Fearing unions, Wal-Mart tells employees ‘how to vote’
About a month ago, Newsweek reported that Wal-Mart, after years of embracing conservative politics, was beginning to draw some criticism from the right. In particular, some conservatives believe the retail behemoth was “being too nice to unions.”
It seemed like an odd complaint, given that Wal-Mart has been vehemently anti-labor since, well, forever. But in case there were any lingering doubts, consider this front-page report in the Wall Street Journal. (thanks to R.P. for the heads-up)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they’ll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies — including Wal-Mart.
In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized.
According to about a dozen Wal-Mart employees who attended such meetings in seven states, Wal-Mart executives claim that employees at unionized stores would have to pay hefty union dues while getting nothing in return, and may have to go on strike without compensation. Also, unionization could mean fewer jobs as labor costs rise.
A Wal-Mart customer-service supervisor from Missouri, who attended a mandatory meeting of store employees, told the WSJ, “The meeting leader said, ‘I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won’t have a vote on whether you want a union.’ I am not a stupid person. They were telling me how to vote.”
Yeah, I think that’s a safe bet.
David Tovar, a Wal-Mart spokesman, told the WSJ, “If anyone representing Wal-Mart gave the impression we were telling associates how to vote, they were wrong and acting without approval.” Tovar added, however, that Wal-Mart feels a responsibility to “educate” employees about the dangers of unionization.
I see. So, Wal-Mart instructs store managers and supervisors to go to mandatory meetings, at which point they’re told that unions will cost them money, and those Democrats are pro-union. But that isn’t about telling anyone how they should vote. Riiiiight.
Wal-Mart may be walking a fine legal line by holding meetings with its store department heads that link politics with a strong antiunion message. Federal election rules permit companies to advocate for specific political candidates to its executives, stockholders and salaried managers, but not to hourly employees. While store managers are on salary, department supervisors are hourly workers.
At its core, these election-year efforts are targeting the Employee Free Choice Act, championed by unions and most Democratic lawmakers, which would likely boost union membership through a “card check” system.
The bill was crafted by labor as a response to more aggressive opposition by companies to union-organizing activity. The AFL-CIO and individual unions such as the United Food and Commercial Workers have promised to make passage of the new labor law their No. 1 mission after the November election.
First introduced in 2003, the bill came to a vote last year and sailed through the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, but was blocked by a filibuster in the Senate and faced a veto threat by the White House. The bill was taken off the floor, and its backers pledged to reintroduce it when they could get more support.
The November election could bring that extra support in Congress, as well as the White House if Sen. Obama is elected and Democrats extend their control in the Senate. Sen. Obama co-sponsored the legislation, which also is known as “card check,” and has said several times he would sign it into law if elected president. Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, opposes the Employee Free Choice Act and voted against it last year.
EFCA, of course, has Wal-Mart feeling panicky. The result, apparently, is leaning on store employees to vote Republican.
As if you needed another reason to not shop at Wal-Mart….
Racer X
says:I like to go to Wal-Mart, but every time I go there I forget my wallet, and I have to leave a cart full of crap at the checkout. It’s really strange.
Tim
says:“I like to go to Wal-Mart, but every time I go there I forget my wallet, and I have to leave a cart full of crap at the checkout. It’s really strange.”
So…you abuse the poor grunts at the bottom who have nothing to do with their bosses evil policies?
Way to stick it to The Man.
Steve
says:Also, unionization could mean fewer jobs as labor costs rise.
Fat freaking chance, WalMart. You make money by keeping the shelves stocked. Fewer employees means empty merchandise displays, which will drive your customers to other stores. It will still take “X” number of warm-body-hours to keep the store online. Whether those hours are part-time (like they are now) or full-time (which they should be) won’t matter in the least. The hourly rate is meaningless if your employee only gets 20 hours a week; that’s not a living wage.
Besides, the reason that unions scare WalMart is that the mandatory, after-work meetings that tend to be non-paid will become a thing of the past. So will the mandatory, non-paid overtime hours (yes; they’re still sneaking through this with the “hourly/salary” pay loophole) that nets, on average, a lot of free labor per store.
NonyNony
says:every time I go there I forget my wallet, and I have to leave a cart full of crap at the checkout.
I hope that’s a joke because if not it’s unnecessarily cruel to the guys who have to put the stuff in that cart back. The guys making minimum wage with no health care benefits or pension plan, I might add.
