It just hit me...I'm a victim of Wal*Mart an example of that high cost....

[Solon]

that is talked about in the Documentary "Wal*Mart the High Cost of Low Prices". I mean, I'll be honest, I started at Wal*Mart a year out of high school, and I was young and naive about how they treated workers and was unaware, largely, of their various abuses of workers. I woke up while at the store, but I simply had an attitude of "it won't get to me" water off a duck's back, etc. Over the years I worked there, I complained, bitched, knew I wasn't getting paid enough, saw how they fleeced customers, but at the same time, I had a detachment from it all, thinking that this is how it always was, this is how its supposed to be. I became a cynic, faking an attitude that, simply enough, nothing they could do would really hurt me. After I left, I simply chose to forget about it, I ended up getting better paying jobs and simply moved on. But when this Article shows up here on DU a few days ago, I still didn't get it, not really, not in the heart. I always had a suspicion that my paychecks didn't add up half the time, especially when it came to overtime, but I never saw it spelled out so concisely as when I read that article.

Call me slow, or maybe in shock, I don't know, but I just realized that I was defrauded by my employer, something that never happened to me before, I've never been robbed before, a true victim, on a personal level, of any crime before. The only comparison that I can think of is when I almost had my car stolen one night. I don't lock my doors, which is a good thing in this case, the car was an '89 Celica Convertable, imagine what the guy would have done to the top, all he did was break the tip of a flathead in the ignition, cost me a 100 bucks to replace. But that, as bad as it was, pales in comparison to what Wal*Mart is making me feel now, all I can think of is how much money was stolen from me, 1 thousand dollars, or 10 thousand? I do not know, and I want, no, NEED to know, how much they owe me. I guess now I learned to hate, and if the object of my hatred happens to be that damned smiley face, all the better I say. I never felt as angry as I do now, and I want them to be punished, I want them to be destroyed utterly, and all the money from those big fat cats in Bentonville belongs to every associate, 13 year old sweatshop worker, and all the other victims of this monster that was bred on American Greed. I'm contacting the law firm mentioned in the article monday, and I have a few former Wal*Mart workers I'm still friends with and having them join too, I just hope we can make a difference.

[napi21]

1. Class actions are very tough cases and I hope WM has to pay

BIG TIME. The problem for you and the 100,000+ employees is that they will probably not see any of the money! There's a relatively small group of lawyers who are well known as the class action group. They are very successful in their actions, but they are also VERY EXPENSIVE! In this case, as with most others class cases, the lawyers will get most of the money.

The advantage to you and everybody is that it's going to cost WM a LOT of money! They will suffer!!!!

If enough of these cases are certified to class status, they will finally force WM to change!

[Solon]

2. To be honest, I don't expect a dime...

I don't really care if the lawyers get all the money, if they win they would deserve it. All I want is for Wal*Mart to have to open its coffers and ADMIT in court that it did wrong, that's all I want.

[napi21]

6. I doubt you'll ever hear them admit to wrongdoing.

They'll open their coffers because they won't have a choice, but if it become evident that they'll lose the case, there will be an out of court sealed settlement to make it go away.

You have to realize though that NO company, no matter how big, powerful, or wealthy they are can afford very many law suits like this. I think it's only a matter of time before they "make a corporate decision" to change their MO and begin to follow the laws...at least for a while!

[Solon]

7. True, I just wish that Wal*Mart could be forced to unionize...

by a Judicial decision, now that would be cool.

[undergroundpanther]

3. I feel this way too

The people with no consiences and the corporations made by them are making a killing off of our trust,our powerlessness,our obedience,labor,needs,desires, fear and stoic complacency.


Read more
The Abolition of work.
http://deoxy.org/endwork.htm

The corporation
http://www.thecorporation.com/

Haymarket
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/haymarket/Haymarket.html

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1931/

An article I wrote
http://www.unknownnews.net/a061312-1.html

[bluestateguy]

4. The lawyers take most of the money for themselves

Everybody else gets maybe a very belated check for $20, or less.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

9. Even so..

It would be the lawyers collecting money from wally world.

IMO, Class action suits are more about members of the Class standing up against a perceived evil, and knowing that they are helping to correct the wrongs that have been done to them than actually achieving a personal windfall financial reward from the outcome of the case.

Although, I hate to say that my personal bias may be showing here. Many (most?) members of a class may be looking at this as a lucrative endeavor, and not through my rosy-colored glasses. I'd tend to think that this occurs especially often when there is a great deal of information asymmetry between any legal staff pursuing the class action suit and those members of the class. :shrug:

[undergroundpanther]

5. How ethical

Is the work ethic?

http://deoxy.org/ct/ethicalworkethic.htm

[OKDem08]

8. 4 of the 10 richest people on the planet are Wal-Mart heirs

who will, no doubt, promote that greed is good, in spite of the detrimental effects.