Thursday, September 17, 2009
At One Point, Wal-Mart was not so freindly to employees working there
At one point, particulary 2005, Wal-Mart may have been the biggest company in America in terms of revenue, but wasn't one where the employees enjoyed working for their company. It is well documented the way employees of Wal-Mart were mistreated by the coorporation, with one of the most publicized complaints coming from six female employees who filed a lawsuit against the company claiming discrimination within the company. The case, also knowned as the Keane's Case, nicknamed after one of the employees, was brought to court on the behalf of 1.6 million females employees of Wal-Marts past and present and since has picked up a trial date.
Wal-Marts employee discrimination is not only limited to women, as it effected all of the hourly employees working at the company. The company only started off at wages of 8.50 and no benefits, which in today's world of recession is not to bad, but when you can work up the block with an opposing company for around 13 dollars and get benefits, something isn't right.
The sad part is that this trend shows no sign of slowing down, as Wal-Mart would not like to raise wages because of profits.
"For Wal-Mart the Dukes case women were therefore troublemakers who had somehow managed to get past Wal-Mart's digital gatekeeper and had ended up where they didn't belong. Wal-Mart management has been prepared to go to considerable lengths to discourage the women from making complaints, and to stop them from pursuing the Dukes case. The purpose of this management offensive was not simply to maintain discipline at Wal-Mart, but also to protect the corporation's pattern of sex discrimination. Since lower wages and salaries paid to female employees have added significantly to profits, the company's profit margin was threatened by the Dukes women's demands for fair promotion and for equal pay"
This statement shows the evil side to capatilism, with the salary, coorporated workers getting a lions' share of the benefits, while the blue collar, hard working people are treated like slaves.
Wal-Marts employee discrimination is not only limited to women, as it effected all of the hourly employees working at the company. The company only started off at wages of 8.50 and no benefits, which in today's world of recession is not to bad, but when you can work up the block with an opposing company for around 13 dollars and get benefits, something isn't right.
The sad part is that this trend shows no sign of slowing down, as Wal-Mart would not like to raise wages because of profits.
"For Wal-Mart the Dukes case women were therefore troublemakers who had somehow managed to get past Wal-Mart's digital gatekeeper and had ended up where they didn't belong. Wal-Mart management has been prepared to go to considerable lengths to discourage the women from making complaints, and to stop them from pursuing the Dukes case. The purpose of this management offensive was not simply to maintain discipline at Wal-Mart, but also to protect the corporation's pattern of sex discrimination. Since lower wages and salaries paid to female employees have added significantly to profits, the company's profit margin was threatened by the Dukes women's demands for fair promotion and for equal pay"
This statement shows the evil side to capatilism, with the salary, coorporated workers getting a lions' share of the benefits, while the blue collar, hard working people are treated like slaves.
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A substantive post.
Are all Wal-Mart employees unhappy?
Also, how can we relate this to the theme of this blog and this course? Is there a connection between the low wages and job conditions at Wal-Mart and the corporation's status as an innovator in the information management technology to control the "global supply chain" that feeds its stores?
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Are all Wal-Mart employees unhappy?
Also, how can we relate this to the theme of this blog and this course? Is there a connection between the low wages and job conditions at Wal-Mart and the corporation's status as an innovator in the information management technology to control the "global supply chain" that feeds its stores?
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