http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/2005/09/08/awsi1.html


"The shade from the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market sign is minimal around
noon; still, six picketers squeeze their thermoses and Dasani bottles onto
the dirt below, trying to keep their water cool. They're walking five-hour
shifts on this corner at Stephanie Street and American Pacific Drive in
Henderson-anti-Wal-Mart signs propped lazily on their shoulders, deep
suntans on their faces and arms-with two 15-minute breaks to run across the
street and use the washroom at a gas station.

Periodically one of them will sit down in a slightly larger slice of shade
under a giant electricity pole in the intersection. Four lanes of traffic
rush by, some drivers honk in support, more than once someone has yelled,
"assholes!" but mostly, they're ignored.

They're not union members; they're temp workers employed through Allied
Forces/Labor Express by the union-United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).
They're making $6 an hour, with no benefits; it's 104 F, and they're
protesting the working conditions inside the new Wal-Mart grocery store.

"It don't make no sense, does it?" says James Greer, the line foreman and
the only one who pulls down $8 an hour, as he ambles down the sidewalk,
picket sign on shoulder, sweaty hat over sweaty gray hair, spitting
sunflower seeds. "We're sacrificing for the people who work in there, and
they don't even know it."

The union accuses Wal-Mart of dragging down wages and working conditions for
other grocery-store workers across the nation. "Whether you work or shop at
Wal-Mart, the giant retailer's employment practices affect your wages.
Wal-Mart leads the race to the bottom in wages and health-care," says the
UFCW's website. "As the largest corporation in the world, Wal-Mart has a
responsibility to the people who built it. Wal-Mart jobs offer low pay,
inadequate and unaffordable healthcare, and off the clock work."

But standing with a union-supplied sign on his shoulder that reads, Don't
Shop WalMart: Below Area Standards, picketer and former Wal-Mart employee
Sal Rivera says about the notorious working conditions of his former big-box
employer: "I can't complain. It wasn't bad. They started paying me at $6.75,
and after three months I was already getting $7, then I got Employee of the
Month, and by the time I left (in less than one year), I was making $8.63 an
hour." Rivera worked in maintenance and quit four years ago for personal
reasons, he says. He would consider
reapplying...................................



"We had one gal out here in her 40s, and she had a heat stroke. I kept
making her sit down, I noticed she was stepping (staggering), and I made her
sit in the shade," Greer said. She went home sick after her shift and didn't
ever return to work.

Another woman, Greer said, had huge blisters on her feet and he took her
inside to the Wal-Mart pharmacy. The pharmacist recommended some balm, and
Greer bought it for her. Since then, he said, other picketers have purchased
the balm for their blisters inside the Wal-Mart they are protesting.

The group has no transportation to go elsewhere-they are dropped off by a
union van and picked up later. On weekends, they have to find their own
transportation, Greer said. "................................



In Dyson's market, the air-conditioning is cool, business on this day seems
brisk, and the employees seem not so miserable; two checkers chat it up as
they ring up customers.

This is not lost on the picketers outside.

Rivera removes his watch to show the dark tan his arm has gotten working in
the sun; he talks about how he takes three buses to get to this work site on
weekends; it takes two hours to get there and two hours to get home-a
nine-hour day including that transportation for a gross pay of $35.

"I asked him (union organizer Hornbrook), I said, 'How come we're working
here for $6 an hour? I need you to help us find a better job. I want
information on the union,'" Rivera said.

He was told, he says, to secure his own job with a grocery store, and then
the union would help him to be sure the store paid him appropriate wages.

"This is an informational picket line only," Hornbrook said. "We're paying
these people. They were out of work before (joining their picket lines).
This is an in-between-jobs stop. Picketing isn't a career. But we did hire
one of the picketers, she's now working for us for $11 an hour (as a driver)
and we pay for gasoline."

The UFCW's website concludes, "Every person working hard for a living earns
the right to a decent wage, affordable health care and a voice on the job.
But Wal-Mart's greed provides other companies a license to chip away at the
rights of working America, influencing everything from wages to working
conditions."

Harry Krause wrote:
P Fritz wrote:
"Every person working hard for a living earns

the right to a decent wage, affordable health care and a voice on the
job.
But Wal-Mart's greed provides other companies a license to chip away
at the
rights of working America, influencing everything from wages to working
conditions."


That's correct. Thank you.


Glad Frizzle brought that up. My former co-workers are in the 5th week
of being locked out by the CBC.
http://www.cbcontheline.ca/

Harry Krause wrote:
Don White wrote:

Harry Krause wrote:

P Fritz wrote:
"Every person working hard for a living earns

the right to a decent wage, affordable health care and a voice on
the job.
But Wal-Mart's greed provides other companies a license to chip away
at the
rights of working America, influencing everything from wages to working
conditions."



That's correct. Thank you.


Glad Frizzle brought that up. My former co-workers are in the 5th week
of being locked out by the CBC.
http://www.cbcontheline.ca/




Many right-wingers like Wal-Mart because it helps create and perpetuate
a huge pool of exploitable workers.


