Could unions help Wal-Mart?

Personal story

Submitted by PaladinQB on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 12:12pm.

This isn't exactly union-related, but I think the folks here might find this Wal-Mart story interesting. The very first paragraph talks about a conversation with a cashier, who said (in reference to a Wal-Mart survey of customers):

During a recent visit to the store, one cashier didn't greet two customers, and, when asked about the survey, she replied with outright scorn. "I don't care," she said. "If Wal-Mart doesn't care for me, why should I care?"

That's terrible stuff. There is no way that this kind of attitude will not show up in customer service, making customers who don't come back. I don't blame the cashier, I've worked retail (not at Wal-Mart) and I know how I got treated. It didn't exactly inspire me to go the extra mile for the customer. If I was getting paid union wages and had a voice, I would have viewed that job differently.

Union wages are expensive compared to the alternative. In order to justify that, union workers have to do the job better. I think in a lot of situations, they do, and this is a good example of how having a better wage and a better situation might make happier employees, and a better bottom line.

Original story:
Wal-Mart: A Snap Inspection

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Recently I got a Costco

Submitted by Joe638NYC on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 8:25pm.

Recently I got a Costco membership , while some are Teamsters in the US , the one by me was not , but they reap the rewards of a labor friendly CEO , who has lobbied for increase in the minimum wage . The employees were all very hard working and had a great attitude , even the manager who was taking my information for the membership was very nice and friendly and he didn't grab the little red phone most stores have , when I asked him if they were a union shop . I have written a piece about it

Costco Link

Belonging to a union , as long as the worker isn't above being disciplined and could possibly lose their job if the infractions are significant and there is an arbitration committee , should make the worker live a better and healthier life , able to retire , and they would know that they could lose all of it if they aren't a good worker . It gives a reason for a worker to care .

Thanks for the story

EDIT: read through that article , reminds me of the Circuit City firings en mass and what their customer service must be like now .

Thanks and I added an image

Submitted by Richard on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 9:34pm.

First, thanks for writing this for the site ... it is a good and important note to think about. Second, I hope you don't mind that I added an image to make the site look a little better. If you want, I can delete it or put in another picture -- just let me know. Finally, I agree with Joe. I think that when a worker just sucks, they should be disciplined ... and that a union card doesn't make them above that ... it is better for the union as a whole to have a safe and conscientious worker on crew as opposed to a slacker. On the flip side, I also agree that when workers are organized, have a union card, and feel proud to have a contract that was bargained for (usually not easy), they stand up and do better work ... and clearly because they have better treatment and wages -- they have a reason to really care.

Union Workers More Productive, according to study

Submitted by Richard on Thu, 10/04/2007 - 8:10am.

I thought about this thread again this morning when I went over to the site for Building Trades looking for another news item. There is a link there for research findings on union workers being more productive. Here is the blurb and the link to where you can learn more on this study. -R Latest Research Confirms Union Workers Are More Productive Workers on union construction projects are almost 17% more productive than workers on non-union jobs, according to an independent research analysis conducted for the Construction Users Round Table (CURT – www.curt.org).

I doubt they will let us this out on the net or anywere else but

Submitted by 4100 on Sun, 10/07/2007 - 6:01pm.

I was working on a Wal Mart distribution center In Rock Falls Illinois we were working along side some non union workers who were brought in, it went better than you would think we got to talk to them and share our union message and explain to them why we were making about 15$ an hour more than they were, most of them wanted to join the union on the spot some got mad and went back home. A few weeks into the job a woman from Wal Mart came and stopped us pulled us all into the job trailer and told us that out of all the other distribution centers Wal Mart has built they have never seen the dirt get moved and the pipe put in as fast or safely as we did there. I remember her saying "Wal Mart is really impressed with you people!" I still don't shop there though!

Wal-mart NEEDS UNIONS!

Submitted by mrfordwrench on Mon, 06/23/2008 - 12:32am.

I know someone who is a checker at wal-mart and wal-mart treats their employees poorly. Often they work them past their breaks and when they work them overtime they only give them a dollar for the overtime. I once worked at wal-mart in the 80's when Sam Walton was alive. It was a good time to work for wal-mart then. Since Sam died it has gone downhill. What happened to "Made In The USA!" ?... I think wal-mart could benefit from a union lead worker base.

Curtis Wilson

mrfordwrench@yahoo.com

This type of behavior

Submitted by horoscopes007 on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 6:05am.

This type of behavior happens not only Wal-Mart but also most of the customer serive center also. The company have not paid any attention on the workers. This activities should be tallerate any more.

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