Perfect vid to *promote

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by shuac.

Good luck to them! Historically, this is the main way change occurs in the workplace. Let's hope Walmart gives them what they want.

Are the workers of Walmart not unionised?

Put your money where your mouth is. Sponsor a striker. They take a small transaction fee ($1.75 or so?) but help out these folks that take a huge hit when striking.

the problem isn't Walmart. The problem is the Capitalist system in which Walmart is allowed to exist.

This is why unions exist.

>> ^EvilDeathBee:

Are the workers of Walmart not unionised?


No way. Walmart is downright Pinkertonesque when it comes to unions. I wish them luck.

All systems are in decay upon conception and the rate of decay accelerates upon implementation there, Trancecoach...

Walmart is to unions as grouper is to red tide. Their current "fuck our employees as we fuck the planet" model would flash incinerate the moment their employees had a say in a future with Walmart other than the one they have: "Stay poor, stay ill, do your job, insect, then die."

I'd love to see Walmart burn this year. ALL power to their employees, sweatshop-showcase lackeys all!!


You know ho to save money at Walmart? Buy only goods from their shelves that are manufactured in the United States. You won't need a shopping cart.

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

*PROMOTE

Don't shop Walmart this Nov or December-It's easy. Just imagine every dollar you spend there creating another crack baby or another Walton family inbred on the Forbes 500 LIST...

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

Not to say that Walmart treats its employees well, but you people are missing something here.
First why should Wal-Mart do anything beyond what is required by law? Minimum wage is minimum wage. The government set that rate and Walmart pays its employees over that wage. They do not have to give insurance to their associates, yet they do. Most states are "At Will" states which means you can be fired for any reason aside from sex, age or race. If you don't like what Walmart offers then there is a McDonald's on almost every corner. Or even a Starbucks.
As for manufacturing, while Walmart is BRUTAL on it's vendors, they also have one of the strictest social compliance programs in the world. They've also instituted a packaging reduction program that looks to reduce packaging waste and increase the amount of recycled material used.
It is not totally the fault of Walmart that everything is made China. They buy from Vendors, vendors moved manufacturing to China in order to be competitive. Everything could have stayed in the USA but with the increasing wages and government policies US manufacturers could not compete(At the same time restrictions on imports from Asia were loosened) Now if you wanted to make a plastic piece in the USA it would cost 4-6 times more than in China, generally speaking. Recently I have found some US manufacturers that can injection mold components at a reasonable cost, but due to the havoc wreaked by everything moving to China I lack the infrastructure to be able to do things like Paint Decoration (Again something so strictly regulated that it would be near impossible to do in the US).
As we continue to see the USD falter against the RMB and as the price of oil continues to increase we may reach a point of balance where manufacturing in the US could come back, but it would most likely be automated and would not result in near the number of jobs it had in the past. Of course at the same time, due to those same changes in Oil prices and the USD against the RMB we'll be seeing some pretty big price increases on product. Hang on to your pocket books everybody it's gonna be a rough ride.
On another note Sam Walton was a total skin flint, but he did it across the board. The guy didn't even get heat in his office until he was near death. Only then it was done because the engineer put it in with out him knowing. They feared him catching a pneumonia. He complained when he found out. No one could drive fancy cars, because if Sam saw them he'd figure he was paying them too much. After he died all kinds of sports cars popped up in the Walmart parking lot.

you guys ever meet a slave so thoroughly convinced he was not a slave?
i present to you the comment above for your consideration.

>> ^enoch:

you guys ever meet a slave so thoroughly convinced he was not a slave?
i present to you the comment above for your consideration.


Sorry man, but I feel a bit of investigative (British pronunciation) delving would find the long-winded My_design either a corporate shill or (insert other perceived derogatory corporate lackey chore) kin to the, oh-so-equitable and humanitarian Walton family of human garbage.

*promote the strike, power to those less fortunate than yourselves. Those who have no OPTION but to work at WallyWorld
because small businesses and their family-owned concerns are now out of business in Everytown USA, thanks to the efforts of Walmart's deforestation of the American landscape. Fuck Walmart Forever!!