As for the article, I guess my outrage meter has been burned out by the last 8 years. I can’t muster up any surprise at all for the idea that Wal*Mart might be doing something borderline illegal. Their top level executives are already a bunch of traitors who care more about profits than the health of their own country or their own countrymen. This is just another example of their treachery. (If they could figure out a way to do it they’d offshore all of their wage slaves to China too – just like they demand their manufacturing partners do. Un-American bastards.)
Danp
says:And God forbid we lose our right to buy lead painted toys, salmanella tomatoes and poison toothpaste or dog food..
Bob Currie
says:Just another reason why I will never ever set foot in Walmart or Sam’s club. This company is a pox on the landscape of America. Remember back when their slogan was “Buy America”. Now it hard to find an American made product. And their comtempt and lack of respect for their employees makes me think that the KKK is running things. Oh well, off my soapbox.
olo
says:“every time I go there I forget my wallet, and I have to leave a cart full of crap at the checkout.”
If enough of us did this, WM would need to hire so many homeless folks that unemployment would disappear.
Tom Cleaver
says:Yeah, those fine upstanding entrepreneurs, the Walton family, might lose a few million of their $100 billion net family worth and wouldn’t be able to finish their underground “headquarters” at the family compound.
Several years ago, when Wal-Mart employees were holding a company-wide campaign to raise money for an emergency fund to aid the “associates” (what a godawful word – this word needs to become illegal in this context) when they had personal trouble.
The Walton Family, at that time worth a collective $98 billion, donated a whole $6,000 to the campaign.
The five members of the Walton family who control the company are half of the list of Ten Richest People on Earth.
Johnny Horton
says:I worked at Wal-Mart for 3 years right out of high school while paying my way through college. I remember that even if you were able to get a “full time” position, it was Walmart’s version of full time. 37.5 hours per week was their version of 40 hours per week. They didn’t want you getting anywhere close to earning overtime. I was written up one time for having 38.3 hours!
That place is despicable. I refuse to shop there and fill their coffers with my hard earned dollars. I say we should all buy local and buy less, whenever possible. I have heard quite a few people say we vote with our money these days, and I agree. Giving money to these types of businesses is pretty much the same thing as asking for more of what Bush Co. has to offer. There are many ways we might be supporting the Republican agenda that doesn’t entail entering a voting booth.
Will
says:Not to defend Racer Xs actions, but the ‘grunts’ you refer to get paid the exact same amount for the work whether they’re returning merchandise to the shelves, unloading TVs from a truck, or cleaning up vomit in aisle 3.
I’m glad this is getting publicity, because this actually happens all over America. I had a friend who worked for a turkey grower/distributor, and the employees were told in no uncertain terms that they should not only vote Republican, but where to donate as well.
zeitgeist
says:i dont know if Racer X was serious or not, but everyone jumping on the idea is overreacting. It doesn’t burden the poor front-line stock boy or girl – their job is restocking and they will be going through the exact same routine whether with the items in Racer X’s cart or replacing those (had Racer X really bought them) with new items from the back. it doesn’t change the nature of their jobs one bit.
what it does do, however, is make that portion of their jobs less productive for the company — they are now shelving the same goods twice. same activity for the stock clerk, non-productive for the corporation. it also makes the check-out area more cluttered and less productive and attractive.
which is to say, in a very small way (when done as a single individual) it does exact a price from WM, and virtually no harm to the lower-level workers.
doubtful
says:Why does Wal-Mart think their management level employees don’t are scared of unionizing?
Seems like they are stumping for the Democrats, inadvertently.
Johnny Horton
says:Re: Zeitgeist
Actually, it does change the nature of their job. It means even more work they have to fit into their work day (or that carries over to the next day). It means a shorter break and being told to stay late by the manager that night and to come in late the next day as to not go over their allotted hours for the week. There is not a finite amount of work that simply exists in different forms, a purposefully abandoned shopping cart being just one form. No, this creates MORE work that wouldn’t have previously been necessary and that has to be done in addition to the work that is already required of them.
