Walmart costs California
Wal-Marts cost state, study says Retailer refutes UC research that claims taxes subsidize wages - George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, August 3, 2004 Employment practices at Wal-Mart, the nation's largest employer with relatively lower labor costs in the retail sector, cost California taxpayers about $86 million annually in public assistance to company workers, according to a study released Monday by a UC Berkeley research institute. The study estimates that low wages force employees to accept $32 million annually in health-related services and $54 million per year in other assistance, such as subsidized school lunches, food stamps and subsidized housing. Wal-Mart questioned the validity of the report, saying the authors undervalued the wages and benefits the chain's employees receive. The UC report comes from the Berkeley Labor Center, an institute that is openly supportive of union causes. Although its researchers have in the past accepted funding from the grocery workers' union to conduct studies, this report was not funded by labor, its authors said. Wal-Mart, and its possible expansion in California, is a major topic in labor circles as negotiators for 45,000 union grocery clerks in the Bay Area begin contract talks with Safeway, Albertson's and other major employers. The current contract expires Sept. 11. The union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, and management are also working on a separate pact covering 15,000 Sacramento Valley union workers. These negotiations follow the disruptive 139-day strike and lockout of nearly 70,000 union grocery clerks in Southern California that ended Feb. 29. In all these talks, management is using Wal-Mart's presence and proposed California expansion as a negotiating tactic, arguing they must lower labor costs to be competitive with the company and other low-cost grocers. Union leadership is backing political efforts to limit Wal-Mart's growth. Authors Arindrajit Dube of the UC Berkeley Institute of Industrial Relations and Ken Jacobs of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education make a number of assumptions in their study, beginning with a workforce estimate of 44,000 Wal-Mart employees at 143 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores in California who earn an estimated 31 percent less than workers in the large retail sector as a whole. The wage difference is even greater when comparing Bay Area Wal-Mart workers with other union retail workers: The estimate is that Wal-Mart workers earn on average $9.40 an hour compared with $15.31 for union grocery workers, 39 percent less, and the study estimates that they are half as likely to have health benefits. A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, Cynthia Lin, said, It's disappointing that UC researchers would release a study which has such questionable findings, but then again, they are going to arrive at faulty conclusions when they work off faulty assumptions.'' She said the study reports wages incorrectly. Bay Area workers earn an average of $11.08 an hour while statewide it is $10.37. Also, 90 percent of Wal-Mart's workers have health insurance, Lin said. Of them, 50 percent have coverage through Wal-Mart and 40 percent through other sources. She added that two-thirds of workers are senior citizens, college students or second-income providers. The UC authors do not have data on actual public assistance for Wal-Mart workers. They take information from several sources, including testimony about company wages in a sex-discrimination lawsuit brought against Wal-Mart. They say that, at such low wages, many Wal-Mart workers rely on a public safety net. The authors extrapolate that if other large California retailers apply the Wal-Mart model of wages and benefits to their 750,000 employees, it would cost taxpayers an additional $410 million a year in public assistance to employees. David Theroux, founder and president of the libertarian Independent Institute in Oakland, said it is important to consider who the Wal-Mart employees are: They may be former unemployed workers, they may be retirees or have taken a second job out of necessity, or they may be developmentally disabled or have any number of disadvantages. If we eliminate Wal-Mart ... it means those people are unemployed. Is it better for them to be employed or unemployed?'' Theroux asked. Theroux also faulted the study for what he said is a presumption that Wal- Mart employees are more prone to go on welfare rolls. How do they know that? They need to show that,'' he said. He added that, historically, competition drives up wages. It sharpens workers' skills and boosts productivity so workers can command higher wages. It works in high tech. Why would retail be any different?'' Theroux said. The study authors say in their conclusion, In effect, Wal-Mart is shifting part of its labor costs onto the public.'' Co-author Jacobs, in an interview, said he hopes that policy-makers keep that argument in mind when Wal-Mart seeks to expand. Indeed, the Los Angeles City
