Wal Mart thread

[JohnT]

Originally posted by molly bloom



Do you have shares or are you on a retainer ?

He lives in Arkansas, so in effect he is on retainer for Wal-Mart.

[flash9286]

You think Wal Mart doesn't write checks to local organizations either? They're huge in it. And the Waltons themselves, they have given probably billions.

mrmitchell Wal-mart ranks last in corporate contributions among major discount retailers.

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores2.html

And just to add some flavor to the discussion the main findings of a UC Berkely study

* Reliance by Wal-Mart workers on public assistance programs in California comes at a cost to the taxpayers of an estimated $86 million annually; this is comprised of $32 million in health related expenses and $54 million in other assistance.

* The families of Wal-Mart employees in California utilize an estimated 40 percent more in taxpayer-funded health care than the average for families of all large retail employees.

* The families of Wal-Mart employees use an estimated 38 percent more in other (non-health care) public assistance programs (such as food stamps, Earned Income Tax Credit, subsidized school lunches, and subsidized housing) than the average for families of all large retail employees.

* If other large California retailers adopted Wal-Mart’s wage and benefits standards, it would cost taxpayers an additional $410 million a year in public assistance to employees.

http://www.dsausa.org/lowwage/walmart/2004/walmart%20study.html

[Ming]

Originally posted by flash9286


mrmitchell Wal-mart ranks last in corporate contributions among major discount retailers.

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores2.html

And just to add some flavor to the discussion the main findings of a UC Berkely study


http://www.dsausa.org/lowwage/walmar...t%20study.html

Did you happen to check on the data used in the study?
My favorite line was "In the absense of data on actual public assistance utilization by Walmarts workers... we estimate..."

They make so many assumptions, and use so many unrelated sources... and then made some interesting conclusions. Using there own data, almost all retailers are a drain on public resources...

[JohnT]

I, too, noticed that every number except for the last was preceeded by the word "estimate" or its variants.

[rah]

They're working on their reputation. From this morning's chicago tribune.

TRENDS
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY STORES
New shade of green tried by Wal-Mart

Known for discount prices, the world's largest retailer is experimenting with energy and resource conservation in stores

By Roger Vincent, Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times. Bloomberg News contributed to this report
Published July 25, 2005


Wal-Mart Stores Inc. joined a growing number of retailers exploring the profit potential of environmentally friendly stores when it opened a prototype last week in Texas that relies heavily on "green" technology for resource and energy conservation.

The project in the Dallas suburb of McKinney uses such environmentally friendly features as electricity-generating photovoltaic cells in the skylights. The store will collect rainwater from the roof and parking lot to tend the landscaping year-round. Wal-Mart will open a second green store in Aurora, Colo., in October as part of a three-year test.

Results from the experiments will be measured by independent auditors from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Natural Renewal Energy Laboratory, who will make their findings public, said Don Moseley, head of experimental projects for Wal-Mart.

"A number of other big-box retailers are looking at this," said Rick Fedrizzi, president of the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council. "The No. 1 rule in retail is to get people in and have them hang around for a while. In green spaces you have a sense of well-being."

In charge of design of the two Wal-Mart stores is LPA, an Irvine, Calif., architecture firm specializing in green projects. LPA also designed an $87 million green office building in Torrance, Calif., for Toyota Motor Corp. two years ago.

Wal-Mart will incorporate the most successful features into future stores. The energy-efficient light-emitting-diode, or LED, lighting found in the Texas store will be used in other locations, Moseley said.

His favorite experiment is the radiant floor heating installed in some areas, including the sometimes chilly maintenance pits in the garage where mechanics service customers' cars. Tubes below the concrete floor can fill with water heated by burning waste oil from the garage and cooking oil from the store's food service operations.

Other experiments include heat generated by refrigeration equipment being captured and used to heat the water in restroom sinks, said LPA President Dan Heinfeld.

In addition, fabric ducts slung 11 feet high will evenly distribute cool air in a manner expected to save enough electricity to power 70 homes, and condensation from air conditioners will be collected for plant irrigation.

Wal-Mart won't say how much the new stores cost to build, though the various experimental design elements did raise the price of the Texas store, Moseley acknowledged.

Overall, the two green stores will get about 8 percent of their energy from solar and wind power. Those technologies will save about 300,000 kilowatts a year, the retailer said.

Wal-Mart's move into green development may be, in part, an effort to polish its image, said retail consultant Burt P. Flickinger.

"Wal-Mart has a big black eye with American consumers" for its wage and benefit levels and aggressive expansion program, he said. "It could be an inspiring initiative, but it's too soon to tell."

In 2001 Wal-Mart agreed to pay a $1 million fine and establish a $4.5 million environmental-management program to settle federal charges that it violated Clean Water Act storm discharge rules at 17 sites in four states.

Wal-Mart said the green stores weren't connected to the environmental settlements.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by DanielXY
Yeah you are not forced to work for Walmart... You can try to work somewhere else... And if there is no other job where you can be hired, you can always do other things to get by. Like selling drugs, stealing or looking in the garbage for something to eat...

