Friday Blog Round-Up: Kudzu Edition

I would appear that as international sales rose, domestic sales AND customer satifaction ratings here in the U.S. have dropped dramaticallyby comparison,in the same time frame.

That should have read It would appear.

How’s about another installment of Ken V’s…

WAL-MART: THE small PICTURE!

According to Pet Rock: The Pop Culture Blog, what’s good for Wal-Mart may be bad for Ashlee Simpson.

Hello, career boost!

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Definition of the week:

Stagflation: A condition of slow economic growth and relatively high unemployment - a time of stagnation - accompanied by a rise in prices, or inflation.

Stagflation occurs when the economy isn’t growing but prices are, which is not a good situation for a country to be in. This happened to a great extent during the 1970s, when world oil prices rose dramatically, fueling sharp inflation in developed countries. For these countries, including the U.S., stagnation increased the inflationary effects. ~ Investopedia

Another win for the fat pigs at the trough, means an incredible blow against workers and their families in Canada:

http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?section=article&articleid=626

Quebec’s well-deserved reputation as having the most progressive labour laws on the continent has taken a hit after a recent Quebec Court of Appeal ruling determined that Wal-Mart Canada Corp. did not transgress the province’s Labour Code when it closed down a store shortly after employees became the first to earn union accreditation in North America.

In a unanimous ruling that overturned a decision by the Quebec Labour Relations Board, a provincial judicial body that oversees labour legislation, the appeal court stated that it is well established that an employer’s decision to close down its enterprise, “even if its motives behind its actions are socially debatable,” constitutes a just and sufficient cause to lay off its employees.

This is a very sad day for the citizens of Canada.

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This is a very sad day for the citizens of Canada.

Chin up, Alex. Your neighbors to the south (US, Mexico) are equallty as slow to see the light. Things just have to get worse, and they will, before they get better.

Endeavor to persevere! ~ Outlaw Josey Wales

Alex,

Seems like the Quebec Court of Appeal agrees with what we have been saying all along!!  Sorry that once again you ended up on the wrong side of the issue!!  But, I can understand why you think that they were wrong in their decision, because like most of the other anti people here, you disagree with everyone who doesn’t agree with YOU!!  I guess it’s natrual for you to believe that YOU are always right and others are wrong!!  Maybe they get the fact that a successful business has the right to run it’s business, without it’s employees trying to tell them how to do it!!  If the employees knew how to run a business, they would be running one and not working at a low paying job, don’t you think?  The employees may have gotten ‘SAY’ in their job, but they didn’t have it for very long, now they only ‘say’, “I’m lucky I joined that union, but now I’m looking for another job, glad that union protected my job for me”!!

Alex: Human Rights Watch has been at the forefront of the issue involving WalMart and their position regarding organizing. Here is a very recent article that may be of interest to you:Business: Rights at Risk in the Global Economy 19 Feb 2008
Source: Human Rights Watch

(New York, February 19, 2008) � People in countries across the world are regularly harmed when businesses fail to respect basic human rights, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York University School of Law. The clear evidence of widespread abuse and government inaction detailed in the report shows that global standards are needed to ensure that corporate conduct respects internationally recognized human rights.

“Many companies mistakenly assume that human rights aren’t their problem and don’t think they will ever be implicated in serious abuses,” said Lisa Misol, senior researcher on business and human rights at Human Rights Watch and the report’s primary author. “But the risks are greater than they think. Ensuring respect for fundamental rights is everyone’s business.”

The 53-page report, “On the Margins of Profit: Rights at Risk in the Global Economy,” was jointly prepared by Human Rights Watch and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. It illustrates how everyday business decisions have significant implications for the human rights of workers, local communities, suppliers, and consumers.

Drawing on more than a decade of research and reporting by Human Rights Watch, the report presents dozens of examples that detail the ways in which a wide variety of industries have an impact upon the whole spectrum of human rights around the globe.

Among its main findings, the report finds that:
Any type of business can be implicated in human rights abuses, not only those that have received the most attention like companies in the apparel-manufacturing and extractive industries.

Companies can have a harmful impact on many different kinds of rights beyond labor rights. Pulp and paper companies in Indonesia that cut down vast forests affected the ability of local communities to seek a livelihood and adequate standard of living, as well as the cultural and land rights of indigenous communities in the region.

