October 19, 2003
Maybe a $30 minimum wage will help?
Today's
New York Times opines
that the reason for California's grocery clerk strike is the impending
entrance into the market of Wal- Mart Supermarkets with "prices ... 14
percent lower than its competitors.... unionized supermarket workers
fear that Wal-Mart's invasion will oust them from the middle class by
pulling down their wages and benefits, which, taken together, are more
than 50 percent higher than those of Wal-Mart workers."
Posted by pecksnif at October 19, 2003 08:59 AM
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I've just finished reading Barbara Ehrenreich's book, Nickeled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.
It's largely leftist fluff. The author is a good writer and known journalist, so I'd imagine more will take her at her word than question.
Barabara proposes that $14.00 an hour is a "living wage."
I'll have the review of the 2nd half up on my site probably later today. The first half's review is here.
hln
Posted by: hln on October 19, 2003 10:50 AMAnother reason to love walmart.
Posted by: curtis kreutzberg on October 19, 2003 12:02 PMRiiiight. That's why WalMart workers have almost unanimously rejected all attempts to unionize them. That should really read "union bosses fear WalMart because they're afraid the union members will find out they are paying high dues and getting little return for their money."
Can you tell I live in a non-union, right-to-work state? Thought so.
Posted by: Rita on October 19, 2003 04:43 PMWhaa, I'm A no brain do whatever the union dictates me to do moron. I cant survive without the union. My family will starve without the union fighting for me. Oh what to do what to do. I know, lets all strike. Why work harder, lets just stop working. That will show them.
Posted by: Enoch on October 21, 2003 11:55 AMENOCH WROTE:
"Whaa, I'm A no brain do whatever the union dictates me to do moron. I cant survive without the union. My family will starve without the union fighting for me. Oh what to do what to do. I know, lets all strike. Why work harder, lets just stop working. That will show them."
Yes in fact it will. Its called collective power. Why "work harder" for a corporation that is interested purely in the exploitation of human labour for the purpose of profit maximization benefitting only a tiny percentage of top executives? What will "working harder" achieve for the minimum wage earner? A $0.30 raise? Yippee. Now that's incentive.
Here's a site quoting Walmart's opinion of people who refuse to mindlessly obey corporate drones, and instead choose to join a union driven by the interest in COLLECTIVE good of its workers:
http://www.ksworkbeat.org/Issues/Walmart_s_Opinon_of_Union_Memb/walmart_s_opinon_of_union_memb.html
Posted by: Meghan Myres on November 9, 2003 01:37 PMDuring the Samuel Johnson days they had big men enjoying small talk; today we have small men enjoying big talk.
Posted by: Congdon John on December 11, 2003 02:23 AM