Up Against Wal-Mart
At the world's largest and most profitable retailer, low wages, unpaid overtime, and union busting are a way of life. Now Wal-Mart workers are fighting back.
Jennifer McLaughlin is 22, has a baby, drives a truck, wears wide-leg jeans and spiky plastic chokers, dyes her hair dark red, and works at Wal-Mart. The store in Paris, Texas -- Wal-Mart Supercenter #148 -- is just down the road from the modest apartment complex where McLaughlin lives with her boyfriend and her one-year-old son; five days a week she drives to the store, puts on a blue vest with "How May I Help You?" emblazoned across the back, and clocks in. Some days she works in the Garden Center and some days in the toy department. The pace is frenetic, even by the normally fast-paced standards of retailing; often, it seems, there simply aren't enough people around to get the job done. On a given shift McLaughlin might man a register, hop on a mechanical lift to retrieve something from a high shelf, catch fish from a tank, run over to another department to help locate an item, restock the shelves, dust off the bike racks, or field questions about potting soil and lawn mowers. "It's stressful," she says. "They push you to the limit. They just want to see how much they can get away with without having to hire someone else."
Then there's the matter of her pay. After three years with the company, McLaughlin earns only $16,800 a year. "And I'm considered high-paid," she says. "The way they pay you, you cannot make it by yourself without having a second job or someone to help you, unless you've been there for 20 years or you're a manager." Because health insurance on the Wal-Mart plan would deduct up to $85 from her biweekly paycheck of $550, she goes without, and relies on Medicaid to cover her son, Gage.
Complaints about understaffing and low pay are not uncommon among retail workers -- but Wal-Mart is no mere peddler of saucepans and boom boxes. The company is the world's largest retailer, with $220 billion in sales, and the nation's largest private employer, with 3,372 stores and more than 1 million hourly workers. Its annual revenues account for 2 percent of America's entire domestic product. Even as the economy has slowed, the company has continued to metastasize, with plans to add 800,000 more jobs worldwide by 2007.
Given its staggering size and rapid expansion, Wal-Mart increasingly sets the standard for wages and benefits throughout the U.S. economy. "Americans can't live on a Wal-Mart paycheck," says Greg Denier, communications director for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). "Yet it's the dominant employer, and what they pay will be the future of working America." The average hourly worker at Wal-Mart earns barely $18,000 a year at a company that pocketed $6.6 billion in profits last year. Forty percent of employees opt not to receive coverage under the company's medical plan, which costs up to $2,844 a year, plus a deductible. As Jennifer McLaughlin puts it, "They're on top of the Fortune 500, and I can't get health insurance for my kid."
Angered by the disparity between profits and wages, thousands of former and current employees like McLaughlin have started to fight the company on a variety of fronts. Workers in 27 states are suing Wal-Mart for violating wage-and-hour laws; in the first of the cases to go to trial, an Oregon jury found the company guilty in December of systematically forcing employees to work overtime without pay. The retailer also faces a sex-discrimination lawsuit that accuses it of wrongly denying promotions and equal pay to 700,000 women. And across the country, workers have launched a massive drive to organize a union at Wal-Mart, demanding better wages and working conditions. Employees at more than 100 stores in 25 states -- including Supercenter #148 in Paris -- are currently trying to unionize the company, and in July the UFCW launched an organizing blitz in the Midwest, hoping to mobilize nearly 120,000 workers in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana.
Wal-Mart has responded to the union drive by trying to stop workers from organizing -- sometimes in violation of federal labor law. In 10 separate cases, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Wal-Mart repeatedly broke the law by interrogating workers, confiscating union literature, and firing union supporters. At the first sign of organizing in a store, Wal-Mart dispatches a team of union busters from its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, sometimes setting up surveillance cameras to monitor workers. "In my 35 years in labor relations, I've never seen a company that will go to the lengths that Wal-Mart goes to, to avoid a union," says Martin Levitt, a management consultant who helped the company develop its anti-union tactics before writing a book called Confessions of a Union Buster. "They have zero tolerance."
The retaliation can be extreme. In February 2000, the meat-cutting department at a Wal-Mart in Jacksonville, Texas, voted to join the UFCW -- the only Wal-Mart in the nation where workers successfully organized a union. Two weeks after the vote, the company announced it was eliminating its meat-cutting departments in all of its stores nationwide. It also fired four workers who voted for the union. "They held a meeting and said there was nothing we could do," recalls Dotty Jones, a former meat cutter in Jacksonville. "No matter which way the election went, they would hold it up in court until we were old and gray."
If you've seen one Wal-mart, you've seen the Paris store, more or less: a gray cinder-block warehouse of a building, with a red stripe across the front, flags on the roof, WALHMART spelled in large capitals in the center, and the company credos ("We Sell for Less" and "Everyday Low Prices") to the left and the right. Inside, the cavernous store is bathed in a dim fluorescent light that makes the white walls and linoleum look dingy, and on a Friday shortly before Christmas, the merchandise is everywhere: not only in bins and on shelves, but in boxes waiting to be unloaded, or just stationed in some odd corner, like the pine gun cabinets ($169.87) lined up by the rest rooms. Television monitors advertise thermometers and compact discs, Christmas carols play over the audio system, and yet there's a kind of silence to the place, a suspension of ordinary life, as shoppers in their trances drift through the store and fill carts with tubs of popcorn, a microwave, a chess set, dog biscuits. Here Protestant thrift and consumer wants are reconciled, for the moment anyway, in carts brimming with bargains.
Wal-Mart's success story was scripted by its founder, Sam Walton, whose genius was not so much for innovation as for picking which of his competitors' innovations to copy in his own stores. In 1945, Walton bought a franchise variety store in Newport, Arkansas. The most successful retailers, he noticed, were chains like Sears and A&P, which distributed goods to stores most efficiently, lowered prices to generate a larger volume of sales, and in the process generated a lot of cash to finance further expansion. These, in turn, would serve as basic principles of Walton's business. As he explains in his autobiography, Sam Walton, Made in America, he drove long distances to buy ladies' panties at lower prices, recognizing that selling more pairs at four for a dollar would bring greater profits than selling fewer pairs at three for a dollar. The women of northeastern Arkansas were soon awash in underwear, and a discounter was born. Walton opened his first Wal-Mart Discount City in 1962 and gradually expanded out from his Arkansas base. By 1970 Wal-Mart owned 32 outlets; by 1980 there were 276; by 1990, 1,528 in 29 states.
The company grew, in no small part, by dint of its legendary frugality -- a habit that started with Sam Walton himself, who drove an old pickup truck and shared hotel rooms on company trips and insisted on keeping the headquarters in Arkansas as plain as possible. Payroll, of course, tends to be a rather larger expense than hotel rooms, and Walton kept that as low as he could, too. He paid his first clerks 50 to 60 cents an hour -- substantially below minimum wage at the time -- by taking questionable advantage of a small-business exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act. In 1970, Walton fended off an organizing push by the Retail Clerks Union in two small Missouri towns by hiring a professional union buster, John Tate, to lecture workers on the negative aspects of unions. On Tate's advice, he also took steps to win his workers over, encouraging them to air concerns with managers and implementing a profit-sharing program.
A few years later, Wal-Mart hired a consulting firm named Alpha Associates to develop a "union avoidance program." Martin Levitt, the consultant who worked on the program, says that Wal-Mart does "whatever it takes to wear people down and destroy their spirit." Each manager, he says, is taught to take union organizing personally: "Anyone supporting a union is slapping that supervisor in the face." The company also encouraged employees to believe in the good intentions of "Mr. Sam," who peppered his autobiography with tributes to his "associates": "If you want to take care of the customers you have to make sure you're taking care of the people in the stores."
