The Wal-Mart Mythology is Shattered

And they claim to be looking out first for their cashiers and shelf stockers?  How appalling.

This is corporate eugenics, that’s what this is. They want to eliminate unhealthy employees.

When America learns what Wal-Mart really thinks, their opinion of this company is heading straight for the toilet.

Reader,

Judging from the general social mood of the complaints levied against Walmart it becomes apparent that Walmart’s position in the modern consumer market has become quite scandalous. Perhaps even dangerous (borrowing the concept of corporate tyranny).
The masquerading as a competitor in a free market while manufacturing various technological and economic structures and systems by which to oust competitors and create a form of market and social dependecy from local and regional to international levels, is to proceed in the deliberate and calculated subversion of an unsuspecting (and at times voluntarily ignorant) public. (The willfully blind are sort of like the fellow who goes to the bulletin board at work and refuses to read the postings for fear of discovering facts that might jeopordize his personal comfort and security.)
I recall watching a T.V. program representing Walmart as one of the pioneers of introducing hi-tech scanning and security installations into their public facilities. A type of security and monitoring system that, if it were not for the fact that the very technology was contracted to Walmart as an experimental hi-tech project in reconnaissance technology by the government, would,In fact, under any other circumstances be considered, and still is, a hybrid, hi-tech, commercialized method for systematically violating American citizen’s constitutional rights. From the moment the individual walks into the door to the moment he/she leaves the establishment, that person is monitored by hi-tech equipment including face scanners that store and send information to government information banks. When a check or credit card are presented for a purchase of items the information is instantly collected into a system directly linked to goverment agencies. This same system has been introduced into communist countries (including China - who is suprised?) via Walmart establishments in those countries.
Another illegal practice of Walmart (and I am surprised no one has filed a lawsuit) is the random checking of people’s purchased merchandise at the door(even when the buzzer does not sound). They call it store policy, but this an anti-constitutional policy. It is the same procedure that would be taken with a suspected thief. The worst part is that it is done while the person is still inside the facilities and with a receipt in their hand. Someone could have a real heyday in court with Walmart if they chose to do so.
This type of practice, of course, is a prelude to “big brother” corporate tyranny. By the time this policy becomes brazen and aggressive and even goes to the customer’s house with him/her, the general public will have already grown “accustomed” to having their rights trampled on. The question is quite simple: How many Americans are aware that their rights are being commercialized and politicized away one policy, law and practice at a time? There is a saying among Lawyers: “Those who do not know their rights have NO rights; and those who allow their rights to be trampled on are destined to be slaves!”
Is anyone listening?

Your fellow American,

Dr. Amelio Hinojos

You push carts and shock shelves for a living.  what are you compalining about.  If you want a better job and more money get an education, get a better job. No one is forcing you to work there.  You should only be make a few bucks an hour with your job.  Come on pushing carts can be done by monkeys.  Think about it.  You push carts for a living.  I would be embarrassed.

That’s a great pitch, Travis. You ought to start ghostwriting internal strategy memos for Susan Chambers.

I dont know Travis, from what I have read monkeys have many health issues, that would not bode well for the monkey’s employment future at Wal-Mart.

Well I read the whole “shocking” article and I was shocked. According to the Talking points from the Unions Wal-Mart tells all of its new employees how to sign up for Medicaid. The document not only disputes this claim but also give facts to the contrary. All employees’ full time get health insurance if they want it. They might not be able to get it for there children of spouses if they can’t afford it but who’s fault is that? It seems to me the Nurses Union’s and Healthcare Company’s share the blame on this one.  But if you look at this report it say’s that Wal-Mart’s cost increased 15% a year and they would like to lower that cost, well I worked in a Union shop for 10 years and they were always talking about lowering the healthcare cost also, what is the diff?  And what about eliminating the unhealthy workers in the work place, I wonder if there are any “get fit” or stop smoking campaigns in the work of Union workers? These seem to be the same thing to me!!
One more thing about Dr. Freedom do you shop at Costco, Bestbuy,Fry’s electronics or any other big store like that?  They check receipts also. And how about a casino or your workplace, or another store that you step into. They now monitor the stores with video because people are corrupt and they are thieves, more and more people are stealing and you Dr. Freedom do not turn in a shoplifter when you see them in a store. Why not you ask because it is not your problem you say. Also years ago the law enforcement agencies told the store owners that they would not come out to take thieves into custody and why not? It was a waste of there time, the police have better things to do. And you can blame that on the Law enforcement unions.

So I suggest all of you do a little soul searching because most Americans see thru this veil of concern for what it really is. Union Propaganda

I moved to Florida to care for my father-in-law, who’s health was failing. I had a good job with good benifits in another state, but I wanted to care for family. So, I moved here and my mistake was to work at Wal~Mart. I took the job only because it was close and during a health emergency, I could be close by to help. I had to take a job as a cashier at half of the wages as I could get at home ( I was VERY over quilified for the job). I was told by Wal~Mart that that is just because no one in Florida gets good wages, “that’s just the way it is here”. I signed up for the better health insurance policy, which was my second mistake. I worked hard, trying to be a good employee as I do with all of my employers. But every time I turned around, Wal~Mart was stabbing me and all of it’s employees in the back! I soon learned I wasn’t getting Holiday Pay because “you only get holiday pay if you work over time, and over time was forbidden”. After getting my employee discount card, I found out, it isn’t good for a lot of things, like food. Every place I had worked before, always gave the discount on all items, so I was very supprized! During this time, because of standing on my feet 8 hours a day, I started having major pain in my left foot (above and beyond the pain of standing all day). I went to my doctor but when I told him it was work related, he refused to see me because it was Workers’ Compensation.  I went back to Wal~Mart and forced them to fill out the paperwork so I could get proper health care. They took me to a Workers’ Compensation doctor for Wal~Mart employees, who finally put me on restrictions for the length of time I could stand. However, as a cashier, daily, I was not allowed to get off the registers and take the breaks as the doctor perscribed. After a couple of weeks, I went back to the Workers’ Compensation doctor for a check-up. I informed them Wal~Mart was not abiding by the restrictions and they said “All we can do is make recommendations, we can’t force Wal~Mart to give you the time off that you need” In other words, the doctor was only a yes man for Wal~Mart. I went back to Wal~Mart and told them I had to have the time or I would have to quit. Unhappily they gave me another job, answering the phones, where I could sit to work. I am sure they only did this because I had customers writing into the corporate office of Wal~Mart saying how good I was as an employee. While on the phones, I got even more complements from customers and from the employees and managers at the store of how good I was at my jobs. After a few weeks, I was told by Wal~Mart that the Workers’ Compensation doctor said my injury was “pre-existing” (surprize surprize) and since it was not a Workers’ Compensation any more, I was being put on unpaid medical leave. I never have received anything from the doctor in writing, but I understand they don’t have to send out a formal letter for 90 days. I went back to my doctor again, since it was “Not Workers’ Compensation” but he again said he would not risk loosing his licence and sent me to a specialist who also said, it was not worth his time to fight Wal~Mart. I tryed to seek a lawyer, but again I was told, Wal~Mart is too large to fight and almost none of the attornys would take a case against Wal~Mart because they could not afford to fight them in court. I ended up paying $352.00 to the specialist for the one visit (Again because Wal~Mart’s Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance is worthless and still has not paid anything, nor applied it to the deductable.). Also the specialist would not sign my release to go back to work “because I should not have been put on medical leave.” Therefore, I had to quit! Thank goodness, I had some money in the bank to hold me over until I could settle the estate here and move back home. Also, if I want my perscription filled, I have to pay for it in full, even after a year, because Wal~Mart’s perscription card will not give you a discount until you have paid for it for a year first. And that is after the six months you wait to sign-up for the insurance ( I had a waiting period even though I had previous insurance letter, which they said was a day too long between insurance coverages).  And by the way, after finding out the insurance was worthless, I was not allowed to cancel the insurance until the next open enrollment period!
In short, Wal~Mart may be good for the customers’ pocket book, but I would NEVER recommend anyone work for them! I found out the hard way! I also note, my father-in-law died and the time I took off for the funeral was not acceptable to company policy, he was not a “close enough family member”. Yet another stab in back in my opinion!

What a coincidence.  CNN was talking about the memo.  The lawyer said it was legal and that it was not all that different from the policies at CNN.

Steven,

That’s awful, and unfortunately that flavor of worker’s comp runaround is not uncommon in a lot of industries...like meatpacking and helathcare work. ARGH!!

One thing that I noticed in the memo was the mention of moving clinics into stores not as a realty venture, but as part of a more holistic approach to worker healthcare…

Um, in light of your situation, and how common it is, this raises some major red flags for me. Will workers go there for workers comp stuff? Will they be afraid to? Will they be sent there instead of home if they have something contagious that they really should be home recovering from instead of sharing it with everybody? Who knows?

