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Wake Up Wal-Mart: America's Campaign to Change Wal-Mart

Started by Trieste, December 02, 2008, 04:19:59 PM

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Trieste

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/

I noticed this on a bumper sticker near me and decided to check it out. Their copyright shows 2005 on the bottom of the page, so it's probably been around a while. Methinks it's getting a huge boost in support right now ... and I'm still not sure how I feel about the effort. I need to chew on it a bit more...

... but I thought y'all would find it an interesting site to poke around.

Inkidu

I'd still rather work at a Wal-Mart than a McDonald's... :P
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Mathim

In some cases you'll be working at both, since lots of Walmarts have McDonalds inside them. Or Subway or something like that.
Considering a permanent retirement from Elliquiy, but you can find me on Blue Moon (under the same username).

Inkidu

Quote from: Mathim on December 02, 2008, 06:14:07 PM
In some cases you'll be working at both, since lots of Walmarts have McDonalds inside them. Or Subway or something like that.
Damn. I forgot about that. I remember one sold strawberry soda one time. That was nice though.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

The Overlord



Walmart is evil, period, I refuse to shop there on principle. Many corporations are unethical, but this chain is the most high-profile company that continues to use ruthless tactics to keep overhead down and corporate profits up.

Don't just take my word for it, read the truth on the site. If just one more viewer leaves this thread and doesn't go to a walmart, then it's served its purpose.

Inkidu

Quote from: The Overlord on December 02, 2008, 09:41:43 PM

Walmart is evil, period, I refuse to shop there on principle. Many corporations are unethical, but this chain is the most high-profile company that continues to use ruthless tactics to keep overhead down and corporate profits up.

Don't just take my word for it, read the truth on the site. If just one more viewer leaves this thread and doesn't go to a walmart, then it's served its purpose.
Evil? How so? I'm sure the little granny with ten shares of Wal-Mart stock is just the epitome of evil. She makes Superman quake in fear. 
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Zakharra

 Walmart is still the best and cheapest place to get decent to cheap goods for the lowest prices. There is a reason they are so successful.

The Overlord

Quote from: Zakharra on December 02, 2008, 11:58:38 PM
Walmart is still the best and cheapest place to get decent to cheap goods for the lowest prices. There is a reason they are so successful.

Research how they did it...then get back to me.

ShrowdedPoet

Poor Sam is turning in his grave.  I know a few things that have been going on for a while like not taking customer orders and mistreating employees.  I don't think Wal-mart is evil but it is currently being mismanaged and not what Mr. Walton had in mind.
Kiss the hand that beats you.
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Zakharra

Quote from: The Overlord on December 03, 2008, 12:42:12 AM
Research how they did it...then get back to me.

If it's not illegal, ethics means very little. They -are- a successful business. They exist to sell good and satisfy the stock holders. As long as they do it legally, whatever we think about it is moot. You want to change it, buy enough stock to get on the board of directors and use that leverage to make changes.

Apple of Eris

Or, you can vote with your pocketbook. I don't shop at walmart. I'd rather spend the extra two dollars when I buy something at Target. At least there I know 5% of profits go back to the community and employees are treated better than at walmart.

I'm not on the board of walmart, I'll never be a billionare enough to get on the board. Instead I do what I can to NOT support a company that unethical. Maybe ethics means very little, to you, but it does to some people, and those of us to whom it does have substance will shop elsewhere, and it does work. Community boycotts have caused walmarts in certain areas to close down. *shrug*
Men are those creatures with two legs and eight hands.  ~Jayne Mansfield
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The Overlord

#11
Quote from: ShrowdedPoet on December 03, 2008, 09:52:58 AM
Poor Sam is turning in his grave.  I know a few things that have been going on for a while like not taking customer orders and mistreating employees.  I don't think Wal-mart is evil but it is currently being mismanaged and not what Mr. Walton had in mind.

I tend to agree. Walton started with a business ethic, based on what I've read on the man. The usurpers that took the reins in his absence made it the evil retail empire it is today. Maybe it's not 100% evil as company but it practices evil.



Quote from: Zakharra on December 03, 2008, 12:59:46 PM
If it's not illegal, ethics means very little. They -are- a successful business. They exist to sell good and satisfy the stock holders. As long as they do it legally, whatever we think about it is moot. You want to change it, buy enough stock to get on the board of directors and use that leverage to make changes.

Exactly our problem today. Walton made a store that gave people what they needed for decent prices, but I don't think it was his intent to run all the mom & pop stores into oblivion doing it, or try to build an icon of most gluttonous consumerism in direct site of Aztec pyramids. That's how they do it; they find the cheapest possible supplier and force everyone to their level or they leave them swinging in the wind.

Not to say nobody else does this, but walmart is absolutely rapacious about it. They are a virus in the business world. Ever wonder what happened to that glorious "Made in the USA" crap? Quietly went away without even a word from the company as they exported production like mad. Frack everything as long as you make money...to hell with jobs at home, to hell with public safety, to hell with your own employees, and to hell with the environment. What most people are ultimately bound for is a very, very rude awakening that such practice is unsustainable in the end.



What we think of it most certainly is not moot. If you don't think your opinion counts, then enjoy your tainted fish from walmart deli tonight while your children play with the lead painted toys you bought them there. Legality, by the way, does not concern me, as most of the laws that govern business are themselves immoral. Laws are written by people who are lobbied and funded by the businesses they write the laws for. They set the game board so it suits them; I do not recognize the authority of big business or the cronies that support it.


