Wal-Mart Chief Defends Closing Unionized Store | Washington Post

[Ediacara]

Wal-Mart Chief Defends Closing Unionized Store
Scott Says Labor Costs Guided Quebec Decision

By Michael Barbaro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 11, 2005; Page E01

The chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. yesterday defended the retailer's decision to close a Canadian store after its employees voted to form a union, saying demands from negotiators would have forced an already unprofitable store to hire 30 more people and abide by inefficient work rules.

"You can't take a store that is a struggling store anyway and add a bunch of people and a bunch of work rules that cause you to even be in worse shape," H. Lee Scott Jr. said.

In his first interview since Wal-Mart announced it would close the store in Jonquiere, Quebec, Scott said Wal-Mart saw no upside to the higher labor costs and refused to cede ground to the union for the sake of being "altruistic."

"It doesn't work that way," he said.

More at the Washington Post

[benfranklin1776]

1. "It doesn't work that way"

It was not a case of expecting altruism here. From Wal Mart that would be expecting what never was and never will be. What we see here was merely unrestrained corporate greed and a refusal to recognize the fundamental basic human right of workers to organize to achieve better wages and working conditions. No in Wallyworld they do things "The Sweatshop Way" where paying a fair days wage for a fair day's work is viewed as a catastrophic failure. They much prefer, obviously, the Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick union busting way where perpetual serfdom of the employees is the ideal state of corporate grace. Wal Mart, always low wages, always.

[izzybeans]

7. whenever you read the word "efficiency" pertaining to working conditions

it's time to put on the sweatbands and grease up our wrists cause were about to be chained to the machine.

[benfranklin1776]

22. Yes, so true. Even though unionized facilities are the most productive.

http://www.sciamdigital.com/browse.cfm?sequencenameCHAR=item2&methodnameCHAR=resource_getitembrowse&interfacenameCHAR=browse.cfm&ISSUEID_CHAR=639198AF-0E70-4121-9F4C-465C7C35B05&ARTICLEID_CHAR=63A9A6A2-4DA3-40D2-B85C-0BBF06535BE&sc=I100322
"After nearly a century of union-management warfare in the U.S., a series of nationwide surveys
showing that union shops dominate the ranks of the country's most productive workplaces may come
as a surprise. In fact, according to Lisa M. Lynch of Tufts University and Sandra E. Black of the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, economic Darwinism--the survival of the fittest championed by
generations of hard-nosed tycoons-may be doing what legions of organizers could not: putting an end
to autocratic bosses and regimented workplaces.

American industry has been trying to reinvent itself for more than 20 years. Management gurus have
proclaimed Theories X, Y and Z, not to mention Quality Circles, Total Quality Management (TQM)
and High-Output Management. Only in the past few years, however' have any solid data become
available' on which techniques work and which don't. Businesses do not always respond to surveys,
and previous attempts to collect data ran into response rates of as Iow as 6 percent, making their
results unrepresentative. Enter the U.S. Census's Educational Quality of the Workforce National
Employer Survey, first conducted in 1994, which collected data on business practices from a
nationally representative sample of more than 1,300 workplaces.

Lynch and Black correlated the survey data with other statistics that detailed the productivity of each
business in the sample. They took as their "typical'' establishment a nonunion company with limited
profit sharing and without TQM or other formal quality-enhancing method;. (Unionized firms
constituted about 20 Percent of the sample, consistent with the waning reach of organized labor in the
U.S.)

The average unionized establishment recorded productivity levels 16 percent higher than the baseline
firm, whereas average nonunion ones scored 11 percent lower. One reason: most of the union shops
had adopted so-called formal quality programs, in which up to half the workers meet regularly to
discuss workplace issues. Moreover production workers at these establishments shared in the firms'
profits, and more than a quarter did their jobs in self-managed teams. Productivity in such union
shops was 20 percent above baseline."



So the idea that you have to sacrifice working conditions or bar representation to achieve some mythic "efficiency" is a sham of the highest caliber, perpetrated to justify union busting and employee abuse, generally.

