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Posted: 2/9/2005 4:01:46 PM EDT
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I was just looking for the facts, that's all....... I'm done. |
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Canadian Wal-Mart Seeking Union to Close By ADAM GELLER NEW YORK (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Wednesday it will close a Canadian store whose workers are on the verge of becoming the first ever to win a union contract from the world's biggest retailer. Wal-Mart said it was shuttering the store in Jonquiere, Quebec, in response to unreasonable demands from union negotiators, that would make it impossible for the store to sustain its business. The United Food & Commercial Workers Canada last week asked Quebec labor officials to appoint a mediator, saying that negotiations had reached an impasse. ``We were hoping it wouldn't come to this,'' said Andrew Pelletier, a spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada. ``Despite nine days of meetings over three months, we've been unable to reach an agreement with the union that in our view will allow the store to operate efficiently and profitably.'' Pelletier said the store will close in May. The retailer had first discussed closing the Jonquiere store last October, saying that the store was losing money. A spokesman for the UFCW said Wednesday the union had not yet seen the retailer's statement, and that leaders were traveling and not immediately available for comment. Some employees at the store said they believed the store was closing because of their agreement to join the union and several cried as they left the store. They told Radio-Canada TV that an announcement had been made and they were not allowed to ask questions. The store in Jonquiere, about 240 miles northeast of Montreal, became the first unionized Wal-Mart store in North America last September, after the bargaining unit was certified by provincial labor officials. Since then, workers at a second Quebec store have also been granted union status. Neither had reached a contract. The union efforts at both stores are part of a larger chess game labor organizers are waging with Wal-Mart at stores across Canada. The campaign, financed by UFCW money from both Canada and the United States, is also geared to captured the attention of workers in Wal-Mart's home country. The closest a U.S. union has ever come to winning a battle with Wal-Mart was in 2000, at a store in Jacksonville, Texas. In that store, 11 workers - all members of the store's meatpacking department - voted to join and be represented by the UFCW. That effort failed when Wal-Mart eliminated the job of meatcutter companywide, and moved away from in-store meatcutting to stocking only pre-wrapped meat. Recently, some workers in the tire department of a Wal-Mart store in Colorado have sought union representation, and the National Labor Relations Board has said it intends to schedule a vote. Wal-Mart spokesman Pelletier said the company was closing in Jonquiere because of unreasonable union demands over scheduling and staffing, and the UFCW's refusal to detail its pay requirements. The union's demands would have forced the retailer to add 30 people to the existing payroll of 190, and guarantee many workers additional hours, he said. ``In our view, the union demands failed to appreciate the fragile conditions of the store,'' he said. 02/09/05 16:42 © Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. |
| Yeah I can't stand WalMart, I hate being in the stores, you can't be in there for more than 5 minutes without hearing a missing child announcment on the PA. Everyone should watch the "Something Wall Mart This Way Comes" episode of South Park. Does a nice job of illustrating it. |
I've worked there 16 years and have never been mistreated. I've dealt with some real fucktard managers but so has most folks who work for someone else. There is good and bad in whomever you work for. Are there things I dont like about Wal Mart, sure, but it's my choice to work there so at the end of the day I deal with it. Fuck unions. Don't want them, don't need them. |
Help please..............
Yep.  For the record: I LOVE Wallyworld. |
| It's a little difficult to not buy anything from Wally World, since they have put most everyone else out of business... but I try to buy from of the small local retailers when I can.... I did have a run-in with an assistant mgr at Wally World about my carry gun... I was asked to not carry in the store... I politely asked why, and was told it is against the law to carry a concealed weapon into a place of business and he would not call the police if I would leave the store and put my gun away before I come back... I tried to convince him that it is not against the law in Tennessee to carry into a business unless it is posted, and this Wally World is not posted... he immediately picked up the phone and called his manager, and said, " there is a man here with a gun, and he wont leave the store"... I started to laugh, since he left out a few important details... then I heard over the pa the call for a security scan, I assumed they were scanning the electronics dept, since that is where I was... long story short, the manager showed up and asked me what I wanted and I said, "I just wanted to pay for my things and go home when this guy made a big deal about my carry gun, which I have a permit for"... he looked at the guy and said, "You didn’t say anything about a carry permit..!!" so I guess maybe he got his ass chewed after I left for causing so much drama... I still carry into Wally World... |
I don't hate walmart, seems pretty much the same as other big stores to me. I do think the people that shop in walmart represent an interesting part of our society. |