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

Wow, the "free thinkers" lash out.
Not a corporate shill, but work in a corporate environment. Not saying that corporate actions are always right, but you guys only ever want to tear down, and never propose how to fix it. Your own hatred blinds you to reality.
So F_ck Walmart, F_ck Target, F_ck Coke and Pepsi and all the other companies that make "ridiculous" profits at the expense of consumers and employees. Stop buying their crap, form a commune and move to the hills. Consumerism and free market are screwing up the country/planet right? So let's seize corporate profits, block them at every angle and get us back to the good old days, you know before Carnegie, Ford, JP Morgan, and Rockefeller. Hell before Edison while we're at it. Oh wait there has always been corporations doing business in the US. Oh well, enjoy your new life with the Amish.

No options for jobs?
Here's a 160 pages of options just for the 50 miles around Chicago:
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobResults.aspx?lr=cbcb_ct&siteid=cb_ctnpqsb&use=all&s_rawwords=Chicago&s_freeloc=Il&s_jobtypes=ALL&uJobsF
oundCount2%3Ajlrd=50&Submit=GO
There are always options. We tend to forget that just 50 years ago people were subsistence farming, living with 3 generations in a household, working 2 jobs, and no health insurance. Hell in some places that is still going on. But now we complain and strike because the manager bullies us and causes unnecessary stress (0:22) If that is really the case, then document it. It is called contributing to a hostile work environment and is covered under the sexual harassment laws in the US.

"Because I'm tired of working at a company where workers get cheated and cheaters get rewarded" What? Umm that would be a class action lawsuit like the ones that hit Walmart in the past.

So, go get a job somewhere else.

*controversy

Adding video to channels (Controversy) - requested by MrFisk.

*promote 100 votes+

Walmart heath care update:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49791189

STRIKE NEWS:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171222/when-walmart-workers-strike-what-you-need-know-and-what-happens-next

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

>> ^My_design:

Wow, the "free thinkers" lash out.
Not a corporate shill, but work in a corporate environment. Not saying that corporate actions are always right, but you guys only ever want to tear down, and never propose how to fix it. Your own hatred blinds you to reality.
So F_ck Walmart, F_ck Target, F_ck Coke and Pepsi and all the other companies that make "ridiculous" profits at the expense of consumers and employees. Stop buying their crap, form a commune and move to the hills. Consumerism and free market are screwing up the country/planet right? So let's seize corporate profits, block them at every angle and get us back to the good old days, you know before Carnegie, Ford, JP Morgan, and Rockefeller. Hell before Edison while we're at it. Oh wait there has always been corporations doing business in the US. Oh well, enjoy your new life with the Amish.
No options for jobs?
Here's a 160 pages of options just for the 50 miles around Chicago:
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobResults.aspx?lr=cbcb_ct&siteid=cb_ctnpqsb&use=all&s_rawword
s=Chicago&s_freeloc=Il&s_jobtypes=ALL&uJobsF
oundCount2%3Ajlrd=50&Submit=GO
There are always options. We tend to forget that just 50 years ago people were subsistence farming, living with 3 generations in a household, working 2 jobs, and no health insurance. Hell in some places that is still going on. But now we complain and strike because the manager bullies us and causes unnecessary stress (0:22) If that is really the case, then document it. It is called contributing to a hostile work environment and is covered under the sexual harassment laws in the US.
"Because I'm tired of working at a company where workers get cheated and cheaters get rewarded" What? Umm that would be a class action lawsuit like the ones that hit Walmart in the past.


For me it's much simpler. Requires very little thinking through, this hatred for all that Walmmart represents. The worst form of mega-corporate usurping of the individual, of regional infrastructure, local architecture....Walmart has killed the souls of so many small towns and has done it through a systematic cheapening of goods and services. The hydra is self-perpetuating with your help....One of her strongest tentacles is this inbred bitch's legal department working tirelessly to maintain the machine's tactics and contempt for the people who have bought their line and their sub-standard goods from a country that has gone from a fundamentally repressive government with the largest population of any country to one, massive sweatshop PLANETOID of human wage-slaves.

People have been groomed for accepting quantity over quality, convenience over consciousness.
Apologies for the harsh words, glad to hear you have nothing to do with this particular beast-I fucked Coke, Pepsi, Target, etc. years ago...Don't frequent any chain restaurants or purchase new cars either. Shop at thrift stores for clothing and order consumer goods online through "ma and pa" internet businesses.
From America, in America, but not OF America.

I choose not to shop at Walmart because I don't support the consequences of their actions. Cheap food isn't better than good food and I prefer to shop at small businesses because I feel they're better at taking care of me than global corporations. In other words, I vote with my money.