Yet many Wal-Mart workers allege that the company Walton left behind when he died in 1992 is anything but a benevolent caretaker. "We're underpaid, and I'm worried about my retirement," says an overnight stocker in Minnesota who asked not to be identified. "I imagine I'll be working until I'm 90." Her daughter works as a stocker, too, but after nine years she doesn't make enough to support her children. "She's had to go down to the food bank, and I've sent stuff over for them," her mother says. "They just can't do it." On the job, she adds, workers are forced to scramble to make up for understaffing. "We're short -- we have a skimpy crew at night. We've got pallets stacked over our heads, and we can't get caught up with all of it."
A quick look around at the store in Paris makes clear what an employee is up against: thousands of items (90,000 in a typical Wal-Mart) that customers are constantly removing from the shelves and not putting back, or putting back in the wrong place, or dropping on the floor -- the store a kind of Augean stable, with a corps of blue-vested Herculeses trying to keep things clean. (When I mention this to Jennifer McLaughlin, she tells me that's why no one likes to work the 2 a.m. to 11 a.m. shift, because "all it is, is putting stuff back.") To get the job done, according to the dozens of employee lawsuits filed against the company, Wal-Mart routinely forces employees to work overtime without pay. In the Oregon wage-and-hour case, a former personnel manager named Carolyn Thiebes testified that supervisors, pressured by company headquarters to keep payroll low, regularly deleted hours from time records and reprimanded employees who claimed overtime. In 2000, Wal-Mart settled similar lawsuits involving 67,000 workers in New Mexico and Colorado, reportedly paying more than $50 million.
Wal-Mart blames unpaid overtime on individual department managers, insisting that such practices violate company policy. "We rely on our associates," says spokesman Bill Wertz. "It makes no business sense whatsoever to mistreat them." But Russell Lloyd, an attorney representing Wal-Mart employees in Texas, says the company "has a pattern throughout all stores of treating their workers the same way." Corporate headquarters collects reams of data on every store and every employee, he says, and uses sales figures to calculate how many hours of labor it wants to allot to each store. Store managers are then required to schedule fewer hours than the number allotted, and their performance is monitored in daily reports back to Bentonville. To meet the goals, supervisors pressure employees to work extra hours without pay.
"I was asked to work off the clock, sometimes by the store manager, sometimes by the assistant manager," says Liberty Morales Serna, a former employee in Houston. "They would know you'd clocked out already, and they'd say, ‘Do me a favor. I don't have anyone coming in -- could you stay here?' It would be like four or five hours. They were understaffed, and they expected you to work these hours."
When Judy Danneman, a widow raising three children, went to work as an hourly department manager in West Palm Beach, Florida, she quickly realized that she would have to climb the management ladder in order to survive -- because, as she puts it, "my kids had this bad habit of eating." The only way to do that, she says, was to work off the clock: "Working unpaid overtime equaled saving your job." When she finally became an assistant manager, Danneman knew she had to enforce the same policy: "I knew for my department managers to get their work done, they had to work off the clock. It was an unwritten rule. The majority of them were single mothers raising children, or else married women with children. It was sad, and it was totally demanding and very draining and very stressful."
In fact, more than two-thirds of all Wal-Mart employees are women -- yet women make up less than 10 percent of top store managers. Back when she was first lady of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton became the first woman appointed to the Wal-Mart board, and tried to get the company to hire more women managers, but that effort apparently went the way of national health insurance. Wal-Mart today has the same percentage of women in management that the average company had in 1975.
Attorneys representing workers contend that Wal-Mart is too tightly controlled from headquarters in Arkansas to claim ignorance of what's happening in its stores. "In Bentonville they control the air conditioning, the music, and the freezer temperature for each store," says Brad Seligman, a lawyer with the Impact Fund, a nonprofit legal organization in Berkeley. "Most companies divide stores into regions, and then you have a home office of senior management. At Wal-Mart, the regional managers are based in Bentonville; they're on the road Sunday to Wednesday, and then back meeting with management Thursday to Saturday. They're the ones who make the fundamental employee decisions -- and the home office knows exactly what they are doing."
The company insists it adequately trains and promotes female managers. But in 2001, a Wal-Mart executive conducted an internal study that showed the company pays female store managers less than men in the same position. "Their focus at Wal-Mart has always relentlessly been on the bottom line and on cost cutting," says Seligman. "Virtually every other consideration is secondary -- or third or fourth or fifth."
To protect the bottom line Wal-Mart is as aggressive at fighting off unions as it is at cutting costs. Employees approached by co-workers about joining a union are "scared to even talk," says Ricky Braswell, a "greeter" at the store in Paris. "They're afraid they'll lose their jobs."
In Paris, it was Jennifer McLaughlin's boyfriend, 21-year-old Eric Jackson, who first started talking about a union. Raised by a mother who works in a factory, Jackson always assumed he would find a job after high school rather than go on to college. But the few factory jobs in Paris are highly sought after, so Jackson wound up at Wal-Mart, which employs 350 people out of a local workforce of only 22,000. "People ain't got no other place to go," he says. "There's no other jobs to be had."
Jackson started as an evening cashier earning $5.75 an hour, and it wasn't long before he was regularly asked to perform the duties of a customer service manager, supervising the other cashiers and scheduling their breaks. He asked for a promotion, but three months later he was still doing the extra work for no extra pay. "I took it because I wanted more money, but I never got the raise," Jackson says. "They knew they could do it to me." He fought for the promotion and eventually won, but by then he had already contacted a local union office about organizing the store.
"When Eric first suggested it, I looked at him like he was on crack," says McLaughlin. "I said, ‘You can't take down a company like Wal-Mart with a union.'" Nevertheless, Jackson arranged for a UFCW organizer to come to Paris and meet with a small group of workers one June afternoon at the Pizza Inn. But the company soon caught wind of the organizing effort. As one worker left an early meeting of union supporters, he spotted a Wal-Mart manager in the parking lot. From then on, workers seen as pro-union were watched closely by management.
"By the time we had our first meeting, they were holding their first anti-union meeting," says McLaughlin. The response came straight from the company's union-avoidance playbook: Troops from the Bentonville "People Division" were flown in, and employees were required to attend hour-long meetings, where they were shown anti-labor videos and warned about unions. "They tend to treat you like you're simple, and they use real bad scare tactics," says McLaughlin. Those who supported the union, she says, were told, "Some people just don't belong at Wal-Mart."
McLaughlin isn't shy about speaking her mind, and in the meeting she confronted one of the men from the People Division. "Let me tell you, I used to have epilepsy," she told him. "My dad was in a union, and we had health insurance, and I got better. I don't have health insurance. If my child got epilepsy, what would I do? Doesn't a union help you to get company-paid insurance?" The man, she recalls, became flustered. "Jennifer, I don't have an answer about that," he said. "I'll have to get back with you."
The meetings were just the beginning. "The videos and group meetings are the surface cosmetics," says Levitt, the former consultant. "Where Wal-Mart beats the union is through a one-on-one process implemented from Bentonville. They carefully instruct management to individually work over each employee who might be a union sympathizer." In Paris, Eric Jackson was called into a back room by five managers and made to watch an anti-union video and participate in a role-playing exercise. "I was supposed to be a manager, and one of them was the associate who came to me with a question about a union," says Jackson. "So I quoted the video. I said, ‘We do not believe we need a union at Wal-Mart,' and they were like, ‘Good, good!' and then I said, ‘We're not anti-union -- we're pro-associate,' just like I'm supposed to say."
Before the onslaught by the company, says McLaughlin, she talked to more than 70 workers at the Paris store who were prepared to sign cards calling for a vote on union representation, but that number quickly dwindled. Those who'd signed cards felt they were being watched. "All of a sudden the cameras start going up," says Chris Bills, who works in the receiving area. "Now there's three in receiving. This one manager took up smoking so he could sit with us on our breaks." Other hourly employees learned for the first time that they were actually counted as managers. "They said we were considered management, so we shouldn't get involved with the union stuff," says Dianne Smallwood, a former customer service manager who worked at the store seven years. Employees opposed to the union were given "pro-associate" buttons to wear, while managers amended the dress code to exclude T-shirts with any kind of writing on them, apparently to prevent workers from wearing union shirts.