Why don’t you and Racer X go get a job at Wal-Mart for a couple of years and get back to us with your reports on whether or not “poor stock boy or girl” has to do more work when a full basket of merchandise is left for them to take care of? Unbelievable.
jen
says:Lawlessness is the legacy of the Bush administration. If the rich are above the law, why should the rest of us follow them? Oh right. Tasers.
doubtful
says:…employees don’t are scared of… -doubtful
Apparently I was having two thoughts there and stupidity won out. I need caffeine.
zeitgeist
says:Johnny Horton, I worked retail through much of undergrad (chain auto parts store be exact, and grocery in high school) . In those jobs you don’t get told to stay late and get the number of widgets processed – overtime is anathema to these companies. So I stand by my “the shelf needs restocked, whether it comes from Racer X’s cart or the store room” analysis. Backed with my own experience.
Marnie
says:Wal-Mart probably would have to cut jobs/benefits to keep their cash flow looking good enough to be able to keep borrowing money to keep opening stores that they close as soon as they run local business out of business, if they had to live up to union standards. But not all business opperate that way.
I am a recent joiner of a union; within a year I desperately needed the union to protect me from cruel and absurd treatment by my manager, who among other things allowed our supervisor access to my employee records to such an extent that she was able to carry them around with her and show them to other hourlies.
Also as a hospital laboratory tech I am a member of the nurses’s union. One of the main thrusts of that union is “safe staffing levels” meaning that the ratio of care givers/skill levels to patients, with their various levels of needs, is maintained at a safe level for the patient and for the nurses. Patients can be very dangerous to deal with, not necessarily because they intend harm, but just as part of the reality of hospital work.
Over worked lab personnel, who also draw blood from patients, put themselves and patients at risk if they are so overburdened that they cannot concentrate on their work. Over multitasking, an MBA concept that is not rational in the real work place, is probably the main source of hospital errors from nurses and labs.
Union membership does not equate to fewer jobs! It does equate to adequate care of the sick and injured.
Without the union continuing to include that specific issue, as well as others, into each negotiation “safe staffing levels” would not even be a concept, much less a sometimes reality.
Racer X
says:I guess Johnny Horton is under the impression that Wal-Mart employees are salaried employees. Maybe he needs to go work at Wal-Mart, and see if that’s the case or not. Oh wait, he simply accepts that the Wal-Mart managers can just make hourly workers work unpaid overtime, and goes after those of us who either forget our wallets or sabotage one of the worst corporations in existence.
Johnny Horton
says:Re: Zeitgeist
No, I’ve said twice now in this forum that overtime is a no no for Wal-mart workers. That’s why I said it means shorter breaks and possibly coming in late the next day. And it also means doing more work than normal in the same amount of time. Read: WORKING HARDER and FASTER.
What you are claiming is that more work isn’t generated by a customer giving them something to do in addition to what is already required. That is a bunch of crap. If that were true, then eventually the store would just stop receiving merchandise and focus solely on restocking. What actually happens when a full shopping cart is purposefully left behind is that cashiers still have to check out customers, guys on the loading dock still have to unload trucks, people on the floor still have to stock the shelves, and no ONE MORE basket of merchandise has to be restocked.
You are right that the job is still restocking shelves. But when people leave full shopping carts on purpose, the job becomes stocking MORE shelves in the same amount of time. And yes, workers at Wal-mart are in fact asked to stay late to finish that day’s work. From personal experience with the company, I saw it happen time and time again. And when that happens, workers are told to take shorter breaks and/or come in late the next day so as not to go over hours.
citizen_pain
says:Doesn’t surpise me in the least. After all, this is a company who was coaching it’s employees on how to qualify for government aid. Yes, their employees. Guess providing a decent wage and benefitsf or their workers is too much to ask of the most profitable company in the world.
And the sickening irony of it is the Walton are all republicans. And last I heard, republicans hated people that leeched of the government.
Another shining example of corporate greed.
zeitgeist
says:shorter breaks are just as illegal as unpaid overtime – they will face the same fines either way. so if they make workers skip breaks, turn them in. that is how change happens. if citizens are making their dislike of WM known by filling carts and not checking them out as a form of protest, and it creates more work, let WM hire more workers – or change their ways to where people aren’t inclined to protest.
nearly every form of protest and civil disobedience – boycotts, sit-ins, rallys that clog traffic as people slow to read the signs – results in some inconvenience and usually it falls most heavily on those in no position to remedy the problem and on those least economically able to avoid the inconvenience. but in the big picture, the inconvenience is trivial and the ability to try and effect change from the grassroots is vital.
sorry, I still have trouble getting worked up in opposition to Racer X’s careless forgetfulness when it comes to that darned wallet.
