I am curious: Who here doesn't use Wal-mart? Why??

[noobiechickenlady]

That's a lot of banana bread.

And banana pudding, banana chips, banana muffins, orange-banana smoothies, and I forget what else.

M&TG, I don't think they do. When my BFF worked there, she started at $8, then got a $1 raise after 90 days. Once she was there a year, she got another $1 raise. She left soon after that, to homeschool her sons.
Here's a link to a chart showing the average pay for wally employees. Since it is averaged, but broken down by position, I would take that to mean it was averaged over the entire corp.

Edited to add the stinking link... http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Wal-Mart_Stores,_Inc/Hourly_Rate

 

[FarmerChick]

Tony's cousin Pat works at walmart. they give her ovetime hours etc.
it is the only job she has had for the last 12 years or so and her hubby lost his welding job and that walmart job is the ONLY thing keeping their roof over their head.

Small business has TONS of other reasons they can not survive in this country. One being not alot of help out there for them to make it and a small biz employs maybe 3-4-5 people sometimes. Oh yea, real good for the masses that require work.

Not every little small biz can support a country.

just rambling in general.....cause a big store is NOT the only reason smaller biz are going by the wayside at all.

A healthy strong nation can fight battles, look at our citizens NOW.....do you think they care if small biz can make it while they are losing homes, dying cause of no health care? Sick citizens make for a sick country....and like duh?

 

[inchworm]

There are many sides to everything. I only know one person who works at WalMart. He is a 78 year old gentleman who is living happily off his federal pension. He works at Wal Mart because he wants to. He enjoys having some work to do and seeing people. Yeah -- I don't get it either. But not everyone who works at WalMart is doing so because they want full-time pay or full-time benefits. Maybe they are fulfilling a need in a community where people just want to work a few hours or just an excuse to get out of the house.
We really need to stop labeling and pigeon-holing. Everybody has their own story.

 

[me&thegals]

Well, I think WM gets more than its share of the spotlight because it is so enormous. If you employ the most people in America, what you do and how you treat your employees is a lot more significant than much smaller businesses.

WM has been in the public eye around here when a report came out showing that the most people requiring public assistance in our state were WM employees. I think that's a social issue.

 

[nop169]

I also do not regularly shop at walmart - for many of the same reasons as the rest of you - but mainly on principle to support our folding under fast local small business. Yes walmart is often cheaper, but once all competition is gone - will they remain cheaper? And if spending a little more enables someone in my community to thrive & hire local people, shouldn't I strive to support that? My wife on the other hand does shop at walmart for both groceries & houshold supplies - although she agrees with me on my principle, she also says that we cant eat principles... With our local economy in the shape it is, I have to agree with her... and like many other places - there are few alternatives at this point. Many privately owned businesses in our area have closed & we have few options other than Walmart or other large chains...
Yes - I do agree walmart does hire local people & the pay is comparable to other pay scales in the area. Here making $10 to $12.00 per hour is considered to be fairly good pay - at one time it was.... but the problem is that the cost of living here has increased dramaticly while the pay remained the same & jobs become scarcer. Food, Power, Insurance, Taxes, Land & Home prices have all increased at an alarming rate.
Regardless of all the negative aspects of these large corperations, I think the problem stems from us.... not that we do not choose to buy from local business but because we buy so much that is not necessary. We, as americans, spend obscene amounts of money for "stuff".... I think that until we as a nation begin to utilize our resourses wisely, until we (as many of you reading this do) use up a product & choose to buy quality instead of quantity, that the spending orgy that supplies walmart & others with a cash flow will continue. It is a mindset that many people subscribe to - to have more is desireable to many. It is a sad situation that feeds upon itself.
As to the person who makes $35.00/hour.... I understand & do not judge you. My wife is a RM who makes base pay of $26.00/hr. We own 24 acres of land & have a morgage, pay insurance (both health & car/home), send our youngest child to a christian school & pay utilities & taxes. In our area, land prices have skyrocketed to 8 to 10,000/acre... a small home cost 180,000. Private school is 400.00/month... Health Insurance has increased (300.00/month).... and our local county taxes tripled for the last 3 years (from 1200.00 to 3400.00). Our power costs us around 180.00 per month now (up to 400.00 when the heat is on even though we also burn wood & keep the thermostat at 60). We live in a modest house that we built 6 years ago after a lifetime of saving & dreaming (about 2200 sq ft). Thank God we are healthy. We do not wish to be millionares - we simple want to live a simple, rural life where we choose our values & beliefs & can supply a portion of our food (hormone/antibiotic free). Here, if you do not have a combined income of around 120,000/year, you cannot afford to live well - well as in not excessive but comfortable. 10 years ago a combined income of 45,000 enabled you to live a good life.... no more & jobs are scarce.
Hoping all have a great christmas & a better new year than this last one has been.

 

[dragonlaurel]

I don't ever shop there, but it's not due to political reasons. We simply do not have them anywhere near us. Meijer is the big thing here. Also, my ex husband works for WM, so I would boycott it for that reason if we did have one near us. LOL!

Don't worry about the ex working for them. They probably don't treat him very well.

I try to get stuff at other places because

-They put most of the the other businesses in the area out of business normally when they move into an area. I don't want to see functioning downtown areas turn into ghost towns because No One could compete with the walmonster.

People don't seem to matter to them much. I don't like the way they treat their employees or myself as a customer. They keep areas way understaffed which makes it hard to get any help if I need it.

They are one of the most extreme examples of corporate greed I have seen.

 

[dacjohns]

I make $18.26 an hour as a GS 7. To approach $35/hour I would have to be a GS12. That is really getting up there in the government service.

I have to add in my Army retirement to reach that wage. I'm glad I followed good financial advice and kept my debt down. I'm also very thankful that I am essentially debt free and living comfortably, not extravagantly, just comfortable and within my means.

 

[dacjohns]

Great points, ladies. Cost of living and life circumstances are hugely important in how we do on the money we make. My DH and I have low wages, but we also have been very, very lucky so far.

As for WM employees, it's appalling in my view that they, fully employed, need to be such a drain on social programs in order that Wal-Mart, the corporation, can be so stinkin' wealthy. How can the owners hold their heads up in public?

My conservative, Republican parents do pretty well. When their business is doing awesome, their employees get BIG bonuses! Their secretary already earns more than I do after a college education. They just now started having the employees chip in a little for their health insurance. Until a few years ago, they paid 100%. When times get tough, the bonuses get cut down, but the wages are still great, benefits still great.

I guess I make the point because it CAN work for companies to treat their employees very, very well and still do well themselves. My guess is that you would have incredibly loyal employees.

But, as keeps coming up in different forms, if we want cheap things (food, WM goods, gas), we have to acknowledge that the price is being paid elsewhere. As WZ says, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Since when did this become a ladies forum/thread?

 

[me&thegals]

Is everybody getting a little touchy today? Dacjohns, at the point I posted that, the conversation HAD been among "the ladies."

So glad the gents are joining now, too.

 

[dacjohns]

Is everybody getting a little touchy today? Dacjohns, at the point I posted that, the conversation HAD been among "the ladies."

So glad the gents are joining now, too.

Oh since I stepped out I was not longer part of the conversation?