Governments share responsibility for corporate misconduct since they frequently neglect to adopt and enforce appropriate laws to protect people from abuses by companies. Wal-Mart, the largest private employer in the United States, has relentlessly thwarted the right of its US workers to form and join trade unions at its 4,000 US stores. US labor laws are so weak that Wal-Mart and other companies can violate their employees’ basic rights in the US with virtual impunity.

Victims of abuses involving businesses are often unable to obtain meaningful redress and frequently face retaliation when they stand up to powerful companies. When the now-defunct Enron Corporation decided to build a massive power plant in India, the company was unresponsive to villagers’ concerns that the project encroached on their land and diverted scarce water resources.
This report builds a factual foundation to support calls for the creation of a widely applicable, overarching set of standards for all businesses, regardless of where and how they operate.

There is no common, widely agreed benchmark for business conduct that provides clear rules to prevent business-related human rights abuses and provide adequate remedies and reparation when they occur. Instead, existing corporate social responsibility initiatives offer a patchwork of many different standards that address select human rights, select companies or industries, or select countries or situations.

“The human cost of making a profit can be profound,” said Professor Smita Narula, faculty director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. “Governments must ensure meaningful redress for victims and should develop global rules to make sure companies respect human rights, no matter where they operate.”

Human Rights Watch and the CHRGJ called on governments to work together to develop clear standards governing business conduct and to ensure national authorities adequately regulate companies and hold responsible those who commit abuses. This should result in a UN declaration or other international instrument agreed by governments that would define global standards for business conduct as well as clarify the role of governments and provide access to justice for those affected by misconduct.

Companies should take proactive steps to avoid committing abuses. Investors, financiers and consumers should insist that the companies they support adopt strong human rights policies and practices and put in place monitoring to ensure compliance, said Human Rights Watch and the CHRGJ.

HRW news

Thanks Ken V and ddrb.

Bob (RDS). Do you know what I like about you? You have a false sense of security. You see Walmart win a battle and you mistake it for the war.
I am not excited by the decision. However just like Ken V said, “Things just have to get worse, and they will, before they get better."and I agree with that. 
One of the first things I did when I saw this was to send it to radio talk show hosts. I put it on here because I want people such as yourself to see it Bob.
It will not be hidden. It will bring to light the unfair advantage that companies like Walmart enjoy (for now). Walmart will never win when it comes to the spirit of the law. This decision will galvanize more and more people to action.
In conclusion may I offer you this quotation:

Success is a marathon, not a sprint.

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Alex,

What you fail to understand, is that you can only PUSH someone so far, before they PUSH back!!  Somehow, you don’t see that the reason many companies have moved overseas or are outsourcing, is because they were pushed too far!!  Just think what would happen, if ALL businessmen got FED UP and said that they have had it with all the interference and just said, “I’ve had it, I quit” and shut down their businesses for good and they ALL retired!!  You are already seeing a hint of that with all the companies selling out to other companies!!  One only has to look at the auto industry to see what can happen, when they are pushed from all sides!!

Remember the old saying, “Be careful what you WISH for, you might just get it and find out you don’t like it”!!

“Somehow, you don’t see that the reason many companies have moved overseas or are outsourcing, is because they were pushed too far!!"~Bob

Excuse me Bob, but it is your Walmart that is responsible for pushing much of the American and Canadian business to other shores. What kind of American or Canadian citizen knowingly supports such a turncoat business such as your Walmart? I would suggest not a very good citizen. I think it is hypocritical for WM to display either your flag or ours on its stores. They used to say “what is good for GM, is good for American”. They have never been able to say “What is good for Walmart, is good for America”.

“if ALL businessmen got FED UP and said that they have had it with all the interference....."~Bob

What time zone are you caught in? It may come to a surprise for you, but women are now out of the kitchen.

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Alex,

“Excuse me Bob, but it is your Walmart that is responsible for pushing much of the American and Canadian business to other shores.”

See, I told you that you don’t understand!!  I guess that Wal-Mart is responcible for the auto industry, steel industry and all of the other industries that have nothing to do with Wal-Mart, right?  Next, you’ll be blaming Wal-Mart for the weather!!  I realize that once you set your mind in one direction, it is hard for you to see any other view!!

“What time zone are you caught in? It may come to a surprise for you, but women are now out of the kitchen.”

What are you talking about, I didn’t mention anything about women or kitchens?  I sometimes think that the zone you are caught in, is the “Twilight Zone”!!  You keep on harping on things that happened YEARS ago!!

