Agreed that there IS a cause and effect relationship at work here - 90% of people will drive a car, need to drive a car. Whatever. My issue is that there is absolutly no thought put to the possibility that some people can/would come by some alternate means of transit.

Agreed that many of these stores are so far out in the middle of no where that a car IS the only option However,there is a large shopping plaza( with a Home Depot, a Zellers and a large Grocery store) in my home town, that has several thousand homes all within a couple of kilometeres, and none of the stores has bike racks. I have sat in the Cafe in the plaza and watched people get in their car at their house drive across the road and across the parking lot to buy a bottle of pop and then drive home!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

"I still see a lot of Dumb Growth going on around where I live! "

You're in Toronto Fleck? I was thinking about the dumb growth since I have to go there today to pick my 15 yr old son up at the airport since he's flying in from BC to spend the summer with me. I hate that drive across the top of Toronto, althought the Hwy 407 sure helps.

That is a sad, but all too true commentary on the American lifestyle. Perhaps if enough people emphasized that they would LOVE to see, and would USE, bike racks, the stores would put them in. When you have one person mentioning it once a year, what's the incentive? I'm not saying that's right, only that it's the way these businesses probably look at it.

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Steve Perkins

Tibbsy my man, take a deep breath. I wasn't attacking, you or Walmart. I won't call up your old boss to see if you are telling the truth. I will however call and see what interesting stories he has to tell about you!

But seriously I must reiterate that I am not necessarily a gung ho union man. The jist of my point was not that Walmart is bad and unions are good. What I'm trying to convey is that Walmart and other major corporations have actively subverted union organization.

In the much hallowed domain of the free market, corporations do everything in there power to maximize profit and the workers have the right to collectively maximize their compensation. That is the free market, it is the law. Would you expect corporations to not use everything in there power to maximize profit? Why do you expect less of workers?

I like Walmart's low, low everday prices, I love it when they rollback the prices, I love the convenience of having so many goods consolidated in one location.

But with that being said I do not consider them beyond reproach. Their labor practices violate the principles of the free market that they so heartily endorse. And as so often is the case, businesses are quick to preach the free market until the free market opposes their interests then they become interventionists.

Walmart shouldn't decide if their employees organize, the employees should. And if you say that they do have that choice tell me where I can find a Walmart union representative? Or a Mcdonald's Union rep?

They don't exist, is that coincidence?

And to illustrate my point look at the airlines. United Airlines is looking for another billion dollar bailout.

And in my opinion it is due to very poor management and labor relations. Frankly, the Union leadership at UA had a huge role in running UA into the ground.

They are applying for yet another bailout and were denied, and I think the industry would be better off with United out of business.

But then you look at Southwest Airlines, they are doing great business when the others are struggling and guess what? They don't have a union!

And it isn't because Southwest is a bunch of hard assed union busters it's because of their excellent labor relations and stellar management. The workers voted down their union! That my friend is the free market, or something close to it anyway.

<<And if you say that they do have that choice tell me where I can find a Walmart union representative? Or a Mcdonald's Union rep?

They don't exist, is that coincidence? >>

Every local has an office. Wal-Mart/McDonald's would most likely be UFCW (United Food & Commercial Workers). I was a member of Local 367 back in the 80's. Their office is in Tacoma, Washington. If you want contact info, let me know.

Though I'm no longer a union member, I still carry a hickory axe handle in my truck. I miss the days sometimes...

Brett

I agree with most of what you say, with the exception of the blanket assumption that Wal-Mart (or whomever) are doing what you say. It has been alleged that they do, but I don't remember seeing a jury verdict or a court ruling saying that they did do it (I may be wrong, maybe there is one out there, but I haven't seen it).

Same thing with the illegal immigration "scandal." I've heard the allegations, but seen no proof, and I'm pretty sure that one hasn't gone to a jury yet.

Point is. Many people seem quick to assume that allegations = truth. In my experience, allegations (and many times, even verdicts) have absolutely nothing to do with the truth.

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Steve Perkins

Well you are right about one thing, it WOULD be the UFCW, if there were a union at Walmart.

FYI, it was a rhetorical question, there isn't a Walmart or McDonald's workers union.

I don't believe it's coincidence.

Take a look:

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/...owdown_in_vegas.html

Well here is a court ruling for you.

http://www.ufcw135.org/...urtoverturns_703.htm

And there is more if you really want to find out.

Out of curiosity, what's wrong with "resisting unionization" as long as no laws are broken? Surely, Wal-Mart has the right to encourage (legally) workers not to unionize.

I also note that the article asserts in a conclusory fashion that Wal-Mart fired union sympathizers (clearly an illegal practice under the NLRA), but I didn't see any proof. Are we to always believe it if it's in print or on the local (or national) news?

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Steve Perkins

"Walmart shouldn't decide if their employees organize, the employees should."

Your operating under the idea that Walmart employees want a union. It only takes two employees and the backing of a union for an election to be held. At that point the employees vote to see if they want to unionize. Once at my store, twice at my dad's they voted and lost big.

Walmart as a whole has great benefits for the level of work. Once again Walmart has no skills jobs. There is no befit a union can bring. There are problems but they are store issues of managers braking policy.

Union does not mean good work place. When your company relies on it's employees stock options I can be pretty sure they aren't operating a 19th cenutry slaughter house.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

I worked side by side with union workers as an engineer for years in a high tech manufacturing environment. I've been given grievences by the union for moving my computer from one side of my desk to the other, trying to put together my own circuit board for a customer who needed it, and pushing a cart down the aisle on the manufacturing floor. As I said before, unions had their place in earlier times but are a relic in today's fast paced business environment. In my personal experience, they stifled productivity and creativity and single handedly negotiated their way out of their own jobs. The company closed the plant down and moved the plant. 3500 people..both union and non-union, were laid off...directly due to the high labor costs that they were demanding.

I worked side by side with union workers and became good friends with many of them. I would say 50% of them did not support the union they belonged and wondered why they even had to be a member and pay dues. They resented the union and its practices.

wal-mart in particular has a long history of bad corporate behaviour.

An anecdote:
http://respectfulofotters.blogspot.com/2004_04_01_respectfulofotters_archive.html#108250015244260329
More on Walmart and health care:
http://www.goiam.org/territories.asp?c=5236

5 of the 10 richest people in the world are Waltons , so it's not as if they couldn't afford to behave a bit better..
More reading on walmart:
http://pf.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

And before any of the radical right start preaching the moral duty of a corporation to maximise shareholder benefit, consider for a moment that the corporation might also have a moral duty to its employees and the society that gives it sustenance..

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview

http://respectfulofotters.blogspot.com/2004_04_01_respectfulofotters_archive.html#108250015244260329

First, this is a blog. Not a news story. Heavy on emotion and opinion, but light on facts. Second, why single out Wal-Mart here? My health insurance plan doesn't cover HIV treatments. I don't work for Wal-Mart. How many small businesses do you think have health plans that cover HIV? Probably not many.

I'm not saying they're perfect, I'm just wondering where the animosity comes from? And I'm wondering if it's legitimate. So far, I haven't seen an argument I consider to be legit.

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Steve Perkins