[Cid_Yama]

Friends with Low Wages

Just wanted to introduce this to those who haven't seen it.

[onlooker]

Yea, their the company all other companies wish to emulate. Wonder why?

[Cog]

No one is forcing them to work there. Don't like the pay, go elsewhere.

A corporation acts in a way to maximize profits. It does not exist to maximize your wages. As a stockholder, I would expect a corporation to cuts costs anywhere they can to maximize my stock returns.

[Sixstrings]

Well Cog I've been with you on other issues, but I have to side with Cid on this one.



I don't like too much political correctness and Walmart and Apple Corporation trying to control their customers' personal lives, but if corporate responsibility and social awareness can get them to to do good things in the world that are real and not just digging up someone's great grandfather -- then that's a good thing, I agree with that.

Historically, there was a time when corporations DID in fact think about social responsibility. Because corporations recognized they are leading institutions in society, bigger than and more powerful than government or the church or any other institution in society.

Walmart bent a bit, recently, and announced it is going to raise wages by a dollar or something like that. It's a move in the right direction, though some say Walmart engaged in false advertising when they then did a media blitz touting that they pay living wages.

The Better Business Bureau has now referred Walmart to the FTC for false advertising:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')almart ‘Raise In Pay’ Commercial Sent To FTC For Review After Concerns From National Advertising Division

The National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau said Thursday it referred a commercial from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to the Federal Trade Commission after the retail giant declined to participate in a review of the advertisement’s claims.

The commercial, “Raise in Pay,” was released earlier this year and touts Walmart’s stated commitment to offering living wages, employee education and training programs, but NAD said it had questions about whether the 30-second spot implied that Walmart was actually raising employees’ pay to the extent that they could support themselves and their families.

Set to a soothing melody of piano and string music, the commercial features a cheerful montage of Walmart employees enjoying their everyday lives as a golden-voiced announcer talks about the importance of earning a living wage and raising a family. The commercial ends with the claim, “We are investing over $1 billion this year in higher wages, education and training.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/walmart-raise-pay-commercial-sent-ftc-review-after-concerns-national-advertising-2012736

[Sixstrings]

But of course, the truth about all these things is that it's complex.

So I'll argue a bit of devil's advocate..

I actually like to shop at Dollar Tree. I LOVE Dollar Tree, and buy everything there that I can buy there, versus other stores (for most hosuehold products).

I get my pinesol there, my bleach, kitchen stuff, laundry detergent and toiletries (everything from soap and razors to shampoo).

What costs $4 at another store, costs $1 at dollar tree. A lot of times, there's some weird thing you may need and it's five bucks at any other place and only a dollar at the dollar tree.

So.. in the case of dollar tree.. they actually can't pay their workers more than what they do.

So it's not an easy issue, I do admit that, I'd say dollar tree saves me at least fifty bucks a month and I just like a bargain and I'd hate to see that go away.

But there's probably a balance to be found.. as it stands, right now the USA is the top in income inequality, along with Russia and Ukraine and Lebanon.

[Sixstrings]

By the way I looked it up, walmart said it was going to raise wages to $9 an hour by next april, then $10 an hour the year after that:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')almart Raises Hourly Wage | msnbc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VXFGB5IbEc

[Sixstrings]

This is a good video, if Walmart paid its employees enough so that they don't need food stamps from the government, then costs passed to the customer would only be 1.4%.

A box of 68 cent mac and cheese would only go up to 69 cents, according to the video:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f Walmart Paid Its Employees a Living Wage, How Much Would Prices Go Up?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAcaeLmybCY

[Cog]

The minimum wage needs to be abolished. Being paid for what you are worth to your employer is a much better system. You, as an employee, are in complete control of that situation. Good employees get more money, average ones get less, and bad ones get the boot to the curb. Totally within your own hands.

What a $15/hr minimum wage will do is destroy jobs and companies will go to mechanization to replace those humans with machines. Machines don't complain and they don't get paid over time. The fast food industry is already going this way and this move to higher wages will only increase the trend.

Enjoy your $15/hr wage when you are sitting at home unemployed. Because you definitely earned it.

[SeaGypsy]

Yeah 6, but the folks making all that stuff you love in dollar tree but resent in Walmart get paid 10 times less. The door greeter at Walmart would be earning as much as a factory manager in China.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'Y')eah 6, but the folks making all that stuff you love in dollar tree but resent in Walmart get paid 10 times less. The door greeter at Walmart would be earning as much as a factory manager in China.

[SeaGypsy]

Where you are blindsided 6 is in US manufacturing setting default baseline wages whilst having no choice but to become increasingly competitive with China. Wage disparity in the US isn't being made better by becoming less competitive.

[Cog]

The right wing didn't suppress anything. A company is free to pay whatever amount it wishes above the current minimum wage. Minimum wage jobs were never designed to pay a living wage, whatever that means. They were meant as an entry level job into the corporate world. If you are still making minimum wage after being with a company more than a couple of years, you are simply lazy or functionally retarded.

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', 'T')he right wing didn't suppress anything. A company is free to pay whatever amount it wishes above the current minimum wage. Minimum wage jobs were never designed to pay a living wage, whatever that means. They were meant as an entry level job into the corporate world. If you are still making minimum wage after being with a company more than a couple of years, you are simply lazy or functionally retarded.

[hvacman]

Jeez, I get tired of hearing forum members assume that corp. world's primary way of controlling costs and maximizing profit is by keeping wages low....This shows such an extremely-poor understanding of how successful businesses actually run...

As an example, NY is now trying to get all franchise fast-food restaurants to pay a "living wage", using the argument that these fast food are mega-corporations with huge profits and can afford to pay more. This shows a complete mis-understanding of the franchise model. I do engineering for local franchisees of several national fast-food chains. I've seen first-hand how the business works. McDonalds doesn't pay the restaurant employees. The franchise owner does. Most franchise owners are small businesses, owning a handful of local restaurants. They have to tailor their labor cost structure to their locale. They have to pay for building/maintaining their buildings. As part of the franchise agreement, they have to remodel (at their expense) to the new McD's themes when McD's determines it. They have to buy the new kitchen equipment from McD's when the menu changes. They have to sell certain products at the nationally-advertised prices. Taco Bell, KFC, BK, Subway, they all are structured similar. It's a tough game. And now NY wants to tell them to give all employees a 50% raise - a "living wage", because their franchisor is making too much money from all the franchise fees and bulk product sales receipts they get from their franchisees. If I owned a Mc'D's franchise in NY, I'd be finding out right now how McD's is doing on developing their franchise-approved automatic hamburger patty-flipper/mayo squirter/burger wrapping machine, online ordering apps, etc. Yeah, they'll pay a living wage...to the few actual living human employees they have left in the restaurant. I fully expect that within 10 years, many fast-food restaurants will have "AFM's" - automated food service machines. Slide your debit card, place your order - in very short time, your to-go bag pops out with your order. "Would you like your meal receipt e-mailed or printed?"

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hvacman', 'J')eez, I get tired of hearing forum members assume that corp. world's primary way of controlling costs and maximizing profit is by keeping wages low....This shows such an extremely-poor understanding of how successful businesses actually run...