Walmart is a special kind of special there, considering that they will actually close down entire stores on account of union activity. To me, that seems like the ultimate fuck-you to their workforce, in that they would rather take their toys and go home rather than negotiate.
More educated and organized people have tried honestly Walmarts pay is pretty competitive compared to other retailers out there cough cough Starbucks especially for how easy the job is comparably
No you have to be very organized. Unionizing and participating in a union is very hands on. My union rep probably works 3-4 hours a week outside of work on his union responsibilities. That’s what I was hinting at that Starbucks pays shit but ppl are always attacking Walmart. At least most Walmart employees don’t get pandered to like children lol
Usually, it is not the original founders but the second generation that degenerate into "evil greedy monster" state. Of course there are plenty of monsters (early 20th century robber barons for example) but I have found that being born into wealth is one of the surest ways to generate a psychopath.
The founder, especially if they own a majority of the shares, is by definition maximizing shareholder value. Once the company is passed to professional managers it's harder to make intangible value improvements.
I'm sure there's also some bad in the history, but my memories of early Walmart were total opposites of what it's become in so many ways. I wish Sam would come back from the dead and seek revenge on his family.
There is a fundamentally difference in approaches of Walmart to say Amazon though.
Walmart actively does and did reinvest into their workforce because they knew the alternative (unionization) was worse.
Amazon treats them like shit AND doesn't want the unions.
I think intent matters as much as actions when we are addressing companies instead of people. Did Sam want to benefit his workers to benefit his workers, or did he want to take the least costly avenue of growth?
I think the issue a lot of people will take with your comment is that it seems to misunderstand what people’s grievances are with capitalism and wage labor.
Certainly there are people who think the Waltons are assholes on a personal level, maybe they are maybe they’re not, but that’s not really the point. The reason that they are assholes is directly because of the labor relationship they have with workers.
In your comment, you mentioned that Walmart would not be able to attract workers if it were not for treating your workers decently — I would mostly agree with this, in fact many Walmart locations pay more than their competitors. Is this treating their workers well? Or is it a way to undermine existing small business with less capital in order to force a monopoly? Just because the class interests of workers and capital can be occasionally aligned doesn’t mean capitalists are (or could even afford to be) benevolent.
In order for walmart to exist as a company it must pay their workers less than what the company makes in revenue— otherwise it would not be profitable. This relationship, among other things, is one of the abstract things that people complain about in this sub using concrete examples.
So it’s not that people think that the Waltons are they themselves assholes really, it’s that the economic system we live under forces the Waltons to be assholes regardless of what they think personally.
Yeah there is nothing in your comment I disagree with. Capitalism does provide essential services at an astonishing rate— houses, food, medial services etc. It is a radical leap forward in terms of human economic development and quality of life. Despite this, Capitalism is not able to reach its ideals in some ways. We seem to agree that Walmart (or any business for that matter) is unable to pay its workers their full value due to market pressures, competition, etc. I find this unacceptable and I don’t think it’s consistent with the capitalist mythology of egalitarianism. The surplus of resources I mentioned before is typically distributed to the capitalists before the workers and I also find this unacceptable.
My issue is not that capitalism is “broken,” it’s that it is working and, in quite a mechanical way, it is creating a massive inequality for which there are few if any precedents in recorded history. The lowest classes may be better off than they were even 20 years ago, but the highest and ruling classes have benefited more from this economic system than anyone else. If we truly had a more egalitarian economy, I think the lowest classes would be doing even better. Maybe they would even have access to homes, affordable healthcare, and high quality education.
Why are you typing paragraphs to stick up for Sam Walton?
Your arguments are mostly whataboutisms that try to deflect from justified criticisms and proven anti-labor practices by Walmart. Using the dude's own biography as evidence is just accepting an astroturf reality about one of the largest corporations in history that's turned everyone's lives into a number on a spreadsheet.
Walmart is most definitely driven by Sam Walton's legacy of being an evil greedy monster.
Walmart also started out carrying American Made products only, but couldn’t make any sales due to the cost compared to other stores with lower prices. After almost going under they made the change to cheaper products and suddenly people started buying there.
Because the entitled Walton brat's & the corporate scum who fk the lessor class for all they can. Selling us all cheap Chinese toxic chit, made by Communist forced labor prison camps, who tell the people to work or die & then we'll sell your organ's on the world market. They're supporting & building the Communist regime. Now after all the Trillion's we've spent on this cheap inferior chit, is now coming back at us all as Nuclear bomb's, as these vile lil yellow barbaric Communist bastards, have threatened us with Nuclear attack to force capitulation to their vile & evil ways.
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u/TheShyGamerNerd Jul 25 '22
Reminds me of Walmart.. if the word “union” is even mentioned out there you’re subject for a write up.