Johnny Horton
says:Re: Racer X.
I worked at Walmart for 3 1/2 years and quit in 2000 to go back to college full time. Please read my posts. And I stand by my statement that actions such as you described do in fact generate more work for the employees. If you can explain to me how creating more that needs to be done somehow doesn’t generate more work for the employees, I’m all ears. Trucks still have to be unloaded, customers still are waiting in line to check out, and now YOUR basket has to be restocked.
A manager is not going to eventually say, “OK, everyone. We have a lot more items to restock tonight than normal, so we’re closing down receiving and are going to spend the next week solely restocking merchandise. Boy, someone really found out how to but a stop to our out-of-control company!” No, they are going to tell their employees to do more work in the same amount of time.
Johnny Horton
says:Zeitgeist,
You have got to be kidding me. How very revolutionary of you. Yeah, I’m sure the guy living month to month who hurts his back restocking that extra merchandise would really find his pain (and lack of health insurance) trivial once he sees “the big picture”. That’s good stuff. Keep on fighting the good fight, man. We’ll bring down this totalitarian government- one purposefully left shopping cart at a time!
zeitgeist
says:And how fatalistic of you. Better not leave a full cart at Wal-Mart. Hurts the employees. And if that employee hurts his or her back, I trust they shouldn’t take leave because other employees would have to do more work to cover. And they certainly shouldn’t turn Wal-Mart in for forcing them to work through breaks because every dollar Wal-Mart has to pay in fines is a dollar less to pay employees with. And really we shouldn’t reward Costco for its much better practices by going there instead of Wal-Mart because if, god forbid, Wal-Mart had to close stores or something, think of all the poor employees that would be out of work! It always hurts the employees! What is good for Wal-mart is good for America and its working poor, right?
Please. Under your theory Wal-Mart is untouchable because any negative impacts on Wal-Mart fall hardest on the least powerful first. The premise is correct, the conclusion, however, turns the entire freakin’ world on its head. But you go ahead and drink Wal-Mart’s kool-aid. I trust it is cheap and imported in high-toxin and low-toxin formula from China. And the more of it you drink, the more the employees can reshelve from those trucks instead of Racer X’s cart.
NonyNony
says:It doesn’t burden the poor front-line stock boy or girl – their job is restocking and they will be going through the exact same routine whether with the items in Racer X’s cart or replacing those (had Racer X really bought them) with new items from the back. it doesn’t change the nature of their jobs one bit.
Yes it does. It makes a miserable job ever so much more miserable. Speaking as a former “front line stock boy” (actually I was a cashier, but wouldn’t you know it at those kinds of jobs you do all sorts of fun menial tasks), when you deal with the disrespect coming at you from both your management and your customers, it wears on you. Crap stunts like this are one of those things that only serve to make some poor schlub have to go clean up after you. It doesn’t impact the management one whit (especially at Wal*Mart, where they play “creative scheduling” games with their employees) and only serves to make a lousy job worse.
So go ahead with your little pranks. They suck. They don’t hurt the people you think they’re hurting at all and they generally make work extra miserable for some grandmother or working mom who’s only sin is that they have to work at Wal*Mart. These people are not your servants, they’re human beings.
(And don’t even get me started about my days working behind the counter at McDonald’s and the stunts people would pull thinking they were “sticking it to the man” when they were just making me get a mop and a bucket.)
Mimikatz
says:It’s also about the Estate Tax. The Walton family, along with the Mars Candy family, are among the biggest opponents of the Estate Tax. It will expire in 2010 but then come back the following year at 1999 levels (part of the GOP gimmickry to hide the true cost of the Bush tax cuts for the rich). Obama favors freezing the non-taxed portion at $3.5 million (next year’s level) and keeping the 45% rate. The Estate Tax is essential for preventing a permanent aristocracy based on great, inherited fortunes. We have had it forever in this country for that reason. But the Walton heirs would lose big bucks if it doesn;t expire, and that has to be a motivation here too.
And a motication not to shop Wal-Mart.
dannyshenanigan
says:If Johnny had been in a Union, he’d never have had the inspiration to quit such a crummy job and get an education. See-Unions are stupid so don’t protest anything. Vote Republican and tell others to vote Republican also. Pass it on.
or:
“National leave your full cart at Wal Mart day”-Monday, September 1-Labor Day
Two different types of opinions. Like the media, I’m not going to say that one is right and one is wrong, I’m just going to present both sides.