Being free to make decisions...

I just love people that complain about employers . Its always "dirty capitalist-- I have to take your sucky job or starve to death"-- you always assume people have no choices.

Like many people I worked minimum wage for a few years while I went to school. It got me through. I'm with Ming on this stuff . . . if you don't want to work there then don't !!! It is NOT a private corporations job to correct the ills of society. They provide products at a price.


Sheesh-- its like the folks that bemoan outsourcing of jobs but have a house ful of Chinese made goods . . . don't be hypocrites

[flash9286]

You got through on minumum wage during school, tell me did you have alot of bills when you were in school?

Seems a pretty solid study to me Ming, I have read alot in my political science feild and they all use many different data sources and I have seen a quite few use their own data. Do you expect them to pin point the extact cost it is to the taxpayers, I would think not so they have to use the word estimate.

[Whoha]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


Bad example. They were stopped by the government.

the government will probably, atleast indirectly, stop the great wall mart.

[DanielXY]

Originally posted by Flubber



I just love people that complain about employers . Its always "dirty capitalist-- I have to take your sucky job or starve to death"-- you always assume people have no choices.

Well of course you have choices... but sometimes it narrows down to those I mentioned...

Originally posted by Flubber

Like many people I worked minimum wage for a few years while I went to school.

Yeah, you worked on minimum wage... Dont you think Wal Mart or other low-wage companys would pay even less if there was non?

Sheesh-- its like the folks that bemoan outsourcing of jobs but have a house ful of Chinese made goods . . . don't be hypocrites

Yeah outsourcing... ever wondered about the choices those foreign ppl. that work in those conditions really have?

It is NOT a private corporations job to correct the ills of society. They provide products at a price.

I agree, its not the job of the corporations. Its the job of the government to ensure fair conditions... like a fair minimum wage...

[Flubber]

Originally posted by flash9286
You got through on minumum wage during school, tell me did you have alot of bills when you were in school?

The usual -- tuition, books, food , accomodation, condoms, beer . I was pretty frugal and cut down on condom usage as a cost saving measure yah Flubber thats the reason

Originally posted by flash9286

Seems a pretty solid study to me Ming, I have read alot in my political science feild and they all use many different data sources and I have seen a quite few use their own data. Do you expect them to pin point the extact cost it is to the taxpayers, I would think not so they have to use the word estimate.

I am leery of estimates fromgroups that are trying to prove a particular point. I find if you really dig into the numbers, they have a number of assumptions, which while not crazy, or anything can tend to skew things markedly. I find that groups on the right or left are equally guilty of this. I have NOT reviewed this particular study

[Flubber]

Originally posted by DanielXY


Yeah, you worked on minimum wage... Dont you think Wal Mart or other low-wage companys would pay even less if there was non?

Probably but then again I am not against minimum wages and never was. While I support capitalism, I have no problem with the idea of regulated capitalism to avoid the worst abuses. So I support labour standards legislation and workers compensation etc. I even see some uses for unions ( here my personal experiences in how they can stifle hard work and fail to reward anything other than seniority color my opinions)

Originally posted by DanielXY

Yeah outsourcing... ever wondered about the choices those foreign ppl. that work in those conditions really have?

More now than before they could make money making the cheap crap that westerners buy from them-- I'll have to look it up but my understanding was that the standard of living in China was going UP.

Originally posted by DanielXY

I agree, its not the job of the corporations. Its the job of the government to ensure fair conditions... like a fair minimum wage...

Then we agree. It sounds as if your beef is that the government hasn't made the minimum wage high enough. Fair enough. But don't blame Walmart because they successfully play by the EXISTING rules.

Just curious but what would be a fair minimum wage

[Kuciwalker]

Just curious but what would be a fair minimum wage

High enough to force everyone to be paid the same, I suspect

[DanielXY]

Hm, while I have some communist tendencys, I still think there should be some diffrence in payment for skilled/unskilled jobs or special positions to give incenitive...

But their shouldnt be as much a gap as it is today. Ideally their would be a 3 steps ladder, the middle class would make double the low-income class, the highest income class tripple of the low-income class...

Of course thats not going to happen... so a more realistic approach would be to make the minimum wage about 10$ (of course going up the same rate, inflation goes up...)

[flash9286]

The usual -- tuition, books, food , accomodation, condoms, beer . I was pretty frugal and cut down on condom usage as a cost saving measure yah Flubber thats the reason

You went throught college on minumum wage thats pretty good, you should write a book.

Yep, numbers and stats can be skewed to show your point no doubt about that.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by flash9286


You went throught college on minumum wage thats pretty good, you should write a book.

Nope never said that-- I also had student loan and grants and did have a modest debt out of college. But I worked two jobs (one at minimum wage, one not) in the summer plus odd jobs. During school I worked part time and I always picked up 3 weeks full-time work over the Christmas break. We rented in a cheap part of town and there were 5-6 guys in a 4 bedroom apartment.

Not book material . . . just a typical student who didn't want debt ( and got through degree one without it)-- My second degree, I had to move plus rent and tuition were much more expensive but my debt was manageable.