allowed** by Walmart work part-time for minimum wage?
A 16 Y.O. cashier making $15-20 an hour can put away a lot of money for college.
If republicans let would them.
Yessah
“If republicans would let them.” Really, it was you liberals who were fully in charge of the ME state government for the past 40 years. You did such a good job that in Oct. 2010, Forbes magazine rated Maine as the worst state to do business. Yes, Maine received the #50 spot. Shameful. Since July of 2011, there have been 7,400 additional new private sector jobs created in Maine. This is far superior than the 54 private sector jobs created under Baldacci’s 8 years, now isn’t it?
There are high paying jobs in Aroostook and Washington Counties. In healthcare, education, and small business to name three. The youths of today will need to be in charge of their own education, not the responsibility of government or you to “train them.” They will need to pay for their own education, which is super easy to do now in the age of loose lending for all from the Feds. Yessah.
Occupy a job instead, PLEASE!!
They all have jobs – now go back to your x-box.
Yessah
Really, I don’t call causing trouble, wrecking parks, burning American flags or attacking women jobs.
Are they doing that at the Wal Mart? Nope. It’s not NYC and those incidents were perpetrated by non Occupy folks.
Old dead, horse that some won’t stop beating………
Look up the police reports, if you don’t believe me. Their actions have proven that they are nothing but outlaws trying to bring a Marxist revolution to the U. S. Pitiful!!
If you run out to spend your money at Walmart, you deserve to lose all you have and there is absolutely no doubt you will.
If you camp out to spend your money ANYWHERE, the same applies!
““Walmart has hundreds of thousands of employees struggling to make ends meet, and that’s not fair,” said one of the Ellsworth protesters, Elizabeth Roberts of Quincy, Mass. Roberts was in town visiting family for Thanksgiving.”
_____________________________________________
Exactly how much should what pretty much amounts to unskilled labor cost an employer? It scares me that there are people out there who believe that the skill/education involved to be a cashier should somehow pay enough to support mortgages, new car payments, etc.
Back in the Day, here in Maine, “unskilled” labor in shoe shops, textile & paper mills and small farms allowed people to buy cars and homes – and put their kids through college.
Conservative “free marketers” and the Bain Capitalists put an end to that.
Other countries have living wages – and thriving economies.
Try again.
Yessah
I agree with the first paragraph, the rest is trash. Bill Clinton sign the nafta bill into law.. That is when we heard the big whooshing sound that Ross Perot talked about.
Reagan was the one that began negotiating NAFTA.
Poppy Bush – not Clinton – ceremonially signed the treaty in 1992.
A majority of House and Senate republicans ratified the treaty.
Clinton now regrets signing it into law.
Lesson: never ever sign a trade treaty republicans negotiate and support.
Yessah
The final agreement was signed in 1993 by Clinton after being passed by a Democrat House and Senate, all of whom could have stopped NAFTA cold. But they didn’t, did they?
Conservative “free marketers” and the Bain Capitalists killed the Shoe shops, Paper mills and the textile industry?
Try again.
That is true, Belfast shoe shops, chicken processing, chicken farms, shirt factory, the people bought and paid for their homes, had cars, and were not asking or begging for food. These employed hundreds of people, and the off shoot had a lot of business. It was a wonderful place, it is a mere shadow, a flat-lander shame now.
I guess not working for $0 will be fine… nothing is better then …nothing??
Oh ya the government will take care of us??The unions say so let them feed me they have higher saleries then most and more benifits.
If I am worth $10.00/hour that what I should expect if I think I am worth more I need to prove it… and then expect it if not here than I will move on..
Life is fair only if you get off you duff and make it happen!
.
Wal-Mart pays little for hourly wages, keeps almost everyone part-time, and then sends them over to DHS for food stamps and health insurance. Quite the business plan…
Obama care bill states everyone over 30 hours is a full time employee and must be provided with healthcare. So employers are sure to cut everyones hours to 28 hours per week.. See how that works?