Wal-Mart declined to let Mother Jones interview store managers or representatives from the People Division in Bentonville, but says it sends out people from corporate headquarters "to answer questions associates may have and to make sure that all store personnel are aware of their legal requirements and meet those requirements exactly." But the company has also made clear that keeping its stores union-free is as much a part of Wal-Mart culture as door greeters and blue aprons. "Union representation may work well for others," says Cynthia Illick, a company spokeswoman. "However, it is not a fit for Wal-Mart."
With the company so determined to ward off unions, the prospects of employees in towns like Paris, Texas, winning significant improvements in wages and working conditions seem awfully slim. "It's a long process," Jennifer McLaughlin concedes. "I wish it could be done in the next year, but people come and go, and for every one union card you get signed, two other ones who signed cards have gotten fired or left. It's real frustrating, and a lot of times I don't want to do it no more. But I'm not going to give up until I end up leaving the store."
In the end, the success of the organizing drives may depend on labor's ability to mobilize more than just store employees. "We'll never bring Wal-Mart to the table store by store," says Bernie Hesse, an organizer for UFCW Local 789 in Minneapolis. "I can get all the cards signed I want, and they'll still crush us. They'll close the frigging store, I'm convinced. We've got to do it in conjunction with the community." That means going to small businesses and religious leaders and local officials, he says, and convincing them that it's in their interest to stand up to Wal-Mart. "As a community we've got to say, ‘All right, if you want to come here and do business, here's what you've got to do -- you've got to pay a living wage, you've got to provide affordable health insurance.'"
Putting together such a broad initiative can be "like pulling teeth," Hesse says, but the stakes are high. If employees succeed in improving wages and working conditions at the country's largest employer, they could effectively set a new benchmark for service-sector jobs throughout the economy. Some 27 million Americans currently make $8.70 an hour or less -- and by the end of the decade, Hesse notes, nearly 2 million people worldwide will work at Wal-Mart.
"These are the jobs our kids are going to have," he says.
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i'm an employee of wal-mart in wadsworth ohio.i'v been there since it opend in 2004.i hurt my shoulder 2 weeks ago at work because of alot of what you talked about.short staffed and forced to work fast.last night i got called to the office and one of the managers tried to write me up for getting hurt.i did nothing wrong,i was reaching up on a pallet that was at least 8 ft high and the case of juice weighed at least 50 lbs.they told me i should have used a ladder,which is also a safety hazard.what do i do? elroyosu@aol.com
walmart is a user!! underpaid, wer'e just a number not a person, its not how long youve worked for them , its availibility. it sucks!!!!!!!!
In September Of 2006 I was hired at A Walmart in Corry,Pennsylvania ,I worked there for 7 Months as a cashier and Because My longterm boyfriend was going to school a Kent State Main Campus, We moved to that area. I put in for a transfer to another store and while still working in pa ,I recieved a job offer for Customer service manager in the streetboro, oh.I thought it was awesome, so I took it without hesitation. Upon moving I started working in that store.I would also like to add they knew I had no training in that position. The first day they basically handed me the keys to the podium along with all the department keys and left me to figure it out. that whole situation was very sketchy. there was no store manager,along with other assistant managers. through my month of working there ,two managers left to go to different stores.the store manager they hired was an ex-employee of Kmart.I got to meet her about one week before i left.they also hired a co manager in that week that worked at Top's. I experienced the worst working conditions in my life.I had to do things that was not in my job description. I had to take care of Jewelry,Electronics,Sporting Goods along with my responsibilities as a CSM.I ended up having a argument with an assistant manager over her actually yelling at another employee. I ended walking out of that store and never looked back. They "investigated the incident" But I never heard from them again about what was decided. Frankly at that point I didn't care. the way everything was handled in every aspect was absolutley disturbing . frankly I would discourage anyone from working for them.
You haven't any idea how true this is.. you really can not support someone else on a wal-mart salery, you can barely make it on your own.. there are people being hired in at more pay all the time.. and you are never taken seriousely unless it involves a union, then your just fired instead of resolved... i work for store 65 out of Sullivan missouri, and i would like to be heard.
Its hard for a young man to make it without a better job.
Very true I work at walmart for 2 years
I work for Supercenter Walmart Store #3726 in Grand Blanc, MI. I was hired in as a daily cashier at $7.70/hour. I was trained in directs and in cashiering as this was a brand new store that opened in Jan. 2006. I was hired Nov. 30, 2005. I then was moved to 2nd shift because they were short staffed. I currently had a 3 yr old son and found out I was pregnant with twins! Walmart refused to abide by my 10 lb. lifting restriction and my stool restriction. When I was finally given my stool, I was put at the door, at the fitting room to answer phones and other things. The funny thing is that my restriction clearly stated "Needs a stool to be placed at LANE to do job." I was told that if I needed a stool then I need to be at home on the couch with my feet propped. Well I was part time and could not receive short term disabilty. So how was I supposed to help support the household and prepare for TWINS? I then went on maternity leave. Because of this I was bypassed on a CSS position. I returned to work to go right back out for gall bladder surgery. Shortly after I returned from surgery I was denied certain days off that were important as they were family events that happen every year and was told that there were people who had more senority over me, but yet there is no senority. Plus I was hired before these people. Finally, in Jan. 2007 I was asked if I wanted to go to 3rd shift as a cashier as they had just fired 2 people and were desperate. I figured I would be making a dollar more an hour so I took it. I then went from $8.10 to $9.10 an hour. Just a month after that my brother was hired in fresh and new as a 3rd shift cashier and was making $9.05 an hour with his dollar premium. I had more experience than he did when I hired in, but he was hired in for more. Once the nightly managers became aware of what he and I were capable of, we were the ONLY 2 cashiers pulled to go to grocery and zone or help the instock team do their freight. Just recently I transferred to the electronics dept. as a 3rd shift sales associate. I now make $9.70 an hour and was finally bumped up to full time. However nothing has changed. I am supposed to stay in the dept. to help reduce the theft in that area at night time. I am still pulled to areas like stationary, domestics, housewares, toys, hardware, the front end, and yes still GROCERY. One night the CSS did not show, so since I knew how to do the front end, they had me play as the supervisor. That is a 70 cent difference and they are refusing to pay. Just the other night I had to do maitenances job. So when am I going to get paid for doing about 8 different jobs in one night or out of the work week? That answer is easy, NEVER. I feel for the rest of the employees who I hear about as many stories are similar to mine. As for the health coverage I used to pay and when I asked to remove it was told that I had to have another health coverage or I could not stop my health plan. Recently I managed to do this as I was requalified for medicaid but I should not be forced to have health coverage...That is MY choice. I receive food stamps and medicaid because, like everyone else has stated, I cannot live off of a walmart paycheck. My boyfriend works for a retailer called Meijer and we barley survive off of these 2 paychecks that one of us may have to take on a 2nd job just to make it by and keep a roof over our sons' heads. If anyone would like to respond or comment to me personally, my email address is momoftwins821@aol.com Good luck to my fellow walmart associates across the nation. We need to stick together on this.
I got fired from Wal-Mart in June 2007 for following my medical restrictions when i got hurt pullibg a 2000 lb pallet by myself because i could have help. They refused to give me something to sit on even though it was one of my restriction and the said the could acconodate it. When i was door greeting I went 10 feet away from the door to get somthing to lean on and my pathetic acuse for a co-manager fired me on the spot
Wal-Mart 5466 in Grove City Ohio sucks, they fired me for doing exactly what i was told. But i guess we'll see who has the last laugh
Haha. I was just hired at walmart. In Arkansas-the state of the home office. I make 6.80 an hour. I work 32 hours a week, I can't be full time because then I would get benefits. I will make 11,000 a year before taxes. I am supporting 3 kids. Way below poverty level. Yet several people who work at walmart complain because they make 8-10 dollars an hour. I always get a kick by the averages walmart says they pay their workers. I think it is 10 an hour right now. Lucky them.