Re: Walmart costs California
Wal-Mart questioned the validity of the report, saying the authors undervalued the wages and benefits the chain's employees receive. The UC report comes from the Berkeley Labor Center, an institute that is openly supportive of union causes. Although its researchers have in the past accepted funding from the grocery workers' union to conduct studies, this report was not funded by labor, its authors said. _openly_ supportive of union causes? do they ever say openly supportive of corporate causes? is Labor is such bad shape that it's a market of shame to support it? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Re: Walmart costs California
The labor center was singled out by Arnold for extinction, although the Dems made him fund the certer. The construction industry is especially hostile to the center. On Tue, Aug 03, 2004 at 08:07:07PM -0700, Devine, James wrote: Wal-Mart questioned the validity of the report, saying the authors undervalued the wages and benefits the chain's employees receive. The UC report comes from the Berkeley Labor Center, an institute that is openly supportive of union causes. Although its researchers have in the past accepted funding from the grocery workers' union to conduct studies, this report was not funded by labor, its authors said. _openly_ supportive of union causes? do they ever say openly supportive of corporate causes? is Labor is such bad shape that it's a market of shame to support it? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
First unionised walmart?
Associated Press Quebec Wal-Mart Could Become Unionized 08.02.2004, 07:41 PM A Wal-Mart store in Quebec may become the retail giant's first unionized outlet after the Quebec Labor Relations Board accredited a union there to represent the workers. The Quebec Federation of Labor announced the accreditation Monday. The store in Saguenay has about 180 employees. The union represents the large majority of the store's employees, said Marie-Josee Lemieux, president of the union local of the United Food and Commercial Workers. We hope that Wal-Mart will accept this decision and negotiate a labor contract with the union. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, has no unionized stores, although a handful of meat cutters at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Texas had voted to join the United Food And Commercial Workers in 2000. The retailer appealed the decision, and last June, an administrative law judge ruled in favor of Wal-Mart, saying that the retailer had no obligation to negotiate an agreement with the union because the meat cutter function was being eliminated as the chain was moving toward prepackaged meat, according to Christi Gallagher, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart's U.S. division. Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., appears ready to battle the Canadian effort. We are reviewing the decision, said Andrew Pelletier, spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada. There was no vote held in the store. This appeared to be an automatic certification, and employees were not given the opportunity to vote on the issue on unionization in a democratically held election, which is of enormous concern. The Quebec labor board will hold a meeting Aug. 20 to rule on the job descriptions of those who can be covered by negotiations. Wal-Mart operates 231 discount department stores and five Sam's Clubs and employs more than 62,000 people across Canada. Wal-Mart entered Canada 10 years ago with the purchase of 122 Woolco stores. Wal-Mart has more than 1,300 stores in nine countries employing 300,000 people. Besides Canada, Wal-Mart operates in Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Great Britain. Several efforts to form unions in other provinces have so far been unsuccessful. Wal-Mart has cited the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in its legal challenge of the Saskatchewan Labor Relations Board's authority. The move halted hearings which began in May regarding the automatic union certification of a Wal-Mart store in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.
