Retail giant Walmart to raise wages for US staff

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

That was not my point at all. Never accused you of looking down at anyone. You are putting words into my mouth. But you do undeservedly treat Walmart as this great satan, as so many liberals do.

That is because Walmart has successfully thwarted being unionized. Democrats hate that. On the other hand, if the unions actually did their jobs instead of spending all their time with issue advocacy, they may have more support in the retail industry. One friend got a job at a supermarket chain, and even before she started working, she already owed dues to the union. The store only gave her less than 20 hours a week, split shifts, all kind of terrible treatment. The union did nothing for her, except collect dues.

[unsmiley 111]

That is because Walmart has successfully thwarted being unionized. Democrats hate that. On the other hand, if the unions actually did their jobs instead of spending all their time with issue advocacy, they may have more support in the retail industry. One friend got a job at a supermarket chain, and even before she started working, she already owed dues to the union. The store only gave her less than 20 hours a week, split shifts, all kind of terrible treatment. The union did nothing for her, except collect dues.

And a study shows that Walmart saves the average US family $2000/year due to Walmart's enormous clout with suppliers in keeping costs (and their prices -- and therefore those of their competitors) down, whether they shop in Walmart or not. Amazing benefit of Walmart to everyone that is routinely ignored by the lamestream media.

[decocker 7,198]

That was not my point at all. Never accused you of looking down at anyone. You are putting words into my mouth. But you do undeservedly treat Walmart as this great satan, as so many liberals do.

read that way to me.

walmart won't be around forever, american workers barely making it on chump change, that's seems to be a constant.

remember when walmart was proud about being 'made in america'? lol

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

can you live off of 10$ an hour in california?

No way.

[lostinblue 1,989]

And a study shows that Walmart saves the average US family $2000/year due to Walmart's enormous clout with suppliers in keeping costs (and their prices -- and therefore those of their competitors) down, whether they shop in Walmart or not. Amazing benefit of Walmart to everyone that is routinely ignored by the lamestream media.

Folks don't want them to hear that. How is that dock strike going ? Union workers say they cannot make it on 100,000 + per year.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Folks don't want them to hear that. How is that dock strike going ? Union workers say they cannot make it on 100,000 + per year.

I'm curious, where do you live? Because I'm trying to find a city that has cooks making 60,000 dollars a year in some small place or a retail store that employs 1000 employees. Apparently, I'm in the wrong career field.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Even if that is true, I'd rather not save that money and buy goods made in America and foster employment in our country. It does me no good to support sweatshops in some god forsaken place in China, and in the end I feel it'll cost us all a lot more than $2K per family to keep the habit.

And a study shows that Walmart saves the average US family $2000/year due to Walmart's enormous clout with suppliers in keeping costs (and their prices -- and therefore those of their competitors) down, whether they shop in Walmart or not. Amazing benefit of Walmart to everyone that is routinely ignored by the lamestream media.

I believe that was Michael Jackson's cook, in Neverland!

I'm curious, where do you live? Because I'm trying to find a city that has cooks making 60,000 dollars a year in some small place or a retail store that employs 1000 employees. Apparently, I'm in the wrong career field.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

And a study shows that Walmart saves the average US family $2000/year due to Walmart's enormous clout with suppliers in keeping costs (and their prices -- and therefore those of their competitors) down, whether they shop in Walmart or not. Amazing benefit of Walmart to everyone that is routinely ignored by the lamestream media.

link?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

link?

American Families Now Save $2,500 a Year, Thanks to Wal-Mart

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

American Families Now Save $2,500 a Year, Thanks to Wal-Mart

Odd though that the GPI study itself makes no such claim and does, in fact, come up with a much smaller consumer price impact.

Previous studies have shown that Wal-Mart has contributed to lower consumer prices. Global Insight conducted a statistical analysis that supports these findings. We found that the expansion of Wal-Mart over the 1985-2004 period can be associated with a cumulative decline of 9.1% in food-at-home prices, a 4.2% decline in commodities (goods) prices, and a 3.1% decline in overall consumer prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index - All Items, which includes both goods and services. These estimates are in line with other researchers' estimates of Wal-Mart's price effects. This impact amounts to consumer savings of $263 billion by 2004, which is the equivalent of $895 per person or $ 2,329 per household.

The key terms here are "cumulative" and "by". That means that this $2,329 per household savings has been accrued from 1985 through 2004 - that's a 20 year period. And it talks about the all consumer prices as measured by the CPI - that would include items such as housing, education and transportation that Wal-Mart doesn't even offer and would thus arguably not have much impact on. Yes, I can see why Wal-Mart would want to tout that study - which it commissioned - but I'd also take it with a big ole' grain of salt.

Now, none of this says anything about the wage depression that Wal-Mart's expansion has also brought about. I am quite certain that when you look at the net effect, the impact of Wal-Mart's expansion on American living standards will be negligible at best.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

I'm curious, where do you live? Because I'm trying to find a city that has cooks making 60,000 dollars a year in some small place or a retail store that employs 1000 employees. Apparently, I'm in the wrong career field.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I'm curious, where do you live? Because I'm trying to find a city that has cooks making 60,000 dollars a year in some small place or a retail store that employs 1000 employees. Apparently, I'm in the wrong career field.

IDK - the restaurant down the street has a fixed menu starting at $59 per person, so I assume that the Michelin- Star Chef there makes a good salary. 1000 employees in the same store location? Have not seen that anywhere.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

IDK - the restaurant down the street has a fixed menu starting at $59 per person, so I assume that the Michelin- Star Chef there makes a good salary. 1000 employees in the same store location? Have not seen that anywhere.

Lost claims that there is a local market like that in his area. It employs over 1000 people and the Chinese cook makes $60K per year. You don't think he was lieing, do you?

[luckytxn 2,264]

Retail has never been and never will be a job that one goes and gets and then settles down and raise a family. Retail is a starter job and only meant to supplement an income. There is always a high turnover in the industry so getting a retail job somewhere is usually the easiest around to get. If any go into retail and expect to be able to live comfortably then they have a problem.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

IDK - the restaurant down the street has a fixed menu starting at $59 per person, so I assume that the Michelin- Star Chef there makes a good salary. 1000 employees in the same store location? Have not seen that anywhere.

Oh, I know there are some chefs that make that and well over, depending on the area and the quality of their restaurant. Just ribbing lost since he claims to know of such a place in his neighborhood.