NationStates Jolt Archive

WTF?

So much for ideals, huh?

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/2005/09/08/awsi1.html

Awesome :P

WTF?

So much for ideals, huh?

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/2005/09/08/awsi1.html

what kind of skills and qualifications do you need to stock shelves ? to ring a cash register.... hey.. I can peel penuts, should i get 20 dollars an hour ? If so tell me Ill come work for you.

Fact of the matter is, these are entry level positions, and with all such positions you get sucky pay, and if your in retail often no benifits. Because you need nothing more then a high school diploma .. if that. 8 dollars an hour ? considering they spent nothing on education, its not too bad. If they dont like it, dont apply for the job. If people dont apply for Walmart jobs, they are forced to raise their wages and working conditions. Its all about making yourself compeditive and an asset to the company.

WHy sould they pay you 10 dollars an hour when there are a hundred people behind you willing to accept the 6 an hour with the same qualifications :rolleyes: ..

pfft.. ideals, you want a utopia where everyone is rich... dosn't exist

It is not the Walmart workers getting paid $6 or $8 per hour; it is the union protestors. The union ought to pay people it employs to carry around signs infront of non-union employers' stores more than the workers inside the store in front of which they are protesting. The people employed by walmart make more.

It's not exactly a ringing endorsement for the Union, eh?

what kind of skills and qualifications do you need to stock shelves ? to ring a cash register.... hey.. I can peel penuts, should i get 20 dollars an hour ? If so tell me Ill come work for you.

Fact of the matter is, these are entry level positions, and with all such positions you get sucky pay, and if your in retail often no benifits. Because you need nothing more then a high school diploma .. if that. 8 dollars an hour ? considering they spent nothing on education, its not too bad. If they dont like it, dont apply for the job. If people dont apply for Walmart jobs, they are forced to raise their wages and working conditions. Its all about making yourself compeditive and an asset to the company.

WHy sould they pay you 10 dollars an hour when there are a hundred people behind you willing to accept the 6 an hour with the same qualifications :rolleyes: ..

pfft.. ideals, you want a utopia where everyone is rich... dosn't exist

You way missed the point. The point is that the union is hiring people to go to Wal-Marts to protest their unfair business practices, and treating said employees much worse than the company they're protesting. The union is being quite hypocritical in their stance.

Not quite as funny as when the AFL-CIO refused to certify the union of their own clercial workers, and then tried to bust the union after being forced to accept it.

You way missed the point. The point is that the union is hiring people to go to Wal-Marts to protest their unfair business practices, and treating said employees much worse than the company they're protesting. The union is being quite hypocritical in their stance.
Bingo. Hit the nail on the head.

Did you ever take a look at what the unions pay their top officers for salary? Out rageous. Some of them make as much or more than CEO's of Fortune 500 companies. I don't want my minimum wage earning ass to pay for the fat cats in the form of dues.

Did you ever take a look at what the unions pay their top officers for salary? Out rageous. Some of them make as much or more than CEO's of Fortune 500 companies. I don't want my minimum wage earning ass to pay for the fat cats in the form of dues.
Well, but consider that depending on the union (I'm not arguing that they're all good -- in fact most of 'em are kind of corrupt at the VERY least), the lower-earning members still get awesome perks. For instance, my dad has always been an auto-plant worker. He's making more than the foreman over him, but that's 'cause he's been there for 30 years next summer. We don't have to pay for emergency care, we pay $10 to see the doctor for office visits, $15 for prescriptions, I think we pay half the cost of the frames as far as optical goes (they'll cover the other half and the lenses, plus the lab costs, etc), I don't think I've payed for a dental appointment in my life unless it was a vanity case, and I think for "specialists" we pay $20 per session. Maybe $25. Dad's yearly dues aren't really all that high, and it covers all of that for him, his wife, and my sister and I while we're both still in college.

I'd say that he made a damn good decision to enter into the Union back when he was a low-level labor employee, based on the amount we've probably saved on medical costs alone the past 25 years or so.

WTF?

So much for ideals, huh?

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/2005/09/08/awsi1.html

That would be hilarious if not so sad. They have people falling out with heat sickness and needing to shop at the store they're protesting to address their work-related injuries. They have people working all day in 90+ degree heat with almost no time out of the sun or heat and they pay them a bare minimum. All of this to PROTEST unfair working conditions that thoroughly outstrip the working conditions of the protestors themselves. Wal-Mart should offer the protestors a job for better pay and shorter hours to protest the Union and their working conditions.

Eight dollars an hour?! The Wal-Mart Employees that I know would be frothing at the mouth for that wage. I've lived in Texas, Mississippi, and I'm now residing in Oklahoma. The highest wage in all the Wal-Marts I've been around long enough to get to know people in , was $6.00 per hour...non-management.

No benefits.

