Re: Wal-Mart Memo Suggests Ways to Cut Employee Benefi...

[Guest guest]

From what I can gather not many wind up with benefits anyway but yes this is

deplorable.

Although in daycare other than the occasional YMCA or Headstart program

benefits including time off for sick or personal days are unknown and even

degreed teachers like myself are making poverty wages between

$12-20,000, as opposed to kindergarten teachers who often make $30-40.000

for basically the same job. At least the public schools provide decent

benefits.

Narice

If this stuff bothers you and it should you might want to read

Nickled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

published by Owl Books 2002

Barbara Ehrenreich is a fifty something American writer/journalist, of a

liberal bent. One day during a discussion of poverty with her editor, she

mentioned that someone should do some " old-fashioned reporting " , go out there

and

try for themselves what it was really like having to subsist on poverty level

wages, on $6-7 per hour. Her editor thought it an excellent idea and when

would she start? So she left home and family to try her luck as an unskilled

worker, working as a waitress, cleaner and Walmart clerk. What she found wasn't

pretty.

Before she started her experiment, she set some ground rules: she wouldn't

depend on any skills gained from her education or usual jobs, she would take

the highest paying job on offer and do it properly -- no pretending -- and she

would try and find the cheapest (safe) accommodations she could find. She

presented herself as a divorced homemaker reentering the workforce after many

years, with three years of college as an educational background. She also

decided to not take her experiment too far: if she didn't make enough from her

job(s) to afford the rent, enough food or a car she used her own money to cover

for it. After all, this was an experiment to see if people can survive on a

minimal wage job, not an endurance test.

She started out in Key West as a waitress in a not very good restaurant,

combined that for a few days with a second job as a hotel cleaner. Then she

moved to Maine, to work as a maid for a cleaning agency, cleaning the ever

increasing houses of the rich, as well as working weekends as an assistant in a

nursing home. Finally, in Minnesota, she worked retail, in a Walmart.

At the end of the project, she found that she was doing well at the work

itself, but failing at making a living. Even working seven days a week, she

either could not earn enough money to pay for rents, food and the other bare

necessities of life or just enough to survive on, but if even a small crisis

were

to happen, she would've been fucked. And this at a time when the US economy

was booming and the job market was tight!

She found that, if you're an unskilled worker looking for a job to sustain

your family, you're out of luck: tight job market or not, you won't be paid a

living wage, a wage where you can work a normal work week and make enough to

pay the rent, food, gas and electricity bills, etc from. Worse, because of

the booming economy rents are skyrocketing out of reach of the poorest workers.

Low income housing has all but disappeared, replaced by luxury

accommodations for the middle class and the rich. Even half a trailer costs

$625 in rent

per month in Key West and the situation wasn't much better in Maine or

Minnesota. In Maine Barbara could not even find any accommodation other then

motels

to live in. This doesn't make it easier to get by: you cannot cook in a motel

room, so you're stuck with eating fast food, or the sort of food you can

heat up in a microwave or a hotplate. Living in a motel will always be more

expensive then living in a normal house or flat too. Also, don't forget that

when

you want to rent something, you usually need to pay both a deposit and the

first month of rent in advance. It may take quite a while to save up enough

money to be able to afford this; a motel may be more expensive in the long run,

but at least you can move in immediately.

What I found the most outrageous about her experiences was how people were

treated at their jobs. They don't make enough money to live on in the first

place, which is something one should reasonably expect from a full-time job and

they're treated like dirt. I've worked cleaning jobs myself, as a summerjob.

It's hard and dirty work, but since we were treated with respect and since

we got paid reasonably well it wasn't an onerous job. This is not the case

with the jobs Barbara did: there was the hassle of drug tests, designed to show

who's boss, to keep the workers humble, there were the petty regulations: no

talking on the floor, no sitting down, few breaks, etc. There are all the

small ways in which the companies steal their workers money: first weeks wages

are only paid a month later, having to pay for the equipment you use in your

job, having to clean the store or restaurant after you punched out, etc. Worse

of all, the people who work these jobs have no medical insurance to speak of

--they might get some government help, but that's it-- and if they take

time off for being ill, even being very ill, they probably get fired.