RDS:” I realize that once you set your mind in one direction, it is hard for you to see any other view!! “

“ You keep on harping on things that happened YEARS ago!!

RDS: Do you ,of all people, think they can chastise anyone else on these two points? You repeatedly accuse those who don’t agree with your narrow perceptions,as somehow mentally challenged,or incapable of comprehension. (Well,your convoluted reasoning can be a challenge.)In regards to harping on things years ago,isn’t that your beef with unions---incidents that happened years ago? But you’ve nursed your grudge on a steady diet of hatred for years now.Why don’t you go look in the mirror,before pointing your finger at others? Oh, excuse me, I forgot,there’s no reflection.

ddrb....It’s ok. We need to let Bob(RDS) rant. Makes him feel alive again.

R E M E M B E R
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ddrb,

I’m sorry that you too are blind to reality!!  It is NOT MY view of things, of which I speak, it is the view of the real world!!  Take the recent Quebec Court of Appeal ruling, was that MY view?  Do I rule on that court?  And, as for blaming Wal-Mart for everything, I’m open minded enough to know that the world doesn’t revolve around Wal-Mart, a fact that your side can’t see!!  One day you are talking about their ‘power’ and the next day, you talk about how they can’t get their way!!  And, sorry, but, while Wal-Mart may be responcible for some of the outsourcing, it’s not responcible for ALL as you tend to contend!!  Jobs seeking lower wages is the main cause for outsourcing and sorry, but unions tend to raise wage levels to the point that businesses send those jobs overseas, that’s not MY opinion, that’s a fact, which seems to escape you and others!!

As for my beef with unions, the only ‘beef’ I have, is first, that the Teamsters cheated me out of my pension, which was recent, and second, is the fact I mentioned above about the BIG unions and the way they have widened the wage gap between their workers and the typical worker, which is also recent!!  Maybe you can ignore what is going on in places like Detroit and California with the housing problems, but, it is those “High Wage” areas that are having the biggest problems, not the “Lower Wage” areas!!  But, then again, you probably blame all that on Wal-Mart too!!  You always refer to the wage gap of the rich and poor, but seem to overlook the wage gap of and it’s effect on the ‘middle’ and ‘lower’ class workers!!  The ‘upper’ class makes up only a small portion of the population and their wage, has little effect on the lives of the ‘middle’ and ‘lower’ class, but, those two classes have a huge effect on each other!!  If one worker is making $65.00 an hour (wage and benefits), how does that affect the prices paid for things by a person making $17.00 an hour (wage and benefits)?  After all, those people still need a car and a place to live!!  But, the solution is not raising the wages of the lower wage people, that only raises prices and therefore the higher wage people will need another raise!!  Also, a 4% raise to someone making $35.00 an hour, is $1.40, but a 4% raise to someone making $12.00 an hour, is 48 cents, thus the GAP gets even wider and the prices get higher for those who can least afford it!!

So, it’s not that I am unable to comprehend things, it’s more that I use ‘logic’, while you tend to depend on your emotions!!

“I’ve had it, I quit” and shut down their businesses for good and they ALL retired!!

Ooo..it sounds like RDS finally got around to reading Ayn Rand. Who is John Galt, huh, RDS?

Supposing all the laborers in this country “got FED UP” and shut down. All that capital just lying around with no productivity.

“If we don’t take steps to reconnect productivity growth and living standards, eventually the vast majority will feel little reason to support an economic system that’s failing to return a fair share of the growth they themselves are creating.” ~ Jared Bernstein

RDS:“You can’t create a team spirit when the situation is so one-sided, when management gets so much and workers get so little of the pie.” - Sam Walton

BTW: If indeed your “cheating out” of your pension is recent, you could take legal action to recoup your losses,and seek legal redress.

ddrb,

How GOOD can a union be, if you have to SUE it to get your benefits?

Ken V,

Who do you think could last longer without a job, a billionaire or a worker?  How many billionaires have been losing their houses lately, compared to workers?  Remember, those businessmen, could always pack up and leave the country with their money, some have done it already!! Poor people can’t even afford to move to a different area, and that is why they are ‘forced’ to work at Wal-Mart, instead of finding a better job elsewhere!!

