Walmart

[krc1995]

Hard to blame Walmart for the "Made in America" problem. Most American companies have out sourced their jobs over seas for years. American manufactures care more about making money than quality. Making products cheap, leads to cheaply made products.

 

I still your point though. Walmart and other retailers only help to reinforce the problem.

 

I know I am going to be in a minority in this. But, most of the made in china problem is caused by the consumer. The consumer has been influenced by companies like Walmart to believe that lower prices are always good. That forces manufacturers to do what ever it takes to make it cheaper which leads to being made in China.

 

If I am a manufacturer of something and I want to sell it to Walmart and their current supplier is supplying them from China with no regulations and paying workers next to nothing, how am I going to compete while making it in the US? Walmart doesn't care about ANYTHING other than price. Literally that is the case. If you are supplying Walmart and I come in with basically the same product two cents cheaper, they are going to switch and they don't give a crap where it comes from.

I agree- it's a consumer deal. Somwhere along the way people starting thinking more disposable crap is better then less crap but higher quality. If we bought less but paid more for quality, Walmart couldn't exist because they couldn't sell enough higher priced goods to make enough profit.

[NUance]

I'm no fan of Walmart. But like labor unions even less. I hope Walmart crushes this push to unionize their workers.

[Michiganball]

I'm no fan of Walmart. But like labor unions even less. I hope Walmart crushes this push to unionize their workers.

 

I think they are a better alternative then eventually most companies treating employees as Walmart does, that would only end up with some heads on pikes, it's happened before when wealth distribution became parasitic. Unions can get crazy, God knows I've seen some absurdities having to deal with them, but like it or not they are the reasons why we have vacations, kids that don't work in factories(here at least) and safer work conditions. They make the pro employee benchmark rules(some absurd)that others at least loosely follow if they want a better quality work force.

Maybe you are nostalgic towards the 19th century and before, but if you had to make a living back then you might not be so sympathetic towards those who didn't care if workers lived or died or if kids wasted in factories. There was a reason why extreme philosophies such as communism came into being. Where not near such wretched conditions on a large scale yet, but I remember when only one person in a family had to work, this is hardly possible these days even at 60k a year. Point being unions are very much needed to balance and keep "corporate ethics" in check.

[Conga3]

I'm no fan of Walmart. But like labor unions even less. I hope Walmart crushes this push to unionize their workers.

 

I think they are a better alternative then eventually most companies treating employees as Walmart does, that would only end up with some heads on pikes, it's happened before when wealth distribution became parasitic. Unions can get crazy, God knows I've seen some absurdities having to deal with them, but like it or not they are the reasons why we have vacations, kids that don't work in factories(here at least) and safer work conditions. They make the pro employee benchmark rules(some absurd)that others at least loosely follow if they want a better quality work force.

Maybe you are nostalgic towards the 19th century and before, but if you had to make a living back then you might not be so sympathetic towards those who didn't care if workers lived or died or if kids wasted in factories. There was a reason why extreme philosophies such as communism came into being. Where not near such wretched conditions on a large scale yet, but I remember when only one person in a family had to work, this is hardly possible these days even at 60k a year. Point being unions are very much needed to balance and keep "corporate ethics" in check.

 

 

Labor Unions, as structure to facilitate collective bargaining between groups of employees and the employer is certainly a just and moral activity.

 

Once a labor union threatens the employer (strike) they are now using coercion as the means to achieve their goals.

 

The union no longer has the moral high ground if their goals are based on compensation/work and not abuses of human rights.

[Michiganball]

I'm no fan of Walmart. But like labor unions even less. I hope Walmart crushes this push to unionize their workers.

 

I think they are a better alternative then eventually most companies treating employees as Walmart does, that would only end up with some heads on pikes, it's happened before when wealth distribution became parasitic. Unions can get crazy, God knows I've seen some absurdities having to deal with them, but like it or not they are the reasons why we have vacations, kids that don't work in factories(here at least) and safer work conditions. They make the pro employee benchmark rules(some absurd)that others at least loosely follow if they want a better quality work force.

Maybe you are nostalgic towards the 19th century and before, but if you had to make a living back then you might not be so sympathetic towards those who didn't care if workers lived or died or if kids wasted in factories. There was a reason why extreme philosophies such as communism came into being. Where not near such wretched conditions on a large scale yet, but I remember when only one person in a family had to work, this is hardly possible these days even at 60k a year. Point being unions are very much needed to balance and keep "corporate ethics" in check.

 

 

Labor Unions, as structure to facilitate collective bargaining between groups of employees and the employer is certainly a just and moral activity.

 

Once a labor union threatens the employer (strike) they are now using coercion as the means to achieve their goals.

 

The union no longer has the moral high ground if their goals are based on compensation/work and not abuses of human rights.

 

No doubt, though one cant clump all the unions together, they have very different degree's of power and like people varying common sense.

[Hingle McCringleberry]

Hard to blame Walmart for the "Made in America" problem. Most American companies have out sourced their jobs over seas for years. American manufactures care more about making money than quality. Making products cheap, leads to cheaply made products.

 

I still your point though. Walmart and other retailers only help to reinforce the problem.

 

I know I am going to be in a minority in this. But, most of the made in china problem is caused by the consumer. The consumer has been influenced by companies like Walmart to believe that lower prices are always good. That forces manufacturers to do what ever it takes to make it cheaper which leads to being made in China.

 

If I am a manufacturer of something and I want to sell it to Walmart and their current supplier is supplying them from China with no regulations and paying workers next to nothing, how am I going to compete while making it in the US? Walmart doesn't care about ANYTHING other than price. Literally that is the case. If you are supplying Walmart and I come in with basically the same product two cents cheaper, they are going to switch and they don't give a crap where it comes from.

I agree- it's a consumer deal. Somwhere along the way people starting thinking more disposable crap is better then less crap but higher quality. If we bought less but paid more for quality, Walmart couldn't exist because they couldn't sell enough higher priced goods to make enough profit.

 

 

Nail on the head. Ask most people about China etc, and the response is "They are taking our jobs", people dont ask, when was the last time you looked where your products were made, and where did you buy them. I have a friend who will sit in the bar and bitch about how Walmart is killing "Main Street", yet he shops there all the time. We are free to choose, and my choice was to reject Walmart. I go out of my way to shop at locally owned places etc., its like quitting smoking, I haven't been in a Walmart in 4 years, and I dont plan on ever going back. People who say Walmart kills small towns, are ignorant IMO, people were happy with what they were paying before Walmart came (or maybe not), why should their habits change, because in the end no one really gave a crap, when Bobs Hardware goes out of business, people blame Walmart, in the end its their own fault.

 

When a close friend of mine got married earlier this year, the entire gift registry was made up of made in the USA items. I helped her compile the list, and it was hard to find everything in the US. One example, at that time there was one place left that made stainless tableware. They had been shut down for nine months and had just resumed production, and we could only get it via mail order. We also learned that companies like Lodge, that have Made in the USA plastered all over their boxes, have a little secret. All of their baked enamel stuff is made in China, same goes for All Clad with the non-stick pans. So we set up a hierarchy. US first, North America second, Europe third, then Asia. For enameled cookware, we chose Staub, their lines are all made in France including the knobs.

[krc1995]

Hard to blame Walmart for the "Made in America" problem. Most American companies have out sourced their jobs over seas for years. American manufactures care more about making money than quality. Making products cheap, leads to cheaply made products.

 

I still your point though. Walmart and other retailers only help to reinforce the problem.

 

I know I am going to be in a minority in this. But, most of the made in china problem is caused by the consumer. The consumer has been influenced by companies like Walmart to believe that lower prices are always good. That forces manufacturers to do what ever it takes to make it cheaper which leads to being made in China.

 

If I am a manufacturer of something and I want to sell it to Walmart and their current supplier is supplying them from China with no regulations and paying workers next to nothing, how am I going to compete while making it in the US? Walmart doesn't care about ANYTHING other than price. Literally that is the case. If you are supplying Walmart and I come in with basically the same product two cents cheaper, they are going to switch and they don't give a crap where it comes from.

I agree- it's a consumer deal. Somwhere along the way people starting thinking more disposable crap is better then less crap but higher quality. If we bought less but paid more for quality, Walmart couldn't exist because they couldn't sell enough higher priced goods to make enough profit.

 

 

Nail on the head. Ask most people about China etc, and the response is "They are taking our jobs", people dont ask, when was the last time you looked where your products were made, and where did you buy them. I have a friend who will sit in the bar and bitch about how Walmart is killing "Main Street", yet he shops there all the time. We are free to choose, and my choice was to reject Walmart. I go out of my way to shop at locally owned places etc., its like quitting smoking, I haven't been in a Walmart in 4 years, and I dont plan on ever going back. People who say Walmart kills small towns, are ignorant IMO, people were happy with what they were paying before Walmart came (or maybe not), why should their habits change, because in the end no one really gave a crap, when Bobs Hardware goes out of business, people blame Walmart, in the end its their own fault.

 

When a close friend of mine got married earlier this year, the entire gift registry was made up of made in the USA items. I helped her compile the list, and it was hard to find everything in the US. One example, at that time there was one place left that made stainless tableware. They had been shut down for nine months and had just resumed production, and we could only get it via mail order. We also learned that companies like Lodge, that have Made in the USA plastered all over their boxes, have a little secret. All of their baked enamel stuff is made in China, same goes for All Clad with the non-stick pans. So we set up a hierarchy. US first, North America second, Europe third, then Asia. For enameled cookware, we chose Staub, their lines are all made in France including the knobs.

 

that's a cool idea. I guess if it's not your money, you want quantity. But on a daily basis with less disposable income then before, most go for the cheap goods even if they know they wont last

[Roark]

So mom & pop stores are small, have few options for the consumer and are relatively expensive and Wal Mart is large, has more options, and is less expensive... And Wal Mart is the bad guy. So you all must really hate internet retailers then, huh?

 

Look, I agree that Wal Marts are disgusting eyesores that are generally visited by repulsive and ignorant people, but other than that, what's the big deal? Mom & pop didn't create any of their own products (in general), they're just distributing goods. Wal Mart simply does it better. As for their employees, as harsh as this may sound, they have little-to-no education/skills, and do not warrant any kind of extravagant salary. If you're applying for the local Wal Mart, you probably shouldn't expect $30 an hour and a Cadillac insurance plan. People may get upset by this, but the market for unskilled labor is not exactly a booming one.

 

And for those saying that people would rather sacrifice American made quality for cheap foreign goods, my Honda would like to have a word with you. American manufactured products are not, and have not been of superior quality for some time.

[MLB 51]

So mom & pop stores are small, have few options for the consumer and are relatively expensive and Wal Mart is large, has more options, and is less expensive... And Wal Mart is the bad guy. So you all must really hate internet retailers then, huh?

 

Look, I agree that Wal Marts are disgusting eyesores that are generally visited by repulsive and ignorant people, but other than that, what's the big deal? Mom & pop didn't create any of their own products (in general), they're just distributing goods. Wal Mart simply does it better. As for their employees, as harsh as this may sound, they have little-to-no education/skills, and do not warrant any kind of extravagant salary. If you're applying for the local Wal Mart, you probably shouldn't expect $30 an hour and a Cadillac insurance plan. People may get upset by this, but the market for unskilled labor is not exactly a booming one.

 

And for those saying that people would rather sacrifice American made quality for cheap foreign goods, my Honda would like to have a word with you. American manufactured products are not, and have not been of superior quality for some time.

Wow. That's just wrong man.

[Conga3]

So mom & pop stores are small, have few options for the consumer and are relatively expensive and Wal Mart is large, has more options, and is less expensive... And Wal Mart is the bad guy. So you all must really hate internet retailers then, huh? Look, I agree that Wal Marts are disgusting eyesores that are generally visited by repulsive and ignorant people, but other than that, what's the big deal? Mom & pop didn't create any of their own products (in general), they're just distributing goods. Wal Mart simply does it better. As for their employees, as harsh as this may sound, they have little-to-no education/skills, and do not warrant any kind of extravagant salary. If you're applying for the local Wal Mart, you probably shouldn't expect $30 an hour and a Cadillac insurance plan. People may get upset by this, but the market for unskilled labor is not exactly a booming one. And for those saying that people would rather sacrifice American made quality for cheap foreign goods, my Honda would like to have a word with you. American manufactured products are not, and have not been of superior quality for some time.

 

Hey, I shop at Walmart!

 

---

 

Sidebar : Does anyone else notice Walmart has better mozzarella than the other local grocery stores? I buy Sargento skim mozzarella in the block for my homemade pizzas (I'm a foodie). Now this isn't the good "fresh" mozzarella...at least it's not supposed to be and certainly isn't when I pick it up at my neighborhood grocery. But for some reason, Walmart gets the "good/fresh" batch of Sargento moozarella (obviously because of the evil corporate methods) and it tastes pretty close to fresh mozzarella! Delicious!

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

I'm no fan of Walmart. But like labor unions even less. I hope Walmart crushes this push to unionize their workers.

 

I think they are a better alternative then eventually most companies treating employees as Walmart does, that would only end up with some heads on pikes, it's happened before when wealth distribution became parasitic. Unions can get crazy, God knows I've seen some absurdities having to deal with them, but like it or not they are the reasons why we have vacations, kids that don't work in factories(here at least) and safer work conditions. They make the pro employee benchmark rules(some absurd)that others at least loosely follow if they want a better quality work force.

Maybe you are nostalgic towards the 19th century and before, but if you had to make a living back then you might not be so sympathetic towards those who didn't care if workers lived or died or if kids wasted in factories. There was a reason why extreme philosophies such as communism came into being. Where not near such wretched conditions on a large scale yet, but I remember when only one person in a family had to work, this is hardly possible these days even at 60k a year. Point being unions are very much needed to balance and keep "corporate ethics" in check.

 

 

Labor Unions, as structure to facilitate collective bargaining between groups of employees and the employer is certainly a just and moral activity.

 

Once a labor union threatens the employer (strike) they are now using coercion as the means to achieve their goals.

 

The union no longer has the moral high ground if their goals are based on compensation/work and not abuses of human rights.

Unions are obsolete. Laws in place now take care of what Labor Unions once did. Unions now are all about "me, me, me"

[The Dude]

I can't imagine Walmart would give a sh#t about striking workers. They'd just replace them. In fact, they'd probably prefer to replace their workers every 6 months to a year. That way they wouldn't have to give benefits and raises.

[beanman]

When I go to Walmart, I have to shower when I get home so I don't get any of the diseases that are being carried by the freak show passing through that store.

[Conga3]

I'm no fan of Walmart. But like labor unions even less. I hope Walmart crushes this push to unionize their workers.

 

I think they are a better alternative then eventually most companies treating employees as Walmart does, that would only end up with some heads on pikes, it's happened before when wealth distribution became parasitic. Unions can get crazy, God knows I've seen some absurdities having to deal with them, but like it or not they are the reasons why we have vacations, kids that don't work in factories(here at least) and safer work conditions. They make the pro employee benchmark rules(some absurd)that others at least loosely follow if they want a better quality work force.

Maybe you are nostalgic towards the 19th century and before, but if you had to make a living back then you might not be so sympathetic towards those who didn't care if workers lived or died or if kids wasted in factories. There was a reason why extreme philosophies such as communism came into being. Where not near such wretched conditions on a large scale yet, but I remember when only one person in a family had to work, this is hardly possible these days even at 60k a year. Point being unions are very much needed to balance and keep "corporate ethics" in check.

 

 

Labor Unions, as structure to facilitate collective bargaining between groups of employees and the employer is certainly a just and moral activity.

 

Once a labor union threatens the employer (strike) they are now using coercion as the means to achieve their goals.

 

The union no longer has the moral high ground if their goals are based on compensation/work and not abuses of human rights.

Unions are obsolete. Laws in place now take care of what Labor Unions once did. Unions now are all about "me, me, me"

I would say that the defense that some use to support unions is obsolete. However, a union as a framework for collective bargaining and other employee services certainly isn't obsolete.

 

---

FOOTBALL Analogy :

 

Consider the "Unity Council" on the Husker team analogous to a labor union. You have players (Workers) form an entity whereby they can meet, discuss topics that relate to them and when needed approach and discuss topics with coaches (Management). The concept gives the individual the ability to have their ideas/concerns addressed with a bigger voice. Communication improves and both parties are able to resolve issues and be more successful.

 

Now consider the Unity Council asks Bo for more time to play video games instead of game film study. Bo says, no way...that'll hurt our team. The players threaten to not suit up for the next game in protest (strike). Bo has to field a team Saturday, so he gives into the demands and the players get more video game time. However, they aren't as prepared as the other team and begin to lose games. (No Profit)

 

The Unity Council blames Bo for the losses, while Bo blames the players and Unity Council. The team goes 5-7 and Bo get fired. (CEO is fired)

 

The Unity Council tells the Athletic Department (Board of Directors) that they want to be involved in choosing the next head coach...one that is "player friendly"...and while we're at it lets install some Unity Council leaders (ex-Union Boss) in the Athletic Department, cause obviously the players need to be represented there in order for everyone to better understand the needs of the players.

 

A new coach is hired (Some other CEO) and continues to lose because the players demands to play more video games (compensation/benefits) during the week have made the team less competitive than the opponents (non-unionized companies).

 

The attendance drops (revenue) and the Athletic Department appeals to the University (State/Federal Government) for enough funding (bailout) to continue the program. The University feels public pressure from the fans (Americans) to save the football program because of its storied history. Boosters (Pro-Labor Super PACs) threaten to withhold donations (campaign donations) as well if the football program is shut down.

 

The University, going against principles of the founder charter, decides it will take money from the students and save the football program.

 

The cycle continues.... and the football team is never as good again.

 

Analogy over.

[KJ.]

Wow....two threads that sd and I agree in. I need to go see the doctor to see if anything is wrong with me.

i know, right? freaky friday i guess.

Why don't you blame the low-life, trailer park trash employees that are only good enough to get a job at Wal-Mart and nowhere else.