People are perfectly free to go get a job someplace else if they don't feel they're being taken care of. When Walmart can no longer find anyone to work under the current conditions, they'll be forced to improve, right?>> ^dag:

yesssss. The Lord helps those who helps themselves, am I right?>> ^deedub81:
So, go get a job somewhere else.

Walmart would go out of business if non English-speaking nationals, illegals (undocumented), and people with IQ's below 110 withdrew their support.
Their grocery section sucks donkey balls.
Their clothing insures the slavery of millions and millions of Chinese for years to come.
Their concern for their employees well-being....Non-Existent.
Their buildings are a cyst on the landscape of the country.

Insult to Injury should be their corporate motto.

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

I spent 8.5 years of my life and nearly 1/4 million dollars (much of which I borrowed and just recently paid off the loans after 15 years) so that I didn't have to be in this video. It's called higher education, folks. Anyone can do it.


Yeah, I built that.

No, you are wrong.
Simply Put: Exploitation of its workers

Wal-Mart has a proven track record of doing the absolute minimum for it's workers in all cases.
The insurance they offer is a joke. Almost every employee is part time so they don't have to pay benefits. If you miss a shift because you need to work two jobs to get by, they cut your hours down to almost none.

http://www.amazon.ca/How-Walmart-Destroying-America-World/dp/1580086683
http://videosift.com/video/Confessions-of-a-Wal-Mart-Hit-Man
http://videosift.com/video/Mother-of-Dead-Soldier-Sued-by-Wal-Mart-for-Insurance-Money

There is nothing wrong with Capitalism as a model as long as you compensate your workers and reward them fairly for going above and beyond. If the system is designed to squeeze every possible dollar out of the system at the expense of your workers then that system is flawed and exploitative..

>> ^My_design:

Wow, the "free thinkers" lash out.
Not a corporate shill, but work in a corporate environment. Not saying that corporate actions are always right, but you guys only ever want to tear down, and never propose how to fix it. Your own hatred blinds you to reality.
So F_ck Walmart, F_ck Target, F_ck Coke and Pepsi and all the other companies that make "ridiculous" profits at the expense of consumers and employees. Stop buying their crap, form a commune and move to the hills. Consumerism and free market are screwing up the country/planet right? So let's seize corporate profits, block them at every angle and get us back to the good old days, you know before Carnegie, Ford, JP Morgan, and Rockefeller. Hell before Edison while we're at it. Oh wait there has always been corporations doing business in the US. Oh well, enjoy your new life with the Amish.
No options for jobs?
Here's a 160 pages of options just for the 50 miles around Chicago:
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobResults.aspx?lr=cbcb_ct&siteid=cb_ctnpqsb&use=all&s_rawword
s=Chicago&s_freeloc=Il&s_jobtypes=ALL&uJobsF
oundCount2%3Ajlrd=50&Submit=GO
There are always options. We tend to forget that just 50 years ago people were subsistence farming, living with 3 generations in a household, working 2 jobs, and no health insurance. Hell in some places that is still going on. But now we complain and strike because the manager bullies us and causes unnecessary stress (0:22) If that is really the case, then document it. It is called contributing to a hostile work environment and is covered under the sexual harassment laws in the US.
"Because I'm tired of working at a company where workers get cheated and cheaters get rewarded" What? Umm that would be a class action lawsuit like the ones that hit Walmart in the past.

The following are 20 facts about Wal-Mart that will absolutely shock you….

#1 The average U.S. family now spends more than $4000 a year at Wal-Mart.

#2 In 2010, Wal-Mart had revenues of 421 billion dollars. That amount was greater than the GDP of 170 different countries including Norway, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates.

#3 If Wal-Mart was a nation, it would have the 23rd largest GDP in the world.

#4 Wal-Mart now sells more groceries than anyone else in America does. In the United States today, one out of every four grocery dollars is spent at Wal-Mart.

#5 Amazingly, 100 million customers shop at Wal-Mart every single week.

#6 Wal-Mart has opened more than 1,100 ”supercenters” since 2005 alone.

#7 Today, Wal-Mart has more than 2 million employees.

#8 If Wal-Mart was an army, it would be the second largest military on the planet behind China.

#9 Wal-Mart is the largest employer in 25 different U.S. states.

#10 According to the Economic Policy Institute, trade between Wal-Mart and China resulted in the loss of 133,000 manufacturing jobs in the United States between 2001 and 2006.