It would do you well to live in the real world, instead of your “poor people have as much power as the rich” world!!  Like it or not, this country runs on the ‘Golden Rule’, “He who has the Gold, makes the Rules”!!  That’s why they’re RICH and you’re not and you’re delusional if you think that will change, hasn’t in over thousands of years, the poor may win a battle here and there, but the rich ALWAYS win the war!!  Grow up will you?

“Jobs seeking lower wages is the main cause for outsourcing and sorry, but unions tend to raise wage levels to the point that businesses send those jobs overseas....."~Bob(RDS)

What a load of crap you spill out Bob. A union is collective bargaining power. The same concept that Walmart employs when it comes to its dealings with its suppliers. In a store it is less than 200 people in many cases. But Walmart has the collective bargaining power of thousands upon thousands of stores. THEY [Walmart] ARE THE ONES SENDING YOUR JOBS TO OVERSEAS. You just can’t accept the truth and you want to spend the rest of your life in denial. In conclusion may I suggest that you view the PBS/Frontline program called “Is Wal-mart good for America”.  You will if you care about your fellow citizens.

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RDS:” but the rich ALWAYS win the war!!  Grow up will you?” RDS-11:26 A.M.-----So,you’re poor and immature,at 63.....Doesn’t look like sucking up to FreeMarket theory has done much for you,Bob!

Alex,

“THEY [Walmart] ARE THE ONES SENDING YOUR JOBS TO OVERSEAS.”

And, just what is their motive for doing that?  If it’s not for lower prices based on lower wages, just what is it?  Must be, because they just want to buy from other countries to piss their customers off, right?

“The same concept that Walmart employs when it comes to its dealings with its suppliers.”

So, it is A-Okay for unions to do it, but Wrong for Wal-Mart to do the same thing, right?  See what I maen about being single-minded!!

“In a store it is less than 200 people in many cases. But Walmart has the collective bargaining power of thousands upon thousands of stores.”

You seem to forget, that when it comes to the UFCW, they have the power over thousands upon thousands of union members, who can refuse to cross picket lines!!

Bob....do you think it is appropriate that Walmart displays the American flag on its stores yet has done everything it can to be exclusive to the Chinese economy/government when it comes to its business dealings?
I am offended that it displays our flag on their buildings.
Walmart has nothing to do with Canada when it comes to Canadian interests. I would respect them more if they would at least put up some Chinese flags so they can show their true colours.

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Alex,

What’s the matter, afraid to answer my questions?  Just change the subject to flags, instead of dealing with my arguments to your original subject!!  Maybe if you answered, your answers would show that I was right and you are talking out of your butt!!

“Walmart has nothing to do with Canada when it comes to Canadian interests.”

So, you are saying that Wal-Mart doesn’t provide jobs for Canadians and doesn’t help Canada’s economy by providing low priced products for your citizens, right?  If that were true, then there would be NO Wal-Marts in Canada and NOBODY would be shopping there and you wouldn’t have to waste your time trying to get people convinced NOT TO SHOP THERE!!

It is easy to see, that you are a Protectionist and Anti Global Economy!!

“THEY [Walmart] ARE THE ONES SENDING YOUR JOBS TO OVERSEAS.”

And, just what is their motive for doing that?  If it’s not for lower prices based on lower wages, just what is it?  Must be, because they just want to buy from other countries to piss their customers off, right?~Bob

Its based on lower wages all right Bob. Lower wages your Walmart wants. Twenty five, thirty or in rare situations fifty cents an hour. Is that what you think you were worth when you were in the work environment? That is what you are implying.

Sorry you can’t defend the American flag on a box store that carries the majority of its products from China. Maybe you can set up the same deal with Cuba some day and put the American flag on that. Same deal, communist country, just a different flag.

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Q U E B E C
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Alex: And to add insult to uinjury,I’ll bet that grand ole American flag flying in front of WalMart was made in good ole Communist China.....possibly the Canadian flags also!

ddrb
Maybe we can get Bob(RDS) to make those flags for us. We would offer him between 25 to 50 cents an hour. Certainly he would accept those wages so North American can compete with the slave bosses advantage in China.
How about it Bob? Will you work for pennies an hour?
Will you do it for your country?

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Alex,

“How about it Bob? Will you work for pennies an hour?”

Maybe, if I ‘lived’ in China, where that is the prevailing wage!!  Unfortunately, there are countries around the world that haven’t caught up in wages with the U.S. and Canada, but, they NEVER will if we continue to SHUN them!!  You have to remember one thing, their government doesn’t operate the same as OURS and they are MORE Socialistic than OURS, therefore, they get more personal subsidies than our people do, much like the welfare people do in our countries!!

Funny, but they are moving more towards Capitalism and you want to move more towards Socialism!!

RDS: “their government doesn’t operate the same as OURS and they are MORE Socialistic than OURS, therefore, they get more personal subsidies than our people do, much like the welfare people do in our countries!!

Funny, but they are moving more towards Capitalism and you want to move more towards Socialism!! “RDS

So,RDS, based on your paradigm of what is considered socialist,then wouldn’t WalMart meet the criteria for a socialist company,considering al the tax avoidance schemes it employs at the personal costs to local ,state,and federal governments-not only in the U.S. ,but internationally? After all,corporate welfare is welfare,nonetheless,isn’t it?

ddrb,

“considering al the tax avoidance schemes”

First, tax avoidance is not welfare, welfare gives you money you never had, tax avoidance just lets you keep money you already have!!  Second, tax law ‘loopholes’ are not tax avoidance, just using ‘loopholes’ to your advantage!!  Wal-Mart didn’t CREATE the ‘loopholes’ the governments did!!  Third, “corporate welfare” is a term used by anti people to describe government incentives!!

RDS: What could you call it BUT socialism and corporate welfare? What is your term for the $1.6 billion dollars for the NW Arkansas turnarounds,at local taxpayer exoense?And using eminent domain to take private property,on top of it,to do it?

ddrb,

“What is your term for the $1.6 billion dollars for the NW Arkansas turnarounds,at local taxpayer exoense?”

We call it needed infrastructure projects!!  Don’t you think that other states use eminent domain to build new highways and bypasses?  I guess it is only in N.W. Arkansas, that highway projects are called “corporate welfare”, to someone like YOU!!  If these highway projects were in Cleveland, Oh., you wouldn’t be saying a thing about them, except that they are needed there!!

RDS:How much is allocated to public health in NW Arkansas? I read that there is leprosy,VD,and TB in Springdale,brought there be Marshall Islanders working at poultry plants and baby wipe manufacturers in Springdale. (See thread about clinics.)

ddrb,

“How much is allocated to public health in NW Arkansas?”

What does public health allocations have to do with Infrastructure Upgrades?

“I read that there is leprosy,VD,and TB in Springdale”

Are you trying to say that these things are not in any other place in the U.S.?  Don’t worry, public health is being funded just fine!!

RDS: Public health is areal issue when there is no funding forit,or little to fund it-especially when priorities are skewedin favor of roads.Here is an example:We have known for a long time of leprosy in the Marshall Islands,” [Dr. Joe Bates, deputy state health director with the Department of Health and Human Services] said. “It’s a substantial issue in the Marshall Islands. And they are bringing their health issues to this country with them.
And, from a different conference:
According to Bates there are 8,000 (legal) Marshalleese immigrants in Springdale. They’re the most unhealthy immigrant group in the state, known to suffer from TB [tuberculosis], VD, and leprosy. Not a single case of the latter has been cured. Bates also said that, in contrast to Hawaii, which has $10 million federal dollars for its Micronesian population, Arkansas gets nothing for its Marshall Islanders.

[A compact between their country and the U.S., see doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/rmipage.htm] allows citizens of the Marshall Islands to live and work in the United States without being subject to U.S. immigration laws, but they are ineligible for Medicare, non-emergency Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and most other forms of federally-funded public assistance…

Deputy State Health Officer Dr. Joe Bates testified that between 2000 and 2005, Northwest Arkansas had nine cases of congenital syphilis, six of which involved Marshallese; 38 people with infectious syphilis, 21 of whom were Marshallese; and eight cases of leprosy, all Marshallese…

..."We think there are two to three times more cases of leprosy than we know about,” he said…
It says that some of them might be covered by health insurance from their employers but that that might not include some of their family members. (TLW,2008).......RDS,please notice the part where it says Arkansas gets NO federal aid for the MarshallIslanders,and they are ineligible for public assissstance. Who then pays for the health care,or don’t they get any-AND POSSIBLY PASSING ON DISEASES INTO THE FOOD CHAIN?

Bob (RDS) keep pretending that an economy is either capitalist or socialist. The truth is that most are a blend of both. We have been down that road before but I guess Bob keeps wanting to forget it.

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Home of Walmart Worker Abuse