All in all, this is a book that will make you very angry if you have a

heart. No doubt some conservatives will snort and write it off as the poor own

fault: " if I can get a decent job, so can they " . To them I would like to say:

try it yourself. Everybody should be able to get a job and earn enough to live

comfortably: pay the rent, pay the bills, get decent food, have some money

left over. It's a crying shame that in the supposedly richest country in the

world, millions of people cannot do this.

[Guest guest]

Add to that, that if you do fall through the 'cracks' and end up in the system

(i.e. food pantries, shelters, etc.) you no longer have access to a washer and

dryer and a shower. Just try to get back on your feet when you have to scrap

together enough money to use the laundremat to wash your clothes - for which you

have to walk across town lugging your clothes because you don't have a car,

can't afford a cab and the bus is awkward to take and doesn't stop at the

laundremat. And then when the clothes are clean - you still need a shower.

Priscilla A. Savary

Executive Director

Colorectal Cancer Network

PO Box 182, Kensington MD 20895

psavary@...

www.colorectal-cancer.net

_________

Screening for All. Colon Cancer for None.

ProjectMARCH -- rarely in life do you get a chance to make major change or save

thousands of lives. March 6, 2006 you can.

http://www.colorectal-cancer.net/projectmarch.htm

Re: Wal-Mart Memo Suggests Ways to Cut

Employee Benefi...

From what I can gather not many wind up with benefits anyway but yes this is

deplorable.

Although in daycare other than the occasional YMCA or Headstart program

benefits including time off for sick or personal days are unknown and even

degreed teachers like myself are making poverty wages between

$12-20,000, as opposed to kindergarten teachers who often make $30-40.000

for basically the same job. At least the public schools provide decent

benefits.

Narice

If this stuff bothers you and it should you might want to read

Nickled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

published by Owl Books 2002

Barbara Ehrenreich is a fifty something American writer/journalist, of a

liberal bent. One day during a discussion of poverty with her editor, she

mentioned that someone should do some " old-fashioned reporting " , go out there

and

try for themselves what it was really like having to subsist on poverty level

wages, on $6-7 per hour. Her editor thought it an excellent idea and when

would she start? So she left home and family to try her luck as an unskilled

worker, working as a waitress, cleaner and Walmart clerk. What she found

wasn't

pretty.

Before she started her experiment, she set some ground rules: she wouldn't

depend on any skills gained from her education or usual jobs, she would take

the highest paying job on offer and do it properly -- no pretending -- and

she

would try and find the cheapest (safe) accommodations she could find. She

presented herself as a divorced homemaker reentering the workforce after many

years, with three years of college as an educational background. She also

decided to not take her experiment too far: if she didn't make enough from

her

job(s) to afford the rent, enough food or a car she used her own money to

cover

for it. After all, this was an experiment to see if people can survive on a

minimal wage job, not an endurance test.

She started out in Key West as a waitress in a not very good restaurant,

combined that for a few days with a second job as a hotel cleaner. Then she

moved to Maine, to work as a maid for a cleaning agency, cleaning the ever

increasing houses of the rich, as well as working weekends as an assistant in

a

nursing home. Finally, in Minnesota, she worked retail, in a Walmart.

At the end of the project, she found that she was doing well at the work

itself, but failing at making a living. Even working seven days a week, she

either could not earn enough money to pay for rents, food and the other bare

necessities of life or just enough to survive on, but if even a small crisis

were

to happen, she would've been fucked. And this at a time when the US economy

was booming and the job market was tight!

She found that, if you're an unskilled worker looking for a job to sustain

your family, you're out of luck: tight job market or not, you won't be paid a

living wage, a wage where you can work a normal work week and make enough to

pay the rent, food, gas and electricity bills, etc from. Worse, because of

the booming economy rents are skyrocketing out of reach of the poorest

workers.