The fellow up above me has a point, if you don'tlike t he wage, you should take your right to quit. I was getting paid $8.00 rebuilding Oilfield equipment (Pumpjacks), where I could've died in many situations. I saw no benefits besides a paycheck.

I eventually quit because everyone else was making more than I was, even though I was doing all the work.

As for Unions...I don't have an opinion on that. Never been in one. I'm nineteen.

It’s more of the same CRAP!
"I asked him (union organizer Hornbrook), I said, 'How come we're working here for $6 an hour? I need you to help us find a better job. I want information on the union,'" Rivera said.


WHAT? “I need you to help us find a better job.”

Gime gime gime. Everyone is looking for someone to hand him or her everything. All they do is walk in, write down their information and expect a job that gives them everything. But they don’t want to have to do what it takes to earn the job. The protesters have what they deserve. As for the Wal-Mart employees, if they don’t like it, they can leave! I am so sick of people EXPECTING handouts.

“O, I’m pore and my great grandfather was a slave, and I grew up in the projects, and I’m too lazy to work for a decent job and pay my way through college. You have to give me a job and it has to pay at least $20 an hour or it’s just not right and you just don’t care about me.

GET A CLUE!

To those who work at Wal-Mart and don’t complain that others owe you something. Stand proud of what you are doing. Continue doing your job with pride. And thanks!

I was getting paid $8.00 rebuilding Oilfield equipment (Pumpjacks), where I could've died in many situations. I saw no benefits besides a paycheck.

You obviously were not working in Wyoming. That would never fly there in the oil fields.

It’s more of the same CRAP!
"I asked him (union organizer Hornbrook), I said, 'How come we're working here for $6 an hour? I need you to help us find a better job. I want information on the union,'" Rivera said.


WHAT? “I need you to help us find a better job.”

Gime gime gime. Everyone is looking for someone to hand him or her everything. All they do is walk in, write down their information and expect a job that gives them everything. But they don’t want to have to do what it takes to earn the job. The protesters have what they deserve. As for the Wal-Mart employees, if they don’t like it, they can leave! I am so sick of people EXPECTING handouts.

“O, I’m pore and my great grandfather was a slave, and I grew up in the projects, and I’m too lazy to work for a decent job and pay my way through college. You have to give me a job and it has to pay at least $20 an hour or it’s just not right and you just don’t care about me.

GET A CLUE!

To those who work at Wal-Mart and don’t complain that others owe you something. Stand proud of what you are doing. Continue doing your job with pride. And thanks!

Can anyone say "missed the point", boys and girls?

He asked the Union organizer because the Union organizer was the one suggesting that Wal-Mart's working conditions are unacceptable and then employing people under even worse conditions. The person in the quote was simply pointing out the hypocrisy.

Also, I think you missed that it's not the Wal-Mart employees complaining (which is why THEY aren't picketing). It's the Union that is complaining about the working conditions. And I strongly suspect that this Union in Las Vegas was not founded by and is not run by anyone who grandfather was a slave or who is or was poor. Basically, you used this as an opportunity to spout a bunch of stuff that had nothing to do with the subject at hand.

I worked at a unionfree manufacturering plant. Our benefits were also great. We had a $5.00 co-pay on Rx meds and $10 for gp visits. I don't remember the particulars of our dental and vision plans although we had them. Heck, my company would even pay for those bogus magnets the chiro's hawk.

Now I work for myself. Benefits aren't that great. Maybe I need a union to come and negotiate with me for me!

The union isn't paying these people though, it's a temp agency (though that's pretty crappy pay for temp work, most jobs through temp agencies around here pay at least $9)

And yeah, they're shitty jobs with no job security but most people don't use them for too long. It's mostly immigrants and students who use them in my hometown.

It’s more of the same CRAP!
"I asked him (union organizer Hornbrook), I said, 'How come we're working here for $6 an hour? I need you to help us find a better job. I want information on the union,'" Rivera said.


WHAT? “I need you to help us find a better job.”

Gime gime gime. Everyone is looking for someone to hand him or her everything. All they do is walk in, write down their information and expect a job that gives them everything. But they don’t want to have to do what it takes to earn the job. The protesters have what they deserve. As for the Wal-Mart employees, if they don’t like it, they can leave! I am so sick of people EXPECTING handouts.

“O, I’m pore and my great grandfather was a slave, and I grew up in the projects, and I’m too lazy to work for a decent job and pay my way through college. You have to give me a job and it has to pay at least $20 an hour or it’s just not right and you just don’t care about me.

GET A CLUE!

To those who work at Wal-Mart and don’t complain that others owe you something. Stand proud of what you are doing. Continue doing your job with pride. And thanks!

So, did you even read the article? Or were you just itching for an opportunity to spout off some of your racist bullshit?

what kind of skills and qualifications do you need to stock shelves ? to ring a cash register.... hey.. I can peel penuts, should i get 20 dollars an hour ? If so tell me Ill come work for you.