..and sour grapes, yes, everyone talks about lowering healthcare costs. I’m a proud union member of an admittedly rather small barganing unit (were you a member?), and one of the benefits was (gasp!)...solidarity. Collectively we had enough pull in our contract negotiations to keep our healthcare coverage at no cost to us. It’s not great coverage, but it’s there and it doesn’t come out of my paycheck.

i hate to burst anyones bubble, but can someone tell me why a union would be good for walmart employees, from what i’ve seen regarding companys like gm and ford, with the union involved it just drives the prices for products up, and also walmart is not the only company out there that pays little money for a lot of work, as far as your comment david in zack ar, blue cross blue sheild insuracne is not owned by walmart it is its own insurance company , i know i have it here where i work, and no i dont work for walmart, but i bet walamrts is cheaper then where i work and also has better coverage, i know i’ve seen their plan, and by far is better then my current employer, and i work for an insurance company, but i will tell you one thing, i like going into a store that has everything i need in one stop, and is cheaper then places like the gap, or dillards, or even the local grocery store, so to tell all of you, i cant wait for the bigger stores myself, ithink they will be great, and if you dont like the way walmart pays, then find a better job, it doesnt take a real bright person to figure out if you dont make enough at your current job or your unhappy then find another job, its that simple.

“walmart is not the only company out there that pays little money for a lot of work”

“and if you dont like the way walmart pays, then find a better job, it doesnt take a real bright person to figure out if you dont make enough at your current job or your unhappy then find another job, its that simple”

Do you really not see an inherent, systemic problem here?

Della,

If you are unhappy with your dishwasher, do you sit around and complain that nobody will fix it for you or do you make an effort to fix it or get it fixed? I realize that may be a poor example but I am trying to make a point. If you are unhappy with your job, go find another. I look at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (I read 5 papers on Sundays, cover to cover) and I see 8 large pages of classified ads. What that tells me is that there are hundreds of jobs in a crap city like Pittsburgh that are going unfilled. So don’t tell me there are no jobs out there. The problem with people is that they don’t want to work. You have problem with illegal immigration? Well, we are to blame because we refuse to work those jobs, picking strawberries and scrubbing floors. We are too good for that. So we have illegals willing to work like dogs for a few bucks an hour. We have Korean and Chinese immigrants who come legally and work 90-hour weeks, living in near poverty, so they can save their money and get ahead. These people come here and they can’t speak English, they have little money and they don’t understand our culture. They have no safety net. Yet, they come and they work and they very often achieve success. Is it luck? No. It’s called hard work and education. If immigrants with no money, no support group, no language skills and no cultural background can get rich, why can’t native born Americans? We have every advantage over immigrants yet they outperform us, academically and economically.

Here is the answer: Many Americans are lazy and stupid, with a sense of entitlement and no moral values or work ethic. Americans are not frugal; we have the world’s lowest savings rate. We claim to be poor when our basic necessities are luxuries in many areas of the world. Instead of complaining about where you are, make an effort to get where you want to be.

Della

I quote “Collectively we had enough pull in our contract negotiations to keep our healthcare coverage at no cost to us.”

This is amazing, healthcare at no cost to you.  Who do you think is paying for it?  It is being paid by you directly or indirectly.  If your employer is paying for it, it is coming out of costs of doing business, which could be paid to you.  Otherwise, he has to raise his prices and then he loses customers and inevitably, emplyees.  The money has to come from somewhere.

All the union is doing for you is adding in their cost, which you are also paying.

so again someone tell me, why is walmart so bad? i dont have complaint with them at all. in fact i was offered a fulltime position with them, and when my current employer at the time found out offered me a better position with more pay, which i took, but the hiring process was painless and the benefits package was excellent in my opinon, to this day i wish i had taken the walmart offer, in the long run would have been better then my current employer at the time.

Walmart has the right as a company to implement whatever strategy they choose. If they violate the law, they’ll get nailed. If you don’t like their strategy, don’t shop or work there and they will eventually fail as a company. America will decide whether or not Walmart survives in the future. Judging by Walmart’s current success, it appears that more folks in America are willing to overlook Walmart’s shortcomings.

Ok, I’ll admit, I shop at Walmart and at Sam’s club, for one reason, conveniance.  Its a lot more conveniant and gas saving to tootle up to Wally world, get everything I need and go home, rather than go to this store, and get these things, then all the way across town to get these things.  I can go, get gas, grocieries, clothing, even plan out my garden, get things for my car, mycraft supplies all in one trip.  Conveniance, maybe I don’t like all the stories I’ve heard about them, but when other places get as conveniant....I’ll try them.

Steve in Sapulpa, OK

The only reason I took the job with Wal~Mart was because it was close, I could take any job. I too looked at the benifits package and thought it looked good at first glance. But that is all it was, a package that looked good. In fact, they don’t have what most people have been taken for granted for years at other companies. It is a matter of hidden information in the fine print that hides the truth.

I suggest if you think so highley of them, it is only because you have not worked there and experienced it for yourself!

Also, I managed a store when a union was trying to come into the company and we had a lot of good reasons to hate the unions, even to the point of having sugar put in our gas tanks and tires slashed, but I would still say, there is a time and place for everything. The union is exactly what Wal~Mart needs, because they are not doing things to benefit it’s workers or customers, they are only interested in being the biggest company around at everyone’s expence.

If Sam Walton was alive today, he would be ashamed of how the new management treats it’s employees and customers!

If WalMart did not have the corporate strategies it does, 1uality products for low prices and “get everything here”; there would be no WalMart and no job for you.  We as Americans need to take control of our own lives and stop waiting on big government or big business to give us entitlements.  If you wait for the entitlements you should be ashamed and looking in the mirror to see who’s at fault.

By the way Steve In Sapulpa,

I too worked at other places that had Blue Shield Blue Cross insurance, but Wal~Mart has it’s own group coverage which makes all the difference in the world. In essence, they are self insured and only use the name of Blue Shield Blue Cross. It’s like purchasing a franchise of McDonald’s, once you have your own store, you don’t have to participate in all of the company programs. If you don’t beleave me, ask your doctors if there is a difference in insurance companies, even with the same name.

Steve in Ocala,

Please explain to me how a union helps customers and employees?

Customers will pay more for purchases. Wal-Mart saved American consumers AT LEAST $23 billion last year in direct savings. Studies have quantified this and Warren Buffett, America’s greatest investor, claims that the savings is a minimum of $20 billion per year, just off the top of his head. So all this would do would hurt low income people who rely on Wal-Mart for low prices.

Employees may earn more but they will pay out a great amount in union dues. They may lose jobs because Wal-Mart cannot afford to keep so many workers. This will also deny employment to others since Wal-Mart will not expand. So, the workers will pay out the bulk of their wage increase in union dues and possibly lose their jobs. How is this good?

Please answer these questions. Thank you.

Nick in Wheeling,

Do you understand WHY the prices at Wal-Mart are so low?  You don’t get something for nothing.

(1) It is widely known that Wal-Mart bullies low prices from its suppliers.

(2) Wal-Mart’s wages and benefits are crap.  There is no disputing this.

(3) Perhaps most horrifying, the money you spend at Wal-Mart goes, in part, to China.  And that is one of the big reasons this country is in such serious debt to China.  I don’t know the exact figures, but it’s staggering.

Wal-Mart’s low prices are a sham.

I am very tired of your crap & unwanted & illegal telemarketing calls.

I see wal-mart growing and growing.  I see small communities that overgrow their community because Wal-mart has come to their town.  I’m not sure that these towns were ready for such overwhelming growth.  These are rural missouri towns filled with aging mostly white people.  Once the wal-mart is in place there isn’t enough employees living in the community, so all of a sudden there is overwhelming racial developments so that wal-mart can stock there store with employees.  Amazing, immigrants to work in a home town store.  How did they here of this job?  Well, wal-mart moved them into these small rural communities, offered them minimum wage in a town that has nothing to offer except wal-mart.  So now minimum wage won’t take care of this immigrant family, so we just moved welfare families into our community that was taking care of it’s own, now only to take care of more.  Why?  Wal-mart is not a benefit.  If only people would think outside the box or big box that is.

If Wal-Mart is so bad, how come all these people work there?
Is it better to cook fries in McDonalds that to be a cashier at Wal-Mart? Most of these store jobs do not require much education or IQ to get into but they do offer the opportunity to advance up the ladder. What will be the message to the population if the cashier job was highly paid and with great health insurance - do not study or try to improve, get this job and you can survive. These are starting jobs and should be treated as such. People have all the opportunity to advance and it depends on them. One things Wal-Mart does not get enough credit for is the advnacement from withtin. The ladder is endless and if you chooose to stay as a cashier, your benefits will not be very much.

This is a free country and people can work anywhere. If you dont like it, go somewhere else. It is not the perfect place to work, but what place is. This is a private company designed to bring some profit to millions of shareholders. In the pursuit of low prices, profits are low and expenses need to be controlled. If that is not the case people will have to pay more for what they buy today. In many cases families rely on Wal-Mart for their daily needs and cannot afford any higher prices. It is not a matter of going to a competitor, it is a matter of surviving on a minimum wage.

Oil companies today have 10 times the profit of last yeat and yet people accept that as a fact and do not complain. Wal-Mart on the other hand is under constant attack when trying to lower prices to help the very people whose income is now in disarray because they have to pay twice more for gas.

There are many things Wal-Mart needs to improve on, but they need to be presented as facts and understood by the public, rathen that used as propaganda. In a lot of cases Wal-Mart is simple representing what is wrong in corporate America but should not be brought down because of that.

“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do.” - Samuel Huntington

Although this may not be an organized violence to the humanity, it’s more or less a corporate tyranny in a global scale.

