In addition, it is a myth that Wal-Mart provides the cheapest products. Again, many studies have shown that Wal-Mart follows a trend of moving into a community and offering cut-throat prices, then, after they have killed all the competition, raising their prices to higher than they were before. They may offer a few extraordinarily cheap items as loss-leaders, but the rest of their goods really aren't lower than elsewhere. And what low prices they do have come at the externalized costs of heinous labor and environmental policies throughout the life-cycle of a product.
To think that Wal-Mart operates in a free market is to be blind to the processes of control and subsidy that encourage and support the growth of large corporations and provide structural inhibitions to small businesses.
Renee Lepreau Merriam Park
--On Thursday, December 30, 2004 3:43 PM -0600 Mike Fratto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:rr
Boy Dennis., did you open a can of worms. Why would someone want to banish a business that provides $3.00 over minimum wage? A place where people can buy things at the lowest cost?
First of all, the last time I checked many fast food restaurants were paying $9.00 and hour or more just to get employees. Even the kids don't want those jobs. So paying $3.00 over minimum wage may be a supply demand related rather then Walmart's largess.
IMHO: The issue is how they are able to sell things at the lowest cost possible. The issue is also the businesses that have closed due to the arrival of new Walmart. In some ways, the issues are the same as those related to the challenges to Microsoft. Although Microsoft does not pay any where near minimum wage. It relates to the ability to compete
The United States anti-trust laws were enacted to prevent conglomerates running their competition out of town. Wall Mart seems to fit into the definitions related to anti-trust, yet their tactics have not been challenged.
Frankly, I do not shop at Walmart. Only been in two stores that I can think of. I would love to be able to buy those things I want at the cheapest possible price. BUT.. There is a big but here. In order to do that I would have to support the importation of clothing made in sweat shops. I would have to buy cars built with cheap labor in Mexico. I would have to`buy into and believe that these economic decisions made a difference to the worker rather then the owner.
Yes there is a skill issue for many low wage employees, but not all of them. In many cases the people working in places like Walmart are there because they can't get jobs they are trained for or they are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet..
The one thing that is known is that employers who pay low wages also pay little or no benefits. It forces their employees to use emergency and/or government services. This, Dennis will have an effect on your bottom line. There will have to be an increase in your taxes to cover these increased costs.
If you remember Henry Ford paid his employees enough so they could buy his cars. Now we have places like Walmart who pay their employees so little they can't afford the even used cars if they want to eat and have a roof over their heads.
Mike Fratto President Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless Payne Phalen
"Dennis Tester" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 12/30/2004 2:46:35 PM
I don't own stock in Wal-Mart. I've never shopped there, and I doubt if I ever would, so frankly, I don't have a dog in this fight. That's what's great about the free market. As a consumer, I can choose to shop wherever I wish. Fortunately, I have the means such that I don't have to seek out the lowest prices to make my dollars stretch further than they would otherwise. And because I have certain skills and abilities that pay top dollar in the labor market, I will never have to settle for a job that pays $8 an hour, which is probably what Wal-Mart pays to be competitive in the labor market.
My point is, I thought people like Ms. Dickinson were supposed to be advocates for the poor and working poor. Why would she want to banish a company that provides a place where people can buy at the lowest possible price? Why would she criticize an employer that pays $3 over the minimum wage for basically unskilled labor?
It seems to me that poor and working class people benefit from having a Wal-Mart around, given the alternative of paying higher prices and/or having no job.
But I guess some people, like "film-makers" I suppose, have the luxury of not having to think in those terms.
Dennis Tester Mac-Groveland
----- ------- Original Message ------- ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Sent: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:11:03
I just wanted to let y'all know that the short (12 minute) video Ken Friberg and I made on Wal-Mart in St. Paul ("Always Low") has made it to the finals of a contest in NY called "Media that Matters". We're both pretty excited about it! The even shorter trailer's at <http://www.alwayslow.org>
Cheers,
Elizabeth Dickinson West Side _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [email protected]
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