Is the WalMart store in Quebec being closed in order to make the store profitable, or is it union busting?
Most of us think it is union busting, bullying, domination tactics.So do other unions, and they have called for a boycott of all WalMart stores in Canada.
More details here: http://pweb.jps.net/~dcasner/SFSAWalMartShuttingDownUnionStore.htm
There is a lot of "abuses" and hard tactics WalMart uses to keep unions from forming, to keep wages low, to squeeze employees as much as possible for the edge in the market.
The capitalist ideal where market economies must strive to lower prices is not what is going on here - WalMart has gone beyond that in all its stores. From the bullying out of competition thru various deals for land and taxes to the way it treats employees, we can start to see that WalMart is not good for our communities and economy.
Here is a partial list of complaints from the website link above:
Walmart Facts:
WalMart employs approximately 720,000 people. Of that number, A MAJORITY of them QUALIFY FOR FOOD STAMPS. Yes folks, you, me, all of us, are providing welfare to a majority of WalMart employees, and in essence to WalMart itself. That means that WalMart is responsible for providing poverty level wages to at least 360,000 workers, and their families...but the number is much larger. And the figure includes not just part-time employees, but all full-time employees, as well.
WalMart also provides NO affordable Health-Care.
For every job that WalMart creates in a community it displaces from 2 to 5 existing jobs, many that formerly provided benefits.
WalMart employs approximately 100,000 workers in other countries to manufacture goods sold in WalMart stores. The majority of those jobs qualify for sweatshop status. Much of it is forced labor, such as in China. Of that 100,000, many are children.
WalMart gets special tax-breaks in most of the cities that they move into, tax-breaks that are not afforded the smaller "Mom & Pop" stores and other business that they eventually run out of business. Many of the former business owners are then forced to go to work for WalMart for poverty level wages, with no benefits.
WalMart likes to advertise its goods as "made in the USA". The truth is, most of their goods are manufactured whole or in-part by sweatshop or forced-labor in other countries.
Any WalMart employee who gets "caught" exploring "in any way" the possibility of bringing a union into WalMart is immediately fired. Only one WalMart store is unionized--that is in Canada where they have much stronger labor laws.
WalMart's labor practices are, of course, against the law, and they have lost numerous unfair labor suits brought against them by former employees--but they persist in their practices.
And now...WalMart is planning to go into the grocery Super-Market business, with the same business ethics and unfair labor practices that they are famous for.
So...how much are you willing to give up for a cheap bag of groceries? Careful before you answer, because it could be a whole lot more than you imagine. But then, if you're read the information contained on this page you already know.
------------------------------------------------
K -
There, that tells me something is wrong with WalMart.
Consumers are finding they have fewer options to shop with WalMart in their towns - other stores are gone, along with their local owner/management people.
I for one PLEDGE TO AVOID WALMART STORES until they are unionised and address some of these other issues too.
.. will you too?
Karlin
------------------
American "protest WalMart" website :
http://www.mtaflcio.org/
Most of us think it is union busting, bullying, domination tactics.So do other unions, and they have called for a boycott of all WalMart stores in Canada.
More details here: http://pweb.jps.net/~dcasner/SFSAWalMartShuttingDownUnionStore.htm
There is a lot of "abuses" and hard tactics WalMart uses to keep unions from forming, to keep wages low, to squeeze employees as much as possible for the edge in the market.
The capitalist ideal where market economies must strive to lower prices is not what is going on here - WalMart has gone beyond that in all its stores. From the bullying out of competition thru various deals for land and taxes to the way it treats employees, we can start to see that WalMart is not good for our communities and economy.
Here is a partial list of complaints from the website link above:
Walmart Facts:
WalMart employs approximately 720,000 people. Of that number, A MAJORITY of them QUALIFY FOR FOOD STAMPS. Yes folks, you, me, all of us, are providing welfare to a majority of WalMart employees, and in essence to WalMart itself. That means that WalMart is responsible for providing poverty level wages to at least 360,000 workers, and their families...but the number is much larger. And the figure includes not just part-time employees, but all full-time employees, as well.
WalMart also provides NO affordable Health-Care.
For every job that WalMart creates in a community it displaces from 2 to 5 existing jobs, many that formerly provided benefits.
WalMart employs approximately 100,000 workers in other countries to manufacture goods sold in WalMart stores. The majority of those jobs qualify for sweatshop status. Much of it is forced labor, such as in China. Of that 100,000, many are children.
WalMart gets special tax-breaks in most of the cities that they move into, tax-breaks that are not afforded the smaller "Mom & Pop" stores and other business that they eventually run out of business. Many of the former business owners are then forced to go to work for WalMart for poverty level wages, with no benefits.
WalMart likes to advertise its goods as "made in the USA". The truth is, most of their goods are manufactured whole or in-part by sweatshop or forced-labor in other countries.
Any WalMart employee who gets "caught" exploring "in any way" the possibility of bringing a union into WalMart is immediately fired. Only one WalMart store is unionized--that is in Canada where they have much stronger labor laws.
WalMart's labor practices are, of course, against the law, and they have lost numerous unfair labor suits brought against them by former employees--but they persist in their practices.
And now...WalMart is planning to go into the grocery Super-Market business, with the same business ethics and unfair labor practices that they are famous for.
So...how much are you willing to give up for a cheap bag of groceries? Careful before you answer, because it could be a whole lot more than you imagine. But then, if you're read the information contained on this page you already know.
------------------------------------------------
K -
There, that tells me something is wrong with WalMart.
Consumers are finding they have fewer options to shop with WalMart in their towns - other stores are gone, along with their local owner/management people.
I for one PLEDGE TO AVOID WALMART STORES until they are unionised and address some of these other issues too.
.. will you too?
Karlin
------------------
American "protest WalMart" website :
http://www.mtaflcio.org/
although I never go there anyway :wink:
