Walmart....

Just watched this documentary on Walmart on youtube... what do you think about Walmart? Do you think they're good or bad for America?

bad for america

check this out
www.walmartmovie.com

it will open your eyes on some things

Walmart is horrible for the economy.
On top of it, they pay ridiculously low wages to their employees and offer terrible benefits.

Walmart FTL.

Wal-Mart Always Low Wages. Always.

was it Frontline Is Walmart Good For America? you can watch that on pbs.org i think.

[quote69a5f873b9="Kidd"]bad for america

check this out
www.walmartmovie.com

it will open your eyes on some things[/quote69a5f873b9]
I don't get it...theres a few people that complain about Wal-Mart on the video and all of a sudden its bad for America? Its just a company like any other. We might as well be saying Target, K-Mart, Best Buy, etc. are all bad for America too. Maybe theres a little more info on that documentary you watched as to why its "bad" but based on the video posted by Kidd I see no evidence at all.

good 4 china

[quote1d2910c879="Jeremiah1218"]I don't get it...theres a few people that complain about Wal-Mart on the video and all of a sudden its bad for America? Its just a company like any other. We might as well be saying Target, K-Mart, Best Buy, etc. are all bad for America too. Maybe theres a little more info on that documentary you watched as to why its "bad" but based on the video posted by Kidd I see no evidence at all.[/quote1d2910c879]
Walmart has been criticized for years for their behavior and there have been class action suits which included up to 200,000 employees (so that's more than a few people complaining).

If you don't trust the wiki, just read through some of the linked references from credible sources
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart[]http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart

There was also a documentary about walmart called "WAL-MART The High Cost of Low Price but I never watched it. I never fully looked into all of the ways they might have mistreated their employees but it's hard to deny their bad reputation.

And as for how it can be bad for America, just think about what suppliers have to do to get the lower prices demanded of them by Walmart, who is probably one of the biggest, if not their biggest client. That's just one example that comes to mind but then again, everyone seems to be going to China these days (and in some cases paying the price).

^ Also, some smaller local shops are getting driven out of business because they can't compete with Wal-Mart. I don't really know what to say about it. I mean, it's their capitalist right to be in business and they're only trying to maximize their profit.

While I pretty much despise them myself, it's not so much for their industry practices as their store-level practices. The ones that I unfortunately have to frequent are unclean, poorly stocked, have poor customer service, and while it may sound rude or "elitist" (not my intention) the clientel is typically unsavory. I don't mind at all poor folks trying to stretch a dollar (been there, done that), but personal hygiene and good taste does not require wealth. Target is a MUCH better store and we shop them every chance we get -- unfortunately the nearest one is 30 miles away. I'd much rather pay slightly higher prices for the much nicer shopping experience. They've promised over the years that Target was coming to town, but we're still waiting. Meanwhile we have TWO Wal-Mart Supercenters.

But personal opinion of the shopping experience aside, Wal-Mart is a perfect example of capitalism in action on a large scale. Wal-Mart is successful because customers made it so. Yeah, it sucks to be the small mom & pop store that gets pushed out of business. But if people didn't prefer to shop at Wal-Mart, it wouldn't be there. In a capitalistic society, the consumer drives the market. People on the one hand want to wave the flag and shout "Americana" while at the same time bashing a store that exists solely due to American principals.

As far as wages, don't believe everything you hear. Virtually any business is going to have to pay what the local job market will bear. Yes, they may pay minimum wage, but only if the local job market pays mostly minimum wage. In my area, NOBODY pays minimum wage. Not even part-time high school students make minimum wage here -- the job market is too strong. McDonald's paid $7-$8 hour here when minwage was $5.15. We're an industrial town, and entry-level plant jobs pay $11-12 hour minimum to start. So if the Wal-Marts and McD's and Taco Bell's want ANY employees at all, they have to pay them comparatively. And they do. So while Wal-Mart may be opportunistic when it comes to wages, what company isn't?

The consumer rules, folks. Especially with the economy in a downturn, near recession, the bulk of the people are going to shop where their dollar stretches the most. And in most places, that means Wal-Mart. It's much the same as environmental issues and awareness -- while there may be increasing interest here and there in curbing emissions, recycling, saving natural resources, etc., as long as it's more expensive and less convenient to the general population to do those things, the majority are going to make it near impossible for the minority to gain a lot of traction for their cause.

here is the link to the pbs/frontline episode

http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/

i saw the episode, it is worth watching.

those who are against it have their positions
those who think it is a positive have their positions

personally - i think bashing wallimart is the "in" thing to do.

i just hope this thread doesn't get ugly and has to be closed.