Low income housing has all but disappeared, replaced by luxury

accommodations for the middle class and the rich. Even half a trailer costs

$625 in rent

per month in Key West and the situation wasn't much better in Maine or

Minnesota. In Maine Barbara could not even find any accommodation other then

motels

to live in. This doesn't make it easier to get by: you cannot cook in a motel

room, so you're stuck with eating fast food, or the sort of food you can

heat up in a microwave or a hotplate. Living in a motel will always be more

expensive then living in a normal house or flat too. Also, don't forget that

when

you want to rent something, you usually need to pay both a deposit and the

first month of rent in advance. It may take quite a while to save up enough

money to be able to afford this; a motel may be more expensive in the long

run,

but at least you can move in immediately.

What I found the most outrageous about her experiences was how people were

treated at their jobs. They don't make enough money to live on in the first

place, which is something one should reasonably expect from a full-time job

and

they're treated like dirt. I've worked cleaning jobs myself, as a summerjob.

It's hard and dirty work, but since we were treated with respect and since

we got paid reasonably well it wasn't an onerous job. This is not the case

with the jobs Barbara did: there was the hassle of drug tests, designed to

show

who's boss, to keep the workers humble, there were the petty regulations: no

talking on the floor, no sitting down, few breaks, etc. There are all the

small ways in which the companies steal their workers money: first weeks

wages

are only paid a month later, having to pay for the equipment you use in your

job, having to clean the store or restaurant after you punched out, etc.

Worse

of all, the people who work these jobs have no medical insurance to speak of

--they might get some government help, but that's it-- and if they take

time off for being ill, even being very ill, they probably get fired.

All in all, this is a book that will make you very angry if you have a

heart. No doubt some conservatives will snort and write it off as the poor

own

fault: " if I can get a decent job, so can they " . To them I would like to say:

try it yourself. Everybody should be able to get a job and earn enough to

live

comfortably: pay the rent, pay the bills, get decent food, have some money

left over. It's a crying shame that in the supposedly richest country in the

world, millions of people cannot do this.

[Guest guest]

I tried to tell my son about this but he is Mr R with big capital R.. I

won't mention that party by name. I tried to tell him that the things are

all for Business these days. Folks can't make a living etc. That is why

daughter Kris is living with me right now. Now when she works AND goes to

school she gets some good money. but that was before we had to finance other

causes, they said it would reduce amount available for student loans. Krissy

can't even take time off, she has to put the notice in a week ahead of time.

She took two days off this week, and someone blew her computers. Is right

near the school kitchen and the cords are somehow under the kitchen doors so

they have to be closed carefully, which Krissy always does, well Monday here

come Ms know it all and slams the door and RIPs the cords right out of the

wall. The other computer is a stand alone. it doesn't communicate with the

office etc. So she went back today, looking forward to hearing what else

has gone wrong. Gal who was spose to sub for her yesterday didn't show, so

don't know what happened there.

Well it is a shame that things are so hard for people. We haven't had a

raise in minimum wages in how many years. Anyway my son told me I was

listening to a bunch of garbage and I said well it is just not that easy. I

didn't want to argue with him. He put himself through college, using

whatever means available to him, he once worked for Dillards department

store in shoe dept on commission basis only and made a living at it, now he

has his own business.. He figures if someone wants to get a ahead they can

buckle down and do it just like he did. Can't argue with that.. But I spose

Krissy should just dump her kids on the hubby and then HE can push for child

support even though he doesn't pay any. and just get buckle down and work..

If Jay had kids at home he would tell a different story I think. Oh well let

me shut up.. I need to eat something.. I am hungry... cheers all Jolene

Re: Wal-Mart Memo Suggests Ways to Cut

Employee Benefi...

From what I can gather not many wind up with benefits anyway but yes this

is

deplorable.

Although in daycare other than the occasional YMCA or Headstart program

benefits including time off for sick or personal days are unknown and even

degreed teachers like myself are making poverty wages between

$12-20,000, as opposed to kindergarten teachers who often make $30-40.000

for basically the same job. At least the public schools provide decent

benefits.

