Wal*Mart in DC

[festive1]

So there has been much debate about Wal*Mart opening a few stores in DC. Wal*Mart has been very eager to open. Many Washingtonians have been concerned about their labor practices.
So the DC City Council passed preliminary legislation requiring employers who gross more than $1 billion and have a store larger than 75,000 square feet, to pay their workers a "super-minimum wage" of $12.50, vs. the regular minimum wage of $8.25. This does effect other stores in DC, but there is an exemption for Union shops.
And Wal*Mart's response?
They won't comment publicly, however, it is assumed they will pull out of their development plans. Putting DC's mayor in a pickle. He's been advocating for more development, and he's up for reelection. So if he vetoes the bill, he'll be seen by the electorate as unsympathetic to workers' wage issues. If he lets the bill pass, Wal*Mart withdrawals from developing.
I hate this. Why is it so awful to require large employers, who make billions every year, to pay their workers a living wage? Wal*Mart's got the money, and people have to live.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-p...story.html

[Faith No More]

Those poor job creators.

Reminds me of this...

(fast forward to 1:13)

[festive1]

Wal*Mart is evil. They say they're all about helping communities, but they're just interested in their profit sharing and bottom line. They've been trying to break into the DC market since I moved here 12 years ago. All they'd have to do is pay their workers something they could actually live on. But, no. They could allow DC workers to unionize... But, no. Sure they care about their "associates," my ass.

[popeyespappy]

If your going to set a minimum wage for employers it needs to apply to everyone. What needs to be done to fix the Walmart problem isn't higher wages. They need to be forced to use more full time employees. More hours means higher gross pay and benefits which takes many Walmart employees off government assistance.

[Faith No More]

There's a really great documentary that exposes the underhanded shit they pull to get their stores where they're not wanted, scams they use to get around paying workers their true dues like overtime pay, and even sexism and racism among their ranks. I can't for the life of me remember the name of it, but it was really eye-opening.

They really do try to portray themselves as company that cares about people and its workers, but you're right, they are only interested in the bottom line and damn anyone or anything that might threaten that.

[festive1]

I grew up in Bentonville. It's where all the upper management and Wal*Mart bigwigs live. When I graduated high school, we had 3, yes just 3, black students in the entire school of about 1,000 kids. There were lots of Latinos, but very few whose parents worked at the home office, even fewer were in leadership roles. Wal*Mart is a very white and very male corporate culture, and it shows in how they run the company.
My mom started at Wal*Mart as the personal secretary of an executive VP. He was an attorney who represented corporations against unions. He was nice, personally, but had some serious judgement issues and was a very hardcore Christian. Mom still works at Wal*Mart, we've learned not to discuss it.

[FlyingNarwhal]

I hate when I end up on the side of corporations like Walmart, but I don't agree with that super minimum wage. Obviously Walmart needs to change it's labor practices but I just don't think that is the way to do it. If you are going to advocate that businesses pay their workers a minimum wage that meets the standards of living that's fine, but it has to be completely across the board. Why should union businesses not have to pay their workers the same wage if what they currently pay is not meeting the minimum standard of living? That just sounds like government favoritism to me. Besides it might even have a negative impact on small businesses as well. If I've been working at a small mom and pop shop and getting paid $10.00 an hour there, and then Walmart comes in with its required $12.50 minimum wage, do you think I'm going to keep working at that mom and pop shop? Hell no! I'm gonna quit that shitty paying job for the better paying one. And considering you live in DC I'm assuming there are quite a few large businesses that fit the description given in the legislation. So you would have many big stores boxing out the small businesses because they can afford to pay their workers more, where as the small shops have to struggle to find workers and keep them.

[Faith No More]

No, it's not a perfect fix, and it would cause certain issues. There are probably better ways to do this, but all I can hear inside my mind is "Fuck WalMart. Just fuck 'em."

[_xenu_]

No, it's not a perfect fix, and it would cause certain issues. There are probably better ways to do this, but all I can hear inside my mind is "Fuck WalMart. Just fuck 'em."

This. I refuse to take pity on a mega corporation like WalMart.

[A Theist]

I worked at a Wal*Mart Distribution Center for about 6 years...unlike the stores, the DC I worked at paid good money and we had exceptional benefits plus profit sharing...the stores themselves are crappy to work for though...Wal*Mart has a lot of issues, even at the DCs...I would love to see it get unionized but it's almost near impossible to get one in with any amount of success...