Fact of the matter is, these are entry level positions, and with all such positions you get sucky pay, and if your in retail often no benifits. Because you need nothing more then a high school diploma .. if that. 8 dollars an hour ? considering they spent nothing on education, its not too bad. If they dont like it, dont apply for the job. If people dont apply for Walmart jobs, they are forced to raise their wages and working conditions. Its all about making yourself compeditive and an asset to the company.

WHy sould they pay you 10 dollars an hour when there are a hundred people behind you willing to accept the 6 an hour with the same qualifications :rolleyes: ..

pfft.. ideals, you want a utopia where everyone is rich... dosn't exist

You way missed the point. The point is that the union is hiring people to go to Wal-Marts to protest their unfair business practices, and treating said employees much worse than the company they're protesting. The union is being quite hypocritical in their stance..

I didn't get that teh same way Inv didn't, thank you Sdae for explaining it.

So, did you even read the article? Or were you just itching for an opportunity to spout off some of your racist bullshit?

You noticed that too, huh? I tried to avoid the "R" word because it just degrades the conversation but the "granddaddy was a slave" comment was more than a little suspect.

ah, business unions. labor pimps, essentially. might as well be the bosses themselves.

ah, business unions. labor pimps, essentially. might as well be the bosses themselves.

"Yeah, baby, I'll protect from those Johns (CEO's)."
"Yeah, but who's going to protect me from you?"

You obviously were not working in Wyoming. That would never fly there in the oil fields.

Yeah, my boss was ex-haliburton, he knew how to use his employees to his advantage. The other folks that worked there were paid $10+ an hour...whilest I was there longer than any of them. They were constantly late, and one of them drank *on site*...so I had to operate all the machinery, and do just about everything else. So eventually, I quit.

Unions had their place when dying in a mine, getting maimed by machinery or working a 20-hour day was a common part of life.

Too bad these employees don't understand economics. You aren't entitled to any more than you are worth. Hence, make yourself more valuable, and companies will compensate you. If you get paid too much, some other company will do it cheaper, and then YOUR company will lose business, you'll probably lose your job, and then you'll wonder why the easy ride didn't last.

Unions had their place when dying in a mine, getting maimed by machinery or working a 20-hour day was a common part of life.

unions will always have a place in class societies. as long as there are the few holding vastly more economic power than the many, we will need unions. we'd be better off with different unions than the labor pimps we have now, but that doesn't change the basic facts of relative bargaining power.

Hence, make yourself more valuable, and companies will compensate you.

which explains why wages have kept up with increases in productivity across the entire working population. oh wait, they haven't.

QUOTE=Sdaeriji]So, did you even read the article? Or were you just itching for an opportunity to spout off some of your racist bullshit?[/QUOTE]


I read the article top to bottom...how about you? In fact, I quoted from the article, towards the bottom of it to be exact. Did you read my post?

You say “racist bullshit” and you think it’s an automatic win for you. It wasn’t racist. I never brought up race, you did. The fact that one of the lines I wrote mentioned slavery means nothing. I’ve heard that used. People use it all the time.

My whole point was that the ones complaining just want handouts. Here, I will quote it for you again. “You need to find me a better job.” I was not writing anything racist, all races do it. So I’m not just itching to spout anything, I’m just tired of people who want handouts. Like the guy quoted in the article.

Now, do you have anything with substance to say?

I read the article top to bottom...how about you? In fact, I quoted from the article, towards the bottom of it to be exact. Did you read my post?

You say “racist bullshit” and you think it’s an automatic win for you. It wasn’t racist. I never brought up race, you did. The fact that one of the lines I wrote mentioned slavery means nothing. I’ve heard that used. People use it all the time.

My whole point was that the ones complaining just want handouts. Here, I will quote it for you again. “You need to find me a better job.” I was not writing anything racist, all races do it. So I’m not just itching to spout anything, I’m just tired of people who want handouts. Like the guy quoted in the article.

Now, do you have anything with substance to say?

How could you miss this? He said "you need to find me a better job" to a man who said that the working conditions and pay at Wal-Mart which are significantly better than the working conditions that same man has put him in. In other words, he said, "how can you picket Wal-Mart when you're a worse offender?" Sounds to me like he's asking for the guy to not be a hypocrite rather than asking for handouts. Is asking for a raise asking for handouts too? The man he was talking to was his employer.

You missed the point of the article twice. Nobody in the article in any way asked for a handout. The Union President is trying to expand his territory by hiring underpaid and overworked temporary employees in order to increase his influence. What does that have to do with Wal-Mart employees (who were not the subject of the article and, in general, appeared to happy with the working conditions) asking for handouts?

The protesters have what they deserve. As for the Wal-Mart employees, if they don’t like it, they can leave! I am so sick of people EXPECTING handouts.