I know the feeling
When I started in October 2006, I was hired on at 9.75 per hour. After 3 years, I am up to 11.60 per hour. However, new hired staff in our department started at 10.20 an hour.
Their pay scale is so unjust. I'll be giving my resignation pretty shortly as it's almost impossible to have another job because Wal-Mart controls all of retail. I am a certified IT technician in 3 levels.
I'll be glad when I am gone.
For all those serious about changing the system at your Wal-mart store.I can relate i just started working for Wal-mart AGAIN overnight after about 9 years of not being in the company.Mostly because I needed something to supplement my education.I write..i don't know I guess because I've heard the same complaints around my own store.Wal-Mart has a tendency to discriminate,degrade and fabricate to their associates and have no explanation for it.Also no reason for it, I have been working overnight for them a little over 5 months now and have seen numerous people quit.Almost daily it's been for a month I have seen good people leave for things that can easily be corrected by management.Yet their solution is to change format and go on vacation.It's time to make chages people.Write down complaints,times, and dates and take them to HR.If they do nothing go the extra mile and bring it to their bosses and so on.No one ever got anything done by belly aching.However everyone deserves respect no matter who you are so demand it.As a college student no I don't plan on staying at Wal-Mart.Still I believe in teamwork and honest business practice.So people it's time to give Wal-Mart a smack on the hand that hurts.Since I started We have been told lie after lie,from job status to job evaluation.For example when I hired on I was told specifically by the mananger of my store and then again in orientation that evaluations would take place after 90 days.Instead most people were taken off temp status and put on part-time with no evaluation.Not to mention you are made to do the job of 5 people including management and being paid for one.How's that for false advertisement!?The funny thing is Mr.Graves is almost like a small scale politician his favorite line is "This is Your Wal-Mart,We are Family".Ironically he is right he passes the responsiblity off to his workers by bullying them (with threats) into pushing productivity before he hops a plane to go on vacation. What a peach! Meanwhile "the family" decides who has to do what,where,when, and how fast.Wakeupwalmart.com and the ufcw are good sources of help and good starts for safe and better store practices.
If you think the pay and conditions are so bad then why dont you go work somewhere else. Why complain when you have every option to explore other opportunities. Obviously there is some reason that you stay. Is something better than nothing at all?
I just started at walmart and I'm on the night shift, I get 8 dollars an hour and thats good for me (every other job I've had has been under 7 an hour), night shift gets a dollar more an hour I think that's why its 8.00 , nothing crazy has happened so far and 8 dollars an hour is cool with me, its easy work I'm not complaining, so that's one post on here that's pro-walmart (I'm also pro-union but hey what can you do) I'm with the other guy, if you don't like it find another job (you can work at walmart until you find something better like I'm doing) , hey this is AMERICA or did all this freedom make you forget, oh and walmart is a freaking store that's owned by someone somewhere, get your own fortune 500 company and run it the way you want, until then shut up and eat your 99 cent lemon baked delli chicken
any retail job stinks if you are a person who thinks everything should be handed to you on a silver platter. young americans have no work ethic, no wonder everything is getting out-sourced
i dont fell sorry for someone who works at walmart if u dont like working there then out.
I am a young univesity
I am a young univesity student and I do not work at Wal-Mart. I personally think the people who practically say "like it or leave it" are somewhat naive. This is specially true when you see people who have children or are senior citizens. This is the only job they can find in town. They cannot move anywhere because they do not have the resources to do so. They have to take care and provide for their kids or themselves if they are seniors. It is easier to tell a young adult who does not have as many obligations to leave it if he doesn't like it because there is more mobility and energy. I do think the people who can leave, meaning they have the resources and ability to leave, should leave. But there cannot be a generalization; Someone cannot just say to everyone "if you don't like it leave it".
In Bryan Ohio; got fired recently for a unruly cusomer saying he was shopping elsewhere. I am not sure how I could have prevented this; but the manager Jack said it was my fault. I have had numerous compilments. This manager is known to be rude to the customers; my mom was in the store and he was very rude to her when she asked for help from him; he did not know who she was; she complained to me about this but I told her I could say nothing in fear of losing my job. Jobs are not plentiful right now. I never recieved a weekend off since I worked there and went in whenever they called me to do so. I am not sure what I can do when a customer is unruly; I guess informing my superior was a mistake in this case. I am not a number but a human being. I hope that someday Jack gets the same treatment he has been handing out to others. I have read through the complaints and all of these I have seen myself. They have no reguard for safety; and no repect for you as an individual.
I was hired by the Wal-Mart Super Center here in Springfield, IL in February 2007.
The job was to be part of the store setup and remodeling crew. The job was
classified as a temporary, part-time position, although the scheduled hours
were 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM beginning each Sunday evening through Thursday.
The job was to last until the store remodeling project was completed - estimated
to be about 3 months. I was paid $9.45 per hour as agreed, and in some weeks
had the opportunity to get a few hours of overtime, which I gladly accepted
in order to earn a decent paycheck.
I discounted the official 'temporary, part-time' Wal-Mart job classification I was
given since I was actually working regularly scheduled full-time hours + overtime.
Initially I felt that this might be a good opportunity to improve my living standard
and get with a company that had a promising future. I found the work included a
significant amount of heavy manual labor but worked very hard and continued my
commitment in hopes that an advancement to a more permanent, full-time
position would become available at the end of the project. This was never
promised by company personnel, but it was suggested that project workers who
did an excellent job might be offered a permanent position at the end of the
project. This turned out to be the case.
At the conclusion of the project I was offered a part-time cashier position.
The only hitch was I had to take a $1.00 per hour cut in wages, and begin
working a random schedule (not to exceed 32.5 hours per week). When I say
random I mean 1) rarely the same days or hours every week, 2) rarely the same
start and stop time every day 3)sometimes off in the evening at 11 PM and
start the next day at 8AM 4)rarely two days off in a row
There was to be no overtime allowed, the optional medical benefits were totally
out of reach financially, the scheduling prevented me from obtaining any other
secondary job that required regular hours, and a person was expected to stay
in any particular position for about 6 months before being considered for any
other position in the store.
My 4 years of college, technical training and certification, and 30+ years of prior
work experience including management mean nothing to Wal-Mart. When you
start with Wal-Mart you start at the bottom of the food chain. This means you
have to apply for food stamps - which I had to do under the circumstances.
The low paying part-time status means 1) no paid vacation 2)no paid holidays
3)no performance bonus 4)no affordable health insurance 5) etc...
I have to ask the following questions:
a) What has happened to the concept of fair pay and a living wage ?
b) Why can I not afford to see a doctor or dentist when needed ?
c) Why does my employer not care that I need food stamps to survive ?
d) Why can I not accrue vacation or sick time like most other workers ?
e) Why does Wal-Mart restrict most employees to part-time status ?
f) Why are only full-time status employees entitled to a benefit package ?
g) Why is it that Wal-Mart management is afraid of unions ?
Yes, I accepted the job at Wal-Mart of my own free will and have no one to
blame for the negative impact it has had upon my life except myself. However
I am very disappointed in the way that Wal-Mart (originally a U.S. company)
takes advantage of its workers and reports billions in profits to its stockholders.
Something is seriously wrong with this picture. I implore the many thousands of
other Wal-Mart employees who recognize their similar plight to unite for change.
Perhaps unionization is a viable solution. It has worked in the past and can
work again. Don't be fooled and intimated by a company that will take full
advantage of you, at your expense, out of greed with total disregard for the
individuals who actually do the work.
I for one will be leaving Wal-Mart as soon as I find a better job - hopefully soon.
I also can not live on what WalMart pays me. I don't have health insurance because it's to expensive. I live in Hunterdon County in New Jersey, which is very expensive.
Good luch and may you win in your efforts to get fair pay for a job well done.
