Wal-Mart

[TwoOuter]

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There is a lot more to it than meets the eye.

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Excellent post. Here's something from the Wall Street Journal Online this week:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118841591526312410.html

[Borodog]

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FHP?

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Fixed His Post.

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And where did the [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] come from?

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From Fixing His Post, since you apparently missed the joke.

[Rick Nebiolo]

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I've also noticed that the typical ass in Wal-Mart is far wider and more unsightly than one you might find in let's say Target.


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I've also noticed that people know which side of the aisle to walk on in Target. I was in Wal-Mart twice--and never again--and both times I kept my elbow raised so I could catch someone with a well-placed shot to the sternum when I was about to be steamrolled. This technique also works well in malls.

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Because the prices are a lot lower (even than Target for the kind of stuff I get) I go to Wal-Mart about once a month or so for the basics. Because of the unsightly rear end problem I make sure it's never a day I could possibly be having sex; those visions linger and the appetite simply disappears.

If you want sexy clerks and shoppers you need to go to a place like Nordstrom. Target is in between but closer to Wal-Mart.

~ Rick

[John Cole]

Hit me over the head with a sledgehammer. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[Borodog]

No problem. I shouldn't have made my tip so abstruse.

[KotOD]

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his dues were nearly $200 a month.

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I've never been a union member in my life. Is $200/mo standard??? Are there a lot of low-paid workers in this country paying dues like this?

That number knocks my socks off.


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Depending on the union, union dues are 1.3% - 2% of gross earnings.

[prohornblower]

I hate going there for similar reasons. The store is just ridic. huge, and I can't find anything. Plus trashy people and screaming kids everywhere. What's to like?

Last time I went was 3 months ago when we were out of town on a camping trip and went to buy cheese, soda, bread, plates, beer, etc.

[mattsey9]

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his dues were nearly $200 a month.

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I've never been a union member in my life. Is $200/mo standard??? Are there a lot of low-paid workers in this country paying dues like this?

That number knocks my socks off.


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Depending on the union, union dues are 1.3% - 2% of gross earnings.

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My dues are 0.45% of my gross earnings. Those funds are used to develop new apprentices, create training centers for members to hone their skills, etc. I honestly laugh out loud when I hear people talk about how evil labor unions are stealing from their workers. Those people have no idea, or choose not to recognize, how much American workers (union or non-union) have benefitted from the labor movement.

[daveT]

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his dues were nearly $200 a month.

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I've never been a union member in my life. Is $200/mo standard??? Are there a lot of low-paid workers in this country paying dues like this?

That number knocks my socks off.


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Depending on the union, union dues are 1.3% - 2% of gross earnings.

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My dues are 0.45% of my gross earnings. Those funds are used to develop new apprentices, create training centers for members to hone their skills, etc. I honestly laugh out loud when I hear people talk about how evil labor unions are stealing from their workers. Those people have no idea, or choose not to recognize, how much American workers (union or non-union) have benefitted from the labor movement.

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I am just going by what he told me, and my less than perfect memory.

I bashed very specifically into the UFCW and AFI. I did say that unions are obsolete for the fact that the country has caught up, and surpassed, the thinking that created them in the first place. I think I gave a brief history of Unions. That certain unions are waving the union flag for people that are waisting their money on a concept is disturbing. Yes, I do realize that UFCW is a branch of the Teamsters. Actually, this is not quite the truth, but for all intents and purposes, I will say it is.

I think that both sides of the argument have their good point. Take, for example, the Dockworker's strike. It is no doubt that these people are very powerful. That this entity can sever all imports has allowed the employees to make more than six-figures. But there is no denying that the port companies are willing to cut workers pay. Look at the truck driver's, classified as owner operators, that earn 12 per hour.

I once worked in the construction trade. I have seen that the construction union has managed to suficate itself. That they are requiring people to earn over 30, while there is a push to have employees work for less than minimum wage, is creating a bad work environment. The union workers are losing jobs left and right. The non-union (me) are losing contracts because they are being undercut. Why isn't the Union pushing to enforce the laws. Many states are de jury not right-to-work, but are de facto rtw. California is a shining example of this.

So, yes, to bust all of the unions for skilled labor is probably not a good thing IF AND ONLY IF they are willing to defend and fight for the jobs that are currently here. But unionizing a place like Walmart is wholly uncalled for.

If I remember correctly, the Dockworker's Union Strike was about the threat of losing jobs to machinery. If a machine can do it, the job is either to difficult for one person to do, or it is too easy for a person to do that is supposedly worth six figures. Sorry.

The steel mills have all left America for lower earning countries. With shipping and tariffs, a factory would not be saving that much if there wasn't unionized workers. There is no reason why an uneducated dingo pushing a broom should start at 20 and hour.

I don't believe in the extremes of one opinion or the other for the unions. There needs to be a balance.

[KotOD]

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My dues are 0.45% of my gross earnings. Those funds are used to develop new apprentices, create training centers for members to hone their skills, etc. I honestly laugh out loud when I hear people talk about how evil labor unions are stealing from their workers. Those people have no idea, or choose not to recognize, how much American workers (union or non-union) have benefitted from the labor movement.

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.45 is extremely low on a nationwide scale. As for where the money goes, you seem to be purposefully ignoring the places that a large portion of dues end up.