Analysis of Article about Walmart Wage Increases The article “On Black Friday, Walmart Is Pressed for Wage Increases” is by Steven Greenhouse. Greenhouse has been writing for The New York Times since 1983. He has written many articles about Walmart, so he is a credible source for this article. The tone of this article is serious since, explains how Walmart employees think that they need to be paid more. The thesis of this article is that Walmart employees are protesting on the Black Friday of 2014 and think their wages should be increased. On Black Friday, Walmart Is pressed for Wage Increases starts off by talking about how millions of people are going to Walmart on Black Friday but thousands of Walmart employees are protesting
Wal-Mart increase completion in the area where it is located and lower prices for all consumers. Without Wal-Mart in these areas, prices will be higher and consumers would pay more. Wal-Mart prevents monopolies from occurring and encourages competition which is a very important principle of capitalism. Even Bruce Bartlett, a former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the United States Treasury department, talks about the importance of Wal-Mart. He worries that all the backlash and this war against Wal-Mart by critics would negatively affect poor families who relies and needs Wal-Mart (Maich 6). He continues that there is no one representing the people who benefit from Wal-Mart the most, the poor, in these debates. (Maich 6) He concluded that “If you’re stuck with a low income and you can reduce the amount you pay for basic items, then your real income goes up” (Maich 6) This statement shows how Wal-Mart is a necessity for poor people and how it help poor people to save money. Thanks to Wal-Mart people are saving money and could budget more for other items.
I would like to know about why isn’t more being done about the way Walmart manipulates its employees and the system. In order to make a change, people need to take a stand, and not just the employees. Unfortunately, the protests the employees partake in are not enough, they have been protesting for years and we have seen no change. I think a major reason we haven’t seen change is because people feel as if it’s not our responsibility. We aren’t employees of Walmart, we aren’t being forced to work when were not on the clock, we’re not the ones being worked through our breaks, were not being abused if we don’t meet our jeans quota for the day, so why would we care? In reality, it is our problem. We people have a voice, and were not using it to
Wal-mart has made buying essentials cost much less money, even for people who don’t shop at Wal-mart as other companies attempt to match their prices. “Walmart ... offers foods at prices considerably lower than those at traditional supermarkets--as much as 25 percent lower.” (Kenny, Charles. 2013. Para 4). Raising the wages of employees or offering more benefits could take away from these lower prices, causing families below the poverty line to not be able to afford the products they need. It is important to those living under the poverty line that the company provides their products for such a low price. Wal-Mart conducted a study in 2008 that concluded that the company saves the average American family $2,500 a year (Hall, Randy. 2008. Para 1). People in poverty now have much more access to goods than they have in the past, simply because their money goes
Walmart is the world's largest company by revenue (approximately four hundred and eighty billion dollars) and the largest private employer in the world with two point three million employees. Walmart is also one of the world's most valuable companies by market value, and is also the largest grocery retailer in the U.S. “One Nation Under Walmart” is a case about how Walmart has taken over the retail business and the effects of their market domination. The case also shows statistics of how much percentage Walmart is of many suppliers’ sales. According to the case Walmart has a 30% market share of all household items. Twenty-eight percent of Dial’s business and twenty-four percent of Del Monte’s business go through Walmart stores. It is also worth noting that Walmart imports ten percent of all United States imports from China. The case states that Walmart is able to offer cheaper prices because they put so much pressure on their suppliers to lower their prices. The case, “One Nation Under Walmart”, explains the problems that some people have with the massive retailer. One of these problems is how Walmart has forced numerous local businesses to close their doors through their extremely competitive pricing. They are able to purchase bulk goods at such low prices and thus pass the savings onto customers. As a result of these lew costs, rivals are driven out of business which results in a loss of jobs. Jobs are vital to the success of a community and with Walmart causing job
Wal-Mart founded in 1962 by Sam Walton is now the largest American retail corporation. With thousands of chains of stores and warehouses Wal-Mart monopolized the American retail industry. In addition, Wal-Mart is the second largest retail corporation in the world employing of two million employees world-wide. As one of the most valuable corporations in the world Wal-Mart continues to improve their sales annually while offering some of the lowest prices available. Wal-Mart’s famous low price guarantee, come at a high expense of the environment, the small businesses, education, the rights and safety of the consumer, but most importantly their employees. Although Wal-Mart has plays a dominate role in American economy, this “American”
Over the years, Walmart has been at the center of controversies with regards, its low wages; overtime pay abuses, employee benefits, gender discrimination, negative impact on small business, immense dealings with China, tax avoidance and much more (Crofoot, 2012). Employees have been dissatisfied with these issues but seem as if they can’t voice it
The stock market crash, October 29, 1929 this is also known as Black Tuesday. The Great Depression was an economic slump in North America and Europe. The industrialized Western world had experienced the most ruthless and prolonged depression. Cinderella Man is only one example of how families struggle and overcame the great depression. You will see how this effective many Americans.
