In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...
Quoted message said:Peter A said:
Another reason to stay away from texas.
I refuse to shop at walmart or sams club for moral reasons. Their well
documented mistreatment of employees, discrimination against women,
union busting, and disrespect for the environment drive me away. They
also have been the prime mover in exporting hundreds of thousands of
US jobs to China and other countries where workers are mistreated and
poorly paid. Their spying on employees is another problem. Yet another
is the fact that state and local governments have to spend hundreds of
millions of dollars annually to provide health benefits to walmart
employees. The waltons rake in their billions while the taxpayers foot
the bill for the employees' health insurance - wonderful.
I have too much self respect to shop at these places just to save a
few bucks.
I'll put you down as undecided.
According to Walmart, the "save a few bucks" is much more. The company,
again according to them, has saved lower-income Americans more money than
all the welfare programs combined (Social Security, Medicare, food stamps,
WIC, etc.).
"According to WalMart." Gee, the font of truth. But I agree, WalMart has
provided lower prices to many Americans. At the same time it has lowered
wages and forced a lot of people into a situation where they have no
choice but to scrounge for the very lowest prices. Often, because their
jobs have vanished thanks to WalMart.
Quoted message said:
As for mistreating employees, we did away with slavery in the Second War of
Independence - employees are certainly permitted to find better places to
work.
Except that those "better places to work" no longer exist because
WalMart has driven them out of business or out of the country.
Quoted message said:
When a WalMart store opened in Jaunary of last year, across the street from
Chicago, the store advertised for 325 positions. They got 25,000
applications, 90% from Chicago ZIP codes (Chicago itself doesn't allow
Walmart stores). Must be a lot of masochists in the Chicago area if Walmart
is as Draconian as some believe.
Not masochists, but desperate people who have nowhere else to work
because WalMart has driven other retail stores out of business and has
pushed manufacturing overseas.
Quoted message said:
Disrespect for the environment? Walmart is committed to selling 100 million
CFLs this year and has several other programs in the works (fuel efficiency
for its trucks, recycling, re-use, etc.), including demonstration stores in
McKinney, Texas, Lawrence, Kansas, and Oklahoma and California.
WalMart has indeed done various things that are good for the
environment. You miss my point, however. They do these things for one
and only one reason - to reduce costs and increase profits. All well and
good, but it's still a corporation motivated solely by greed and not by
public good. When it helps the bottom line, the environment can go to
hell. Of course, WalMart is hardly alone in this, but they seem
particularly venal and insensitive.
Quoted message said:The percentage of Walmart employees availing themselves of Walmart's health
insurance plan is slightly better than retailing as a whole (48% vs 45%).
Those employees that do use public health insurance (mainly Medicare) are
part-timers who are wholly eligible.
Medicare is for old folks, perhaps you mean Medicaid.
Your stats may be true, but so what? No other company comes remotely
close to WalMart in terms of the drain on the public treasury to provide
health care for its employees. It's shameful that I and other taxpayers
have to pay many millions to provide health care for workers who are
helping WalMart to rake in billions in profits.
Look at the way Target treats its employees. Look at CostCo. Both are
popular and profitable companies, not without their faults, but way
ahead of WalMart in every way.
Frankly, you sound like a WalMart stooge. Perhaps you are just trying to
justify your shopping there.
--
Peter Aitken