-dan

In my sociology class we saw how walmart's and disneys go to India to exploit their people by paying them pennies a day. The Indian people then had a small revolt and disney picked and said we arent coming back. All they asked for was for a few pennies more.

Again, I didn't see the documentary I just watched that short video posted above and the video itself didn't prove anything as far as I'm concerned. Dmorris definately summed up what I was thinking though and thats that the consumers are the ones driving Wal-Mart to the top not the company itself. We as consumers can't blame them when in reality were the ones that made Wal-Mart as powerful as it is today. I do however agree that the stores are always dirty, out of order, and theres never anyone around to help you when you need it, and thats one thing they can start on fixing that may make more people actually want to shop there.

[quotec81110a070="samz465"]Walmart is horrible for the economy.
On top of it, they pay ridiculously low wages to their employees and offer terrible benefits.

Walmart FTL.[/quotec81110a070]

I agree with you on the fact the walmart does hurt the economy. They come into a small town and their low prices force every other company out of business. I know in my town there was an Ames, Big K, Weis, and a Scot's. It didn't take long for the Big K, and Ames to go down. Right now Scot's is struggling, less employees, store hours were cut dramatically and then were cut again. And now they will be cutting another 2 hours. Weis is still doing well because it is on the other side of town and those people like the convience of not traveling too far.


Now as for low wages and horrible benefits, it depends. Store employees do get the shit end of the stick, but Distribution Center employees get paid half decent. I grew up as a lower middle class family and my parents went check to check. Now my dad got a job at the DC he is making half decent money, more than some people that I know that graduated and have degrees working for accounting firms. I mean still middle class but he has some extra cash after all the bills are paid. And he can afford the benefits that walmart is offering, they aren't the greatest but they are ok.

[quotec136c23459="Jeremiah1218"]Again, I didn't see the documentary I just watched that short video posted above and the video itself didn't prove anything as far as I'm concerned. Dmorris definately summed up what I was thinking though and thats that the consumers are the ones driving Wal-Mart to the top not the company itself.[/quotec136c23459]
I only pointed out to you that it was more than a few people that have complaints about walmart and that this isn't a sudden phenomenon that started with this clip that kidd posted.

I don't feel that strongly on the issue, but when I have the choice, I don't go to walmart because of the stuff I've read about their practices. Suits over overtime pay happen with many other chains but they've reportedly contracted child labor in Bangladesh, broken child labor laws in the US and there have also been reports of how they've run surveillance on employees, critics, and shareholders. There are plenty of activist investors and pensions funds that either have either sold off their walmart holdings or demanded better behavior. In any case, they're paying for their behavior either through the lawsuits or lower stock prices.

I haven't really thought about it enough to say whether they're ruining the economy or America though (I only presented an example previously). But as dmorris pointed out, it's the consumers who choose, and it's hard to fault people who need to get the most out of their dollar. Luckily, I no longer live anywhere near a walmart.

And, yes, the walmart does drive itself to the top. They innovated in many ways to be successful, their efficient supplier system being one of them.

[quote4bd3abc284="dmorris68"]While I pretty much despise them myself, it's not so much for their industry practices as their store-level practices. The ones that I unfortunately have to frequent are unclean, poorly stocked, have poor customer service, and while it may sound rude or "elitist" (not my intention) the clientel is typically unsavory. I don't mind at all poor folks trying to stretch a dollar (been there, done that), but personal hygiene and good taste does not require wealth. Target is a MUCH better store and we shop them every chance we get -- unfortunately the nearest one is 30 miles away. I'd much rather pay slightly higher prices for the much nicer shopping experience. They've promised over the years that Target was coming to town, but we're still waiting. Meanwhile we have TWO Wal-Mart Supercenters.

But personal opinion of the shopping experience aside, Wal-Mart is a perfect example of capitalism in action on a large scale. Wal-Mart is successful because customers made it so. Yeah, it sucks to be the small mom & pop store that gets pushed out of business. But if people didn't prefer to shop at Wal-Mart, it wouldn't be there. In a capitalistic society, the consumer drives the market. People on the one hand want to wave the flag and shout "Americana" while at the same time bashing a store that exists solely due to American principals.