I can see that some will be getting done, and many will be hurting. Years ago there was no erosion of the 40 hour work week, and now it appears to be the norm at the expense or the worker and society. So we need two jobs to make it, with no benefits. To do this by a corporation and expect entitlements be paid to these their workers so they can avoid employer responsibilities and the law is corrupt. Corporate welfare and corporate entitlements are just carrying a corporation around societies neck and evetually equillibrium will come about, and adjustments will be made. So we the workers and society can foot the bill, accept this or that as the cause, only to a certain degree. Hopefully, by this point it will not be too late, that wages, hours, and benefits will not be attainable to meet needs.
You don’t suppose government policy has anything to do with the fact that there has been an erosion in the 40 hour work week, do you?
Yes, as “pushtheredbutton” stated under Obama Care legislation, 30 hours is a full time employee. In no doubt as was stated by “pushtheredbutton” employers will simply reduce employees hours down to 28, thereby, they are documented as part time employees. I believe this will still leave them on the welfare roles if its applicable, and the state poverty guidelines remain the same. I am not sure how the Obama Care fine/ tax process is going to apply. The one’s really out will be the worker’s who are down two hours more on take home pay so companies can once again escape.
Perhaps things would have been better for the employees if the government had stayed out. You suppose?
The new laws act like a tax on employers. They need to redo their model in reaction.
The law of unintended consequences comes into play here. One in three small businesses intends to drop health insurance for their employees in 2014.
Yes, the inefficiencies of government do drag on the free market.
More evidence that we need single payer universal Care and that no other solution will ever suffice.
And we keep adding trillions and trillions to the national debt…just keep kicking the can down the road and eventually there will be no road left.
@jd2008jd: So continue paying hugely for private health insurance, much more than you’d pay for “socialized medicine” like Medicare extended to all. Apparently you prefer to pay for multimillion-dollar bonuses to worthless-eater CEOs instead of for health care.
Medicare and MaineCare owe millions of dollars to providers, hospitals, pharmacies, ambulance companies, etc… They are months behind in payments.
If Medicare and MaineCare are currently behind in payments and there are currently more people ON Medicare and MaineCare then pay into the system.
How do you propose we add tens of millions of people to the system. pay off the existing debt, provide new coverage and stay current so all providers, facilities and companies can continue in business and employee people?
Cause the calamity then propose the solution.
So at 28 hours per week, that should leave plenty of time to get a second job if they need it. See how that works?
How much should someone be paid to run items across a scanner or stock shelves? Who’s fault is it if someone is only qualified to work at Walmart? Does that mean they should get paid as much as someone who had the ambition to get an education?
Anyone in this country who wants an education can get one. Of course you do have to have ambition, put some effort into it, and pay attention.
You have no clue what you are talking about! You also have no facts to back up your wild accusations (or should I say DELUSIONS)!
These are just two of many sources supporting my “DELUSIONS”. Now I would like to know the basis of your statements. Thank you
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/16/walmarts-internal-compensation-plan_n_2145086.html
http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/healthcare/
Experience! I work there! I don’t rely on the old liberal fallback of siting the Huffington post!
Siting? lol. Are you taking aim? Oh, you probably meant citing? Thanks for the laugh.
What about Target, Kohl’s, Lowes, Home Depot, Hannaford, Shaws and all the other big and small retailors? The retail business has always been known for low wages because it typically does not require a vast skill set to gain a job in this job sector.
Exactly. Why should anyone take out college loans and get an education to better themselves if you can make the same money with no ambition?
What is your point ?
Do you have those numbers?
What numbers?
I was referring to the comparison of wage levels to education levels. I was curious if you had some figures for these stores. I have known several workers at Wal-Mart over the years that have Master’s and some with doctorates. They are not always there by choice, but as with many over the years, as circumstances have dictated. These are tough economic times and with policy changes there is little pie left to go around. With the lifestyles many have grown accustom to, in part consisting of service costs, the wages of one even two jobs fails to cover it all. I am not talking sea-doo’s, new cars, and buying a load of electronics w/necessary service plans. I am talking lights, telephone, mortgage /rent, fuel…the wages have not even been close at keeping up with these cost increases of goods and services over the last fifteen years no matter of what level the wage earner is at. These times have people coming down on the poor who are using a system that we through our elected officials made available and recommended that they use. Now we have
financial difficulties and need to cut them off, but we do not ever need to consider anybody less than a human being requiring basic needs. It has been expressed by some here that those who want a bit more (as with Wal-Mart) are greedy union sympathizers. Wal-Mart has a history in this matter and they are what they are, as do Union’s (I wonder where Jimmy Hoffa is). The atmosphere here by some, is that these low wage workers are simply the next step up from being on the welfare roles, and next to the “bottom feeders”. They are however as essential as are small businesses as they have always been important in keeping and making this country strong. They earn and spend money back into the economy more so. These are presently both under attack. The fact is that these lower end
jobs have not wage advanced as with many jobs across the board with real time cost of living expenditures. Those still capable of paying the prices, thinking that they are the middle class and still having a few dollars to do with what-ever are just one government policy away from becoming a low or no wage earner. The significance of low wages is not going away, as corporations are manipulating the work forces, scouring the globe to pay the lowest price for human resources, natural resources, while assuring policies favor corporations, not the people. Sorry for the rant, yes numbers, must now get coffee ;)
I came up with this through the Bureau of Labor Statistics, granted it is from 2010 and would not be a true reflection of 2012 figures. I understand that it does not specify the companies that I used as examples in my previous post, but it does give the broad picture of the retail sector as it relates to wages.
Retail Sales Workers
Median hourly wages, May 2010
Total, All Occupations $16.27
Parts Salespersons $13.88
Retail Sales Workers $10.09
Retail Salespersons $9.94
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics
The median hourly wage of retail salespersons was $9.94 in
May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half of the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.75, and the top 10 percent earned more than $18.54.
The median hourly wage of parts salespersons was $13.88 in
May 2010. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $8.77, and the top 10 percent earned more than $23.12.
Compensation systems vary by type of establishment and
merchandise sold. Retail sales workers get hourly wages, commissions, or a combination of the two. Under a commission system, they get a percentage of the sales they make. This system offers sales workers the opportunity to increase
their earnings considerably, but they may find that their earnings depend strongly on their ability to sell their product and on the ups and downs of the economy.
Many retail sales workers work evenings and weekends,
particularly during holidays and other peak sales periods. Because the end-of-year holiday season is often the busiest time, many employers limit sales workers’ use of vacation time between November and the beginning of January. About 37 percent of retail salespersons worked part time in 2010.
Most major retail chains will not schedule anyone over 25 hours a week
At 11.75/hr, a 40 hour weeks nets an employee appx $1410.00/mo. That makes a family of 3 eligible for food stamps and fuel assistance. The problem lie, not with wages, but with the cost of living. Follow the money.
$11.75×40= $470 x52 weeks in a year= $24440 divide that by 12 months = $2036.67 per month in gross income, at that rate a three person household would not be subject to paying federal income taxes so you would have SS and medicare tax and state tax lets say 10% total. that would leave approx. $1833 per month.
Now if both parents work at that wage that would boost the family income up to almost $50K gross, hardly the poverty line.
I agree the cost of living is going out of control though, I sure can’t maintain my standard of living that I had 10-15 years ago and I make more than I did back then.
This reminds me of a Walmart in Saguenay Quebec a number of years ago. Its employees wanted to Unionize. Walmart got fed up with their demands and closed the store.
maybe the country will get lucky and all walmart stores will close.