I too worked for Wal-Mart.  I found that Wal-Mart does unforuntately think of its profits more than their employees.  I got injured on the job while my CSM and some fellow employees stood by and watched as it happened.  No one offered to help me and then when it came time for me to apply for workers compensation they tried to make it sound like it was all my fault that I was injured.  I had also received that very day a pay increase but when it came time for workers comp to figure what I was to receive while awaiting for my judgment, lo and behold the raise was not to be found in my records.  Then when I did receive the judgment, I had to voluntarily resign with the understanding that I could be rehired at another Wal-Mart.  Well, that is a laugh and others who have and are in this same place know it to be a fact---you won’t be considered for another job at any Wal-Mart.

Nick in Wheeling

In the Wal~Mart I worked at, I know of at least three of us that had the same foot problems (plantar fascitis) due to standing on the hard concrete floor and all of us went to the doctors at our expence. The Wal~Mart insurance, Blue Sheild Blue Cross nor Workers’ Compensation helped. So, we get stuck paying the bills, large ones, alone! If we had a union, we could go to them and say, we all are having this health problem and can you help us solve the problem? A mediator then could go to Wal~Mart and say, what can we do to stop the health problems. Instead, those who are not as lucky to have money in the bank to draw on, have had to go to the government to get the medical help they need. This creates a drain on the government resources and in time gives the government another reason to raise our taxes. Which includes even those who don’t shop at Wal~Mart.
Check it out for yourself, check with your local government offices, see if they have Wal~Mart employees coming to them for help?

As a small business owner, I choose not to shop a Wal-Mart b/c I have always tried to support the “little guy” In these days and times, that has become easier said than done.  Target, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.... they all are responsible for the mom and pop stores of the past.  However, Wal-Mart as an employer has a right to hire part time workers to eliminate health care costs if they choose too.  If the employees don’t like it, find another job.  I don’t agree with the practice and just gives me more reasons not to step inside their doors.  But it is their right to hire how they want to

Johnathan in Twin Cities,

Let me address your points first.

1. Wal-Mart does NOT bully low prices from suppliers. Bullying implies the threat, or usage of, force. Wal-Mart does not force ANY company to deal with it. There are companies lining up to do business with Wal-Mart, despite all the stories and propaganda. Wal-Mart has to turn away vendors because it just doesn’t have the shelf space. If you are a vendor and you want to sell to Wal-Mart, they have certain criteria you have to meet, just like any decent retail operation. They do encourage you to lower your price. They do not take the difference in their profit. Rather, they pass the entire savings on to the consumer. The vendor is not required to deal with Wal-Mart. It is a VOLUNTARY transaction. Yes, you can live without selling to Wal-Mart.  And the poor vendors? Over the last decade, they have seen their profit margains more than double, while Wal-Mart has remained in the 3%-4% range. And are you going to attack GM, which actually came out with a memo to its’ vendors telling them to shift production overseas so that GM could get its’ parts and supplies much cheaper?

Wal-Mart pays “crap” wages and benefits? Compared to what? If you compare it to a worker at GM or a cardiologist, yes, Wal-Mart workers don’t make much money. But what are they really doing? They are stocking shelves and pushing carts. Is such work worth $30 an hour? If the laws of supply and demand came into play and the only way Wal-Mart could get cart pushers was to pay $30 an hour, they would have no choice. But the market has stated that these jobs are worth $9.68 an hour. You don’t have to work in a union shop at GM for 20 years and you don’t have to go through med school and 8 additional years of training to work at Wal-Mart. If you stay at Wal-Mart, work hard and make some effort, you can move up. There are people on this board grossing $36K per year plus very good benefits and they are not even managers. Wal-Mart buyers earn about $50,000 per year, assistant store managers earn about $80,000, store managers earn $100,000-$300,000, and the district and regional people do quite well, too. There are many opportunities to grow and earn at Wal-Mart. But you are not going to walk into ANY retail joint and earn $18 an hour right off the bat.

Since you live in the Twin Cities area, maybe you’ll explain to everyone here how Target pays, on average, about $1.50 per hour less than Wal-Mart and that benefit elgibility with Target is based on geographic location rather than company wide policy. That’s right. Target pays less and offers no benefits (at least not in the Pittsburgh area). K-Mart pays worse. Sears and JC Penney pay worse. Really, just about any retail store in any mall pays worse than Wal-Mart. Most don’t offer any benefits and they work their people less than 30 hours per week. Why aren’t we attacking Abercrombie & Fitch for their poor pay, lack of benefits and sweatshop clothing sold at huge markup in your local mall?

Oh..........Wal-Mart has 1.5 million potential dues paying employees. HA! That is why the UFCW cares so much about Wal-Mart!

You still haven’t addressed my issues. Since I was so kind as to address yours, perhaps you could reciprocate.

Give ‘em enough rope and they will hang themselves without assistance.

Maybe those of us with less than perfect health should shop somewhere else.

http://www.minotdailynews.com/news/story/1025202005_new25news1.asp

(link to story below)

Wal-Mart suspends work

By JILL SCHRAMM, Staff Writer jschramm@ndweb.com

Wal-Mart halted construction on its Supercenter in Minot Monday afternoon, but contractors are back at work today.

Wal-Mart ceased construction on seven stores in North Dakota at noon Monday before informing contractors later in the day that they could resume work.
“We wanted to be sure that the sites were in compliance with all applicable laws,” company spokesman Marty Heires, in Wal-Mart’s Arkansas headquarters, said.

Two illegal aliens reported by law enforcement to be connected to a subcontractor on a Wal-Mart project in Bismarck were arrested a week ago for gross sexual imposition. The two ­ 30-year-old Carlos Martinez and 15-year-old Julio Alvarez ­ were arrested in a Bismarck motel after they were found Oct. 16 with two missing 13-year-old Belcourt girls for whom an Amber Alert had been issued.

Bismarck authorities since have arrested 28 illegal aliens in that city. They are continuing to investigate whether the people worked for the same or multiple contractors. An employer can be fined for knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant.

Wal-Mart had briefly shut down construction on the south Bismarck project with which the first two illegal aliens were connected. That center was one of the seven sites closed down again Monday.

“We did this on our own. We were not asked by any law enforcement or government agency to do so. After a review of the sites, we have reopened four of them,” Heires said Monday evening.

Contractors at sites in Minot, Williston, Grand Forks and north Bismarck are back on the job today. A Supercenter/Sam’s Club under construction in south Bismarck is among sites still shut down.

Heires said Wal-Mart hasn’t terminated any contracts with construction companies. He said contractors are required to follow state and federal laws and ensure that their subcontractors also meet those standards.

i have a few friends that work at walmart, and i know its not about the people or there familys. its about profit, i know a few friends that get a 40 hour week wage, and were hired knowing they would probably be there more that 50, thats not icluding the little saturday moring meetings that do nothing for the moral of a over worked burntout employee.

i know a guy that worked there that was told that he needs to spend more time at work instead of his family. he was going in to work at 7:30 and leaving around 6:30ish and getting paid for 40 hours a week! so yeah walmart is a big fucker!

oOps, forgot to say ?  i live in bentonville!

I am really surprised by all this “take personal responsibility” crap, how do you do that in a system where your options are limited by monolithic corporations that practically write the law (check out how much WMT has contributed to the Delay Defense Fund). The individual has absolutely no power, post-election that is. It is pretty ironic that most of these “personal responsibility” right winger hyprocites work for these monstrosities and have no ability to discren the facts that they are being manipulated on all ends, media, religion, etc. I have seen this in person and it scares me, I see echoes of Nazism (Goebels, etc.) in the current administration and Wal-Mart both. Wal-Mart does not tolerate dissent either.

I personally feel that Lee Scott and a host of other executives need to be fired for mediocre performance, the only answers to Wall-Street’s ceaseless demands for growth is to “cut costs” and “add more stores”. Wal-Mart is building a house of cards that will collapse without doubt, unless the affect drastic change.

While living in Bentonville, AR for practically all my life. I have seen numerous small businesses be rail-roaded by Wal-Mart and personally know several people who WMT would not make “permanent” giving ludicrous reasons. There is absolutely NO NEED for corporate welfare. Why do I have to finance Wal-Mart’s expansion plans with taxpayer dollars by subsidizing their employees with Medicare/SSI, etc. From its inception, WMT has been run as a cult. WMT’s excuses that they are bringing down prices sound hollow just like Bush’s “Clean Water Act” and “No Child Left Behind”, this administration and past ones eviserating the Union movements just fit well with Wal-Mart’s agenda.

I am not sure what the competitiors can do since we are so addicted to disposable shoes, pens, DVD players that we are willing to overlook how most of our fellow American can barely make it because WMT has forced practically most manufacturing to be moved to China and deals with several companies that are financing the biggest arms buildup in China’s history. By denigrating the US to a “has-been”, the administration and WMT have been traitors to the cause of the American Revolution. I bet if we had a WMT in Boston, we would not have had the Boston Tea Party, we could have sourced tea from Britain at ridiculously low prices, freedom ? it is overrated for the masses.

It is just wrong for a corporation to rake in outrageous profits while allowing us the taxpayers to take care of their employees!  Any money I save at walmart will come out of my pocket anyway in taxes to take care of their working poor.

