pan6467

Here's a few examples as to why to hate Wal*Mart:

Rubbermaid NEVER laid people off and was a growing company that employees liked to work at because the company cared about them. Rubbermaid created very fine durable products that lasted and could take beatings.

Wal*Mart told Rubbermaid to lower their prices or they would be taken out of Wal*Mart. Rubbermaid was already getting hit hard and having a hard time keeping prices low. They either had to say no to Wal*Mart or lay off workers and ship jobs overseas.

Well, wal*Mart said "FUCK YOU Rubbermaid" and went out and invested (bought great sums of ) in a small plastics company called Sterilite.

Wal*Mart took out Rubbermaid products put out bad press about Rubbermaid and sold Sterilite exclusively. They cut the prices of Sterilite so that other retailers would order it also and pretty much destroyed Rubbermaid.

Now some can say that is how "capitalism" works, however tell that to the people that made good money and benefits that now have to work for a Sterilite affiliate like North Canton Plastics, that hire temps, have maybe 10 full time employees, refuse to offer benefits and pay $6.50 an hour.

Sterilite is also far more cheaper, less sturdier, breaks easier, therefore you have to buy another Sterilite sooner than you would a Rubbermaid....... but you get what you pay for..... or you pay for what you can afford.

Talk to Wooster Ohio, who lost their largest taxpayer (along with the workers taxes) because Rubbermaid had to move out.

Finally, Rubbermaid was in shambles and said "ok, we'll cut". Rubbermaid then came out with a new product color they heavily invested in because research showed it would sell fast, COLD BLUE was the color.

Wal*Mart flat out refused to sell COLD BLUE from Rubbermaid BUT did for Sterilite. Sterilite then made a killing and COLD BLUE was a HUGE seller. Rubbermaid attempted to sue Wal*Mart because of this practice and the fact that Wal*Mart told Sterilite about Rubbermaid's new color and got Sterilite to produce and ship their COLD BLUE first.

Wal*Mart may provide lower prices, BUT they create the need for lower prices by destroying good, benefits paying jobs and replacing them with temp. hiring small factories that pay very little in taxes. Or promote overseas sweatshops so that the prices can stay down.

I would like to believe that the market for jobs and prices would have worked itself out naturally. Instead Wal*Mart dictates, threatens and destroys any competition and let's not talk about what they do to unions.

We can also look at how Wal*Mart has hired illegal aliens to work in their stores, how they have locked workers in overnight to work off the clock, how they have failed to pay overtime and recognize employment laws.

What a lot of people miss is that to keep those low prices Wal*Mart has done what they can to keep wages low so that noone can shop anywhere else.

Companies like Kroger, that had good employee relations and benefits can no longer stay competitive and have to cut. How is that good for the economy?

Wal*Mart also has been known to FIRE anyone that so much as mentions the word "union" in their stores. (Which again is illegal.) But as long as American wages and benefits keep going down the need for Wal*Mart increases.

What Wal*Mart needs to watch though is that their own practices of crush and destroy and lower wages is going to eventually force people to shop at cheaper places like Family Dollar, Dollar General, Big Lots and so on.

Is Wal*Mart responsible for the decline in of our national wealth and true economic growth? I don't think so, BUT I do truly believe that they have used loopholes, taken advantage of situations and fed the decline.

PS the story on Rubbermaid and Wal*Mart can be found in The Canton Repository, The Akron Beacon Journal, The Mansfield News Journal and many Ohio papers.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"