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Walmart's vision for the future is to have everyone working in or on a Walmart store and everyone buying everything they need at Walmart. Forget about college for the kids. With the wages they pay, scholarships are the only way you'll get your children into higher education. Low Prices — At What Cost? Wal-Mart sales clerks made an average of $8.23 an hour—or $13,861 a year—in 2001. That's nearly $800 below the federal poverty line for a family of three. (Source: Business Week) In Georgia, Wal-Mart employees are six times more likely to rely on state-provided health care for their children than are employees of any other large company. (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Reliance on public assistance programs in California by Wal-Mart workers costs the state's taxpayers an estimated $86 million annually. (Source: UC Berkeley Study) In the first decade after Wal-Mart arrived in Iowa, the state lost 555 grocery stores, 298 hardware stores, 293 building supply stores, 161 variety stores, 158 women's apparel stores, 153 shoe stores, 116 drugstores, and 111 men's and boys' apparel stores. (Source: Iowa State University Study) Every year Wal-Mart purchases $15 billion worth of products from China. (Source: Washington Post) Today Wal-Mart uses over 3,000 Chinese factories to produce its goods—almost as many factories as it has stores in the U.S. (3,600). (Source: L.A. Times) All else being equal, U.S. counties where new Wal-Mart stores were built between 1987 and 1998 experienced higher poverty rates than other U.S. counties. (Source: Pennsylvania State University Study) To find out more, view the PurpleOcean.org Wal-Mart resources page. Full Sources: Anthony Bianco and Wendy Zellner, "Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful?" BusinessWeek, October 6, 2003; Nancy Cleeland, Evelyn Iritani, and Tyler Marshall, "The Wal-Mart Effect: Scouring the Globe To Give Shoppers an $8.63 Polo Shirt," Los Angeles Times, November 24, 2003. Peter S. Goodman and Philip P. Pan, "Chinese Workers Pay for Wal-Mart's Low Prices," Washington Post, February 8, 2004; Andy Serwer, "The Waltons: Inside America's Richest Family," Fortune Magazine, November 22, 2004; Kenneth Stone, Iowa State University, "Impact of Wal-Mart Stores and other Mass Merchandisers in Iowa, 1983-1993," Economic Development Review, Spring 1995; Arindrajit Dube and Ken Jacobs, "Hidden Costs of Wal-Mart Jobs," UCтerkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, August 2, 2004; Andy Miller, "Wal-Mart stands out on rolls of PeachCare -- Retailer's sign-up ratio far exceeds other firms," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 27, 2004; Stephan J. Goetz and Hema Swaminathan, "Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty," Pennsylvania State University, October 18, 2004; WalmartFacts.com. |
Then (And I'm just pulling this out of my ass here).....DON'T shop there. If enough people have an issue with Wallyworlds business practices (And boycott them) then they'll fail and "Our" collective disapproval will have been registered with them. Wallmart (And their marketing/selling model) IS the future. You can choose to be upset by it and pine for the old "Mom-and-Pop" stores or, you can exploit it/them (To your advantage BTW) and join the 21st century. Mom and Pop where great but, their shit cost too much and the selection sucked. Not a business model I'D care to keep on life-support for any amount of time. |
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Today I went to Walmart for some batteries and some school supplies. I couldnt find paper but I did obtain some batteries and some whiteout. This is where the fun begins. I step to the self checkout area and start scanning away. I hit total and the thing beeps, saying a cashier needs to come over for an "Age restricted item". I am thinking "WTF? Batteries nd whiteout. They must have a screwed register". A passing manager steps over and asks to see me ID. They check it and say I cant get the whiteout. I CANT GET THE WHITEOUT BECAUSE I AM UNDERAGE. I suppose I am too young for school supplies. I scanned the receipt so I can remember forever. They voided the whiteout and took it away. Apparently you cant get it until you are 18 because once you pass 18 you are unable to sniff the fumes anymore. I suppose your respiratory system changes to not be affected by hazardous fumes after a certain amount of time? I later went to the dollar store and bought some whiteout for half the price and no age problem at all. I am sickened. Walmart makes up their own laws for bullshit reasons and if it wasnt for SOME good prices, I would consider doing bad illegal things that I cant talk about to them. 
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I don't like Wal-Mart too much but I have to agree with them closing the store if the employee's wanted to unionize. If I were Wal-Mart, I wouldn't want to deal with the unions either. On another note, Ditch Witch, based in OK, is a privately owned company. A long time ago, a union (don't know which one) tried to come in to the plant. The owner said if the employee's ever try to unionize, he would close the plant. His company; he can do what he wants. I'd do the same thing. |
We have a Super Wal-Mart in a small town. Business has been booming. Tons of new stores and businesses have been going up all next to Wal-Mart because it draws so many people. Wal-Mart is now the most happening place in town. We have a K-Mart to but they suck ass compared to Wal-Mart. |
I avoid the Wal Mart in my town simply because it is always so crowded unless you go in the middle of the night. Plus, the plaza it is located in is so poorly designed that it takes 15 minutes just to escape the thing when you want to leave. It's like a black hole. I wish Lowe's wasn't in that lot too. I go there quite often. 
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I find this thread funny - without wal-mart some of my biggest customers would be out of business. Wal-Mart has taken it's toll on smaller business, but in capitalistic market, one has to move with the times, or loose it all. That's what has happened to most of the Mom & Pop stores. As others have pointed out: Simple Solution, don't like it, don't buy it. |
I need to get a new calculator. My china made calculator shows that $8.23 x 40 hrs/week x 52 week/year = $17,118.40. Somehow I bet US made calculator will make sense out of this. 
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Ya know, mom and pop are great for that whole nostalgic thing. And while we're being nostalgic, it sure would be great if we were still single income families. That way our wives would have the time to go to the 10 mom and pop stores between 9:30 and 5:00 on weekdays only to do all of the family shopping for us too. I live in a small city that has both Wal-mart and Mom and Pop. When Mom and Pop are open, I usually check them out. But since my wife and I have to work for a living, the vast majority of our shopping is done after 6:30 on weeknights or on Sunday. |
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90% of their clerks are not Heads of Households. Georgia has a huge single mom problem. Not Wal mart's fault. Kali's problems with public assisitance is Wal Mart's fault? I don't think so. Sounds like the free market in Iowa in action. Those stores probably would have closed anyway. While China gets to make money off us. We get very low prices which improves our standard of living and allows our workers to do more productive things. Poverty is not caused by Wal mart. Wal mart has tended to be a mid to low class retailer and thus has built in those areas. |
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