What has become evident in the whole text of every common citizen’s complaint is the immediate and pressing need for a Worker’s Bill Of Rights for every employee in America. Within those statutes should be a provision that the CEO and/or CFO of any company that hires illegal aliens spend one year in a correctional facility for every alien that they hire. Within those statutes should be a provision that employees that endanger their health by binge drinking on weekends be required to work a 12-hour shift in the local morgue.
Unfortunately, fellow Americans, what you are seeing is the culmination of generations of your predecesors attempting to “get one over on The Man” - and it is backfiring on their decendants.
It is past time for America to accept that a National Health Initiative is past due. It is past time for Americans to accept responsibility for their own health, welfare and governance. No one truly needs the latest, greatest and most expensive of anything. Instant gratification is poverty dancing in a mink coat.
Grow up, kids. We’ll lose the great Nation over sibling rivalry disguised as civil war.

What is this site about?  I don’t work at Wal-mart because it sucks.  I don’t need a web site to tell me that.  Wal-mart is no different than working a Mcdonalds.  ATTENTION YOU STUPID MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC:  DON’T WORK THERE.

We live in a CAPITALIST society folks.  That means there is a bottom to the food chain in this country.  Somebody has to be there on the bottom to hold up all the fat cats.  As long as society demands inexpensive durable goods, free enterprise paves the road to make that happen and the ones that do it best will do it on the backs of their employees because personnel costs are second in line right behind the cost of the item being sold.  I’m not saying this is good or bad...just the way it freakin is.

Wal-Mart is a deplorable company. Shame on them.

This isn’t that shocking.  Wal-Mart isn’t the only company looking at drastic ways to cut benefit costs.  I’m sure many, many more companies have similar memos floating around. 

Face it, companies use you to make profit for them, period.  The ones they care about: shareholders.  If you are unhappy with benefits being cut back, I would start with the source which is insurance companies or all the losers who sue everyone for every little bruise.  Until then, we are screwed as a working class society.

With the majority of the clerks at Wal-Marts in my area obese to morbidly obese, I’d be afraid of them pushing carts.  This will turn into a massive weight-discrimination plan for WM.

Bring it down from within,

Are you still in Bentonville?  I am sorry if some of the stores tha you liked have gone out of business, but have you considered that, just maybe, they where not as good at their business?  I have lived here for ten years, and yes, some businesses are gone, but many more have started.  Unemployment here is under 2.5%, and has been as low as 2%.

Everywhere I look, I see people living the American dream...opening reastaraunts, hair salons, auto repair, building and fixing homes, etc.  I agree that the area has changed dramatically, but that is life.  I’m sorry, but you sound like your glass is half empty most of the time, not half full.

everyone is entitled to reliable, affordable health care coverage in this country. you cannot discriminate against someone because of their age, physical health or education in this case. for those of you who thumb your noses at others who “push shopping carts” for a living, i challenge you to walk a mile in their shoes. you cannot presume to know the circumstances of one’s life. also remember that wal-mart stores are located rural areas of this country, where strugglig farmers and their children are forced to find alternative sources of income.

i work for a company that employs 3000+ workers in 3 states and Puerto Rico. our health insurance plan is excellent, but we have just as many challenges. diseases brought on by obesity and smoking are rampant here too. it’s the american way. americans as a whole abuse their health everywhere, and they’re a big reason why health care premiums are sky high all over the place. those of us who maintain heatlhy lifestyles are the ones who pay!

if you want to talk about making positive changes, then require smokers and fast-food junkies to pay higher insurance premiums.

This discussion is interesting.  However, it seems to me that walmart is here to stay in a big way.  People shop there because the price is right and it is convenient- everything in one place—if we want low prices then there is price paid for that by someone somewhere—- if the prices go up because of benefits etc—then people who do not have much because of other low paying jobs—or even the ones working there —will be paying more for necessities and so will have less to spend on health care, rent etc.  So what is the answer to this discussion --

It is the same argument with outsourcing of jobs to India --companys do this so they can keep their costs down—this takes away work from many here—but at the same time if this was not done everyone would be complaining at the rising cost of items and services they are used to getting for less—-

The best solution is to cut down on our frivilous and continual wasteful spending - - help our neighbors when we can —and not demand cheap over all other concerns—however I do not see people doing this—they want cheap easy and convenient—even if it destroys the planet and their neighbors suffer pain because of it.

Did someone say that Sam Walton would not like the way Wal-Mart is run today??? Think again---he was the biggist prick to ever walk this earth. He absolutely forbade any union workers to ever build any of his stores. So his family comes by it naturally.  The name of the game is GREED!

CORPORATE GREED OVER PEOPLE !!!!!
AMERICANS SHOULD UNITE AND TAKE BACK THEIR
COUNTRY THAT IT IS BEEN HIJACKED BY “FASHIST-STYLE”
CORPORATIONS, CORRUPT POLITICIANS (BOTH PARTIES)
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS !!!

LET US ALL WAKE UP !!!  THE TIME IS NOW !!!!!

maryanne murphy in orlando, florida

he was the biggist prick to ever walk this earth. He absolutely forbade any union workers to ever build any of his stores

maryanne thats probably because he knew how the union reps work, on they outside they seem to care about the little guy, but its all about profits for them as well, plus with the union, prices go up for things we buy from that company, therefore why would sam walton contribute to the union by hiring workers that support it, when he was trying to supply the amreican people with low prices for products that we could afford to buy. As far as i can see Sam Walton was one smart man, and so was his developement team, to think of putting a store together that the average person could go to, and get everything he needs in one stop, man no wonder his family is rich, thats how most major companys are, tell me of a company where the ones that founded it are not rich or trying to find ways to cut expenses. there simple is not one company out there better then walmart, im sorry, but i think the walmart haters are childish and need to grow up, and realize this is not a perfect world, and there is no such thing as the perfect job unless you are the person behind the wheel collecting the big bucks for starting the business

as far as the health insurance goes, walmart may have its own group coverage, just as we do where i work, but blue cross blue shield is the administrator of the plan, and they are the ones that under write it, and also pay the claims, and from what i have found out about them, their insurance is not the greatest, and is pricy at that. and any procedures you need done have to get their ok, not the company you work for. you can read any insurance plan, and find out there are limitations to coverage, the funny thing about insurance, any it goes for any type of insurance, they tell you up front what you are covered for, and then take it all away at the end of the contract thru the exclusions in the contract.

you know something i just thought of, i dont see kmart haters, or homedepot haters, or target haters or lowes haters, and these companies are just as big as walmart, look at homedepot, they offer about the same thing walmart offers their workers as well, but i never hear anything bad about them. face it, we have become acustom to shoping at places like these, no matter what their business pratices are, we as a whole cannot control them, thats why there is a dept of labor, to put in to place what a company can do, and can’t do in its practices and they will deal with companies that over step the bondaries. anyways i myself dont care about the companies that run their organizations, they don’t effect in anyway that i can tell, in fact sometimes they improve things around you, like the economy, and as far as i can see the crime was there before they moved in, as well as the welfare people, and i have nothing against someone who needs that kind of help, its the ones that take advantage of it that i dont care for.

The Venetian Hotel hotel in Las Vegas offers employees in-house medical care and free generic prescription drugs!  More workplaces need to be like the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas!  By the way our Super Walmart now is huge with Lowes and Kohls and plenty of land to develop.  Wages are increasing in Warsaw, Indiana also.

I shovel dirt for a living and make 4x what a typical Wal-mart employee makes. UNIONIZE OR DIE!

marriane murphy said “Sam Walton ....was the biggist prick to ever walk this earth. He absolutely forbade any union workers to ever build any of his stores”

Is this not surprising? Union contractors tend to cost a lot more than non-union contractors.  This makes sense.  Who wants greedy lazy thugs involved with buildings a place?

Vince; you mean “unionize and die”

My husband and I are retired employment and labor lawyers, and during our careers represented companies ranging from very small mom n’ pop to Fortune 5 (not 500, not 100 but 5.) We were both laughing hysterically at the memo. All employers want to avoid hiring disabled employees (any one with a disability is per se not “in good health”) because they use a great deal of health care and have medical prolems. It is also unlawful to refuse to hire people because they are disabled – a good policy unless society prefers that those 35 0r 40 million people with disabilities just go off in a corner and quietly starve to death living on the average $800 a month that Social Security Disability pays and with no housing available for 2 out of 3 people and Medicare co-pays of 80%. It is also unlawful to refuse to hire people because they are older than 40. It is unlawful to deliberately change the job duties in order to exclude people with disabilities from being able to do the job.

By the way, employment and labor law is a highly specialized filed that generic lawyers, no matter how high-priced, consistently screw up.

In all our years of practicing employment law, neither of us had ever seen a major corporation so deliberately, openly and unabashedly state that it was going to try to implement policies in order to violate the law. To put it in writing reaches new heights of stupid.

Advising the miscreant company who did such a thing would be simple: shut up; immediately disavow the policies; fire all who suggested it; accept you will lose every age discrimination (references to “coronary disease” and “aging workforce” who they want to replace with college students) and disability discrimination case filed for the next decade; and smile nicely when there is consent decree entered in Federal Court putting all your employment decisions under Court supervision for the next millennium OR ignore this advice, spend 100 times the cost in litigation and still get the same results. So goes the cost of stupidity and greed.