[NYC]

25. Thank you for posting this.

:hi:

[jayfish]

20. I Wonder If Wal-Mart Received...

any tax-breaks(if that's how it works in Canada) to build a store there? It would be a treat to see the controlling authority send them a bill for this.

Jay

[benfranklin1776]

21. An excellent area of potential inquiry and action.

There needs to be consequences to their actions. In the US Wal Mart usually demands subsidies from local governments in the form of long term tax abatements as a condition of their location of a store in a community. It is long past the time communities quit ladling out the corporate welfare to companies like this, but if they are going to give such tax breaks it ought to be in exchange for something rather than nothing as it is now. Require them, in exchange for the tax break to maintain a safe workplace, adhere to all relevant laws which protect workers and the environment, pay a livable wage and honor the right of workers to organize. If they breach those conditions then they should be liable for the full amount of taxes plus penalties. At least this way there would be a check on their activities.

[cascadiance]

2. Will they close their stores in China?

They went on strike too earlier!

[napi21]

3. Yea, I heard that idiot yesterday.

On another DU thread, someone reminded us that in 2000, a WM in Colorado had 11 meat department employees join a union, and WM eliminated all those job chain wide! If you ever go into one of their super stores, you will see all the fresh meat is pre-packaged somewhere else and all they need now is a stocker to open the boxes and put the stuff in the cases.

I'm hoping all the WM employees decide to unionize ASAP! If WM closes all their stores...GREAT! They'll be out of here. IF not, there will be enough power behind the employees to force the company to be fair.

[BiggJawn]

9. Overheard in a Wally-World one Saturday....

Seems a customer wanted a smaller roast than what was being offered in the case. Stockboy calls over to the CSM in charge of meat "Can she get a smaller one of these?"

"Sure, as long as it doesn't involve a knife, we can do that. Go check in back and see if we got one..."

Gad, I hate that place, but what's a Po Boy to do?
(Oh, before you Latte Liberals jump my shit about not being a "Socially-Concious Shopper", consider this: My Adjusted Gross this past year was 33.5 kilobucks. No Costco here, either.)

[durablend]

13. They're NOT cheap

Seriously, unless there's NOBODY else around, I can imagine that you can get plenty of stuff from the other stores cheaper. I went against my own conscience and visited today (needed a lawnmower blade--at least it's made in USA). For the hell of it, I looked around and checked prices. On a number of items, the difference between there and where I'd usually shop is maybe a couple of cents (if that) and I found a bunch of things that were HIGHER than practically everywhere else (I thought I was imagining that the 100oz bottles of Tide were $7.44--more than everywhere else...nope, I was right). That illusion of "low prices" has the same cult following as the * worshipers, and it's just as much bullshit.

[BiggJawn]

15. what can i say...

Your Milage May Vary.

"That illusion of "low prices" has the same cult following as the * worshipers, and it's just as much bullshit."

Uh, that's getting REAL close to a personal attack, dontcha know...

[durablend]

17. Don't worry--wasn't meant towards you.

I meant it in the general "everybody thinks they're cheap just because they say so" way (same way * keeps repeating the lies until everyone believes they're true).

Wasn't attacking you personally (apologies if it came out as such)

[BiggJawn]

19. Thank you!

I've done the comparison shopping bit, too. And the only things I buy from the Evil Empire are those items that are either substantially cheaper or un-available elsewhere...

Of course, every other store in town is just another ReTHUG owned Big Box, too, so sometimes I wonder why I bother....

[0007]

28. They suck in and then off.

[DiverDave]

30. Latte Liberals??

whats up with that label?
Right out of the right wing book.

[HuckleB]

42. Don' worry about it.

B-J is true blue.

[Sal Minella]

41. I live on $7,000 a year and never go near Wal-Mart

The local drugstore has prescriptions cheaper (people I know have compared) and the local (family-owned) grocery store has groceries cheaper.

The "Made In America" ad campaign worked, and the "saving you money" propaganda works. Buying things at Wal-Mart is terribly, terribly expensive, in oh-so-many ways.

[1monster]

36. You never see anyone buying that prepackaged meat either. It looks

rank.