#11 The CEO of Wal-Mart makes more in a single hour than a full-time Wal-Mart associate makes in an entire year.

#12 Tens of thousands of Wal-Mart employees and their children are enrolled in Medicaid and are dependent on the government for healthcare.

#13 Between 2001 and 2007, the value of products that Wal-Mart imported from China grew from $9 billion to $27 billion.

#14 Sadly, about 85 percent of all the products sold at Wal-Mart are made outside of the United States.

#15 It is being reported that about 80 percent of all Wal-Mart suppliers are in China at this point.

#16 Amazingly, 96 percent of all Americans now live within 20 miles of a Wal-Mart.

#17 The number of “independent retailers” in the United States declined by 60,000 between 1992 and 2007.

#18 According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Wal-Mart spent 7.8 million dollars on political lobbying during 2011. That number does not even include campaign contributions.

#19 Today, Wal-Mart has five times the sales of the second largest U.S. retailer (Costco).

#20 The combined net worth of six members of the Walton family is roughly equal to the combined net worth of the poorest 30 percent of all Americans.

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/utica-ny/T1FQDFUL3PUDLIA4V

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Bless your libertarian heart. No, that's not how it works. You don't just let companies degrade working conditions until it's so bad no one is willing to work there. That's not a good strategy for improving working conditions.>> ^deedub81:

I choose not to shop at Walmart because I don't support the consequences of their actions. Cheap food isn't better than good food and I prefer to shop at small businesses because I feel they're better at taking care of me than global corporations. In other words, I vote with my money.
People are perfectly free to go get a job someplace else if they don't feel they're being taken care of. When Walmart can no longer find anyone to work under the current conditions, they'll be forced to improve, right?>> ^dag:
yesssss. The Lord helps those who helps themselves, am I right?>> ^deedub81:
So, go get a job somewhere else.

I thought this was America? Don't we shit all over poor people and minorities? What's the problem? I don't get it.

retaliate by not working at Walmart, quit smoking, quit drinking, eat better, AND get an education. If the place you are living at cannot provide you with the jobs you need to succeed then move. Nothing hurts a business more than money leaving the economy.

I don't recall forcing her to have 3 kids with an A-hole! lol.

>> ^dag:

Sure great idea. Tell the single mom whose alcoholic husband left her with 3 kids, to quit working at Walmart. Genius idea - you've obviously got it all figured out. >> ^MrMark4000:
retaliate by not working at Walmart, quit smoking, quit drinking, eat better, AND get an education. If the place you are living at cannot provide you with the jobs you need to succeed then move. Nothing hurts a business more than money leaving the economy.

LOL...I am not christian. I don't believe in fairy tales. Secondly, there is such as a thing as Pro-Choice. Thirdly, who is to say that only women with 3 kids and asshole husbands work at Walmart. You are acting more like the Christian with your terrible logic. >> ^dag:

Yeah, screw her for making a bad decision and then trying to support her kids. Onward Christian soldiers.>> ^MrMark4000:
I don't recall forcing her to have 3 kids with an A-hole! lol.
>> ^dag:
Sure great idea. Tell the single mom whose alcoholic husband left her with 3 kids, to quit working at Walmart. Genius idea - you've obviously got it all figured out. >> ^MrMark4000:
retaliate by not working at Walmart, quit smoking, quit drinking, eat better, AND get an education. If the place you are living at cannot provide you with the jobs you need to succeed then move. Nothing hurts a business more than money leaving the economy.

^ All problems can be solved with a bullet point. Just move! Just get a different job! Just get an education! Look at me! Homeless? Just buy a house! Hungry? My god, there is a 7-11 or McDonalds on every corner! Husband beats you? Divorce him and get another one! Why is this so hard, people?

>> ^MrMark4000:

retaliate by not working at Walmart, quit smoking, quit drinking, eat better, AND get an education. If the place you are living at cannot provide you with the jobs you need to succeed then move. Nothing hurts a business more than money leaving the economy.


And that's a quick two points to MrMark4000 on the sociopathy test...

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Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

Why do people shop at Walmart? Because it's cheap.
Why is it cheap? Low manufacturing costs, bulk purchase power, low wages and sub-par benefits
What happens if they increase wages/benefits? It won't be as cheap any longer
What will happen to Walmart? They'll have to downsize
What will happen to people that work at Walmart? Many will be laid-off or have hours cut.



This tug-of-war cannot be won by anybody working at Walmart. I'm sorry, I know in many cases people feel it's the only way they get work, and I am very happy that these are people willing to work rather than collect welfare without even trying, but there is no win for those employees (other than the rare case that one of them moves up the ladder).



It's sad really...



I know some say the solution is for Walmart to cut their profits, but as a publicly traded company they have a duty to maximize profit for their shareholders (see the downfall of facebook). Unionizing would drive the price up, but again Walmart has to make money and a union might lead to the potential of a mass exodus of employees which would mean a huge loss. The only chink in the armor here is that their jobs aren't very skilled. Meaning, anybody that wants a job can pretty much do it



I think the only real solution is consumer-side. Don't shop at Walmart, drive them out of existence, and give these small-business owners the ability to flourish again.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

I think you misspelled libertarian.

>> ^Stormsinger:

>> ^MrMark4000:
retaliate by not working at Walmart, quit smoking, quit drinking, eat better, AND get an education. If the place you are living at cannot provide you with the jobs you need to succeed then move. Nothing hurts a business more than money leaving the economy.

And that's a quick two points to MrMark4000 on the sociopathy test...

>> ^dag:

I think you misspelled libertarian.
>> ^Stormsinger:
>> ^MrMark4000:
retaliate by not working at Walmart, quit smoking, quit drinking, eat better, AND get an education. If the place you are living at cannot provide you with the jobs you need to succeed then move. Nothing hurts a business more than money leaving the economy.

And that's a quick two points to MrMark4000 on the sociopathy test...


You say toe-may-toe, I say toe-mah-toe. Libertarian or sociopathy...any test for either would have to have a strong check for a lack of empathy.

>> ^rottenseed:

Why do people shop at Walmart? Because it's cheap.
Why is it cheap? Low manufacturing costs, bulk purchase power, low wages and sub-par benefits
What happens if they increase wages/benefits? It won't be as cheap any longer
What will happen to Walmart? They'll have to downsize
What will happen to people that work at Walmart? Many will be laid-off or have hours cut.

This tug-of-war cannot be won by anybody working at Walmart. I'm sorry, I know in many cases people feel it's the only way they get work, and I am very happy that these are people willing to work rather than collect welfare without even trying, but there is no win for those employees (other than the rare case that one of them moves up the ladder).

It's sad really...

I know some say the solution is for Walmart to cut their profits, but as a publicly traded company they have a duty to maximize profit for their shareholders (see the downfall of facebook). Unionizing would drive the price up, but again Walmart has to make money and a union might lead to the potential of a mass exodus of employees which would mean a huge loss. The only chink in the armor here is that their jobs aren't very skilled. Meaning, anybody that wants a job can pretty much do it

I think the only real solution is consumer-side. Don't shop at Walmart, drive them out of existence, and give these small-business owners the ability to flourish again.

It's hard to disagree with much of this. But, being the intense competitor I am, I'll try.

Actually, there's only a couple of relatively small points.

First, Walmart is publicly traded, but it's wholly controlled by the Walton family...if they decide to pay livable wages and to change the culture of worker abuse, it can be changed. There is no conflict with any duty to maximize profits. Unless you're an investment bank, there really is no such duty. Even if there was, it's not unreasonable to consider a move like investing in your employee relationships to be a long-term method of maximizing profits. Especially when public sympathy for the company has been dropping for years.

Second, they used to operate on a much lower margin, they sold mostly made-in-the-USA products, and somehow still managed to make enough money to become huge. So it seems like they -could- share a tiny portion of the profits with those who make the stores run. Costco manages to pay significantly better and offer most of its employees insurance, and yet still be competitive.

If they don't stop offloading their employment costs onto the rest of us (remember that less than half of the employees at Walmart have health insurance, even now), society is well within its rights to charge them for the welfare the company gets, one way or another. It's probably better for the company to offer at least minimal cooperation with a union than to be at the mercy of public perception.

But overall, you're probably still right.

Those are all good points. No "but" they're all just good points >> ^Stormsinger:

>> ^rottenseed:
Why do people shop at Walmart? Because it's cheap.
Why is it cheap? Low manufacturing costs, bulk purchase power, low wages and sub-par benefits
What happens if they increase wages/benefits? It won't be as cheap any longer
What will happen to Walmart? They'll have to downsize
What will happen to people that work at Walmart? Many will be laid-off or have hours cut.
This tug-of-war cannot be won by anybody working at Walmart. I'm sorry, I know in many cases people feel it's the only way they get work, and I am very happy that these are people willing to work rather than collect welfare without even trying, but there is no win for those employees (other than the rare case that one of them moves up the ladder).
It's sad really...
I know some say the solution is for Walmart to cut their profits, but as a publicly traded company they have a duty to maximize profit for their shareholders (see the downfall of facebook). Unionizing would drive the price up, but again Walmart has to make money and a union might lead to the potential of a mass exodus of employees which would mean a huge loss. The only chink in the armor here is that their jobs aren't very skilled. Meaning, anybody that wants a job can pretty much do it
I think the only real solution is consumer-side. Don't shop at Walmart, drive them out of existence, and give these small-business owners the ability to flourish again.

It's hard to disagree with much of this. But, being the intense competitor I am, I'll try.
Actually, there's only a couple of relatively small points.
First, Walmart is publicly traded, but it's wholly controlled by the Walton family...if they decide to pay livable wages and to change the culture of worker abuse, it can be changed. There is no conflict with any duty to maximize profits. Unless you're an investment bank, there really is no such duty. Even if there was, it's not unreasonable to consider a move like investing in your employee relationships to be a long-term method of maximizing profits. Especially when public sympathy for the company has been dropping for years.
Second, they used to operate on a much lower margin, they sold mostly made-in-the-USA products, and somehow still managed to make enough money to become huge. So it seems like they -could- share a tiny portion of the profits with those who make the stores run. Costco manages to pay significantly better and offer most of its employees insurance, and yet still be competitive.
If they don't stop offloading their employment costs onto the rest of us (remember that less than half of the employees at Walmart have health insurance, even now), society is well within its rights to charge them for the welfare the company gets, one way or another. It's probably better for the company to offer at least minimal cooperation with a union than to be at the mercy of public perception.
But overall, you're probably still right.

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

@rottenseed
you make some good points buckaroo but your post is ignoring the giant pink elephant in the room.
@Sagemind 's most excellent post gave that elephant a nod but i think it prudent to point directly at that giant hulking pustulent piece of pink elephant flesh.

shall we?
1.corporate america is NOT based on true capitalism (actual free market) but rather state-run capitalism.this translates to lower or non-existent tax revenue,government subsidies and outright bailouts.
in other words=socialism.

2.you state that a corporation has a "duty" to maximize profits.i would agree if you changed "duty" to "legal obligation".

3.this legal obligation to maximize profits has led to all kinds of inventive and clever ways to defraud the public and local municipalities,from having them pay for infrastructure to waste clean-up.the amount of money spent by public,tax-payer funds is staggering which of course=socialism.

4.corporate america has a literal army of 35,000 lobbyists in washington whose sole purpose is to manipulate legislatures to pass favorable laws (de-regulation).85% of ALL laws passed are actually written by corporate lobbyists.

5.since the abomination ruling of citizens united (fuck you alito) corporate america now has the unlimited access to our lawmakers.walmart spent tens of millions on the last election cycle,how much did you give? and who do you think those legislators are going to be listening to?
money=speech in this country.

6.a corporation is considered a person but this person has no empathy,remorse nor feelings of solidarity with fellow humans due to its very nature written into law.
otherwise known as a sociopath.

seewhatimsaying?
the corporate charter needs to be re-examined and/or re-written because what we have now is corporate welfare/socialism with all the benefits going to the top while the working class foots the bill.

vote with your wallet? sure.that would work to a point but many people are limited concerning options and walmart is the only place these folks can afford.
sometimes this economic situation is due to bad choices but more often it is just life kicking these people in the balls.

buck up and go grab some higher education?
sure...and that works how often?
im not kidding.go check the statistics.they are pathetic.
i bartend part time and there are 4 masters degrees and 8 bachelors where i work,all in different fields.ask them how their "higher education" paid off for them.
$100,000 in student debt loans all to be able to ask "would you like some cracked pepper sir"?

now lets punch that pink elephant straight in the balls shall we?
the suggestion that somehow if labor becomes organized and demands..and receives..a more viable living wage with some humane and decent benefits will somehow automatically translate into higher priced goods and eventual job loss is just corporate propaganda which originates from the reagan years.

this is absolute and utter bullshit all fed to us by the very corporations seeking to dominate and oppress its work force.

remember,it is the legal obligation of the corporate board of directors to "maximize profit" not "shoot itself in the foot".
the suggestion that somehow paying its employees a living wage translates to the destruction of the company is apocalyptic propaganda.

what has been done to the american worker is perverse.over the past thirty years we have seen the creation of either wage-slaves or debt slaves..or both.
any way you wish to look at it.we are slaves in one form or another.

i mean..just go check the numbers.
worker pay has stagnated for the past thirty years,while corporate profits have continually broken records.
do you seriously think that a unionized labor force will kill walmart?
not a chance and to suggest otherwise just indicates that the corporate propaganda has been quite effective.

walmart could pay a living wage AND offer affordable benefits and STILL would have cheap goods.
and every step of the way they would be "maximizing profits".

welcome to the united states of corporate america!
will that be cash or credit?

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I'll go one better and declare *quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by Sagemind.

You guys accusing libertarians of lack of empathy, and even sociopathy is typical intellectual short-sightedness. The libertarian considers further consequences to political actions that others usually ignore, they care about longer-term priorities. They can be easily accused of being less emotional for not caving in to perceived short-term benefits, but I assure you they're as human and caring as proponents of any other political philosophy. Please stop hating.

That being said, as a libertarian, I think workers should unionize if they want, they should be fired if Walmart doesn't want to hire unionized workers (contract permitting), let them figure this out. Letting anyone use force, be it the union, government laws, or a criminal cartel to set working conditions is a recipe for disaster down the road.

Okay.. Honestly, I've been holding this back. But I can't honestly say that the people who work at wal-mart need more money for what they do.

I get it, you've got bills to pay, and the minimum wage you make at wal-mart isn't cutting it. But seriously, can I play devils advocate here for one second and say: you work at fucking wal-mart.

Any store clerk of any kind, work in a grocery store as a stock boy, bag boy, cart boy, cashier, anything that A) A teenager could do well, or B) you need little to no education to do shouldn't GET more than minimum wage. Yes, people make mistakes in their life, but should the person with 3 kids and no husband be getting paid 15 bucks an hour for putting clothes on the rack simply because she has a sad story behind her?

The rest of the points, respect, hour slashing, discrimination, all that - completely justified, and power to you all for attempting to change that.

I get it, it's only one part of the bigger picture that i'm picking apart, but it still bothers me.

At 0:13-0:18 "... because I'm 52 years old and I can't afford my own apartment on what I make at Wal-mart"

Are you living beyond your means? You got a (lower) paying job at Wal-mart and expect to be able to do the things you did before? I don't care if this woman has other issues she's not telling the camera, if you cannot afford to live somewhere based on the money you make, MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE. I find it hilarious how people will tell you what a good deal they got on cigarettes, DVDs or other things they didn't need in the first place but then later complain about how they cannot afford their electric bill or something else that's more important. There are these things called priorities and responsibilities.

stanD Ground!.

I'll just leave this here....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-o1fj1rX7A

Penn and teller /\

I didn't read all the comments but many are on the right track.

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

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Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

Hmmm...

I don't have an issue with the wage itself. I worked retail for years. Retail doesn't pay high wages. Any of them, it's not a high skill sector. It's not somewhere I'd want to be my entire life and should most likely be considered a "stepping stone" line of work. For some though, they never get out - partly because of the draw and promise of climbing the corporate ladder to success and some because that's just the best they can do. It's retail - not one is asking for an engineer's pay scale. I don't know about the US, but in Canada, WalMart only pays minimum wage for sales associates, tellers and floor staff.

What I do have an issue with is the way Wal-Mart (and some other retail companies) treat their employees. Almost all positions are part-time. They don't hire more than a few full time employees. Full time employees cost more money in benefits and you can't reduce their weekly hours to make the monthly budget.

Store managers are given very small monthly budgets for man hours. They have to stretch those hours, and place the man power only at peak periods. Part time employees are easier to move around the schedule because they aren't respected, they can also be made to work seven days a week if you give them the min hours per day as possible. They are hired for that purpose. The problem is that people's lives don't function that way. These people also need to have second jobs. You are expected to make WalMart your primary job (even if it's only part time). They may schedule only eight hours in a week. If you have a second job with set hours, Walmart will not work with you because they don't care.
There are all kinds of issues that arise but scheduling is a huge issue.

Benefits. WalMart benefits are so meager, I'm not sure why they bother. I've heard first hand how the medical coverage they offer is lousy and most people end up paying out of pocket for additional insurance if they actually expect to be treated.

WalMart is predatory retail. They have employees that are paid to shop the community and undercut every product that can be bought elsewhere - even if it means they sell at a loss. They increase the prices on every item that cannot be bought locally - even if it means inflating it artificially higher than it's worth. They especially target the small businesses. Once they are able to put those businesses out of business, they will raise all the prices they once sold at a loss because now you don't have a choice. From a business point of view, their process is very smart, it takes every opportunity it can to get your dollar. on the flip side, if everyone is out of business, they can't afford to shop anywhere else. Eventually all retail business employees will be WalMart Employees. It's a downward spiral that isn't sustainable.

WalMart are Bullies. They have the biggest and most expensive lawyers in the business. They can afford it. and if they can't win, because they know they are in the wrong, they will just stonewall until the opposition runs out of money and still win by default. If there is something they want, they get it because they have the wealth, money and power to make it happen - fair practices be dammed!

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Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

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Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

Simply put, if you can afford to lay off 10,000 people on a Friday because of restructuring, then you should expect 10,000 people to not show up to work on any Friday because of their personal/community restructuring. That's capitalism for you! Alas, those who make the rules don't play the game.

People, people, people. Walmart is not the REASON the entire civilised world is finding itself in this situation - walmart is a symptom of the problem.

Walmart is an organisation motivated by profit just like any other.

I heard energy companies posting record profits year in and year out before the recession. There's people at the upper ends of those kinds of companies taking wages, bonuses, pensions and god-knows-what that some people couldn't make in 10 years. They don't deserve it, they don't work 10 times harder then the next person down, but there is a culture of taking what you can.

People don't need that kind of wealth, they just want it. Now, in times of hardship, energy companies are demanding more money for their services because they are no longer making the profit they used to. Instead of relying on the wealth that they have amassed during times of good, they rely on us to give them more.

So they cut a load of jobs to maximise their profits, but now the people they fired can't afford their energy bills. And this is going on all over the place - it isn't just the energy companies, it's also walmart with whatever schemes they've got. It's the oil companies and the politicians with whatever schemes they've got.

And all these schemes intermix, people losing jobs, people unable to afford this here and there because we've stagnated our money, there was no trickle down wealth, it's stagnated so much that there's not enough available anymore to share between the people that need it.

So now the government starts giving out handouts to the elderly or unemployed - £300 for your winter heating bill. But that's a huge amount of money so we need to raise taxes - which is a solution to nothing but puts the problem further ahead and maybe you can work harder later to make up for it.

Meanwhile, half the jobs that are getting taxed are now moved abroad because production is cheaper there. So entire markets of jobs no longer exist, we lost all of our car manufacturers, coal mines (it's cheaper from china), etc. which amounts to millions of jobs, and there's not a lot left to tax. What's the solution now? Which country do we bail out with borrowed money that is earning interest? If the untold billions in profit was returned to the customers back when times were good, we wouldn't be in this situation. But instead it went towards making let's say 30 individual people a lot richer.

Do you see where i'm going with this? It's a culture of greed, and each point down the line there is just enough intentional maneuverability for people to take more than you deserve and/or need; you either are in the clique, in the power scheme, taking cash - or you're not and you're holding up the facade. This isn't what a society is meant to be - it's meant to be a group of people working for their own common benefit because when we don't we all suffer and no one is happy.

This model has a short life-cycle; the eventual result is a few people having a lot of little bits of green paper that don't mean anything because they've forced everyone into abject poverty.

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in."
It doesn't get any simpler than that. Until these old men start planting some trees and giving a LOT back, we will stagnate and you don't want to learn this implied lesson the hard way.

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Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

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response from an organizer per request about stores in my zip code participating:
Hey Choggie,

The best way to find out what's going on in your area is to go to here(http://corporateactionnetwork.org/), sign up and find out if there's an event already going on in your area. If there's not, you can adopt a store in your area and still get an action together if you like. We have lots of resources already up on the Corporate Action Network that you can use to have a fun, informative and educative action at a store near you.

Check it out and let me know if you have any questions.

Best,

Brandon

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, November 10th, 2012 8:38pm PST - promote requested by chingalera.

The Germans booted Walmart right out of their country in 2006, they simply wouldn't shop there.
http://www.dw.de/worlds-biggest-retailer-wal-mart-closes-up-shop-in-germany/a-2112746-1