It worked for Hostess. I hope those union drones have a fun time explaining to their kids why Santa left them nothing this year; no doubt they’ll blame Romney or Rush Limbaugh or Fox News…anybody but themselves.
Oh please don’t say that. We would have to buy our crap online from China!!
How much should someone be paid to put cheap chinese junk on a shelf?
Or push shopping carts around the parking lot.??
At $11.75/hr for a 40/hr week, an employee nets appx $1410.00/mo. This makes a family of 3 eligible for food stamps and fuel assistance. The problem lies, not with the pay scale but with the cost of living. Follow the money.
The value of the Federal Reserve note. The more the government borrows the less the dollar will buy.. The US treasury note a dollar will buy 8 gallons of gas.
What kind of strong arm tactic does it take to have a 60% decrease in absenteeism the day after thanksgiving? If the employees are not allowed to speak of poor wages it will have to be done by consumers. It is the consumers that pay the living expenses of these employees who are not recieving a living wage. When consumers start to stay away the management will then learn that it is important to have workers/consumers that keep there company running.
Those imbeciles that protested the Ellsworth Walmart have no clue what they are talking about! I work there, and Ellsworth is one of the best in the state, let alone the country! No one holds a gun to our heads to MAKE us work there. If you don’t like it, leave! It’s as simple as that.
I had one come in on Tuesday and try to talk me into joining their crusade. In the most polite way I could I told him to shove his union where the sun don’t shine! I even offered to do it for him!
I was a union member once – THEY ARE USELESS MONEY-GRUBBING RECTAL OPENINGS!
This is all about money! The union wants to get their grubby hands on dues money! They see Walmart as a golden goose, capable of laying one golden egg after another! They don’t give a crap about the worker, just getting a cut of the paycheck!
What?? Why would a company open a business if it was not to make money??? This is a company that keeps things affordable while making money. If you dont like working at a company move on. The hostess workers seem to be happy with their dicision to not have a job. I guess having to work for a living is not important when there are so many hand outs available.
http://inequality.org/minimum-wage/
Let’s start paying all these unskilled and uneducated workers a fair wage. I’d say fair for someone to be a cashier is $50/hour. If you don’t want to get paid minimum wage, get educated and get skills that employers want.
Even undeducated workers need to eat and pay rent. A fair wage is one that allows families to be self sufficient without relying on government subsidies of any kind. That’s the way it used to be before corporations discovered how to outsource our jobs.
We didn’t used to have the highest corporate tax rate in the world either. We also used to have a lot more than 53% of the public paying income taxes.
But they don’t need smart phones, ipads, cable TV, designer clothes, and a whole host of other luxuries.
Wow. If those figures are accurate, Walmart owners should be taxed at a higher rate.
I wonder what would happen were Walmart’s loyal employees and customers marched into the labor union headquarters with bullhorns blaring and carrying signs showing how many businesses have been ruined by union greed and endless demands. Give ’em a taste of their own medicine.
I drove past 3 Walmarts to get to the Target in Augusta.
not these people again……………………………………..
Something like 4000 Maine Walmart workers collect some form of welfare. Ask any DHS worker if you dont believe it. I dare you.
So ‘who’ is paying for the welfare benefits Walmart workers are getting?
Sounds extremely high. Doing a quick search there are 22 Walmarts in Maine so by your math an average of 182 workers per store are on welfare….I’m callin bs on that.
Talk to a DHS worker. I did.
Wal-Mart is on target for its best Black Friday ever. I am sure they thank the Occupy people for all the free advertising.
Quit and find a better paying job…
The democrat parasitic union leeches will not stop until everyone is unemployed or we stand up and punch back!….it’s only gonna get worse!…good luck everyone!
I can see that union’s (I am not a fan, at all) could take from employees
especially with a company the size of Wal-Mart. What’s a country to do with
everybody needing healthcare and companies decreasing hours to make many jobs part-time in order to avoid paying the costs of any benefits? Presently these uninsured low income earners (though working hard) are shown by these part-time employing companies the way to welfare offices across this country with us taxpayers footing the benefits for their employees.