I am a single mother of four beautiful children. If it WEREN'T for Walmart, I would just be another statistic depending upon the system. I have dental insurance, medical insurance, and accidental for myself and all of my children. I don't know why anyone would neglect to sign up fo medical benefits for their family, not only are they affordable, there are many plans to choose from. If you aren't taking advantage of that, I would consider that due to your own fault, not Walmarts. I have NEVER been asked to work off the clock, in fact just the opposite, my mgrs. always asked if I was "on" before even attempting to ask a question. The biggest problem, is hiring people who come in with an already biased opinion of the store and attempt to sway any and every other individual to mirror their negitivity. Working at Walmart is not mandatory, it's optional, and VOLUNTARY.
me and my husband work for a retail company(union)the only thing the union is good for is that you get a yearly raise,they do not protect you on nothing else not even pension me and my hsuband can work in the same dept. do the same job but i get paid a lot less than him, they can promote you and demote you on the same day for no reason they can schedule you whenever and whatever they want union says do what they say,years ago unions were good not now they suck
can you please e mail me a description of the duty's a door greater dose at walmart.
I have never worked for walmart but i have spent the past 14 years working in fast food people also complain about these jobs before i say this let me say i started out at minimum wage when i made it to $7.50 an hour found out i was gonna have baby i eventually made it too $9.25 an hour i never complained i never called out i always worked over or came in if called because i knew hard work was the only way to get anything it took 7 years until i got a chance to manage my own store now i make $70,000.00 a year so i know that most of these people are winey lazy people who want everything handed to them. People shut up work your ass off and get somewhere quit waiting on other people to give it too you.
Please take your $70,000 a
Please take your $70,000 a year and find independence and entrpenurial american freedom. Remember your Walmart store might be on American soil, but their coporate laws are feudal and slaving. I commend you for the hard work up the chain, but when it is all said and done what do you have a jeaporized 401K and a 10?% discount card. Ask Lee Scott personally the day you retire if he relly cares about you or how good of a well oiled machine part made it so far then started throughing monkey crap back across the managment lines to his or her own Associates.
walmart is the greediest cheapest piece of [deleted] on the planet. they screw employees as well as customers. low prices my ass!on something they pay 10 dollars for they mark it up 110% then say oh its on sale.b.s.they lie they cheat and they dont care who they step on to line their pockets.they couldnt care less if you sue them . they have billions and as long as people shop there they are supporting the communist party in china.while china gets rich we americans are losing everything.walmart is a disgrace!last i checked china was our enemy.walmart rubs shoulders with anyone who will make them a quick buck.they have become above the law.any other company with as many suits as walmart would be out of business but in the new world order they make their own rules!you cant beat them if they come to your town say goodbye to your economy. they eat little towns for lunch and the courts do nothing.why? i believe polotitions are paid to look the other way.walmart is the new mafia!
WALMART DONT GIVE A [deleted] ABOUT THERE EMPLOYEES THE HEAD BOSSES GET ALL THE BONUES WITH THE WORK THE EMPLOYESS DO
MY BOYFRIEND WORK AT WALMART.HE HAS BEEN
THERE FOR LONG TIME SINCE HE WAS 20 AND NOW HE IS 46 AND THEY STILL WANT HIM TO WORK ALL THE DEPARTMENT BY HIMSELF WITHOUT GOOD HELP.HE HAS TO UNLOAD EVERYBODY'S TRUCK AND EVERYBODY ELSE THAT WORK WITH HIM AND ARE REALLY YOUNGER THAN HIM ARE NOT PUSH TO WORK HARDER.MY BOYFRIEND IS A SLAVE FOR TWELVE DOLLARS AN HOUR.WALMART FAVORS MINORITY AND THEY GET ONE DOLLAR RAISE AND HE'S WHITE AND HE GETS FORTY CENT RAISE EVERY YEAR,NOT FAIR.HE IS GETTING PAID PEANUTS.HE WORKS IN THE BUSIEST POPULAR WALMART IN THIS CITY.THERE IS ONLY ONE SUPERWALMART WHERE HE WORKS IN THE CITY AND THE OTHER WALMART IS NOT A SUPERCENTER.MOST PEOPLE IS GONNA GO TO A SUPERCENTER WALMART,NOT A GROCERY WALMART.WE HAVE LOTS OF PEOPLE IN THE CITY MOVE DOWN HERE IN WHERE HE LIVES.WALMART INSURANCE DOESNT COVER ALOT OF YOUR MEDICAL BILLS.THEY DONT REALLY HAVE TOO MUCH INFO ABOUT GOOD STOCKS TO INVEST.THERE ARE TIMES IF MY BOYFRIEND CALL IN SICK BECAUSE HE ISNT ALLOWED TO CALL IN SICK.WALMART WOULDNT PAY HIM FOR HOLIDAY NOT FAIR.NOW THEY WANT EVERYBODY TO WEAR BLUE SHIRT AND KAKI PANTS.THIS IS WALMART WHY U HAVE TO WEAR UNIFORM PEOPLE ARE GETTING PAID PEANUTS FOR THIS PLACE.WHAT IS NOT FAIR IS THEY WONT LET MY BOYFRIEND TRANSFER TO ANOTHER WALMART OUT OF THE DISTRICT BECAUSE THEY CANT DO THE WORK WITHOUT HIM,AND HE IS REALLY GOOD WORKER BUT AS HE AGES THEY STILL WANT HIM TO BE ON TOP PERFORMANCE AS EVERYBODY ELSE.IF HE IS TEN MINUTES LATE,THEY CALL HIS HOUSE,BUT SOMEONE WHO DONT WANT TO WORK HARD,THEY'RE FORGOTTEN WALMART WOULDNT CALL THAT GUYS HOUSE.MY BOYFRIEND CANT KEEP UP A TOP PERFORMANCE,BEING WORK LIKE A DOG 4EVER.HE'S TIRED AND EVEN PEOPLE YOUNGER