<p>I am puzzled as to why so many on this thread are trying to hold up Wegman’s as a superior alternative to Walmart. These are entirely different businesses with different target customers. It’s true Wegman’s hires kids. My neighbors kid works there, she’s from a wealthy family and is working at Wegmans because it “looks good” and yes, the extra money is nice . . . and her mom had a connection with somebody who runs the store.</p>
<p>Yeah for Wegmans for “giving back”!!</p>
<p>Wegmans is mostly a foodie’s store. It has tons of exotic and expensive produce and meats and fish and – to die for – cheeses. Yes, it also carries more low brow stuff, too. And it’s not as outrageously expensive across the board as, say, Whole Foods. But I would also argue not quite at the epicurean level either.</p>
<p>Anyway, Wegmans is about the educated professional class living in communities of educated professionals and tries to hit the sweet spot of foodie delight luxuries and one stop shopping every day. It works pretty good at that. </p>
<p>It is not going to replace Walmart, which is doing something very different – trying to sell groceries and other basic consumables at the lowest price possible and to do this in as uniform and reliable a fashion as possible as widely as possible.</p>
<p>Kind of like McDonald’s – another wildly successful business that elites love to bash.</p>
<p>It does a good job at this. Many, many people have had their quality of life increased significantly by the advent of Walmart. It has allowed them to engage in the visceral joy of consumerism that even the poor ought to be entitled to.</p>
<p>I stand by my overall belief that Walmart bashing is nothing more than class bashing although those who do it will never in a million years own up.</p>
<p>No Lizard, that is not right. Most people on public assistance are working. </p>
<p>And, you didn’t answer the question. If, as you said, there is no where else for all of those Walmart employees to work, how are they supposed to get off public assistance?</p>
<p>If, as you said, there is no where else for all of those Walmart employees to work, how are the supposed to get off public assistance.</p>
<p>Hmmm . . . well not by not working if their Walmart job went away and being forced to shop at Wegmans where their food will cost more and where the other shoppers will probably not appreciate the tone they set too well.</p>
<p>“But to answer your question in the logistical sense, if a job is a union shop, there is no choice. When a person is functionally illiterate, there is little choice. Living ones’s values is a luxury many people can’t afford.”</p>
<p>Are you saying there are no non union jobs that someone who is functionally illiterate can do, or is it that there are no non union jobs for someone who is functionally illiterate which pay enough and offer good benefits - enough so that the person can contribute a significant proportion of income to help support their family?</p>
<p>I’m one of what appears to be a limited number of blue collar workers on CC & I can’t stand Walmart.</p>
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<p>Perhaps the influence of Scandinavian immigrants and the co-operative business model they favor laid the path for local companies that treat their workers like people.</p>
<p>I’m not bashing Walmart, just pointing out a company that treats its employees well and manages to be profitable. When I shop at Wegmans, during the week, the majority of the workers are older and I expect most contribute significantly to the financial welfare of their families, particularly when they are providing health and dental insurance. I somehow doubt that the child of a wealthy family working at Wegmans because it “looks good” is a typical employee.</p>
<p>Emily, your line of questioning is utterly bizarre. You have no idea what my husband’s view of unions is. I get the feeling that you have a very different marriage than I do. To clarify, I have opinions. My husband his some all his own. Sometimes they overlap. Sometimes they do not. Neither of us bases our personal choices on the other’s preferences. Two fully separate human beings.</p>
<p>In the context of this thread, I have not made any anti union statements. If this is confusing, I will clarify. My only point is that being a union shop is no guarantee that employees will be treated well. </p>
<p>Neither am I defending Walmart. I don’t shop there. But I hope people who are so opposed to their practices will understand that Walmart is not alone and some employers who are on the good list engage in the exact same practices. I don’t think anti Walmart folks are elitist. I think some of them in some places have agendas of their own.</p>
<p>Wegmans is a good company and I shop at Wegmans. But the notion that the poor should quit the oppressive Walmart and shop at Wegmans is beyond preposterous.</p>
<p>And yes, the Emperor’s New Clothes is very much fitting for the debate here.</p>
<p>Emerald, I read your links. Sorry but I really think endless articles about “Best Company to Work For” are really just indicative of the very sick economy we have – and once again, Emperor’s New Clothes come to mind.</p>
<p>The truth is this economy does not support full-time gainful employment. That is assuredly not the fault of Walmart.</p>
<p>I worked as a night stocker for one miserable week at Walmart. Loud rock music blared all night long over the intercom speakers. Most of us slept during our lunch hour and break time. I worked for a cool supervisor and got along with everyone. </p>
<p>On the morning of Black Friday, I had to work four hours of overtime in a different department in anticipation of the rush of shoppers expected. A daytime supervisor came over to me and chewed me out for a mistake I made. I explained to him it was my first time in the department, and nobody taught me how to do anything. He began hollering at me in front of the whole crew, and talked down to me as if I was an idiot. I couldn’t believe how arrogant this guy was. </p>
<p>The next day I quit, and turned in my badge to the Human Resources Manager. She told me I would never ever work at this Walmart store in the future. More arrogance. I smiled and walked away. I see her in the store occasionally and she looks like hell. Not everyone is like this at every Walmart, but my gut tells me there are a lot of people just like them.</p>
<p>Vive L’empereur! Don’t stop her Cartera. As an “educated professional” (horrors!) I treasure lines like “foodie delight luxuries”. In fact we elite luxuriate such bon mots. Let them eat Walmart cake! Off with their heads! I’m off to get my 18th century panniers re-wired. Adieu mes amis!</p>
<p>I shop at Walmart. Live in a smallish town that is what a friend called “centrally remote” - 100 miles from the nearest 3 large cities. We don’t have many options as far as shopping. Don’t for instance have a Wegmans (actually I’ve not heard of Wegmans - is it specific to a certain area). For major purchases we will usually make the 100 mile drive to the city. But I’m pretty thankful that we have a Walmart for every day needs. (Though I’ll never again go there at midnight on the last friday of the month - Now I know where the photos on “people of Walmart” come from - yikes)</p>
<p>Sewhappy, I’ll just lay it out there…if Walmart employees weren’t working at Walmart, they’d likely be working at the living wage US manufacturing jobs that Walmart (and other retailers who followed their lead) is largely (not wholly) responsible for driving away. </p>
<p>And, as a person who has taken great care to live, work and vote in a way that keeps the poor in mind, rather than indulging my own middle class self interests, your insistence that my decision making is driven by my elitist tendencies is both uninformed and offensive.</p>
<p>Tony’s that’s the exact environment my husband works in in a union shop. And he is happy to do it so our kids graduate debt free. It’s not just Walmart.</p>
<p>The profoundly significant difference between your husband and a walmart worker, then, is that your husband can buy his own food AND <em>gasp</em> pay ALL of your kids’ tuition.</p>
<p>“In the context of this thread, I have not made any anti union statements.”</p>
<p>Imo, your bias shows clearly through and I had also read other threads where you have made your anti union sentiments known. </p>
<p>I just find it very odd that someone whose family benefits in a significant way from a union job and the good wages and benefits from that job is so anti-union. I think if I was in your position I would be thrilled that my DH being in union provided my family the means to live a nice lifestyle and would want the same benefits to be available to everyone in that position.</p>
<p>I think what I find ridiculous is the notion that Walmart drives the sickness of our economy. I don’t love to go to Walmart. I like to shop in places that make my shopping outing feel pleasant and Walmart doesn’t really do that. But I look upon Walmart as what we get from really stupid policies that make the economy really sick. Same with Detroit and the Auto Industry, so please no unctuous lectures on the need for unions. I don’t look upon unions in the last half century as a force for good in this economy. And my granddad died of black lung, btw, from the KY coal mines and was blacklisted a number of years for union organizing. Different time, different issues. Union doesn’t mean Angel and joining makes you join the band of angels. We’re all greedy. We all need our checks. Even unions and their net impact on this economy of late is not a good one. jmo</p>