Can you quote where you read in the article when you "read it from top to
bottom" that the Wal-Mart workers were EXPECTING handouts or even asking for anything at all?

O, I’m pore and my great grandfather was a slave, and I grew up in the projects, and I’m too lazy to work for a decent job and pay my way through college. You have to give me a job and it has to pay at least $20 an hour or it’s just not right and you just don’t care about me.

Want to explain how this has anything to do with the subject of the article which was that the Union was complaining about companies that have better practices than they employ? Admit it, you couldn't wait to suggest the those "pore" (it's spelled P-O-O-R) people complaining were the descendents of slaves in the project (hmmmm... who could he be talking about?). Yep, the people who set up the Unions and currently run them, mostly black people. Those danged black people always trying to take advantage of those big, wonderful companies like Wal-Mart Oh, wait this was an article about a bunch of rich white guys yelling a bunch of richer white guys for not treating their workers well enough while be guilty of the same or worse.

Of course, you didn't miss that, because you "read the article from top to bottom." :rolleyes:

snip
[Thunderous applause] Huzzah! Encore! [/Thunderous applause]

This reminds me of a guy who wrote the local paper to say that the minimum wage should be $7/hour. He mentioned that he had offered $6/hour to some day laborers and they wouldn't take less than 8, basically saying that minimum wage is too low "even for Mexicans". So,
1. he thinks everyone else should have to pay employees $7/hour, but he's special and can get away with 6, and
2. he's just witnessed how workers determine their own minimum wage.

This reminds me of a guy who wrote the local paper to say that the minimum wage should be $7/hour. He mentioned that he had offered $6/hour to some day laborers and they wouldn't take less than 8, basically saying that minimum wage is too low "even for Mexicans". So,
1. he thinks everyone else should have to pay employees $7/hour, but he's special and can get away with 6, and
2. he's just witnessed how workers determine their own minimum wage.
I gotta say, determining your own minimum wage doesn't always work out. I put on my job application that I expected $9.50 at the minimum, which was a sacrifice because I was coming off a job that paid $12/hr, but they started me at $7 anyway. Technically it didn't matter long, because I'm getting enough off of commission right now that I'm making equivalent of like, $13 - $15 an hour, but not all employers are willing to haggle pay options.

Shit, some of 'em don't even tell you how much you're making until you see your paycheck. [/personal experience]

But it could be isolated incidents....

Is it just me, or isn' it the responsibility of the government to provide health care and other 'benefits' - hence the reason why people pay tax? why should Walmart be punished by expecting to pay for the health costs of every tom, dick and lucy who happens to work for them?

honestly, i couldnt care less!!!

The union isn't paying these people though, it's a temp agency (though that's pretty crappy pay for temp work, most jobs through temp agencies around here pay at least $9)

And yeah, they're shitty jobs with no job security but most people don't use them for too long. It's mostly immigrants and students who use them in my hometown.Why should immigrants and Students get paid less for the same work?

“O, I’m pore and my great grandfather was a slave, and I grew up in the projects, and I’m too lazy to work for a decent job and pay my way through college. You have to give me a job and it has to pay at least $20 an hour or it’s just not right and you just don’t care about me.

GET A CLUE!

let me guess white middle class?
you certainly read the article from a 'I'm better than you aspect'. Firstly the article was a dig at the unions not at wal-mart so right from the start you simply destroyed anything you had to say. Nobody was demanding anything of anybody that they didnt have a right to demand.

As for your racial slurs while you may not of mentioned any particular race you made the inference of race.

In America there is a thing called white priveledge in action every day. People of colour in this country are treated differently from been paid lower wages to how they are treated in stores.

People who earn lower wages are forced to live in the lower cost housing areas, lower cost housing areas often have poorer schools with poorer facilities and staff, which results in poorer test scores. Lower test and exam scores means the students cant get into the universities they want (thats if there parents could afford to pay the school fees in the first place). Which in turn means they are forced to take the lower paid jobs and remain in the lower cost housing.

Some people can get out of this circle but it takes great sacrificies. I'm very proud to say my second son has just been accepted at Georgetown University. His mother was from the Bronx, she had to send him away to private school in PA so he didnt stay in the local system and become another statistic, that is a great price for any parent to have to pay.

So before you start spouting your racial trash look first at the story your supposedly commenting on and then secondly look at the reasons people might say the things they do that fit so well into your narrow white middle class view of the world.

Why should immigrants and Students get paid less for the same work?
It's in the nature of a temp position. You go to the office, they send you off somewhere where usually you don't have the qualifications a regular employee would. The place you go to is paid, the place sends you. Its not like you get directly hired by the employer.

Rather ironic that those who protest Wal-marts working conditions would send employees out to work in worse conditions, for less pay.

That shows a decided lack of ideals.