THAN HIM THAT WORK AT WALMART WORK SLOWER THAN HIM AND THINK STOCKING IS TOO HARD.ALSO MINORITY VENDORS IN WALMART WHO GETS PAID MORE AND GETS COMISSION,DONT STOCK THEIR STUFF,THEY LET THE WHITE GUY THAT WORK AT WALMART STOCK THEIR PRODUCTS.NOT FAIR.THE SAFETY MANAGER THAT WORKS AT WALMART DON'T EVEN PUT BANDAGES IN EMERGENCY KIT WHEN SOMEONE HURT THEMSELF THAT WORK AT WALMART. THE ONE IN CHARGE OF SAFETY IN WALMART,DONT EVEN PRACTICE SAFETY IN THE STORE.THAT IS WRONG AND ALL THEY DO IS SIT THERE AND GET A PAYCHECK.MY BOYFRIEND WORKS HARDER IN WALMART THAN ANY MINORITY IN THE STORE.AND THESE MINORITY JUST GET A HANDSOME PAYCHECK AND THEY DONT LIFT A THING AND MANAGEMENT DONT SAY ANYTHING TO THESE MINORITY.PATHETIC.IF THE LOWPAYING EMPLOYEES AT WALMART BELIEVE AND VOTE FOR UNION TO COME TO WALMART,WALMART WOULDNT BE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEIR EMPLOYEES.EMPLOYEES WOULD BE ABLE TO GO TO ANY DEPARTMENT THEY WANT AT WALMART.MY BOYFRIEND WOULD BE ABLE TO TRANSFER TO ANY DEPT. IN THE STORE.HE WOULD BE ABLE TO LEAVE ON TIME . THE MINORITY IN WALMART GETS TO LEAVE EARLY FROM WORK BUT NOT MY BOYFRIEND.NO GOOD.THEY WANT MY BOYFRIEND TO WORK FAST AND THREATEN TO FIRE.THEY DON'T GET A PARTY.THE STORE MANAGER CUTS EMPLOYEES HOURS SO HE GET A BIG BONUS FROM IT.WHEN THE STORE IS REALLY BUSY,THEY SAY THE SALES ARE LOW.THEY DONT HAVE GOOD SECURITY.I SEE PEOPLE EATING DONUTS OR CHICKEN WITHOUT PAYING AND NO EMPLOYEES WILL STOP THEM.EMPLOYEES ARE SMOKING IN PARKING LOT LIKE POT AND THAT IS WHY THEY WORK SLOW AND MY BOYFRIEND GETS BLAME FOR NOT FINISHING WORK.WELL HE CANT DO ALL THE WORK BY HIMSELF AND FINISH BECAUSE HIS OTHER PARTNER IS SMOKING POT IN PARKING LOT AND DRUGS MAKE HIM SLOW TO WORK.NOT FAIR.ALOT OF WOMEN EMPLOYEE AT WALMART CANT PULL CEREAL AND PAPER PELLET WHICH IS LIGHT,THEY HAVE MY BOYFRIEND DO IT FOR THEM WHEN HE ALREADY HAS ALOT OF WORK TO DO.THIS IS NOT A SEXIST COMMENT LADIES,BUT U CAN PULL PELLETS.THERE ARE MORE WOMEN WORKERS THAN MEN IN WALMART WHERE MY BOYFRIEND LIVES.IT IS PATHETIC AND SAD THAT THEY CANNOT PULL LIGHT PELLETS.IT IS OK IF IT WAS JUICE OR CAN PELLET THAT THE GUY WILL PULL IT BECAUSE THEYRE STRONGER.I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THERE IS 3 WOMEN PULLING ONE PELLET OF CEREAL.MINORITIES CAN MOVE BUT OTHER MINORITIES THAT BEEN IN WALMART FOR LONG TIME TELL NEW ONES THAT THEY DONT HAVE TO BE FAST WORKER,THEY TELL THEM TO MOVE SLOW.MINORITIES WHO CANT SPEAK ENGLISH OR READ LABEL GETS TO WORK AT WALMART.WHERE MY BOYFRIEND WORKS,MOST OF HIS COWORKERS R MINORITIES AND LOT OF THEM CANT SPEAK ENGLISH.WE R FORCED TO LEARN SECOND LANGUAGE WHY CAN'T THEY LEARN OUR LANGUAGE.I SAW A SPANISH AT WALMART WORKING THERE FOR FIRST TIME BUT THE FAT LADY IN SAFETY MANAGEMENT PUSH HER TO LIFT HEAVY THINGS THAT A MAN SHOULD BE LIFTING AND MADE HER HURRY UP,SHOUTING AT HER.THE FAT LADY LOOKS LIKE A DUDE AND SHE ALWAYS WEAR MAKE UP,SHE THINKS SHE LOOKS LIKE A LADY.WITH JEWELRY AND MAKE UP ON SHE STILL LOOKS LIKE A DUDE.I HATE WHEN SHE PUSH THAT PERSON FOR SHE IS NEW.IF WALMART IS SO SHORTSTAFF WHY DONT THEY HIRE PEOPLE FROM THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES LIKE HONG KONG AND PHILIPPINES.THEY SHOULD RECRUIT PEOPLE.I THINK MINORITIES THAT ARE ILLEGAL IN THIS COUNTRY AND WORK AT WALMART SHOULDNT BE DEPORTED.I THINK ILLEGAL MINORITIES THAT COME TO AMERICA SHOULD WORK IN WALMART AND PAY TAXES TO AMERICA.IT IS NOT FAIR THAT MINORITIES WHO WORK IN USA DONT PAY TAXES HERE.I KNOW A GIRL THAT WORK IN WALMART AND IS MEXICAN AND SHE DONT PAY TAXES TO OUR GOVT. AND SHE IS NOT A RESIDENT,SHE IS ILLEGAL IN OUR COUNTRY AND AT WALMART THEY TAKE ALOT OF TAXES OUT OF MY BOYFRIENDS PAYCHECK AND HE IS NOT MIDDLE CLASS.HE IS NOT THAT OLD BUT HIS CHECK GOES ALOT INTO SOCIAL SECURITY.I GO TO WALMART THEY ALWAYS RAN OUT OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR SCHOOL.I LIKE THE LATINOS THAT WORK AT WALMART BUT THEY ARE SUCH A GOOD ACTORS,PRETEND THEY CANT LIFT.THEY SIGN A CONTRACT TO WALMART THAT THEY CAN LIFT.AND THEY SAY THEY CANT PULL PALLETS.THEY MIGHT WORK FOR LESS BUT IN WALMART THEY WORK SO LITTLE.THEY SHOULD GET ACADEMY AWARDS FOR FAKING THAT SOME OF THEM CANT STOCK SHELVES.IS STOCKING SHELVES SO HARD.THEY GET EASY PAYCHECK AND WALMART LET THEM GO HOME EARLY.I AM PART LATINO TOO,BUT I DONT THINK MY ANCESTORS SHOULD BE DOING THAT.MY BOYFRIEND WORKS AT WALMART AND WHEN HE WEARS TANK TOP U KNOW IT GETS HOT IN WALMART,HE ISNT ALLOWED TO WEAR TANKS BUT THE WOMEN CAN WEAR TANKS.HE ISNT ALLOWED TO WEAR SHORT SHORT BUT ONE EMPLOYEE AT WALMART WAS WEARING SHORT SHORT AND U CAN SEE HER UNDERPANTS.THEY LET HIM GO HOME IF HE WEARS TANKS.WALMART DOESNT HAVE ALOT OF CARTS WITH SEATS FOR CHILDREN ATTACH TO THE CART.MOST OF WALMARTS CUSTOMERS HAVE CHILDREN AND THEY GO IN THERE WITH THEIR FOUR OR FIVE CHILDREN IN WALMART,I THOUGHT ITS A FAMILY PLACE.SERVICE DESK PEOPLE IN WALMART R SO RUDE TO CUSTOMERS ESPECIALLY THE HEAD OF CUSTOMER SERVICE.EMPLOYEES AT 3RD SHIFT SLAMS THEIR PELLETS REALLY LOUD IN FRONT OF CUSTOMERS.WHY IS WALMART ALWAYS A MILE AWAY FROM MY PLACE,IT IS SO FAR.SOMETIMES I AM BEGINNING TO HATE DRIVING.OUR WALMART IS SO CROWDED LIKE THEY NEED A TRAFFIC LIGHT ON THE PARKING LOT. I WISH THEY HAVE A WALMART ONLINE WHERE I CAN GO SHOPPING ONLINE AND WALMART DELIVER TO MY PLACE,THEN I DONT HAVE TO FIGHT CROWDS IN WALMART.THANK GOD FOR ONLINE.IM SCARED TO GO TO WALMART STORE BECAUSE IT FEELS LIKE BLACK FRIDAY TO ME ALL THE TIME AND I GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC AND HOT.I RATHER SHOP AT WALMART ONLINE FOR FOOD.I FEEL LIKE A RECLUSE WHEN I SEE WALMART TOO CROWDED.PEOPLE HAD NOTHING TO DO IN MY CITY THEY GET SO BORED THAT THEY HAVE TO GO TO WALMART.WHEN PEOPLE GO TO WALMART WHY THEY TAKE TIME AND MOVE REALLY SLOW LIKE THEY ARE HOPING ANOTHER SHOPPER WILL TALK TO THEM.I HATE MY WALMART BECAUSE WHEN I GO SHOPPING ,IT TAKES ME TEN HOURS TO GET OUT OF THERE BECAUSE PEOPLE MOVE SLOW AND BLOCK OTHER PEOPLE,THEY REALLY ENJOY SHOPPING AT WALMART LIKE THEY LIVE THERE,MY WALMART SO CROWDED.WE LIVE IN BIG CITY AND WALMART CANT AFFORD PUTTING MORE PARKING LOTS.WALMART ALWAYS CALL MY BOYFRIEND AT HOME IF HE IS COMING WHEN MY BOYFRIEND NEVER DOES NO CALL NO SHOW. IF HE DOES NO CALL NO SHOW,WALMART WONT PAY HIM FOR HOLIDAY AND MY BOYFRIEND GETS WRITTEN UP BUT THE DEADWOOD THAT WORK AT WALMART,WHEN THEY DO THE NO CALL NO SHOW THING,THEY DON'T GET WRITTEN UP THE NEXT DAY AND NOBODY CALL THEM AT HOME TO SHOW UP TO WORK. NOT FAIR.SAM'S KIDS DONT HAVE TO WORK ALL THEIR LIFE AND THEY ALL DRIVE LAMBOURGHINI AND THEIR CHILDREN DONT HAVE TO WORK AND WALMART EMPLOYEES SUFFER.SAM WASNT GREED.WALMART CEO GET CELEBRITY FOR THEIR PARTY AND THEY GET TO GO ON EXPENSIVE VACATION AND GET PAID BILLIONS AND WE EMPLOYEES GET NADA.EMPLOYEES IN WALMART SHOULD VOTE FOR UNION BUT WALMART TELL THEM UNION IS BAD BECAUSE , IF THERE WAS A UNION IN WALMART WALMART CANT TOUCH THE EMPLOYEE AND MAKE THEM WORK LIKE A HORSE AND MAKE THEM STAY LONGER ON THE JOB AND WALMART CANT CHEAT THEIR HOURS AND EMPLOYEES DONT HAVE TO WORK OVERTIME BY FORCE IF THERE WAS A UNION. WALMART EMPLOYEES, UNION IS NOT BAD FOR WALMART,VOTE UNION FOR WALMART.UNION PROTECTS WALMART EMPLOYEES AND WALMART CANT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEIR EMPLOYEES IF UNION CAME IN.UNION IS YOUR FRIEND NOT WALMART.UNION CARES ABOUT WALMART EMPLOYEES BUT NOT WALMART.SOME WALMART IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE UNIONS BUT IN THE SOUTH UNIONS WERENT ALLOWED. JOIN UNION BOYS AND GIRLS
DO YOU THINK WALMART WILL SLOW DOWN,IF WALMART WANT TO HAVE BETTER BUSINESS THEY SHOULD TREAT EMPLOYEES BETTER ESPECIALLY HEALTH INSURANCE.HEALTH INSURANCE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN GETTING PAID PEANUTS.UR HEALTH IS MORE IMPORTANT WITHOUT YOUR HEALTH U CANT WORK AND MAKE MONEY.IS THIS REPUBLICAN THING.IF I WAS THE CEO OF WALMART I WOULD VOTE FOR DEMOCRAT BECAUSE REPUBLICAN CATER TO THE RICH NOT THE LOWER CLASS.I HOPE HILLARY WINS AND SAVE AMERICA FROM FINANCIAL.WALMART WHO IS RICH IS NOT GOING TO BE HURT IF THEY GET TAX ALOT.THEY SHOULD TAKE MORE MONEY OUT FROM THE RICH TO BALANCE OUR ECONOMY LIKE WALMART.WALMART DOENT NEED ALL THAT MONEY THEY CAN GIVE SOME TO GOVT AND BUILD BETTER EDUCATION AND HELP HOMELESS AND FOSTER CHILDREN HAS BEEN HELPED.U KNOW WHEN UR RICH U CAN GIVE MORE,THE LOWER CLASS SHOULD BE TAX LESS BECAUSE THEY WORK HARD THAN RICH PEOPLE AND IF U TAX THE POOR EMPLOYEES AT WALMART ALOT,THEY DONT GOT ENOUGH MONEY FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND THEY CANT AFFORD TO FEED THEM,ESPECIALLY NOW THAT WALMART FOOD PRICE ARE HIGHER THAN BEFORE.WE WONT BE ABLE TO FEED THE CHILDREN THEY WILL BE MALNOURISHED WHICH IS SAD.IT WILL BE A DEPRESSION AGAIN.IT IS HARDER TO RAISE CHILDREEN NOW THAN BEFORE AND GOVT DONT HELP SINGLE MOTHERS THAT MUCH,GOVT DONT HELP PEOPLE WITH CHILDREN WHO ARE STRUGGLING THAT MUCH.WE NEED CHILDREN IN ORDER FOR OUR SPECIES TO SURVIVE BUT ITS HARDER NOW TO HAVE CHILDREN BECAUSE WALMART PRICES ARE UP AND EXPENSIVE. AND U WANT THE BEST THINGS FOR YOUR CHILDREN.WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO WORK AT WALMART THEREFORE WE NEED CHILDREN AND OUR CHILDREN WILL GROW UP AND WORK FOR WALMART BUT WALMART IS TOO EXPENSIVE ON THEIR FOOD NOW IN MILLENIUM AND IT IS HARD TO HAVE MORE CHILDREN THESE DAYS.I WOULDNT HAVE ANY MORE CHILDREN IN THIS CENTURY BECAUSE TIMES ARE HARD NOW AND WALMART FOOD IS GETTING EXPENSIVE,EVEN AROUNT THE WORLD FOOD IS EXPENSIVE.I DONT LIKE TO SEE MY CHILD OR ANY CHILD STARVING AND SUFFERING IN THIS CENTURY.CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD LIKE THIRD WORLD COUNTRY AND AFRICA R IN FAMINE.WALMART SHOULD OPEN STORES IN 3RD WORLD COUNTRY LIKE THE PHILIPPINES AND HELP OUT THE POOR PEOPLE FEED THEIR FAMILIES AND GET THE POOR PEOPLE JOBS AT WALMART SO THEY CAN SUPPORT THEIR CHILDREN.WALMART SHOULDNT OPEN JUST IN CHINA WHICH IS NOT THIRD WORLD COUNTRY.WALMART SHOULD HELP THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES WHO ARE POOR AND GIVE THEM JOBS AND POOR PEOPLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES WORK HARD TOO.WALMART SHOULDNT JUST OPEN IN CHINA.HOW COME WALMART DONT OPEN IN VERY POOR COUNTRIES? IS IT BECAUSE THEY WONT MAKE A PROFIT IN POOR COUNTRIES?? I WONDER.ITIS NOT FAIR CHINA HAS WALMART AND OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES DONT HAVE A WALMART.WALMART NEED TO LOWER THEIR PRICES NOT RAISE IT IN THIS HARSH ECONOMY WE HAD NOW.THERE IS NO MONEY .THERE IS NO MONEY TO SUPPORT SCHOOL SUPPLIES.REPUBLICAN VOTE HILLARY SHE IS AGAINST WALMART.DONT HATE HILLARY BECAUSE OF HER HUSBAND,IT IS OVER AND DONE WITH.DONT HAVE A GRUDGE.I AM VOTING FOR HILLARY NOT HER HUSBAND.PEOPLE ARE NOT PERFECT.A WOMAN CAN LEAD A COUNTRY AND HILLARY IS LIKE A MAN WHEN IT COMES TO LEADING.A WOMAN SHOULD BE CEO OF WALMART.WALMART IS NOT ADVANCE AS JAPAN WHO HAS VENDING MACHINE THAT DONT BREAK AND MAKES HOT FRIES AND HAMBURGERS INSIDE MACHINE.
