Serious Question to anyone who works in retail

[firstdown]

The biggest thing Wal Mart has done to hurt us was making working for them a part time job. If you think back to the 70's working at places like Sears and JC Penny's was a full time job with good bennifitts. People would actually work there for 30 yrs. and retired with a decent retirement package. Then came Wall Mart and Kmart. They hired part time people with little to no beniffits. Sears and JC Pennys took a hugh hit from them in the early 80's because of their overhead and could not compete. Both of them in the 80's almost went under but to survive they made the nessary cuts and started hiring part time employees. It took most of the 80's for Sears and Penny's to catch back up and thats what has lead to where we are today in retail. The only reason Wall Mart gets dragged into the mud is because they are the top dog.

If any large retail store was forced to turn union while the others did not they would be gone in just a few years. The only way any of the large retail stores could turn union is if all truned union becuase if only one turned union their empolyee cost would drive their prises higher then the non union stores.

[SolidSnake84]

Well i've always believed that Walmart is anti-union only because they know that the Union would force them to make changes they dont want, mainly higher pay, safer conditions, etc...

I'm Pro Union. I won't lie. I feel like the average companies do not care about workers rights, i feel like we need someone to represent us. That being said, i agree that the stores would be gone in a few years if everyone unionized.

I'll be honest with you, I don't feel that a union is always a bad thing. It can be in certain situations, but for retail workers, it would be good.

Ask yourself; does anyone really deserve to be paid that low of a wage?? I understand that its a dead end job, that needs no skills, etc...but don't they realize that they could change their image as a whole, and attract better workers if they made the wages better??

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by SolidSnake84

Well i've always believed that Walmart is anti-union only because they know that the Union would force them to make changes they dont want, mainly higher pay, safer conditions, etc...

I'm Pro Union. I won't lie. I feel like the average companies do not care about workers rights, i feel like we need someone to represent us. That being said, i agree that the stores would be gone in a few years if everyone unionized.

I'll be honest with you, I don't feel that a union is always a bad thing. It can be in certain situations, but for retail workers, it would be good.

Ask yourself; does anyone really deserve to be paid that low of a wage?? I understand that its a dead end job, that needs no skills, etc...but don't they realize that they could change their image as a whole, and attract better workers if they made the wages better??

they don't care about better employees they want cheaper employees. Little cost in training and uniforms for your average Wal Mart employee.

They don't need to change their image they are rolling in the dough!

[MTK]

Min. wage as it is right now is certainly not a livable wage.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Min. wage as it is right now is certainly not a livable wage.

It's not intended to be. The far majority of people making minimum wage are not working as a head of household or to support a family, they're usually kids. Increasing it so these kids make more money is only going to result in the company hiring fewer of them, or paying the rest of their employees less since the Government is costing them more for lower-priority, nonessential workers.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Buster

It's not intended to be. The far majority of people making minimum wage are not working as a head of household or to support a family, they're usually kids. Increasing it so these kids make more money is only going to result in the company hiring fewer of them, or paying the rest of their employees less since the Government is costing them more for lower-priority, nonessential workers.

The latest data I can find from 2007 shows it's more like 50/50

Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2007

[tryfuhl]

Originally Posted by Buster

It's not intended to be. The far majority of people making minimum wage are not working as a head of household or to support a family, they're usually kids. Increasing it so these kids make more money is only going to result in the company hiring fewer of them, or paying the rest of their employees less since the Government is costing them more for lower-priority, nonessential workers.

Walk into a lot of min wage places.. gas stations, retail, food service

a lot of adults

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by Buster

It's not intended to be. The far majority of people making minimum wage are not working as a head of household or to support a family, they're usually kids. Increasing it so these kids make more money is only going to result in the company hiring fewer of them, or paying the rest of their employees less since the Government is costing them more for lower-priority, nonessential workers.

I used to work a minimum wage job a few years back and trust me. They had people from 18 - at least 50 or 60 working there. I'm making a little more than minimum wage now and still the same thing. A couple years ago at my current job, this guy was 70 at working till he got a new job. If I had to guess, (just like the link Matty provided) I would think it's at least a 50/50 split.

Even at burger joints I haven't been seeing as many kids/college students working. I'm more likely to see them waiting tables than anywhere else..

[SolidSnake84]

factor in too a lot of people that are working as supplimental income to support a husband/wife or whatever.

I just hate it that the response is to treat retail workers and people who work with the public as less than human. Ie) retail workers, resteraunt workers. I wish there was a way for us all to have wages where we can actually afford to live...

And a company that makes a 200Billion profit each year can afford to pay their workers more than 7.00 an hour...thats some bullshit right there!

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by SolidSnake84

factor in too a lot of people that are working as supplimental income to support a husband/wife or whatever.

