The shittiest job in America

[riqster]

Last edited Tue Nov 19, 2013, 12:54 PM - Edit history (1)

http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/the-siest-job-in-america/

Snips:

"Your humble correspondent has worked some truly s***y jobs in his time: car washing, day-labor, chemical-tank cleaning, and so on. Many of these jobs were unsafe, and none of them paid well. But not even those scumballs could rival Wal-Mart’s epic lack of concern for their employees. Here’s a story from one of those aforementioned s***y jobs:

We had a guy working as a dishwasher who made enough to get by (barely), but he collapsed one day at work. Turns out he hadn’t eaten in two days, because his family ate all the food in the house, and there was nothing left for him when he got home from work. Did HR set up a demoralizing “food drive” in the break room? No, they did not. They created a one-off payroll deduction that went to a lunch fund that only the employee could use, to eat at the workplace cafeteria, thus guaranteeing the poor guy three meals a day.

This employer was not a particularly benevolent organization – in fact, they pretty much sucked overall. But they at least understood that it was in their own best interest to have their employees at least f***ing fed on a regular basis. Wal-Mart doesn’t even have that level of awareness.

When you give Wal-Mart your money, you are telling them that you approve of and endorse the (literally) starvation wages they pay. And if you are OK with starving working people to death just so you can save a penny on a pair of Spanx, well, you’re pretty s***y yourself."

More at the link.

[pipoman]

1. For many it isn't about saving

"a penny on a pair of Spanx" as much as it is having to drive farther, in my case 20 miles farther for an alternative which probably isn't much better..Wal-Mart here really has no meaningful competition..

[riqster]

3. Perhaps I should have emphasized the "choice" aspect.

Due to their predatory actions over the decades, Walmart has in some places made it impractical to shop elsewhere.

[marble falls]

2. Sums it all up rather well. If you shop WalMart, you shop against your own interests.

[FreakinDJ]

4. Payroll deduction to buy food in Walmart only

[riqster]

5. Not a perfect analogy, I grant you.

The shitty job referenced was at a non-profit hospital, and the guy's not eating wasn't just because of low wages-it was because he was in an abusive domestic environment.

Regardless, that employer handed the situation with a lot more grace than Walmart.

[JVS]

6. "because he was in an abusive domestic environment."

Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that after reading that they ate all the food and didn't let him have any.

[riqster]

7. Oh yeah.

I'd say that Walmart is an abusive workplace environment. Both cases, people go hungry.

[AikidoSoul]

13. Wallmart just started spending millions on TV ads painting their employees

as happy, fulfilled workers with meaninful jobs and lives.



If they spent that money on its workers, it would be much more sensible.

But I guess people are easily brainwashed by TV ads.

[awoke_in_2003]

15. If they treated their employees well...

they wouldn't have to advertise- word would get out

[Demo_Chris]

19. There is some truth to this. We all love to hammer Walmart...

But in many MANY areas it's actually not a bad job at all -- not compared to the alternatives available.

[Laelth]

8. Quite. Wal-Mart is unacceptably vile. n/t

-Laelth

[SoapBox]

9. I guess I'm lucky...

I've tons of options for shopping, so I've NEVER spent one penny at them...and never, ever will.

The corporation is soulless and has no morals.

[riqster]

10. Same here, these days.

Back in the day, I was fucked and had to shop there some of the time. Glad those days are behind me, and I hope they stay that way.

[awoke_in_2003]

16. In metro area you do...

at least in a lot of rural Texas, Walmart has squeezed out most competition.

[OnionPatch]

20. That's the truth. I've seen many locals close their doors when Walmart moved in

And I despise Walmart. But I admit that I've gone there in desperation a few times merely because I otherwise would have had to drive long distances and spend the whole day going from one store to another.

I wish we had an economic sysyem that enabled small and local retailers to offer the same convenience and selection as the big stores. Or maybe a system where people don't spend their whole lives at work and actually have time to shop more thoughtfully and sustainably. Price is not the only reason people shop at Walmart even if it's the main one.

[Alkene]

11. WAL*MART: Always low wages. Always.

I would NEVER shop there, knowing what they're about.

Do people not know; has there not been enough information presented to the general population?

Do they not care; are they self-destructive?

Are the savings really that seductive?

Or is WAL*MART the only game in town? That would make some sense.

[riqster]

12. In order:

Agree completely.

Plenty of information has been provided. Lots of people pay no attention.

Lots of people don't care.

The savings aren't real. But again, lots of people remain ignorant, preferring to believe the lying advertisements.

In some places, yes, it's the only place to shop, thanks to Walmart's predatory business practices.

[airplaneman]

14. WAL*MART Always low wages. Always no benefits. Always.

I will not shop at WalMart because of their business model.
-Airplaneman

[Arugula Latte]

17. Target is as bad as Wal-Mart, and maybe worse

Ralph Nader (I know, I know, but he's a good public advocate):

What's the difference between Target and Walmart? Many liberal-minded people bristle at the name Walmart and think of its well-documented history of low wages, poor employee treatment and its devastating effect on many small businesses and communities across America. Target, on the other hand, has managed to avoid much of the negativity associated with the Walmart brand. Target has instead tried to cultivate an image as the socially-conscious alternative to Walmart's evil big box retail empire -- it perpetuates the notion that it treats its workers better and provides higher quality goods and services, all without sinking to the same harsh lows as its Bentonville-based competitor. Many so-called "blue states" welcome Target with open arms while shunning Walmart for their anti-worker practices.

So this begs the question -- is Target really any better? Is this line of thinking justified?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. Target's record when it comes to workers is about the same. Look past the positive PR and one will find that Target pays many of its workers unconscionably low wages -- Target is the fourth largest low-wage employer in the country. Furthermore, the company is anti-union -- they require employees to watch anti-union propaganda and just last year Target was found to have intimidated workers and violated federal labor laws. Kind of reminds you of another corporate big box retail chain, doesn't it?

Target now employs over 340,000 workers in the United States. According to IBIS World, an independent market research company, the average wage for Target employees is in fact less than the average wage for workers at Walmart. And while many of these Target "team members" are paid a poverty-level wage, the compensation package of Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel amounted to over $28 million in 2012. That's almost $14,000 per hour! Shockingly, that's even more than Walmart's CEO, Mike Duke, who makes approximately $11,000 per hour. This type of inflated executive salary has become the troubling norm in greed-dominated Big Corporations, where CEOs have long taken advantage of cheap labor while achieving windfall profits.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ralph-nader/target-walmart_b_4254981.html

[riqster]

18. Interesting.

I wonder if Targets are also running ad-hoc internal food pantries for their workers?