[Brooklyn Michael]

4. How can we....

...underpay our female workers, make them work free overtime, call their 28 hours a week "full time" so we can say that 74% of our emplyees are "full time" (so with our starting pay level, "full time" works out to just under $12,000 a year), if these damn people go and get UNIONIZED????....What's wrong with these people thay don't want to work slave wages and conditions so we can sell a refrigerator for $3.00?

What's a giant, massively wealthy corporate behemoth to do BUT close down? Sad times, folks, sad times....

:eyes:

[Village Idiot]

8. This is why those of us with SENSE refuse to shop there.

I have never even been INSIDE a Wal-Mart...

[daleo]

5. So, no Walmart for Jonquiere, then?

I guess local merchants will have to carry the ball.

[BrotherBuzz]

32. If they're still in business....

Hmmm, how long does it take to remodel the boarded up old store that's been vacant for ten years?

[David__77]

6. This will be their tactic.

Sh we will have to adapt and pursue them still further.

[whosinpower]

10. What a great way to shut em down!!!!!!!

Now if the folks in Quebec would be really smart, they will quickly work to fill the void and open a store to compete with Walmart.

These strongarm tactics of Walmart will backfire. Short term job loss can be fixed with a longterm strategy to fight Walmart's market share.....and that can only be a good thing for society.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

11. A loss for Wal-Mart is a win for Humanity!

[TankLV]

34. Might I suggest Wegman's or Tops corporations from Western New York?

They have GREAT stores.

Haven't seen anything like Tops Supermarkets - and they are carefully expanding in the northeast and midwest.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

12. "Boycott Walmart, boycott Walmart!!" Sing it loud, sing it strong. nt

[applegrove]

14. Bye bye Mon Cowboy - bye bye mon rodeo!!

Bye bye mon cowboy, bye bye mon rodéo - Mitsou


http://www.paroles.net/chansons/31668.htm



Bye bye mon cowboy, bye bye mon rodéo
C'est si dur de tomber si bas quand t'as été si haut

Tu fais l'amour comme un dieu et tu le fais quand je le veux
Rien dans la tête tout dans les yeux un corps de maître une peau de feu
C'est difficile de s'en aller trouver un homme pour me toucher é-é

Bye bye mon cowboy, bye bye mon rodéo
C'est si dur de tomber si bas quand t'as été si haut

Pourtant tu sais c'est pa d'ma faute si
Quand tu m'approches je deviens chaude mais!
Ton regard il y'en a d'autres o-o
Fais attention la colère monte

Je ne ris plus j'en ai assez de m'faire jouer de tous côtés
Rien ne va plus les jeux sont faits c'est le temps d'mettre un arrêt
C'est difficile de te quitter mais vaut mieux maintenant que jamais é-é

Bye bye mon cowboy, bye bye mon rodéo
C'est si dur de tomber si bas quand t'as été si haut

Bye bye mon cowboy, bye bye mon rodéo
C'est si dur de tomber si bas quand t'as été si haut
Bye bye mon héros, bye bye mon gigolo

Les femmes te brûlent te brûlent un peu trop
Fais attention de tomber à l'eau
Oh! oh! Oh! oh! Oh! oh! Oh! oh!

Bye bye mon cowboy, bye bye mon rodéo
C'est si dur de tomber si bas quand t'as été si haut
Bye bye mon cowboy, bye bye mon rodéo
C'est si dur de tomber si bas quand t'as été si haut {x2}

[arikara]

16. That's the way to get rid of them!

When they move in somewhere, union people should get together, get jobs there then unionize immediately. Put them out of business fast before they can wreck the community.

[Mr_Spock]

18. What's this place called "WALMART" anyway?

Never heard of it :D

[indepat]

23. WalMart can defend its any policy or action: always

[KissMeKate]

24. close down your walmart by unionising it!

this is a good strategy!

Mcdonalds closed a restaurant a few years back because it unionised.

[NYC]

27. I wonder what will happen with Starbuck's.

There is a Starbuck's on 36th Street and Madison Avenue where the employees are trying to unionize.