WALMART SHOULD RECRUIT WORKER FROM PHILIPPINES AND MAKE THEM LEGAL IN USA THAT WAY NO LAWSUIT.I THEY ARE SHORT STAFF. RECRUIT PEOPLE BY BOAT IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES.
the department managers have so many duties daily they dont have time to look up working freight -scanning outs price changes bam screen-modulars moving across the department every other month backroom picklist daily bins keep organize fighting for bin space its not our fault they send to much they make you feel its your fault.
customer service not really much time for that 2oclock zone two many office and claims and mangers doing nothing but visit also to many csm just standing around laughing and talking candy department talks all the time about what manger she sleep with last
WENT TO WALMART PHARMACY IN MARYSVILLE CA.THE PHARMIST REFUSED TO REFILL MY MEDICATIONS FROM A KNEW PRESCRIPTION,KIETH SAID I DONT KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU.SAID MY INSURANCE REJECTED IT,I THEN PICKED UP MY HARD COPY AND HAD IT FILLED WITHIN 15 MINETS KIETH LIED TO ME,HE DID NOT EVEN RUN MY INSURANCE,WHAT KIND OF UNCONPATIONET PEOPLE IS WALMART HIREING.WAL MART HAS LOST A CUSTOMER THAT SPENDS ABOUT 8 HUNDRED DOLLARES A MOUNTH.THE FREINDLEY NIEBORHOOD STORE.NO WAY THEY ARE UNPROFESIONAL AND NOT FREINDLEY.
In my personal opinion i think those that work at wal-mart should leave if they dont like it. If all of their employes leave for the same reason they might get the idea. I'm not just saying a couple people leave but to make a difference you have to get wal-marts around the world to decide on one idea. Stick to. Don't just complain about how much your job sucks... to something about it!
it has been brought to my attention that i dont think walmart is all that bad like i read all these articles and i need more info and personal stuff please email me so i can understand this walmart situation better! sexy_thang180_5alive@hotmail.com or sexythang180_5alive@hotmail.com
YEAH SAM'S KIDS DONT EVEN WORK AT ALL BIZNATCHEZ DUNNO WOT THEIR TOKING BOUT I HATE YOU ALL SO MUCH THERE AT WALMART IT SUKS SO MOCH MAN I LOVE MY FAMLY IT IS SO GOOD AND AT WLAMART YOU CANT EAT FOOD YOU HAFTA PAY FUL PRICE LEIK WHAT THE SH IT IS THAT LIKE GO AWAY TO SOMEPLACE LIKE THE PHILLIPINES AND GET PEOPLE BY BOAT CAUSE WE HUNGRY WE DONT WANNA WORK SO CRAPPY IT IS [deleted]. I HATE YOU WALMAT!!!!! YOU SOK STUPID DUMB PLACE I HOPE YOU NEVER SELL NETHANG EVA K? I HATECHU JUST STOP! JUST STOP IT AND GO TO HELL AND I HATE YOU AND YOU SUCK AND NOBODY LEIKE YOU AND YOU SO BAD AND YOU SO GHEY AND YOU SO STUPID AND YOU SO DUMB AND YOU SO STUPID AND I HATE YOU MAN MY DADDY GOTTA WORK SO DAMN HARD FOR YOUR STUPID ASSES I NEED MY FAMLY TO SAVIVE AND IT IS NO FAIR THAT WE HAVE TO BUST OUT AZZES FOR YA FOOLZ
I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and uh, I believe that our, ah, education like such as in South Africa, and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., or should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for our children.
My sister, a single mom of two, has worked for the Federal Government, a veterinary office, and Winn-Dixie. She has been working for Wal-mart for the last four and a half years and says it is the best job she's ever had. She says she is treated better at Wal-mart than she was at her previous employers and loves her job. Her daughter just hired on at another Wal-Mart, and is very happy to be there after two years at fast food.
Another friend is a Wal-mart truck driver. He also loves his job and says that Wal-mart is the best employer he's ever had.
My son starts next week.
A LOT of Wal-mart employees are very happy with their jobs adn with the company.
{and yeah, reaching above your head to reach a 50 lb box was an accident waiting to happen.}
I'm also noticing that many of these posters appear to be functionally illiterate. Perhaps you may want to consider night school; get a better education, and maybe you'll move ahead in life.
i work at a store in south florida, i have worked at walmart for 14 yrs. it has not always been so bad. it seems that all of the stories i've heard from most of you are somewhat similar to what i've experienced before. if it were so simple to just go find another job i would, but for what i get paid and the benefits that i get from walmart no other business can match in this small town i live in. most of the time i make the best of a bad situation i clock in do the best i can while i am there and clock out when i'm sceduled. i have been in numerous positions at walmart including management but stepped down because the workload was so overwhelming and unreasonable i felt i made the right decision. yes, "WAL-MART IS BROKEN' they only try to put band-aids on a bad situations. their collapse has already begun. in my store our store manager is so rude he is hard hearted and no matter how many complaints are reported it seems h.o will not do anything. our morale is soooo low. he openly tells us to call our market mgr to complain, we lost over a million dollars in inventory last year and he is still there. sometimes i think i'm in the twilight zone workig at this walmart
Health Insurance is now almost doubleing as of 1-1-08 for WalMart employees.In spring 2007 WalMart gave their CEO Lee Scott a 24 Million Dollar Bonus. Since Helen Walton passed away a few months back all of her and Sam Waltons ideas and policies are disapearing quickly. RFID Chips are coming real soon. They are the leader when it comes to promoting this evil. WalMart is firing and permanently laying off employees while at the same time they are hiring part time help. They use manual floor jacks alot to pull tons of freight but thats ok because they have the good ole CMI (Claims Management Inc.) to handle their Workers Comp claims or should I say screw their own employees out of their workers comp. They have hired beancounters and they are working overtime trying to figure how to screw their employees. Wal Mart is sliding quickly.
it seems it's all about the "ALL MIGHTY DOLLAR".
I was wondering if walmart can not allow overtime but still want work to get done before the end of the shift even though there is no time to do the work?
I worked for wal-mart for almost 3 years but was fired after having to take my overtime and that left me having a lot of tardies and I want to know how can I get my case looked into by an lawyer in Mississippi please contact me at akeatralm05@yahoo.com
shakwanda is the best person i have ever heard from....i hope everything works out for you and please keep posting things because youre the best writer in the ENTIRE world...thank you
HOLLAAA BIZNATCHESS!!!!
I worked at Wal-mart for ONE DAY I could not stomach the videos they made us watch at orientation...it is so clear that once you go to work there you are in THEIR WORLD and you as a person don't even matter anymore. What really sucks about this is that they are changing the future of America for the WORST...when a Wal-Mart comes to town, the whole face and feel of the WHOLE TOWN changes. Small stores get shut down, ALL of the consumer traffic gets channeled to the Wal-mart. So much for American business being anti-monopoly! I DO NOT want my children to end up working in a Wal-Mart World, where you are treated like machinery and paid next to nothing. If we don't stand up and say STOP nothing will change! Kudos to the towns who have refused to allow Wal-Marts to be built, they were very smart and stayed ahead of the game. They stood up to Goliath and WON!! Check out the documentary I saw on the Encore channel called "Wal Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices"
I have been a union member for 40 years. I believe in unions and therefore will not shop in any Wal-mart store.
I do not believe it is right for a company thie size of Wal-mart to expect its employees to work over-time without compensation. This is against the law.
This company doesn't pay its people a "living wage", how can they expect them to not want the protection of a union. As well as the advantages of higher pay, vacations, health care, and retirement.
If left to the likes of Wal-mart, our children and grandchildren will never make more than $6.00 an hour, and have to live like those in impoverished nations of Africa and Asia. We did not build this wonderful country to be the poorest nation in the world, but I see it coming. Thank God, I will not live to see it.
It seems alot of people hate WalMart. I can see that hard work is something we would like to avoid, but it is futile. If someone doesnt do the hard work, no one will. On the other side of the wall, I can see where WalMart is looking rather funny. They have a video in orientation of a gentleman from a union. (Played by a WalMart actor, of course) They make him look like a drug dealer. So far, I havent seen any problems working at WalMart. If you watch what you are doing, you wont get into any accidents. Also, they have a video at orientation that clearly shows you how to lift a box. If the ladder is unsteady, report it. The only thing that can happen, is you have a case against WalMart, if they force you to use the ladder. I read someone say WalMart can afford to have a Suit against them. If thats true, why not take advantage of it ? If you are doing what is right and by the books, you should be compensated when you are injured. We dont have to be smart to understand what is right and wrong. We just have to pay a little attention to what is going on around us.