During the last 20 years, Wal-Mart has moved into many areas wiping out all the stores around causing people to loose jobs, slashing the tax base and causing many more disturbing problems to neighborhoods so people should stop supporting Wal-Mart for many of these reasons. Always low prices, does this sound familiar? Well this would be the slogan of the world’s most controlling company; Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart grew over the years into a 256 billion dollar company after making its name across the world in 1915. The major problem with Wal-Mart is that it maintains its own mini-economy. Some people believe Wal-Mart supports the American economy while most others hold that Wal-Mart’s global outsourcing will and has
Through his stories and interviews, he finds many individuals, working full time, barely getting by, losing their pride and dignity asking for help and money. In hundreds of cases, he finds parents working long hours, unable to provide for their kids, and are getting ripped off on healthcare. Interviews done with Walmart supervisors, show them expressing their concerns and frustration because they are unable to give feedback or suggestions. These personal accounts add a lot of support and evidence for Greenwald's ultimate claim. Walmart is not all it is made out to be. Yes, they are able to provide their customers with the lowest prices, but they aren't able to provide their employees with enough to get by. Families of Walmart are working hard, but can't find their way out of poverty. They are no longer numbers, but real people asking for
Enraged employees of Walmart across the country joined together to fight a similar cause: their inequitable wages and the poor hours they have to work to try and make ends meet. They were
Please read Barbara Ehrenreich's recent book, Nickel and Dimed. In her brilliant book she reveals the misery of working for a big box retailer and the impossibility of living in America on poverty wages. She spent time working at Wal-Mart in St. Paul, Minnesota and struggled to survive. Read her account of the anti-union propaganda that Wal-Mart espouses. Wal-Mart is no friend to the working poor.
Another point from the film that connects to the course is the question whether Walmart has “good’ jobs or “bad” jobs. Since Walmart does not have a union, the workers do not have any benefits, especially if they are working part time. One reason why Walmart does not want a union, because over some time, their wages and benefits and working conditions would be improved and their employees would have some say in what happens in the workplace and since Walmart can dictate what the salaries and profits are, they do not want that (Kirby, 2006). According to The Future of Work, a “good” job is one where benefits such as health, dental, life insurance and sick leaves are given.
When it comes to retail giants, Walmart stands tallest by a very large margin. In fact, Walmart’s retail sales more than tripled their closest competitor in 2015 (“STORES top retailers 2016,” 2016). Walmart has consistently used the same marketing strategy for many years. Their “Everyday Low Price” strategy is a well-known advertisement moniker and has driven repeat sales to customers for years (Ferguson, 2015). Another familiar sign
If Wal-Mart has such little regard for their own employees, it would make it difficult for a company to have minimal regard to where their merchandise is coming from. On the documentary, The High Price of Low Cost, informs of the countries and Wal-Mart’s effects on these countries, including its presence for manufacturing in China. The workers work in conditions of extreme temperatures from morning until dawn and provided boarding, which is shared with several others and lined with bunk beds. The board and utilities are deducted from their wages even if the workers choose not to stay on the facilities the board is still deducted from their pay. These workers that are looking for employment to make a better future for their families are
Although, if people keep agreeing to work for minimum wage then these higher wages will never be set because the economic marketplace knows that it can increase its profit margin by paying workers less which is what it will always try to do. Looking at the article, it can be seen that if Wal-Mart were to raise there minimum wage to the acceptable amount of twelve dollars ($12.00) an hour, the corporation would take a $3.21 billion dollar hit to their checkbooks. Even if immigrants were the ones who were always sweeping the market to its lowest paying profit margin they are still providing a benefit to corporations which is therefore providing a benefit to everyone who interacts with that corporation and should it be a corporation like that of Wal-Mart a plethora of people are receiving the benefits while much fewer are being harmed.