[superconnected]

26. what sleeze balls

glad they are shut down, sad to see they use those tatics.

other companies who hadn't used those tactics will see the walmart anti-union success and decide it's just cheaper to shut down one store than pay all those workers.

I guess I said it at the beginning, what sleeze balls.

[Desert Liberal]

29. Hey, look at it this way...

We could spur union talk at all Wal-Mart's at the same time. They couldn't very well shut ALL the stores down.

[LinuxInsurgent]

31. it doesn't work that way...

yeah...the way it works is squeezing the shit out of your workers, and giving them no benefits, huh?

This defense is worse than the announcement of these news.

[TankLV]

33. Wallmart + struggling - yeah right!

And I've got some swamp land to sell you!

They're more meticuluous than McDonalds in researching site selection for new stores.

The wiff of bullshit is really strong this day, isn't it!

[bikeboy]

35. Wal-Mart Chief Defends Closing Unionized Store | Washington Post

The union's need to get in the streets to show both the corporations and the public just how much of a difference they do make. I don't know how to make it come around but I gotta tell ya I think it would be a very strong voice that the thugs would have to deal with and that in turn in turn could have an effect on the MSM...

I know this is wishful thinking but I strongly believe that the union's are responsible for the wages and working conditions that still exist for the shaky mean-time...

If they don't start doing something there gonna go down faster.

[ldf]

37. if they insist on running sweatshops, we should call them that.

SWEATMART!

[jmowreader]

38. I guess there could be a "struggling" Wal-Mart

:shrug: And why do big-box retail stores struggle? Not enough people on the floor!

Admittedly, Wal-Mart is not Home Depot--most of the things Wal-Mart sells don't require associates who know how to install or use them, whereas just about everything we sell does--but we've found that the more people we have on the floor in the right places, the more money we make.

I would love to subpoena this Wal-Mart's sales against plan and comparative sales data. (Your sales plan is supposedly the amount of money you need to make before you're profitable; your comp is the amount of money you made this year against the same period last year. I say "supposedly" because many retailers will build the profit they want to make into their plan--we do this.) Wal-Mart sets sales goals differently than other retailers do. They set their plan at the barest break-even point (this takes into account every little thing the store needs to pay out, from merchandise to the gas bill) and expect their people to exceed plan by a certain percentage. If they exceed plan by five percent but Bentonville wants six, they failed. Never mind the fact that five percent over on a plan of two million per week is still a substantial chunk of change--they blew expectation by one percent, so they're an abject failure. OTOH, a more enlightened retailer, like us, will think "if we want six percent profit out of this store, let's set the freakin' plan to six percent over break-even." Simple and easy, but Wal-Mart is the purest implementation of the Soviet Five Year Plan: "we are exceeding production goals in all categories." Never mind the fact that the "production goals" were purposely set low so they could be exceeded, the important thing is to "exceed" production goals.

[DBoon]

39. A great opportunity

for a retailer who can learn to live with unions to have this market.

Instead ofmeeting the challenge to make money while paying real wages, Walmart decides to cut and run. Cowards. Wimps.

A real capitalist would figure out a way to make that store profitable, and would not cede that market to a competitor.

[Doremus]

40. Maybe Costco will move in...

...and show them how it's done. Unions and profitability aren't mutually exclusive.

"<snip> Apparently, Jim Sinegal has been going to the wrong church. He's CEO of Costco, the profitable warehouse club retailer that's fast growing across the country. He takes a shockingly heretical view of his job, boasting of his company's fair treatment of employees: "We pay much better than Wal-Mart," Sinegal says. "That's not altruism. It's good business."

Indeed, Costco's pay is much, much, much better -- a full-time Costco clerk or warehouse worker earns more than $41,000 a year, plus getting terrific health-care coverage. Wal-Mart workers get barely a third of that pay, plus a lousy health-care plan. Costco even has unions!"

http://www.alternet.org/story/19014

[Squeegee]

43. And closing a Wal-Mart is somehow a bad thing?

Personally, I wish this were happening at every Wal-Mart...

[HuckleB]

44. WalMart Store Closings Spread

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i7431

:silly: