D.C. Council votes to Force Walmart to pay "living wage"--50% over minimum wage.

Originally posted by seabag
reply to post by Garkiniss

 

I'm saying a young guy working in Wal-Mart should earn enough to buy a starter home, a first car, pay his bills, and take a vacation; actually provide for his family.

That is unrealistic for an entry level worker; they’re a dime a dozen.

It’s your responsibility to make yourself valuable and marketable. Everyone doesn’t get a trophy in the real world.

no but he should be able to at lest get his own apartment and pay for food, what kind of heartless monster are you lol they employ a lot of vets too you know

Originally posted by Tazkven
And the error in your thinking is you fail to realize that Wal-Mart figured out they can lower operation costs and make more profit by using the government's money, OUR MONEY to run their business.

If Wal-Mart understands the laws and can make more profit by following them, then you need to turn your anger at the government and not at Wal-Mart. And the fact that you are so angry that a company is successful but give a free pass to those who work in the entry level jobs but who don't make an effort to make themselves more marketable .... is odd. Big successful company should be forced to share profits with unskilled/uneducated part time workers. Maybe it's a 'union' thing ....

No, it is you who is blaming the wrong people ...

Nope.

Originally posted by digital01anarchy

Originally posted by seabag
reply to post by Garkiniss

 

I'm saying a young guy working in Wal-Mart should earn enough to buy a starter home, a first car, pay his bills, and take a vacation; actually provide for his family.

That is unrealistic for an entry level worker; they’re a dime a dozen.

It’s your responsibility to make yourself valuable and marketable. Everyone doesn’t get a trophy in the real world.

no but he should be able to at lest get his own apartment and pay for food, what kind of heartless monster are you lol they employ a lot of vets too you know

I’ll share this again because obviously you missed it. There aren’t many people making minimum wage and the vast majority who do are between 16 and 19 years of age!

In 2012, there were 3.6 million hourly paid workers in the United States with wages at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. These workers made up 4.7 percent of the 75.3 million workers age 16 and over who were paid at hourly rates.

www.bls.gov...

You’ve got to start somewhere! I did it!!! I remember making $4.25 per hour as a kid! Hell, that's about what I averaged my first year in the military!

reply to post by Tazkven


How is Walmart forcing the government to take up the slack?

I don't employ anyone, am I causing the government to take up slack for all the jobs I haven't created?

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by MystikMushroom
It's not overpaying for a job.

Supply and demand. Skilled vs Unskilled. Educated vs Uneducated. Entry level vs professional/career level. Entry level jobs ... cashiers, janitors, lifeguards, burger flippers, etc ... .are not owed a house with a garage and a car for doing what most everyone on the planet can do. If people want those things .. they have to work to better themselves, make themselves more marketable, and then they can earn those things.

The thing is, 30 years ago it was possible to have those things working an entry level unskilled position.

12 years ago I worked 12 hour days on a construction site making $13/hr. I had no training, no skills at all. I picked up garbage and carried stuff around. I wasn't union either. Today, that same job would make about $14.50/hr (if it even still existed).

The purchasing power of people on minimum wage has drastically decreased do to the devaluation of our currency, and increased profit margins of the people on the top.

When the middle class is thriving, the people at the very top do even better. Without that middle class to support the upper classes, the entire US economic model collapses under its own weight. This is where we are heading.

This shouldn't be a left/right or Republican/Democrat issue -- this should be an AMERICAN issue, as this touches upon everyone of us.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
reply to post by Tazkven

 

If they weren't uneducated or unskilled then they'd be in other jobs rather than entry level at walmart. That's just the truth of the matter. Oh .. and if you ever watched Springer or Maury ... you'd see bunches of folks go through the show not knowing who their baby daddies were ... and it seems they all luv working at McDonalds or Walmart.

You keep bringing up not being educated.... my wife is a Pre-Veterinarian college graduate. The only job out of 40+ applications she's put in her first 2 years graduating college that she actually got was at Walmart stocking shelves. Her pay wouldn't even have covered our newborn child's daycare expenses... forget buying a cheap car (so she didn't have to drop me off at work every day). Needless to say, she remained a stay at home mom the past 6 years and we've had more kids. Every year she goes through applying for low position government jobs (I work for the government) and never gets past an interview.

reply to post by Garkiniss
Because members of the community choose not to spend their money at Walmart. Yeah, they still get enough business to stay open at Wally's but just as many people shop at the other businesses too. Many people here were fed up with Walmart because first they ran nearly everyone else out of business with their prices, then once they had the market cornered started raising their prices and replacing "Made in America" with "Made in China". People started car pooling to do their shopping in other towns. Smart entrepeneurs saw their chance and took it, and have been very successful because of it. When Walmart wanted to replace the regular store with one of it's super stores the people of my town rallied and protested and they took their super store to the next county where they were more welcome.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


His mentality is pretty scary, and it says a lot about the trouble America has run into as of late.

My neighbor makes five times what I make. He could easily afford to give me $2,000 extra a month and it wouldn't hurt him at all. It would make a big difference in my life and he wouldn't even notice it. I think the government should step in and make him share.

reply to post by SilentKillah


Sounds like she went into a career field without high demand. Not the problem of anyone but you and her.

reply to post by MystikMushroom

The purchasing power of people on minimum wage has drastically decreased do to the devaluation of our currency, and increased profit margins of the people on the top.

And you think job creators should make up this difference?

You believe the decrease in purchasing power the fault of business owners?? Really?

Trust me - No raise in minimum wage is ever going to make people happy. You haven't seen a decrease in purchasing power until you see the effect of a huge minimum wage hike. The price of everything we buy will skyrocket! Look at Australia and compare prices for basic needs....

reply to post by SilentKillah

that's still not walmarts problem. The company shouldn't be forced to raise wages beyond what the job would get elsewhere simply because the company makes money.

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by MystikMushroom
It's not overpaying for a job.

Supply and demand. Skilled vs Unskilled. Educated vs Uneducated. Entry level vs professional/career level. Entry level jobs ... cashiers, janitors, lifeguards, burger flippers, etc ... .are not owed a house with a garage and a car for doing what most everyone on the planet can do. If people want those things .. they have to work to better themselves, make themselves more marketable, and then they can earn those things.

"Better Themselves."

And how much "Better" is the CEO of a corporation than his average floor worker? I'd like you to put a dollar percentage amount on what you believe that difference is. I'm curious how much "better" you tell yourself these people are.

Are they 42x better? Should a CEO earn 42x what his employees earn on the floor? Has his education his "skills" made him 42x more of a human being? That's what people believed back in 1960. Back then workers earned more for doing the same work they're doing now, while the CEO, still earning far more back then, earned less back then.

Today?

A CEO fancies himself as 400-500x more important than his employees. His employees earn less than they did working the same job 50 years ago, while CEOs have multiplied their earnings by 10.7x.

These figures include inflation. Now tell me; how are these workers less valuable today than they were 50 years ago? How are the CEOs worth 10.7 times more?

reply to post by seabag

You haven't seen a decrease in purchasing power until you see the effect of a huge minimum wage hike.

Just wait. Folks are crying and really in a tizzy over cost of living vs. wages at the big box retailers like Walmart, today? Oh...ye of little endurance, eh? They ain't seen nothin yet. We've been sitting on artificially manipulated interest rates going back to around 2007, at least. Well, always manipulated...they became creations from whole cloth, might be better.

What happens when those interest rates come off the pegs they've been bottomed out with for years now? Oh...nelly. When Mr. Inflation meets the current worker? All hell is going to break loose and even Walmart will seem like prices fit better for a mall boutique store. It's not been their fault up to now and it won't be their fault then ...but I'll bet they get blamed like they invented the Treasury and Fed policies in a board meeting or something.

Originally posted by littled16
reply to post by Garkiniss

 

Because members of the community choose not to spend their money at Walmart. Yeah, they still get enough business to stay open at Wally's but just as many people shop at the other businesses too. Many people here were fed up with Walmart because first they ran nearly everyone else out of business with their prices, then once they had the market cornered started raising their prices and replacing "Made in America" with "Made in China". People started car pooling to do their shopping in other towns. Smart entrepeneurs saw their chance and took it, and have been very successful because of it. When Walmart wanted to replace the regular store with one of it's super stores the people of my town rallied and protested and they took their super store to the next county where they were more welcome.

It's obvious your town wasn't hit as hard as this one. You mention having other places to shop. This town had none. You mention things like "gas money." Even if they had gas money, they'd have to spend it at Wal-Mart. These people fought back, and Wal-Mart killed the community. They managed to create a complete community monopoly, and even opened up a Wal-Mart Express on the other side of town to slam that last nail in the coffin down.

I am for chasing corporations back out of the U.S. They were illegal until the late 1800's for very good reason.

If you don't understand why, do some research on the topic and learn.

History repeats itself when a people forget it.

Originally posted by Garkiniss
"Better Themselves." And how much "Better" is the CEO of a corporation than his average floor worker? I'd like you to put a dollar percentage amount on what you believe that difference is. I'm curious how much "better" you tell yourself these people are.

Don't be obtuse. You knew EXACTLY what I was saying. People need to make themselves more marketable. They need to gain skills. They need to get an education. They need to learn a trade. They need to 'better themselves' ... which is a saying meaning 'make themselves more marketable'.

A CEO of a corporation is much more valuable to a company than a cashier. The CEO is educated and makes money decisions. A CEO understands supply and demand and determines what products the company should and shouldn't carry. A CEO hires the correct people for the different decision making positions within the company and is responsible to the stock holders to make a profit. A CEO takes the company in the direction he/she thinks it should go in order to make a profit. Whereas ... a cashier can be hired off the street. Just about anyone who is 16 years old or older can be a cashier. It requires no special training. It requires no special education. It has very little responsibility.

Higher paychecks go to those with stronger skill sets. Lower paychecks go to those in positions that are easily filled with skill-less people.

Originally posted by seabag
reply to post by MystikMushroom

 

The purchasing power of people on minimum wage has drastically decreased do to the devaluation of our currency, and increased profit margins of the people on the top.

And you think job creators should make up this difference?

You believe the decrease in purchasing power the fault of business owners?? Really?

Trust me - No raise in minimum wage is ever going to make people happy. You haven't seen a decrease in purchasing power until you see the effect of a huge minimum wage hike. The price of everything we buy will skyrocket! Look at Australia and compare prices for basic needs....

"Job Creators" -- what a wonderful sounding, snuggly term. Without us, the consumer to demand their products, they wouldn't have any need to create jobs in the first place. This is the fundamental logic.

If the people they employ can't afford to purchase the products these "job creators" make, these businesses will loose profits.

Oh, wait, no they don't! They just raise prices and keep wages the same!

In the end they are only shooting themselves in the foot, ransacking and robbing our economy blind before it all collapses. Then, these top 1%'ers will hole up in their pleasure domes whilst the rest of humanity wallows in poverty.

Is this the future we want? Be cut throat, or have your throat cut? Exploit the masses or be exploited? It used to be that if you wanted to learn and were willing to work hard -- you could make something of yourself. Sadly, the "American Dream" was nothing more than a short-lived idea. In reality, the "American Dream" is nothing more than a complicated ponzi scheme.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

When Mr. Inflation meets the current worker? All hell is going to break loose and even Walmart will seem like prices fit better for a mall boutique store. It's not been their fault up to now and it won't be their fault then ...but I'll bet they get blamed like they invented the Treasury and Fed policies in a board meeting or something.

What’s ironic is that this will be the point when all the Wal-Mart hater become happy Wal-Mart customers.

This entire blame game and attack on Wal-Mart is an overblown fabrication IMO. There aren’t many people above the age of 19 making minimum wage. People work their way up. To allow our government to tell companies what they HAVE to pay their employees is sad. We’re simply further empowering the REAL crooks among us. I’ll never understand why people keep asking the government to further intrude on the marketplace.

Take personal responsibility, people! If you don’t like the wage you’re making, quit!!!! Go back to school and better yourself!!!! Stop crying about it and stop demanding other people’s money!!!

reply to post by digital01anarchy


The Waltons don't kill "mom and pop" business. No one is forcing anyone to shop at Walmart. People shop there because for whatever reason they prefer it over small independent business.

Why do you want to limit peoples choices of where to shop?

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by Garkiniss
"Better Themselves." And how much "Better" is the CEO of a corporation than his average floor worker? I'd like you to put a dollar percentage amount on what you believe that difference is. I'm curious how much "better" you tell yourself these people are.

Don't be obtuse. You knew EXACTLY what I was saying. People need to make themselves more marketable. They need to gain skills. They need to get an education. They need to learn a trade. They need to 'better themselves' ... which is a saying meaning 'make themselves more marketable'.

A CEO of a corporation is much more valuable to a company than a cashier. The CEO is educated and makes money decisions. A CEO understands supply and demand and determines what products the company should and shouldn't carry. A CEO hires the correct people for the different decision making positions within the company and is responsible to the stock holders to make a profit. A CEO takes the company in the direction he/she thinks it should go in order to make a profit. Whereas ... a cashier can be hired off the street. Just about anyone who is 16 years old or older can be a cashier. It requires no special training. It requires no special education. It has very little responsibility.

Higher paychecks go to those with stronger skill sets. Lower paychecks go to those in positions that are easily filled with skill-less people.

All of that and you still didn't answer my question? Are workers today, working the same jobs, worth less than they were 50 years ago? Are CEOs worth 10 times more? If you believe so, please explain.