Narice

If this stuff bothers you and it should you might want to read

Nickled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

published by Owl Books 2002

Barbara Ehrenreich is a fifty something American writer/journalist, of a

liberal bent. One day during a discussion of poverty with her editor, she

mentioned that someone should do some " old-fashioned reporting " , go out

there and

try for themselves what it was really like having to subsist on poverty

level

wages, on $6-7 per hour. Her editor thought it an excellent idea and when

would she start? So she left home and family to try her luck as an

unskilled

worker, working as a waitress, cleaner and Walmart clerk. What she found

wasn't

pretty.

Before she started her experiment, she set some ground rules: she wouldn't

depend on any skills gained from her education or usual jobs, she would

take

the highest paying job on offer and do it properly -- no pretending -- and

she

would try and find the cheapest (safe) accommodations she could find. She

presented herself as a divorced homemaker reentering the workforce after

many

years, with three years of college as an educational background. She also

decided to not take her experiment too far: if she didn't make enough from

her

job(s) to afford the rent, enough food or a car she used her own money to

cover

for it. After all, this was an experiment to see if people can survive on a

minimal wage job, not an endurance test.

She started out in Key West as a waitress in a not very good restaurant,

combined that for a few days with a second job as a hotel cleaner. Then she

moved to Maine, to work as a maid for a cleaning agency, cleaning the ever

increasing houses of the rich, as well as working weekends as an assistant

in a

nursing home. Finally, in Minnesota, she worked retail, in a Walmart.

At the end of the project, she found that she was doing well at the work

itself, but failing at making a living. Even working seven days a week, she

either could not earn enough money to pay for rents, food and the other

bare

necessities of life or just enough to survive on, but if even a small

crisis were

to happen, she would've been fucked. And this at a time when the US economy

was booming and the job market was tight!

She found that, if you're an unskilled worker looking for a job to sustain

your family, you're out of luck: tight job market or not, you won't be paid

a

living wage, a wage where you can work a normal work week and make enough

to

pay the rent, food, gas and electricity bills, etc from. Worse, because of

the booming economy rents are skyrocketing out of reach of the poorest

workers.

Low income housing has all but disappeared, replaced by luxury

accommodations for the middle class and the rich. Even half a trailer costs

$625 in rent

per month in Key West and the situation wasn't much better in Maine or

Minnesota. In Maine Barbara could not even find any accommodation other

then motels

to live in. This doesn't make it easier to get by: you cannot cook in a

motel

room, so you're stuck with eating fast food, or the sort of food you can

heat up in a microwave or a hotplate. Living in a motel will always be more

expensive then living in a normal house or flat too. Also, don't forget

that when

you want to rent something, you usually need to pay both a deposit and the

first month of rent in advance. It may take quite a while to save up enough

money to be able to afford this; a motel may be more expensive in the long

run,

but at least you can move in immediately.

What I found the most outrageous about her experiences was how people were

treated at their jobs. They don't make enough money to live on in the first

place, which is something one should reasonably expect from a full-time job

and

they're treated like dirt. I've worked cleaning jobs myself, as a

summerjob.

It's hard and dirty work, but since we were treated with respect and since

we got paid reasonably well it wasn't an onerous job. This is not the case

with the jobs Barbara did: there was the hassle of drug tests, designed to

show

who's boss, to keep the workers humble, there were the petty regulations:

no

talking on the floor, no sitting down, few breaks, etc. There are all the

small ways in which the companies steal their workers money: first weeks

wages

are only paid a month later, having to pay for the equipment you use in

your

job, having to clean the store or restaurant after you punched out, etc.

Worse

of all, the people who work these jobs have no medical insurance to speak

of

--they might get some government help, but that's it-- and if they take

time off for being ill, even being very ill, they probably get fired.

All in all, this is a book that will make you very angry if you have a

heart. No doubt some conservatives will snort and write it off as the poor

own

fault: " if I can get a decent job, so can they " . To them I would like to

say:

try it yourself. Everybody should be able to get a job and earn enough to

live

comfortably: pay the rent, pay the bills, get decent food, have some money

left over. It's a crying shame that in the supposedly richest country in

the

world, millions of people cannot do this.