Johnny Horton
says:Zeitgeist,
Stop trying to defend an asinine and ineffective(based on your stated goals) behavior that you equate with civil disobedience. NonyNony sums it up quite nicely. If you think that a good way to hurt Walmart is by making the lives of its underpaid workers more miserable, then you have a lot of learning to do about how the world actually works. Your statements about all of this seem to come from a fairly privileged vantage point.
The higher ups at Walmart are not affected one little bit by people purposefully leaving full shopping carts (or any other such action). As long as there are poor people who need jobs, their stores will be staffed. Leaving a full shopping cart on purpose is just an asshole, cowardly thing to do that has ZERO effect on the company overall, but is guaranteed to make someone being paid peanuts have to work harder. There is NO excuse for that kind of bullshit behavior. You can kid yourself that it somehow sticks it to the man all you want.
(: Tom :)
says:2. On August 1st, 2008 at 10:47 am, Tim said:
“I like to go to Wal-Mart, but every time I go there I forget my wallet, and I have to leave a cart full of crap at the checkout. It’s really strange.”
So…you abuse the poor grunts at the bottom who have nothing to do with their bosses evil policies?
Way to stick it to The Man.
Hey – they could always to choose to work somewhere else, right? Somewhere where people wouldn’t do this to the grunts who enable those WalMart billionaires to make even more scratch? And then, maybe people would stop choosing WalMart as their employer?
But, if you want to help The Man to walk all over you all day every day without suffering any consequences for their behavior, knock yourself out. Way to prop up The Man.
toowearyforoutrage
says:Nony@4
” I guess my outrage meter has been burned out by the last 8 years.”
Too weary?
I’m stuck about unions. Teachers unions oppose merit pay that could lure science and math graduates to teaching who just can’t justify teh permanent 30k pay cut serving teh public would entail. Auto unions share substantial blame in the balance sheets of Dertroit. (The other half being the executive class having tehir collective heads up their behinds.)
That said, I’ve never opposed the right of workers to form one even though I’m not fond of teh idea of mandatory membership which gets me in trouble with my more liberal peers. If no one can leave, why does union membership have to work hard?
Once up[on a time, unions did important work bringing safety, dignity, and even productivity to their jobs but an awful lot of current union work appears to have been focused into money money money. the role unions have to play is much bigger than that and it makes Wal-Mart’s work easier when it is all the unions have allowed themselves to become.
Keori
says:Dr. Lawrence Britt’s 10th Point of Fascism: Labor Power Is Suppressed. Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
Republicans who run a corporate conglomerate making money from importing and reselling sweatshop goods are discouraging labor unions and refusing to pay their employees a living wage? Oh, John Ringo, no! It can’t be true!
Michigoose
says:WalMart’s latest stunt in our area relates to their recent purchase of property. A Kmart went under for lots of reasons (the two biggest are they built it in a high-rent district and the access to it is lousy), so WM bought the property and proposes to put in a Super WM (whatever that is) on the site. Needless to say, they aren’t getting a lot of support from the neighborhood, and whenever they have a presentation before the city council there are more people there arguing against the store being allowed to be built than for it. . . so WM sent these postage-paid cards out to everybody with four check-off boxes on it: 1) Yes I/we support the WM plan, 2) You may use my/our name(s) on a petition to support the new WM store, 3) Please send me/us info on how I/we can help, 4) Please send me more information. Well, they offered to pay for the postage and asked for my opinion, so I just took a big red pen and wrote “Nope! Never shopped at WM and never will!” and dropped it in the mail. Although I suppose I shouldn’t have done that because I may have burdened the poor postman who had to pick it up and take it to the post office. . .
And I’m *really* bad because I persuaded all of my neighbors and co-workers to do the same. Poor postman. . .
joey
says:“…
“I like to go to Wal-Mart, but every time I go there I forget my wallet, and I have to leave a cart full of crap at the checkout. It’s really strange.”
So…you abuse the poor grunts at the bottom who have nothing to do with their bosses evil policies?