Recently I had a conversation with a friend that stated we should end all
government involvement in health care, retirement or disability insurance, and
entitlements with no pay outs, no care, no food, no chits or checks from any
level of government. “He said things will straighten out on their own.” The thing I can’t see happening…he said “The government would cut all our taxes and the national debt would be paid down quickly.”
The wife and I were at the Portland store last night just after midnight and i can report that we did not see ONE protester. I believe that a very few and the union itself is trying to get a foothold into the business, and we all know what the union did for the bakers of Hostess dont we. I am not against Unions, but i do believe that the Union leaders seem to get rich while the hard working associates take the risks, the heat and eventually lose…in most situations. There needs to be a better way to get these Super Rich CEO’s to treat their associates better and give better pay…..I wish that i knew.
Give me a break, “occupy anything” is a waste in every sense of the phrase. And, WalMart is laughing all the way to the bank.
And, while on the subject, to hell with the unions, ALL unions.
Unions=organized crime. Especially the AFL-CIO.
But it’s ok that the Walton’s sit around and do nothing to earn their money but people out of work are lazy bums milking the system. That’s what I loved about Teddy Rosevelt he pushed to tax inheritance so there would be no such thing as the idle rich. We see how that worked out. The extremes of capitalism can so shameful it’s sickening the greed is overwhelming.
They “DO NOTHING” to earn their money??? What the hell are you talking about?
They own the company!
They take the risks!
They invest their money!
They have to hire slouches like you!
Haha name calling haha I would think job creators like u living off ur investments and the sweat of others could do better than THAT. Our country and the people running corporate America are greedy pigs and u must have your fat face buried right in there with them.
walmart is a sewer pipe.
Ever read the Tightwad Gazette? That woman had 6 children, they had one income from her husband, a serviceman, and they saved enough to buy a house outright. All depends on how you make use of your money and what really matters I guess. That woman researched everything…most of us just don’t want to bother to do all that work. The Amish have the right idea. If everything goes to hell in a handbasket, they will be the survivors.
Funny they will protest walmart…$8.90 is better than minimum wage ($7.50) which is what countless jobs in Ellsworth hire for. How about we fight to get the minimum wage closer to LIVING wage? That would make a HUGE difference.
WAL*MART Why We Occupy
Walmart is the third largest corporation in the world. They’ve gotten rich by forcing
hundreds of thousands of their two million employees to live below the poverty
line, making $8.18 per hour.
Walmart has lots of ways of keeping its workers in line: It forces higher-paid
employees to work “flexible” shifts so they’ll quit; it pressures employees to
work overtime without pay or risk being fired. Instead of providing affordable
health benefits to its employees, Walmart shows them how to apply for food stamps and Medicaid. Store managers are trained to falsify time sheets or not pay
employees for the total number of hours worked. Between 2005 and 2011 Walmart
settled 70 class action lawsuits over stolen wages, paying out $1 billion in
damages.
On October 9th 2012, hundreds of Walmart employees in twelve states walked off
the job. It was the first ever strike in the corporation’s fifty-year history.
The strikers were protesting, among other things, retaliation by Walmart for
the workers’ attempts to organize.
It’s not just Walmart employees who have something at stake in taking on Walmart. As more and more jobs in this country become service jobs, we all have to ask, what kinds of jobs do we want?
Support Walmart employee rights.Tell Walmart Chairman of the Board Rob Walton to meet with Walmart workers about their demands for better pay and working conditions.
Think about shopping locally. When you shop
locally, your money stays in your community. For every $1 spent at local
businesses, 45 cents is reinvested locally, and more of your tax dollars go to
schools and roads in our community.
For more information about Occupy Maine-Bath-Brunswick:
http://www.occupybrunswick.wordpress.com
WalMart has done well because of low prices offered to the public! The public likes that!