Wal-Mart...helping America claw its way to the bottom.

Even the schools preach this 'new world' worklife. The kids come out
not expecting lifelong jobs, good wages , pensions or benefits.
It could be because this area is financially depressed...the kids figure
out pretty quick that they have to move west.

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Many right-wingers like Wal-Mart because it helps create and perpetuate
a huge pool of exploitable workers.
Wal-Mart...helping America claw its way to the bottom.

I disagree with you on this one Harry. The people that are working at
Wal-Mart were not forced to work there. If they feel that they are be
exploited, then they should quit and work elsewhere. When I was working,
I went to a company where I thought I would like to work and I stayed there
for over 40 years. No person forced me to work there. If I didn't like
it, I would have left.

Jim

Why would anybody want a "lifelong job". If thats all you aspire to, I
cant afford to hire you. As an employeer, nobody guarantees me a
lifelong job (I dont want one either). I pay well, but if you find
something you like better, and do not take it, you lose a lot in my
eyes even if it is about money. I encourage my people (except the
older ones) to be looking for some work they can do on their own so
that if things fall apart here they will have work. The ones that do
not take that opportunity drive me nuts.
Wal Mart seems ok for totally unskilled people.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Why would anybody want a "lifelong job". If thats all you aspire to, I
cant afford to hire you. As an employeer, nobody guarantees me a
lifelong job (I dont want one either). I pay well, but if you find
something you like better, and do not take it, you lose a lot in my
eyes even if it is about money. I encourage my people (except the
older ones) to be looking for some work they can do on their own so
that if things fall apart here they will have work. The ones that do
not take that opportunity drive me nuts.
Wal Mart seems ok for totally unskilled people.

People that want lifelong jobs are the same brain dead types that want a
nanny guvmint to take care of their every need

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 13:24:15 -0400, "P Fritz"
wrote:

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/2005/09/08/awsi1.html



The UFCW's website concludes, "Every person working hard for a living earns
the right to a decent wage, affordable health care and a voice on the job.
But Wal-Mart's greed provides other companies a license to chip away at the
rights of working America, influencing everything from wages to working
conditions."

I love the last paragraph, but they should have added a phrase:

"Every person working hard for a living earns
the right to a decent wage, affordable health care and a voice on the job.
*unless they work for us!"
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 19:37:34 GMT, Don White wrote:

Harry Krause wrote:
Don White wrote:

Harry Krause wrote:

P Fritz wrote:
"Every person working hard for a living earns

the right to a decent wage, affordable health care and a voice on
the job.
But Wal-Mart's greed provides other companies a license to chip away
at the
rights of working America, influencing everything from wages to working
conditions."



That's correct. Thank you.


Glad Frizzle brought that up. My former co-workers are in the 5th week
of being locked out by the CBC.
http://www.cbcontheline.ca/




Many right-wingers like Wal-Mart because it helps create and perpetuate
a huge pool of exploitable workers.


Wal-Mart...helping America claw its way to the bottom.

Even the schools preach this 'new world' worklife. The kids come out
not expecting lifelong jobs, good wages , pensions or benefits.
It could be because this area is financially depressed...the kids figure
out pretty quick that they have to move west.

The kids should learn that earnings after college vary directly as the amount of
work done in college.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

wrote in message
oups.com...
Why would anybody want a "lifelong job". If thats all you aspire to, I
cant afford to hire you. As an employeer, nobody guarantees me a
lifelong job (I dont want one either). I pay well, but if you find
something you like better, and do not take it, you lose a lot in my
eyes even if it is about money. I encourage my people (except the
older ones) to be looking for some work they can do on their own so
that if things fall apart here they will have work. The ones that do
not take that opportunity drive me nuts.
Wal Mart seems ok for totally unskilled people.


Well, perhaps you couldn't afford to hire me.
I started in the sales department 42 years ago and worked my way up to be
the president of the company. Not too bad for a "Lifelong job". My
daughter started working with the second largest bank in Canada and now
after 14 years, she is a vice-president. She wants to be president. She
most likely will be some day. You probably couldn't afford to hire her
either.

Jim

P Fritz wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

Why would anybody want a "lifelong job". If thats all you aspire to, I
cant afford to hire you. As an employeer, nobody guarantees me a
lifelong job (I dont want one either). I pay well, but if you find
something you like better, and do not take it, you lose a lot in my
eyes even if it is about money. I encourage my people (except the
older ones) to be looking for some work they can do on their own so
that if things fall apart here they will have work. The ones that do
not take that opportunity drive me nuts.
Wal Mart seems ok for totally unskilled people.


People that want lifelong jobs are the same brain dead types that want a
nanny guvmint to take care of their every need


Maybe they see relatives/friends/neighbours bounce from job to layoff to
unemployment insurance & back.
The area you live in can have an effect on your outlook....and yes, I
know you can travel to find jobs elsewhere. This province has been
losing it's young people for years to more prosperous regions.