Way to stick it to The Man…”
How stupid….don’t you know the bosses would have the grunts doing other meaninful tasks worse than taking the time to put stuff back up that was left in the baskets. you obviously never worked at wal-mart. Putting stuff back from a basket lets you go all over the store and gets you out of the other bullshit “the man” has you doing. It also cuts into the “efficiency” program resulting in breaks from the stocking isles and more sale items. Cuts into profits so Chinese sweat shops can cut back on production just a weee tiny bit. Way to stick it to the man Racer-X. Now don’t really piss him off or he might do something really evil like get a hundred friends to chew packs of gum and drop it on the floors at Wal-Mart…unless of course they start paying employees more from those hefty profits they boast. a kind of non-violent protest.
slappy magoo
says:If you throw a lot of shit in a cart @ Wal-Mart and wind up not buying it, you can well argue that the amount of work is the same whether they put your unbought goods back, OR if you bought those goods & they hadto bring in new stock from the back.
Of course, if you never pulled that dick move, there’s be one less cart of crap to restock, AND fewer items tobe brought from the back. Either way, you’re creating work than if you never walked in.
Jen
says:Shoot, I don’t remember who said: Teachers unions oppose merit pay that could lure science and math graduates to teaching who just can’t justify teh permanent 30k pay cut serving teh public would entail.
Do you really think merit pay is going to amount to 30K? Dream on and dream big!
Also, the problem is that currently NCLB does require “highly qualified teachers” which means to teach in HS you need to have those degrees to teach (that is, to teach HS math, you need to have an undergrad degree in…math.)
BUT, the bigger point is that teaching is an *additional* skill — and just being great at math doesn’t necessarily mean you can teach it.
My problem with merit pay (and I’m not a teacher, at least not yet) is that currently is based on ONE thing and one thing only and that’s your students’ scores on once a year, different in every state tests. So, if a principal doesn’t want to keep you around, he can give you a class unlikely to perform highly and give someone else the class of kids likely to score very well.
Until there’s some other things to judge by, merit pay is well, not meritorious. As a parent? I’d say that parent surveys could pretty quickly identify the worst and best teachers. Not that everyone would agree and not that there aren’t some teachers that are both loved and hated (they may need to be placed more specifically in the types of classes they are best at), but I really think we could come up with a merit system that has, you know, merit.
Then I expect that doctors will start policing themselves better and insisting that bad doctors get out of the field.
I’m a dreamer.
Bruno
says:Somebody mentioned Wall Mart teaching their employees how to apply for welfare.
Studies have shown (Unfortunately I do not have the links) that where ever Wall Mart puts a store in a community, within the first year of being open, the demand for welfare / government help increases in the City and/or County.
Such things like: food stamps, rent assistance, heating assistance, electric power assistance, etc…
In short: Wall Mart gets cheap labor and the rest of the community pays for the difference in income needed by their employees to live in their very own town.
PS: I do not shop at Wall Mart at all, and have no intention to ever do so, whether they become enlightened and invite unions or not.
astonished
says:I now feel no matter how far I have to drive, it would be in my best interest to shop somewhere besides Walmart. This is suppose to the land of the free, but I feel working for a place like WM, you might as well be in North Korea. Anytime a company can tell you how to vote is out of control. When will WM learn, it wasn’t to long ago they had to pay back millions when their employees worked through their lunch breaks and didn’t get paid. I guess the more money you make the worse you treat your employees, in WM case anyway.
Lou Marise
says:First off I am an older hourly employee of Walmart and a friend sent me a link to this site. I stock groceries in a small superstore. I have worked graveyard stocking in the various food areas and general merchandise. The managers, co-mangers, and department heads who went to the meetings have been quite tight lipped as to what they were about. Now I know.
When I started working at walmart we were requied to attend orientation. The first presentation was a video on why we as employeees did not need a union. It also talked about how there is an open door policy (ability to talk things out with any of the managers without repercussions and with complete confidentiality), how walmart was looking out for our best interests, etc. Ofcourse that was/is a joke. Because of past experiences in my long life I was/am fully aware that the only interest walmart cares about is it’s bottom line. To be fair within the constrictions of walmart’s policies (subject to change at their whim) there are some managers who are fair and honest but they also are not treated well either.
Overnight work was the worst. We were continually understaffed and made to work as someone posted here, harder and faster … I was told by one manager (one of the “nice” ones) that the work I was doing was “scheduled” for three people not one! however, my supervisor at night (assistant manager) continually pushed, demeaned etc. me to get all of it done. Infact, I was written up because I didn’t get it all done. I relate this as an testimony to how bad it can be as an “associate”.
Doing Returns … what it is called when merchandise is left up front by the cashier stations does not impact the corporation one iota. Who it does impact is me and my other hourly co-workers. It is an added job. Read MORE WORK for us to get done in our shift. The only effective action is to NOT spend your cash at walmart. That will affect their bottom line!
Associates are treated as cogs in the machinery and the machine’s only purpose is to make a profit to fill the coffers of the corporation (whose only purpose is to make a profit for it’s shareholders). As far as this corporation is concerned we are interchangeable. They speak of “walmart culture” to us .. how important we are and how much they care about us. They don’t care. I could give examples but I’m getting a little off topic.
They don’t want unions because it would cost them money however they spend millions lobbying that if spent on improving the conditions of their workers they and the workers would benefit more in the long run!
So what is effective? Like it’s been said before – don’t spend your money at walmart. That’s the start. a good phrase to remember is “Think Global, Buy Local” …
We can all sit around and complain about walmart and unions and all the problems with large corporations and how they impact our lives. The trick is learning how to live without them. Downsizing our lives, joining or starting co-ops, growing your own food or buying your food farmers markets, buying at rummage/yard sales, etc. that makes us less dependent on large corporations. Obviously, depending on your circumstances and where you live not all of these can be done but the trick is to find the local alternatives whenever possible and just don’t buy at walmart.
and as for unions at walmart? walmart has already shown that it will close down a store before allowing a union within that store. I don’t think unions are the answer regardless of the fact that I believe workers have a right to organize. I just don’t believe it’s going to solve the problem.
I hope my post, abeit long and rambling, will help those of you who never have worked at walmart get a little view inside. Why do I work there since I think/believe as I do? I’m working days, part time by choice and am starting my own business … it’s temporary and do I shop at walmart? honestly, yes, but as rarely as possible. I do my main shopping elsewhere.
Patricia Navadomskis
says:It is time for Collective Bargaining for everyone. Single payer health care .Preventive dental
this country can well afford to treat it’s citizens better. No illegal Aliens NONE .
No cheap labor .Pay scales are from the 1950’s.
Inflation comes from the super rich building million dollar houses,$400.00 shoes
Second homes, fancy cars, fancy schools on and on-
To many people think that they should have all those expensive things
THEY DO NOT NEED.
Put this countries priorities IT”S PEOPLE FIRST.
MANAGEMENT GETS WHAT IT DESERVES.
Decent schools,safe streets and public transportation
.CLOSE ON SUNDAY AND Holidays. Pay time and half for overtime. Double time for Holidays.These are Christian Business Principles
stop paying minimum wage for everything
Tip people and pay a fair commission.
Slowly repair the Greed and CHEAP business behavior.
Common Sense and maybe we will all get along better.
Ark
says:I have been to one of these meetings myself, and I admit, each meeting might have been held differently, and appologise to anyone who might feel they are being bullied how to vote.
In my personal opinion of the meeting that addressed the Employment Free Choice Act described above, the message was clear.
An act may be passed that could have a huge impact on our company.
The Employment Free Choice Act is reckless and irresponsible. It will take away people’s rights to get educated if the 50% + 1 person shows interest and signs a union approval document. It removes the democratic vote and the period of time given to prepair and educate people of the union. Boom, one signature and you have more bosses to answer too.
Nothing in this meeting was saying “Naughty Union” it was highlighting how the Union Culture and Ideal Wal Mart culture would be difficult to fit in with one another.
Wal-Mart isnt perfect and makes many choices I personally disagree with, however, these meetings were nothing but an attempt to tell its supervisors and managers, get ready for a possible change in how we have to do business.
I cant help but feel most of the complaints launched by associates to this meeting are likely of those who were/are discouraged by the company for what ever reason, and are trying to give the 1 finger salute with total anonimity.
Wal-Mart as a company does what it does, and love it or hate it, does it well. I agree more needs to be done internally to improve the general moral, however ive worked in 3 different stores from one side of the country to the other as no more than an hourly supervisor, and most of the bad feelings i come across are because the associates do not get every little thing their own way.
Love them or hate them, Wal-Mart is a huge business, and It is a corperation, but because of it’s size, we here much more about it than say… John Doe of Doe’s Famly Gas Station in Timbuctu was caught sexually hassasing a gas pump.
This report is nothing but yet another in a chain of people misrepresenting an action within the company to better educate it’s employees of changes that Wal-mart may have no power to do anything about.