I just hate it that the response is to treat retail workers and people who work with the public as less than human. Ie) retail workers, resteraunt workers. I wish there was a way for us all to have wages where we can actually afford to live...

And a company that makes a 200Billion profit each year can afford to pay their workers more than 7.00 an hour...thats some bullshit right there!

Did some work with the homeless and we had to sit through a lecture as part of it. And at least in the D.C. area the minimum wage would have to start at at least $11 per hour for people to be able to live hand to mouth. Kinda sad.

[tryfuhl]

Originally Posted by DynamiteRave

Did some work with the homeless and we had to sit through a lecture as part of it. And at least in the D.C. area the minimum wage would have to start at at least $11 per hour for people to be able to live hand to mouth. Kinda sad.

at 21 I was making 13/hr in Manassas, VA (well living in Nokesville) and was only able to survive because I was only paying 400/mo in rent because it was a very tiny family house and the rent was just to cover the property taxes

that same sub-900sq ft house is now renting for 1300/mo.. no clue how, but it is... there's a lot of land but I don't think that the people are using it

I probably could've budgeted a bit better but oh well... it's definitely tough

I've been looking at prices of moving closer to DC (somewhere somewhat near metro access) and the prices are crazy.. I'd have to get a pretty decent job again and rent a room out in a house..

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by SolidSnake84

factor in too a lot of people that are working as supplimental income to support a husband/wife or whatever.

I just hate it that the response is to treat retail workers and people who work with the public as less than human. Ie) retail workers, resteraunt workers. I wish there was a way for us all to have wages where we can actually afford to live...

And a company that makes a 200Billion profit each year can afford to pay their workers more than 7.00 an hour...thats some bullshit right there!

Its called get an education and work hard. If someone has been in the work force for any amount of time and is making min wage then they are probably lazy. This does not apply to some areas where jobs are hard to come by or in the current state. I dated a girl who work in a resturaunt waiting tables and on a bad night made around $100 and on a good night could make $250 and that was back in the early 90's.

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Its called get an education and work hard. If someone has been in the work force for any amount of time and is making min wage then they are probably lazy. This does not apply to some areas where jobs are hard to come by or in the current state. I dated a girl who work in a resturaunt waiting tables and on a bad night made around $100 and on a good night could make $250 and that was back in the early 90's.

Male and female strippers make good money too so I hear. There's always the pole...

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by SolidSnake84

factor in too a lot of people that are working as supplimental income to support a husband/wife or whatever.

I just hate it that the response is to treat retail workers and people who work with the public as less than human. Ie) retail workers, resteraunt workers. I wish there was a way for us all to have wages where we can actually afford to live...

And a company that makes a 200Billion profit each year can afford to pay their workers more than 7.00 an hour...thats some bullshit right there!

I was just about to bring up this point. Even with a good accounting job, I used to work a second job at a pizza shop a few evenings a week when my wife became a stay-at-home mother, cutting her income down dramatically (but worth it to raise our son). Of course, I was hired as a manager, but I would have taken a "regular" pie tosser job too.

As I stated before, minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage and even if someone doesn't have the education, capability or opportunity to get anything other than a minimum wage job for a period of time, there is nothing stopping them from working more than one job to make ends meet. It's called being an adult. So the stats will always be swayed by that fact, that the McDonalds job being counted is more likely not their sole source of income.

Even working in that pizza shop, I never saw any of the kids being hired at minimum wage. McDonalds and the convenience stores are always advertising their hourly wages and they're always higher than minimum. I'm not sure many employers even pay minimum wage anyways, they still have to compete for workers within their market.

[SolidSnake84]

Originally Posted by Buster

I was just about to bring up this point. Even with a good accounting job, I used to work a second job at a pizza shop a few evenings a week when my wife became a stay-at-home mother, cutting her income down dramatically (but worth it to raise our son). Of course, I was hired as a manager, but I would have taken a "regular" pie tosser job too.

As I stated before, minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage and even if someone doesn't have the education, capability or opportunity to get anything other than a minimum wage job for a period of time, there is nothing stopping them from working more than one job to make ends meet. It's called being an adult. So the stats will always be swayed by that fact, that the McDonalds job being counted is more likely not their sole source of income.

Even working in that pizza shop, I never saw any of the kids being hired at minimum wage. McDonalds and the convenience stores are always advertising their hourly wages and they're always higher than minimum. I'm not sure many employers even pay minimum wage anyways, they still have to compete for workers within their market.

I make fun of McDonald's too, but the truth is their positions pay significantly higher than most retail stores. Keep in mind i used to be in Leesburg, VA, and the shift managers at McDonald's made 10.15 an hour....thats not too bad if it is a supplimentary income job. (helping out a spouse, 2nd job, etc.)