[Guest guest]

As an FYI - 2 of my family members work for Sam's Club (still the Wal-Mart

family) and they are so money driven....do you know that Sam's was livid that

the stores were closed during the hurricane and after the threat passed, they

had the managers go in and open the doors, with no power to see if people would

show up to buy generators with cash!! They had cops there making sure there

were no looters and these guys were in the parking lot selling generators for

cash only within hours. Now for those wanting a generator, that was great, but

with people who had damage and other problems but were called into work, it

wasn't so great. During Charlie, they were not allowed to shut down until the

last minute - God bless the almighty dollar and the big corporations!! Sam's

is not good to their people, I could tell you many horror stories.

Jolene Ehret wrote:Give it time , like I said don't

believe everything negative you read

about Walmart.. Jolene

Course my daughter works for distribution and that is a lot different than

the stores. No doubt she has worked her

Butt off getting where she is today, and puts in 12-15 hour days and then

some, works 4 on and three off. If they could work her 7 days a week

They would. When I was taking chemo she would come with me, spend the

several hours with me and still go to work and do a full day plus, but they

Finally told her she had to stop going to chemo with me. It made no sense to

me. She worked her share of hours. I have my own feelings about

Walmart.. She likes her job but they take advantage of her, she is doing her

own job plus that of her co-manager who doesn't begin to do her job.

She is always calling in and leaves early.. The day Laurie leaves her job

early I will know she is finally fed up with Walmart. I just hope they don't

burn her out. That I is all I care about. Oh shut me up. You will find out

what it is like after you work there for awhile..

When I read that article or sort of, I wondered who hires full time

anymore???? When I worked retail the only time you got full time is if you

were on salary.. Even as a supervisor and making the best money I ever made

- I still had no benefits at all. Way back when I first started out in early

60 " s at 75 cents and hour I never got any benefits and I was working full

time then. So all this is really northing new. Shut me up Jolene

Re: Wal-Mart Memo Suggests Ways to Cut

Employee Benefi...

Ok this pisses me off. I just took a damn part time job with Sam's.

[Guest guest]

The sad part with Walmart and other places is that the more you give

of yourself the more they want. And if you need personal time they

frown on you and give you a hard time. I too have been there, done

that!!!! Love, Ingrid

>

> Give it time , like I said don't believe everything negative

you read

> about Walmart.. Jolene

>

> Course my daughter works for distribution and that is a lot

different than

> the stores. No doubt she has worked her

>

> Butt off getting where she is today, and puts in 12-15 hour days

and then

> some, works 4 on and three off. If they could work her 7 days a week

>

> They would. When I was taking chemo she would come with me, spend

the

> several hours with me and still go to work and do a full day plus,

but they

>

> Finally told her she had to stop going to chemo with me. It made no

sense to

> me. She worked her share of hours. I have my own feelings about

>

> Walmart.. She likes her job but they take advantage of her, she is

doing her

> own job plus that of her co-manager who doesn't begin to do her job.

>

> She is always calling in and leaves early.. The day Laurie leaves

her job

> early I will know she is finally fed up with Walmart. I just hope

they don't

> burn her out. That I is all I care about. Oh shut me up. You will

find out

> what it is like after you work there for awhile..

>

>

>

> When I read that article or sort of, I wondered who hires full time

> anymore???? When I worked retail the only time you got full time is

if you

> were on salary.. Even as a supervisor and making the best money I

ever made

> - I still had no benefits at all. Way back when I first started out

in early

> 60 " s at 75 cents and hour I never got any benefits and I was

working full

> time then. So all this is really northing new. Shut me up Jolene

>

>

>

> Re: Wal-Mart Memo Suggests Ways to

Cut

> Employee Benefi...

>

>

>

> Ok this pisses me off. I just took a damn part time job with

Sam's.

>

>

>

>

>