Quote from: Apple of Eris on December 03, 2008, 03:48:36 PM
Or, you can vote with your pocketbook. I don't shop at walmart. I'd rather spend the extra two dollars when I buy something at Target. At least there I know 5% of profits go back to the community and employees are treated better than at walmart.
I'm not on the board of walmart, I'll never be a billionare enough to get on the board. Instead I do what I can to NOT support a company that unethical. Maybe ethics means very little, to you, but it does to some people, and those of us to whom it does have substance will shop elsewhere, and it does work. Community boycotts have caused walmarts in certain areas to close down. *shrug*

Exactly.

Lilias

In the UK, Wal-mart has bought off ASDA. Trouble is, ASDA was a co-op, and the contract included very strict clauses about maintaining the old ways. It's still called ASDA, employees are treated almost as well as in the co-op days, and there's no risk of routing Sainsbury's and Tesco out of business.
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI

ShrowdedPoet

Quote from: Apple of Eris on December 03, 2008, 03:48:36 PM
Or, you can vote with your pocketbook. I don't shop at walmart. I'd rather spend the extra two dollars when I buy something at Target. At least there I know 5% of profits go back to the community and employees are treated better than at walmart.

I'm not on the board of walmart, I'll never be a billionare enough to get on the board. Instead I do what I can to NOT support a company that unethical. Maybe ethics means very little, to you, but it does to some people, and those of us to whom it does have substance will shop elsewhere, and it does work. Community boycotts have caused walmarts in certain areas to close down. *shrug*

I don't have the extra two dollars to spend at Target.  And Target is not as squeaky clean as you just made them sound.  I've had friends who worked for Target. . .  It sucks that I have to buy from Wal-mart but I just don't have the money to go elsewhere.  I go where I can get the cheapest product (and yes I know I'm sacrificing quality but at least I'm able to eat) and that's where I get it. 

Quote from: The Overlord on December 03, 2008, 04:24:38 PM
I tend to agree. Walton started with a business ethic, based on what I've read on the man. The usurpers that took the reins in his absence made it the evil retail empire it is today. Maybe it's not 100% evil as company but it practices evil.



Exactly our problem today. Walton made a store that gave people what they needed for decent prices, but I don't think it was his intent to run all the mom & pop stores into oblivion doing it, or try to build an icon of most gluttonous consumerism in direct site of Aztec pyramids. That's how they do it; they find the cheapest possible supplier and force everyone to their level or they leave them swinging in the wind.

Not to say nobody else does this, but Wilmar is absolutely rapacious about it. They are a virus in the business world. Ever wonder what happened to that glorious "Made in the USA" crap? Quietly went away without even a word from the company as they exported production like mad. Frack everything as long as you make money...to hell with jobs at home, to hell with public safety, to hell with your own employees, and to hell with the environment. What most people are ultimately bound for is a very, very rude awakening that such practice is unsustainable in the end.



What we think of it most certainly is not moot. If you don't think your opinion counts, then enjoy your tainted fish from Wilmar deli tonight while your children play with the lead painted toys you bought them there. Legality, by the way, does not concern me, as most of the laws that govern business are themselves immoral. Laws are written by people who are lobbied and funded by the businesses they write the laws for. They set the game board so it suits them; I do not recognize the authority of big business or the cronies that support it.


Exactly.


Sam Walton was a good man with a good idea.  He was a pillar of the community and his business was there for customer satisfaction and he treated his employees with amazing kindness.  He would close wal-mart down right now if he were here and knew what they were doing.  How they were mistreating employees and customers.  How they were running small businesses out. . .  *shakes head*  His name is tainted. . .people who know nothing about the man only see Wal-mart and it taints his name.  *sighs*
Kiss the hand that beats you.
Sexuality isn't a curse, it's a gift to embrace and explore!
Ons and Offs


The Overlord

#14
Quote from: ShrowdedPoet on December 05, 2008, 10:10:47 AM
I don't have the extra two dollars to spend at Target.  And Target is not as squeaky clean as you just made them sound.  I've had friends who worked for Target. . .  It sucks that I have to buy from Wal-mart but I just don't have the money to go elsewhere.  I go where I can get the cheapest product (and yes I know I'm sacrificing quality but at least I'm able to eat) and that's where I get it. 


About twelve years ago I worked for Marshall Field's in the Chicago area, which was part of the Federated department stores conglomerate, or something like that, and it included Target. I worked with people at my store who also worked Target, and I have heard Target doesn't have the best track records on how they treat employees either. The thing that gets me is how many people talk about this stuff but suddenly cower when they need to stand up for themselves. Nobody has to put up with abusive managers; I've stood my ground on many occasions when I felt I was being disrespected. I didn't make friends, but I have my self respect. That's more important than putting up with a self-rightous, overconfident little pissant that comes into your department with a god complex.

Quote from: ShrowdedPoet on December 05, 2008, 10:10:47 AM
Sam Walton was a good man with a good idea.  He was a pillar of the community and his business was there for customer satisfaction and he treated his employees with amazing kindness.  He would close wal-mart down right now if he were here and knew what they were doing.  How they were mistreating employees and customers.  How they were running small businesses out. . .  *shakes head*  His name is tainted. . .people who know nothing about the man only see Wal-mart and it taints his name.  *sighs*

I agree 110% here. Walton was a pioneer in business, and he is a dying breed in these days; he had a work ethic and integrity. I think it still spills over today; things like the walmart door greeters and their general manner of dealing with the public. The problem is in getting store management to respect thier workers like they respect us when we go in. Like I said, I don't like going there, but should I ever happen to be in a walmart and see a manager going off on someone, I'm getting into it. Sick of that crap...