Walmart
From: Michael Perelman I mentioned that I was in a small forum on Wal-Mart. Yesterday I received a very nice letter from one of the Wal-Mart workers, who had supported the company. She still supports the company, but is open to dialogue. ^^^ I responded to you on the other list on this. This is interesting that you got a response. This person might be taking something of a chance in writing , so that might mean something. Don't workers in that situation face a lot of prisoner's dilemmas ? Charles
Re: Walmart
She wrote nothing against Walmart, but dialogue is am important first step. On Fri, Apr 02, 2004 at 10:28:04AM -0500, Charles Brown wrote: From: Michael Perelman I mentioned that I was in a small forum on Wal-Mart. Yesterday I received a very nice letter from one of the Wal-Mart workers, who had supported the company. She still supports the company, but is open to dialogue. ^^^ I responded to you on the other list on this. This is interesting that you got a response. This person might be taking something of a chance in writing , so that might mean something. Don't workers in that situation face a lot of prisoner's dilemmas ? Charles -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Re: Walmart
[UFCW organizing leader Mike] Leonard says his dpartment receives approximately 100 web-generated messages daily from Wal-Mart workers ... that organizers turn into contacts. (Labor Notes, April 2004, p. 7) Date:Wed, 24 Mar 2004 07:56:43 -0800 From:Michael Perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Walmart This last weekend I participated in a forum on Wal-Mart. A large number of Wal-Mart workers showed up to vigorously defend their employer. They were obviously working-class people and not professional spokesman. Several mentioned their salaries. I responded that given their obvious intelligence, they deserved a far better income. Their answer was that Wal-Mart was the only job that they could find. Is the Chico behavior that common -- that Wal-Mart confined a retinue of such devoted workers who would volunteer a Sunday afternoon to defend their employer? Charles Andrews http://www.laborrepublic.org
Walmart
This last weekend I participated in a forum on Wal-Mart. A large number of Wal-Mart workers showed up to vigorously defend their employer. They were obviously working-class people and not professional spokesman. Several mentioned their salaries. I responded that given their obvious intelligence, they deserved a far better income. Their answer was that Wal-Mart was the only job that they could find. Is the Chico behavior that common -- that Wal-Mart confined a retinue of such devoted workers who would volunteer a Sunday afternoon to defend their employer? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
walmart/colleges/unfair labor practice
Dear Friends, I remember sometime ago (a month or so) reading in the NYT about a suit against Wal-Mart in CA. It was specifically on the employment of undocumented workers and their mistreatment. Any specific reference to the case, including the press coverage, the background is appreciated, since I am in the process of putting together a presentation for several groups interested in learning more (and acting on) about similar practices on various college campuses. My intention is to draw a parallel between Wal-Mart and those subcontractors doing business with (neo)-liberal arts colleges, including my own. The goal is to force college administrations adopting an employer code of conduct, and if needed accept even the financial responsibility, etc. Thanks in advance. Ahmet Here is the press coverage of the problems on my campus: http://www.simons-rock.edu/~eatonak/labor E. Ahmet Tonak Simons Rock College of Bard Great Barrington, MA 01230 Phone: 413-528 7488 Homepage: www.simons-rock.edu/~eatonak
Re: walmart/colleges/unfair labor practice
In-House Audit Says Wal-Mart Violated Labor Laws Steven Greenhouse New York Times, January 13 2004, Page A16 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30714FF39540C708DDDA80894DC4 04482 This article reports on an internal audit at Wal-Mart, which found evidence that the company's stores routinely violated labor laws by such practices as requiring workers to work unpaid hours and having teenagers work late into the night. The audit was prepared for the company to help in its defense against several suits alleging labor law violations. - Original Message - From: ertugrul ahmet tonak [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 2:49 PM Subject: walmart/colleges/unfair labor practice Dear Friends, I remember sometime ago (a month or so) reading in the NYT about a suit against Wal-Mart in CA. It was specifically on the employment of undocumented workers and their mistreatment. Any specific reference to the case, including the press coverage, the background is appreciated, since I am in the process of putting together a presentation for several groups interested in learning more (and acting on) about similar practices on various college campuses. My intention is to draw a parallel between Wal-Mart and those subcontractors doing business with (neo)-liberal arts colleges, including my own. The goal is to force college administrations adopting an employer code of conduct, and if needed accept even the financial responsibility, etc. Thanks in advance. Ahmet Here is the press coverage of the problems on my campus: http://www.simons-rock.edu/~eatonak/labor E. Ahmet Tonak Simons Rock College of Bard Great Barrington, MA 01230 Phone: 413-528 7488 Homepage: www.simons-rock.edu/~eatonak