18% of PROFIT in wages and benefits - what a joke.

If every person employed in places like Walmart - retail stores, gas stations, restuarants and other low paying jobs - walked off their jobs tomorrow, the US would shutdown.  Someone has to do those jobs to keep society functioning. If everyone in the US held a Master’s degree in engineering, engineers would be making minimum wage.

I will make you a bet.  I bet that Walmart will survive longer than the union who is trying to defeat them.

By the Way.  What is the point of your last paragraph.  “If every person employed in places like Walmart - retail stores, gas stations, restuarants and other low paying jobs - walked off their jobs tomorrow, the US would shutdown.  Someone has to do those jobs to keep society functioning. If everyone in the US held a Master’s degree in engineering, engineers would be making minimum wage.”

What you say is true.  Likewise, if the world came to an end we would all die, but the statement is pointless.

How do we get a progressive agenda done today?

The answer appears in your wallet. I imagine each of you have studied the union movement. The union movement has brought us the 40 hour work week and the minimum wage. The union movement had focused on the individual employers to get these benefits.

Today corporations have taken over the Republican party and even write the legislation that hurts ordinary people.

We need to form our own ad hoc union and instead of going on a work strike we need to go on a purchasing strike. We need to target some of the major contributors of money to the Republican party as they pull the levers of power and they have the most to lose and they can get the pressure every day instead of the officeholders that only run every 2, 4 and 6 years.

We need to go on strike against Walmart, Wendy’s, Outback Steak House, Dominos Pizza, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Eckerd, CVS and Walgreens, GE and Exxon/Mobil.

We need to call these companies and thell them we have gone on strike against them until they get the RNC to hold a press conference announcing that they will accede to our demands of a TEN dollar an hour minimum wage, an unemployment insurance benefit that will last 1 year instead of 6 months, a real prescription drug benefit under Medicare of 80 percent coverage and no privatization of social security and increasing the social security payroll tax,removing the 88,000 dollar a year FICA taxable income limit, and vote by mail throughout the US with paper ballots and an independent civil service that registers people to vote and counts votes. We need this and more. You make the demands, you go on strike. You have the money and the Republican contributors either do as we want or they go broke under our purchasing strike.

Call to action. Stop the Republican Party.

http://tinyurl.com/8ghl8

http://tinyurl.com/b97vk

Where Republicans tread, innocent people end up dead.

.

Last yr the state took over WMT’s workers comp program in Washington State due to WMT continually refusing to follow the law.

Why all the outrage?  This is merely a memo with SUGGESTIONS from a Wal-Mart executive that is about to be presented to the board.  Wal-Mart has not decided whether any of the suggestions will be implemented.  This outburst seems premature to say the least. 

The suggestions are intended to help solve Wal-Mart’s problem of increasing health care cost.  It is not meant to solve America’s problem.  Wal-Mart is not a charity organization like GM.  It’s a business that needs to get adequate return on capital for the risk it takes. 

I’m really perplexed by how reasonable people can blow this memo out of proportion.

walmart has been good to my family and they always have tryed to take care of matters that where inportant to the people i love.have not seen bad from walmart,only if the bad got caught doing something they were not supposed to like looking the other way or stealing.....any company would release an employee for that kind of behavior.anyway i wish the company my best… jim bell oak habor wa.

Let’s all shop and WalMart and help another Walton heir buy their college degree..... Such a shame that Miss Laurie had to give back her USC diploma......

p.s.  I don’t shop there any more… They expect you to find what you need without any assistance and then check out without speaking to a human.....  I think I’d rather deal with a robot.....

My daughter worked at both WalMart and Target. At WalMart, she never got her breaks or lunches on time, had to “til out” late, and never got the hours she was promised at time of hire. She quit after 1 month of BS, just walked out.  She absolutely hates WalMart from the inside. At Target the wages were the same but at least they were honest and consistent about hours and promotions. She stayed for Target over a year and became section mgr before leaving for a better job.

The union should be in WalMart because at least the union has rules and regulations of what to expect as far a discipline and pay. There are very clear deliniations and expectations. I worked as a Teamster and it paid well according to the negotiated contracts. I had to go into a different field due to health reasons but I would say pay a little to a union and at least get a contract in writing so you can’t get too screwed.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield for WalMart is only the paper pusher for the health plan that WalMart is self-insuring for. Other companies such as Aetna, etc also perform this task. The company says what they will pay for and the rest is non-exisitent. As for Workmans Comp. it varies according to state rules. Some states require a specific dr associated with the WC plan others, the patient can see any dr. By the way if you show up at a hospital with a WC claim, they pretty much will take you and file it as WC.

hmmmmmmm, dont see anyone complaining about Kmart and them checking the bags before you leave.  i have never had that happen at Walmart, only Kmart and they totally acted gestapo....sounds like some people would like to socialize America...thats the unions answer for everything.  they want to make hard working Americans pay for everyone else.  I like Walmart...i can afford their prices.  keep the union out.

Everyone complains about Walmart but we have only ourselves to blame. As long as we continue to shop there nothing is going to change. Let’s face it, there are a lot of unskilled workers out there and that’s what Walmart hires (no offense meant to Walmart employees), unless we start shopping elsewhere they have no incentive to change their tactics. So unless you don’t shop at Walmart you really have no right to complain. I for one WILL NOT SHOP AT ANY WALMART ANYWHERE. I would rather pay higher prices and know that the company actually cares about the people it employs.

Walmart should be ashamed at themselves.  Instead of taking the benefits away from the hard workers, why not look at the huge airport that they own.  They also have a personal airplane for each family member, and board member, in Bentonville. 

Also, if everyone knew how they treat the truck drivers that deliver (to warehouses) every piece of item that you buy.  They underpay, and don’t pay them to unload the trailers.  Yet they will pay their own drivers 3 to 4 times as much just to deliver from the warehouse to the stores.  Yet they don’t have to unload.

It is sad to think that the hard workers that work at Walmart, no matter what they do, they are hard workers, will have problems keeping their budgets due to the fact that they will have to pay for the mistakes that Walmart seem to hide. 

I hate to think that some sick child won’t have coverage because their parents work at WalMart, and can’t pay a doctor to help them. 

Also, I would love to know if I applied with a college degree, have years of expierence if I would be able to get a job there due to my “unhealthy” background.  (Due to surgery’s that I have had).  I wonder if someone with a high physical, sound and healthy background with no expierence and no college degree would be better?  hmmmm,…

I have stopped shopping at Walmart many years ago, and will not step into that store.  I figured on my “fixed” budget I can afford the (approx) $11.00 I would save at Walmart. 

WalMart - Sam is turning over in his grave from this, you should be ashamed at yourselves,… start looking into your high bank accounts and start thinking of the people that work for you that need the benefits,....

Before UNION Rich vs. Poor after UNION middle class america created.  why is that so hard for you to understand?

Those of U who want to raise the min wage..  What are you going to do with the worker who are let go, because business can’t afford to keep their staffing levels or prices that shoot up thur the sky to keep the staffing levels.

Any “Major” non-Mom&Pop;store is going to be worried about what the bottom line is.  We have no “right” to health care… but at the same time, if health care cost were “lower” how many people would seek treatment, instead of just going to ER when ill.

Workers choose to work at Walmart
Shoppers choose to shop at Walmart
Vendors choose to sell to Walmart

Everyone has a choice. No one has an obligation.

Welcome to America.

Having read the whole article, I can’t find what is objectionable. Indeed, it seems like a very reasonable response from Wal Mart to a situation that is confronting all of us.

Some of the ideas are very good. In particular, I think Wal Mart’s strategy of expanding the use of in-store clinics is a great way to improve health care service while managing costs.

Like it or not, we are facing massive disruptions in health care over the next ten years. General Motors will probably be bankrupted by their health care costs. Federal and State budgets will bleed red ink with all the Medicaid costs.  Calling this a “wal mart problem” is worse that wrong: It directs attention away from where we really need it.

I Like to eat cheese!!  Not the Cheese-Whiz or Velveta, but its all about the Gorgonzola baby!!

This is in regards to della schwartz’s “it’s that simple (to go and get another job)” comment.  If you don’t have a master’s degree or atleast a bachelor’s degree then it is not that simple to go out there and get another higher-paying job.  Most jobs out there, for people with little to no college education pay about the same as walmart so how is it really that easy or simple?  Why should people in this country be penalized with low wages just because they did not want to go to college.  Some people just aren’t the college type, they don’t enjoy lots of reading and writing. Some people can’t even afford to go to college, even if they wanted to go.  So how can it really be all that easy?

Here in Tennesse people who work at walmar have shoes, gosh darn, aren’t we smart.  The bossman keeps telling us our reward for working hard is in heaven, gosh can’t wait to get dare, can’t afford a greyhound bus ticket or I would go now and gett my reward.  Shoot, the bossman was telling us if walmar higher more immagrunts they could make more money not paying them in shues.  Just think they don’t know English so custamur service will save money and Wallymart can cut wages to the immagrunts and save us and Burt Reynolds even more money.  Wow, maybe um smarter than most amaircans and I cum work as a ezecetive for walmart.  Tank you

I have read many complaints in the above referenced articles submitted by the many people who have provided input on this travesty.  Finally people are coming to see WalMart as the tyrant that they are.  They move into an area, cut prices below all the Mom and Pop stores, run them out of business thus establishing their monopolistic stranglehold on the community and then they raise their prices.  If any of you ever need an attorney that isn’t afraid to tackle the corporate giants we have a GIANT KILLER here in Montgomery, AL in the Beasley,Allen, Crow,Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C. Attorneys at Law.  They tackle the corporate giants all the time and win millions for their clients and themselves.  Here’s the link to their website, http://www.beasleyallen.com/ give WalMart hell America.

Considering this group is headed by the President of the SEIU, I would view your agenda with some suspicion. You stand to gain thousands of dues paying members to fill your coffers and fund your political aims. WalMart is a corporation-they exist to make money. Its not the job of consumers to give employees with low or no education a free ride. If you want better pay and benefits change you job. WalMart isn’t holding you hostage. You are where you are in corporate machine because of your education-time to get some. The SEIU complains about WalMart, but yet they’ll hold up a Cancer Center at Yale New Haven Hospital with all types of shenanigans without the slightest thought. Dues before the dead.......

We’re all social slaves that work at Walmart. Every customer has the ability to scream at us and we have to sit there and take it and if we talk back, we get fired. That make any sense?

Joe

Anyone who doens’t think Wal-Mart forces suppliers into cheaper profits, needs to understand that the consumer generally buys what they see.

Now, you go into Wal-Mart, see Mobil oil, and Castrol.
You buy Castrol, because it’s cheaper than Mobil.

Wal-Mart now goes to Mobil - “You need to lower your prices, so we can sell more Mobil oil.”
OK, Mobil, lowers the prices. 
Viola!  Consumer now buys more Mobile!

Wal-Mart - “Castrol, you need to lower your prices, we need to sell more of your oil!”

HOW could this be bad you say?

Castrol - “Sorry, we can’t.  We’re selling enough now that with the price as it is, we’re making a profit.  It’s not a huge profit, but it’s a profit”

Wal-Mart - “We sell 50% of your annual sales, you will lower your prices, or we will stop carrying your oil”

Exexutives at Castrol - “Crap.  If we don’t lower our prices, Wal-Mart will no longer sell our stuff.  That’s 50% of our income!  We will go bankrupt in a year!” “Guys, we need to sell lower pricing, how can we save money?  AH!! Let’s cut the pay of our 10,000 employees.  Lets layoff and outsource our manufacturing.  That will save us enough money that we can lower our prices by 20 cents a bottle!”

Castrol - “OK Wal Mart, since we need the sales you provide, we will sell to you 20 cents cheaper”

Wal-Mart - “Good”

And we as the consumer are benefiting from this?  Perhaps in the SHORT RUN, but not 10-20-30 years from now.  Our children will not have any jobs worthwhile due to practices like that.

I see everyone across America is getting spun around the axle about Wal-Mart and unions.  Americans don’t really understand or see the real underlying problem.  Wal-Mart or China-Mart I as I prefer to call them is China’s biggest trade partner.  Cheap goods sold at an inflated price to the stupid, fat, ignorant Americans. 
America is heading towards being nothing more than the UK, a service oriented workforce.  We are no longer a manufacturing country, almost everything is out-sourced.  China has more factories and imports more raw materials than we do.
Wake-up morons, your own wealthy pukes are selling your future over seas.  Sam’s children are nothing like their father, they are only out to screw you over anyway they can to increase their stock values.
By the way, does anyone relize that T. Woods is an ex-patriot?(ie. ex-patriot is one that claims residence in another country in order to avoid paying taxes on their income) So, all Tigers winnings are so more meaningful when he doesn’t pay taxes with the rest of us.  Go buy more Nike products and support Woods and his wealth.

when does walmart plan change their colors to RED?

What a perfect example of the inhuman values of corporate America: This memo should be used as an example by educators, physicians, public health practicioners, human rights activists, and anyone who cares for their neighbor, of the true nature of institutions who’s number one goal is profits.

We must unite, stop Walmart, support health care as a civil right.

If we truly believe we have a democracy, our government cannot allow people to die and suffer so that the likes of Walmart execs are allowed to consign our mothers, fathers, cousins, daughters, sons and friends to suffer from lack of health care, while they rake in millions.

Solidarity is our only hope. Stop Walmart.

walmart does not give a shit about their employees.  their open door policy is a crock and is laughable, and has been known to be used against the employee who uses it.  for those who work at a walmart, there may be a reason.  something like this, walmart may have been the only employer to offer a job to that person.  just because a person has qualifications for something else, doesn’t mean that they will get a job in that field, someone like me.  i have been trained to do data entry work, but for a few personal reasons, i was out of work and was applying for work in data entry and also applied at wally world.  wally world was the only one to offer me a job, so i took it because my bills were getting to high and i needed to start paying them off.

Wal-Mart is good only for an extra money type job. If you try to make a career out of working for Wal-Mart you will eventually be screwed. Heaven help you if you are in the situation where you are depending upon them for survival and the health of your family. Wal-Mart jobs would be fine for students or retirees but not for young families trying to make a living wage with health benefits.
Unfortunately, in these economic times, many people have no choice other than working anywhere ( Wal-Mart) they can get a buck.

I love WalMart!  Where else can you buy a toaster for $10.00
at 3 in the morning!

If you don’t like WalMart, don’t shop there.  And stop worrying
about the workers.  If they don’t like their benefits, they can
revolt themselves.  Why does everyone feel that they have
to fight battles which have nothing to do with them.

Go WalMart!

By the way, does anyone relize that T. Woods is an ex-patriot?

I wish you would cite your source. I would be very surprised if Tiger would risk damaging his image by doing something so stupid.

My husband has worked for Wal-Mart for over 15 yrs and yes he works hard but he is not afraid of the work and the benefits aren’t the greatest in the world but i had a mother and brother that both worked at a processing plant and when they both died of cancer while still employed there there was very little life insurance for the families and i feel your job is what you put into it and if you don’t like the benefits then find another job .Im tired of Walmart being the bunt of all of everyones problems if you can’t do or get something right then blame wal-mart just because a well to like man made a life out of his dreams ?DO you think Sam Walton had Good benefits when he started working before he came the owner of Wal-Mart,That is very doubtfull but yet his legacy lives on .The great man is gone but everyone is trying to punish his livelywood of his business,i don’t know why but if you don’t think your benefits are good or the pay is good go to work for the State of Missouri,their benefits are great but they hardley ever get raises .OUr son and son in law and daughter works for the state of MO and every yr they keep getting promises of raises and then they get them kicked out from under them so if you don’t like working for Walmart go to work for your state.

I’ve read almost every response on this page. Like some have said, if you don’t like shopping or working for Wal-Mart, then don’t, plain and simple. I don’t work there nor would I ever but, it’s a job for some that has kept those workers out of the unemployment line. Some were talking about China. Do you realize that more and more companies are moving, or having their produts made in China rather than Mexico because of the labor rates? $2.00 an hr in Mexico vs. .50 an hr in China. Are any of those companies passing their savings on to you?............NO they are not. Start checking where your car tires are made now. Wal-Mart is the business to make money, just like the company you and I work for now. Everyone is losing out on medical insurance, not just the employees of Wal-Mart. In fact I wish I had medical insurance where I work. I know it’s over $600.00 just for myself. If I was in desperate need of a job, I’d even take the Mickey D’s or Wal-Mart. I’m not a loafer. Carry on......

I rarely go to a walmart store due to the fact that they NEVER have enough cashiers to check you out.  I’d much rather spend more somewhere else than to wait in line from 30 minutes to an hour just to save a few pennies on inferior CHINESE goods!  And after reading posts from walmart workers, its no wonder they can’t find enough people willing to accept such low wages and to be screwed over by a company that values PROFIT over anything else. 

Walmart is the Anti-Christ

i don’t think the release of this memo will have universal scope of influence over walmart’s clientele. rather, i think those individuals who are well-positioned to choose to not shop at walmart will be able to decide for themselves whether they want to continue to shop at walmart. but the sad fact is that there are many communities where there are no other options. it’s not that the people can’t afford to shop at a different establishment. it’s that in these communities there ARE no other establishments. even if people in these communities wanted to shop elsewhere, they either wouldn’t know where to go or they wouldn’t be able to get to the other places. at any rate, they’d still have no motivation to do so, since low-prices will trump the effort that would be required to shop at an alternative establishment. that is why the release of this memo shouldn’t worry walmart too terribly. they have a sufficient stronghold over their clientele so as to only risk losing the part of their clientele that already live in a competitive market. in competitive markets, like seattle for example, where we only have one walmart in a 30 mile radius, their losses will be negligible at worst. in lagrange, oregon, where walmart is THE shopping center, their losses will be practically nonexistent. the fact is, there are many more lagrange, oregons than there are seattle, was out there.

walmart is a billion dollar company cashiers start out at 6.00 dollars a hour something just not right

i for one am a cart pusher and am not embarased to say it either it may not pay much, but atleast it pays my bills,and put s food in my kids mouth.where i work is one hell of a place to work,and everyone i work with is great ,So from what i have read for one all of this is b.s and nothing more

that’s the great thing about America, if you don’t like your employer; you can quit.

the on e bright spot i saw in the memo was the “we will try to influence the provision of health care at the state and national level” (paraphrasing) part. Maybe as the babyboomer workforce ages and the cost of providing health benefits for employees by business in this country becomes “unmanageable,” the private corporate sector itself will demand health care reform, and Americans will join the developed world in providing health care to it’s citizenry.
Of course the economy would collapse and America will become tomorrows fallen Rome, but that’s inevitable at some point.

K-MART DOES NOT TREAT THEIR EMPLOYEES LIKE THIS!  YOU ALL MIGHT START THINKING ABOUT GOING THERE TO SHOP.

I think every company considers “limited-risk initiatives” and “bold steps” to try to get down their medical costs, and they have to float trial balloons to see what people think. I saw one leaked from another company and the real one turned out nothing like it. One of the best examples I can think of is John Deere: They decided to start their own HMO. And there own employees were saying they did a good job so much that Deere went in the business where they have an existing employee base. Bring on Wal-Mart health care.... everything else they do is a good deal!

I agree that Wal-Mart, and companies like them, are probably doing more harm to America than good, but who keeps this whole thing going in a downward spiral?

It’s the Republicans that let this fester and explode into what it is today. Yeah, they control the House and the Senate........well do something about this you morons! Anyone on this message board that is bitching about the way things are going today better wise up and vote Democrat in the next election before we are all in the poor house!

Wake up America! Bill Clinton may have gotten a little on the side, but oh how America was booming in his stead! I’m not saying that I agree with his morals, or even everything that he stood for, but the fact is we all (at least most of us) were living high on the hog while he was in office.

Wake up in 2008 and get some Democrats in office to stop this atrocity!

The real concern is not just Wal-Mart, there are many companies that treat their employees just as bad if not worse. I know I worked for Target (which is supposed to be SO much nicer and friendlier).  They seemed great until I was involved in a fork-lift accident (in no way my fault) and crushed discs in my lower back and herniating discs in my neck. The company and their insurance company (company owned) fought tooth and nail to deny treatment even when I had 3 different back specialists that said I had to have surgery.

Big companies like Wal-Mart and Target will continue to run over any individual because they CAN. We let them everyday and we stand by while large companies throw money at our elected government officials for whatever “fund” they create. We turn a blind-eye to our laws being changed and ammendended in favor of big business and one by one our basic constitutional rights are taken from us.

I think one of the main problems is that we have become a society of people with little or no morals or ethics. We no longer care about our neighbors and too bad about the problems they are having while working at Company X because it much too convenient for me and I’m going to continue shopping there.

We have good people that run for office but hardly ever get elected because they don’t have the monetary support of these big companies. If somehow these well-intentioned people do get elected and find themselves in Washington ready to make some changes it does not take too many $100k, $250k, $500k or more contributions to their office before they are deep in the pockets of these same big companies and they will be just another in a long line of officials lining up to screw over the average working person. They’ll do it with a smile on their faces and promises of better days to come and we will re-elect them so they can continue to chisel away at our rights.

The only way any of this will ever change is with much more stringent laws in place concerning PACs and soft money being thrown at our government offices. But what government official is going to vote against their own cash-cow?

Isn’t it nice that Wal-mart is relocating to china? Now you fat americans prices for cheap crap will be even lower because of the cheap pay for the 5 year olds working 17 hour days in China! You people who do not learn from this and do better make me sick! You should be ashamed!

If we wait long enough all the Republicans will be in jail!!!

Wow! Does anyone ever stop to think that if we didn’t have bosses we wouldn’t have jobs? Unless we were the boss. If you want to be the boss, go get that education. Who hates Walmart more than anyone? Owners of competing retail stores! Why? Because they can no longer get rich off our labor! They can no longer charge $50 for a god-damn shirt! Their shirts were made by underpaid laborers too! They just can’t buy them as cheap as Walmart because they can’t buy as many. Do you think the workers at Sears have excellent health care? If you do prove it! Everyone beats up on Walmart but they are in no way worse most other retailers, or most other corporations for that matter. I have a friend who works at Walmart. They pay him $13 an hour for stocking shelves. $13!!! Is that anything to scoff at? I was a union mechanic a few years ago. I made $13 an hour. If you want to get paid the big bucks, get an education! If you don’t take care of yourself, if you don’t want to get an education, if you don’t want to work hard, why should Walmart have to take care of you? Please think about this. Sam Walton didn’t open Walmart so he could take care of America. He did it to take care of his family. And now you blame him for rising health care cost and diminished productivity in the American work force? Now jump on my bandwagon!

I have never worked for Walmart, but I love to shop there!

In response to Ben Hawkins in Kentucky…

For those people who just “don’t enjoy lots of reading and writing,” there are options. They can work at Wal-Mart for $9 an hour...OR they can assert themselves, get student loans, find an employer who offers tuition reimburnsement, attend a trade school, etc. I couldn’t afford college either, but I paid my way with loans, scholarships, part-time jobs - whatever I had to do. Higher-paying jobs require higher levels of education. That’s the reality, jobs pay based on a required level of skill and experience. And I would be damned if I spent years in college and climbed my way up in my career for someone to walk in off the street making the same amount of money for a job that requires no skill. Also, there are plenty of people in this country who start their own businesses and become very succesful without a college degree. They have what’s called “ambition.”

Now, with that said, I’m no fan of Wal-Mart. I’d encourage everyone to shop at Target, where the prices are just as low, stores are cleaner, and employees have some of the best benefits in the industry. Wal-Mart is a publicly-traded company; American consumers will ultimately decide its fate. I voice my opinion by not shopping there.

I don’t see how Wal-Mart can really rid itself of the unhealthy employees since most of the employees who work there probably don’t live healthy lifestyles.  The memo writer is a typical human resources micromanagement idiot trying to find a solution to every “imperfection this little green earth God created” has.  Has anyone ever taken a look at the average Wal-Mart employee?  A co-worker and I went to Wal-Mart one day long ago and one of the greeters had a front tooth, it was sharp, sticking out over her front lip.  She was short and fat, with big round hips the size of a walrus.  So, we came up with a new name for her:  snaggle tooth.  Most of the Wal-Mart employees are uneducated, out of shape, and malnurished.  Their many fatherless babies will turn out the same way.  And lead a life of crime consisting of domestic violence and disturbances, petty larceny, and of course, Grand Theft Auto.  Just like in the famous video game Wal-Mart itself sells.
People:  Wal-Mart is Wal-Mart.  It’s a corporation.  Its only sole interest is in its profit.  Change comes from people who are not concerned with buying some stupid worthless super duper plasma or HD television to watch some overpaid athletes perform on a big screen.  It comes from people united with a common goal:  survival.  It comes from people who believe in community and society, like in Finland or Austria.  People make change when they realize there are benefits to living in a social democracy where the goverment tries to protect jobs, unions, and the rights of workers.  Modern day America is not about survival.  We don’t even discipline our children well enough to ensure that survival.  All we do is send them to college or tell them to join the military.  And there are too many people going to college because that has become a big business.
Firstly, the US government spends more than it takes in.  Just like its citizens.  That’s a big mistake.  It’s the exact same thing Rome did before it finally fell to it northern enemies.  Most Americans don’t even work real jobs that sustain the US economy.  Instead, we allowed those jobs to be shipped overseas to China, India, Malaysia, and Taiwan.  We have also allowed Wal-Mart to put other businesses out of business.  What’s done is done.  And unfortunately, there is no going back.

I just finished reading the memo, and to be quite honest, it made perfect sense to me.  Just because Wal-Mart is a huge corporation doesn’t mean that it’s not impacted by the increasing costs of healthcare in this country.  When left unchecked, it will eventually spiral out of control, and someone will have to take the hit.  Consumer-driven healthcare plans are an excellent idea, one that we’ll be seeing a lot more of.  In fact, I think that the idea of recipient responsibility for keeping costs down should be applied to Medicaid in some form as well.

Granted, the idea of trying to hire “healthier” workers may not be the most politically correct one, but the hiring practices at many smaller businesses are shameful.  I once worked in a place where the owner and managers would stand around laughing at people who applied for jobs, dismissing the idea of hiring anyone who was too fat, too black, too gay, or too old.  It’s not pretty, but neither is the real world.  The people who were applying for those lower-wage jobs are likely the same people who would consider working at Wal-Mart, and I can assure you that they wouldn’t be receiving any sort of benefits at the above-mentioned business.

This is not just an issue concerning lower-wage workers who are lacking education or skills, either.  As a college-educated professional, I’m envious of the benefits that Wal-Mart workers receive.  The people who work at Wal-Mart are extremely lucky in today’s economic conditions.  I don’t receive any benefits at my present job as a librarian, and in order to be employed in my chosen field, I’m forced to work part-time even though I’d rather be working full-time.  My choices are to pick up a second part-time job, or work full-time doing something I’ll never enjoy nearly as much.  In my field locally and in many other parts of the country, nobody is hired full-time anymore (if at all), and you’re lucky to hold onto a part-time job.  I’ve watched as nearly 10 years worth of the most talented, hard-working people have lost their jobs.  Who’s left behind?  With a few exceptions, the oldest, least productive, least capable workers.  Why?  They’re protected by a union, and enjoying all of the benefits.  Meanwhile, a young co-worker (with a master’s degree) who lost her job is now working in retail in order to make ends meet.

Of course, I may just be thinking selfishly here, but my problem is the same problem shared by the schoolchildren whose local libraries have been shut down as a result of the same trend that’s spreading across the country.  Why is all of this happening?  Drastically reduced funding by local governments due to the out of control costs of Medicaid.  There is a larger and larger burden on local governments to pay for Medicaid, and unless it’s stopped, there won’t be money left over for such luxuries as libraries, or even police or firefighters.  Instead of looking at the percentage of Wal-Mart employees on Medicaid, let’s appreciate the fact that a significant percentage of employees at this huge corporation actually HAVE health insurance and are not on Medicaid.  I’d be willing to bet that if they weren’t working at Wal-Mart, they’d be without insurance.  And let’s not forget that in this evil memo, one of their goals was to reduce the number of their workers on Medicaid and increase the number of workers with health insurance, even if it’s for PR purposes.  The real problem here is the Medicaid system in this country, not Wal-Mart.  If they weren’t such a large company under so much public scrutiny, once the costs got out of hand, they’d simply cut their benefits out completely, and everyone would lose out.

As a side note, I’ve never been a big fan of Wal-Mart, and I rarely shop there.  I always try to support local businesses whenever possible.  The only reason I’m writing this is because I feel that this whole anti Wal-Mart thing is being blown entirely out of proportion, especially when compared to the experiences of the majority of workers in the real world.

I work for this company and I know how bad the pay and benefits are. I do not think for a moment that upper management has anyone’s best interest in mind except their own. How else do you explain a decision to cut the hours of senior citizens and a hiring freeze two months before christmas?

Here is something that I can tell you about Wal~Mart and how the Supercenter here in Show Low, AZ #1230 handles its employees. I used to work in the Sporting Goods department of store #1230 and the so-call manager who was in charge of my department did not know anything about sporting goods or any thing that was done in that department. My customers that came to me for their needs knew that I would do anything I could to help them and get them the items they needed. When I came into that department they could not get anything from the Arizona Game and Fish (i.e. hunting and fishing regulations, permit covers, notices, pamplets, etc). I went down to the local AzG&F;office and had a caht with them and guss what? I got all the stuff I wanted and then some. The officers there told that if I needed anything from them just come down to them and they would see what they can do for me. Never did they turn me down for anything I needed for my customers. I would even contact the supervisors at the local K~Mart sporting good department and some of the other sporting goods stores in the area and find out what their customers needed and let them know what my customers needed. We would send our customers to each other and we all made sure our customers were well taken care of. And do you know what that manager did to me when she found out what I was doing for my customers? She called me into the office and wrote me up on violating Wal~Mart policies. One day when one of my customers asked about getting some steel shot for the upcoming duck season she was in the department and I had him ask her about why we did not have the ammo they needed. She told him that she would see about getting some of that type of ammo for him and other hunters. When he left she asked me why did he need steel shot and did not use the other lead shot for his hunt? I informed her that it was a federal law that steel shot was to be used for hunting ducks. She then asked when did this law come about and I told her that it had been a federal law for over 15 years. She then told me she had never heard of a law like that. These are the type of people Wal~Mart have working as managers. If I had more room and time I would tell you of more thaings I know that Wal~Mart has done up here in SHow Low. And now they waht to distory another small town up here in the White Mountains of Arizona and that town is Taylor-Snowflake. When well people decide to make Wal~Mart stop that distruction of rural America? When well our politicains stop taking blood money from Bentonville and do what is the best for America and Americans.

I like Steven in Florida who writes of his mishaps with Wal-Mart because he was “overquilified fof the position.” This was one of ten spelling errors by a typically uneducated person who is making $6 an hour and not attempting to better himself. Why blame Wal-Mart for paying low wages. Apparently they are getting what they pay for!

You all smell of fondu! You fat monkey butts!

I fail to see what Walmartwatch is crowing about - this memo should be made public, and the public would support Walmart.  Let’s see, Walmart wants to: lower health care costs to the employees, assist Walmart employees making better use of the healthcare services available, provide in-store health clinics for the employees, tailor the benefits as an individual Walmart employee desires, and assist Walmart employees to live a more healthy lifestyle - at work and at home.  According to Walmartwatch, all of this is BAD, and the memo “shatters the myth about Wlamart”.  In one instance, it certainly does.  The myth that Walmartwatch is trying to convey is that Walmart is an uncaring company, and the memo disproves it.  Just because a plan is good for the company, it doesn’t have to be bad for the employee, and the memo demonstrates that.

Will you get off the Union dues already?  Why do you rail against Unions so?  Pure capitalism results in the rich taking advantage of the poor.  The Unions in this country created the middle class by making sure people were making an honest wage for an honest day’s work. 

People have a CHOICE to work for a Union and pay Union dues just as they have a choice working anywhere.  At least in a Union environment, there is ACCOUNTABILITY in the actions, words, and deeds of the management of the company.  I have worked in both Union and non Union environments on both sides of the table.  Even though Unions have their good and bad points just like any other organization, I would pick working in a Union environment ANY TIME over a non Union environment.

I personally don’t shop at Walmart because you may be saving pennies, but at the expense of suporting sweat shops, child labor and prisoner abuse in foreign countries.  We do live in a GLOBAL society. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. 

In addition, on the practical side, I have found that once Walmart comes in and destroys the competition, they RAISE their prices.  So much for that.

Lets all work and buy at woodman’s! It’s employe (sp) owned and has a large organic section!

Please consider what will happen when Wal-Mart is successful in reducing health costs to zero for employees (at least the non-management employees).  You as tax payers will be left with the burden of paying for their healthcare.  Of course, you will save a percent or two on your purchases, but your tax bill will go up.  When Wal-Mart had a ‘buy American’ policy, there was a reason to shop Wal-Mart.  What reason do you use now to justify ‘shop Wal-Mart’?

I have been an employee of Walmart for 2 years. I enjoy the work because it offers me the flexibility to do other things, such as begin a career in politics, and take care of my mother, who is Ill. I get 2 weeks paid vacation, in addition to sick time and personal days. We also get holiday pay and stakeholder checks. How many other companies can you say hand each of thier employees a percentage of the profits eahc and every year? I personally do not utilize the healthcare benefits, as i have other insurance, but i have heard it is decent from my co workers. I would suugest to all of you before you judge Wal-mart, you talk to some of the workers down south who Walmart is helping rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina. EACH AND EVERYone of the associates that were displaced by the storm has been relocated to a store near where they are staying until their store is reopened. thgey also will have a job if they decide to relocate. How many companies offer that kind of job security? very few.
sincerly,
a proud wal-mart associate.

The only drawback to working under a collective barganing
agreement is you make so much money you think you are
a republican. The anti-union crowd has done a good job
brainwashing people into thinking unions are bad.

I werk hear, and itz conveinent from home. I get to help with the bills at our home. My husband doeznt get ani medical insureance but I due. Im happi to evin have a job in todayz econome. It reely helps to have a discount on the things i by at my store. If i didnt have this job i dont no what we wood due. But i thank all of you that due shop hear. Thanks for shopping hour walmart!

Ah, we have all heard and read about Wal*Mart engaging in gouging lower prices for the consumer by playing ‘hardball’ with the consumer, but they also have another tactic that they use as well. The merchandise sold at Wal*Mart is not bought by Wal*Mart. You are probably wondering how that might be. Wal*Mart actually uses a kind of consignment system. Companies are not paid by Wal*Mart for their products until 90 days AFTER the product is sold at Wal*Mart. In the meantime, Wal*Mart is raking in profits in another fashion, by accruing interest money while it sits in their corporate bank accounts. Sadly as stated previously by others , there are suppliers all to happy with this arrangement. This amost sounds like the tactics that Bill Gates and microsoft were targeted by the gov’t for doing. I am waiting for the day states and feds go after Wal*Mart now. Ironically, Sears, Target, Shopko, and KMart all have to pay upfront, but not Wally World.

I also have friends that work for Wal*Mart, some love it and some hate it. It is alright for them to change your hours when they want to, but heaven forbid you ask to have them changed, they whip out your application, wave it in your face and say tough cookies, take it or leave it, some have left and would never go there again. Unfortunately, because of Wally World in some places of rural america, they are the only ones that carry what you need, having previously driven out small mom and pop operations, as well as competitors unable to compete fairly.

Some states have launched investigations into Wal*Mart for its 40 hour per week no overtime policy where employees work off the clock. Others are starting to suggest taxing “box corporations” that offer jobs at minimum wage, but offer no benefits or low benefits to workers.

Has anyone even noticed that we are not past Halloween yet and Wal*Mart already has its Christmas decorations and other paraphenalia out? Talk about comercializtion.

So, what’s a man to do, damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Maybe the backlash of this suggested policy will get Wal*Mart to reconsider, but lacking a cohesive response by employees and consumers, I doubt it.

What bs, i have worked at walmart for ten years and I recieve great benefits, I am fully vested and I have advanced as quickly as any man in the company.It seems the the crybabys are the lazy workers. I have had some tough times and walmart was there to help me get through them. I have raised two children that my husband walked away from, all thanks to walmarts help.