As far as wages, don't believe everything you hear. Virtually any business is going to have to pay what the local job market will bear. Yes, they may pay minimum wage, but only if the local job market pays mostly minimum wage. In my area, NOBODY pays minimum wage. Not even part-time high school students make minimum wage here -- the job market is too strong. McDonald's paid $7-$8 hour here when minwage was $5.15. We're an industrial town, and entry-level plant jobs pay $11-12 hour minimum to start. So if the Wal-Marts and McD's and Taco Bell's want ANY employees at all, they have to pay them comparatively. And they do. So while Wal-Mart may be opportunistic when it comes to wages, what company isn't?

The consumer rules, folks. Especially with the economy in a downturn, near recession, the bulk of the people are going to shop where their dollar stretches the most. And in most places, that means Wal-Mart. It's much the same as environmental issues and awareness -- while there may be increasing interest here and there in curbing emissions, recycling, saving natural resources, etc., as long as it's more expensive and less convenient to the general population to do those things, the majority are going to make it near impossible for the minority to gain a lot of traction for their cause.[/quote4bd3abc284]

I agree with everything here. My sister (who didn't make very good decisions in life) works at Wal-Mart and is quite happy there. She makes decent money there, considering she only has a GED, and gets some benefits. But much like d-Mizzle's area, all of the jobs in the area pay more than minimum wage, so I'm sure that helps.

The Wal-Mart near me is pretty much like the one David described. Kinda trashy people, a lot of them smell, and I'm not sure anyone ever taught them how to dress themselves. The only thing I ever usually get there is range ammo, because it's cheaper there than gun stores by about $4-5 for 100 rounds.

[quote370311f1cf="J4320"]^ Also, some smaller local shops are getting driven out of business because they can't compete with Wal-Mart. I don't really know what to say about it. I mean, it's their capitalist right to be in business and they're only trying to maximize their profit.[/quote370311f1cf]

Obsolete and inefficient business should be crushed.

i never shop at small shops, so that's mnot my problem with Walmart. nor is employee wages. it's just that walmart will do anything for profit, including siding with chinese companies that they know break trade laws to screw over and underprice american companies. and at the same time squeezing everything they can from people in china and india to make an extra penny.

but it mostly boils down to the fact that america is losing it's industrial base to places like china, and the amount of money we spend on chinese goods is just ridiculous. but americans are stupid and would rather pay less for chinese-made goods, even if it puts themselves out of business. walmart's driving down of prices at all costs, forces american companies to either go out of business or to start relying on the same low-cost labor. it's pretty pathetic when there is one company in the whole US that makes TVs, for example. if they're still in business. the PBS documentary from 2000 or whatever said they were sueing chinese companies over their illegal exporting to the US, and no-surprise, Walmart entered the lawsuit on the chinese company's side.
when i go to buy clothers, or [i7e7f19bff0]anything[/i7e7f19bff0], anywhere, i always look at where it's made, and i'll be damn if i can find one thing made in the U.S.. Walmart is a big cause of that.

If Wal-Mart started paying the employees more money they would have to raise the prices. Wal-Mart customers shop at Wal-Mart BECAUSE OF THE LOW PRICES. If they raised prices, nobody would shop there. Nobody gives a fuck about the service, which is why the HR department at Wal-Mart doesn't put much emphasis on caring for its employees.

God damn hippies.

Yeah most of the people that shop at wal mart are TRASH, Target ftw

While I don't usually like to shop there it dosen't have anything to do with there business practices or ethics. For me its just the the stores are usually crowded and in some areas disorganized.

[b684780b868]1.[/b684780b868]I fully supporst Economic Libertarianism

[b684780b868]2.[/b684780b868]Despite popular belief; they actually don't pay all that bad for the majority of there jobs (part time entry level) for instance a 16-18 y/o can start at $8.25 for doing a relatively simple task (eg cashier, collecting shopping carts in the parking lot) while they might be doll non glamorous jobs, they arin't difficult ones either..

[b684780b868]3.[/b684780b868]They don't force you to work there, For the most part "living wage" laws are bullshit, First off the people who supposedly benefit from them usually arin't qualified to make above the current market demand price some really arin't even qualified for that (Dose a highschool drop out stuffing frise into bags at McShitholl really deserve $10/hr?) . Furthermore, Artificially fixing labor prices above market price couse a decrease in labor demand, decrease in demand couses unemployment and downsizing. You wont make your supposed "living wage" if you don't have the job anymore! Not to mention (but I will anyway) the artificial increase of labor rates above market demand [i684780b868]will[/i684780b868] cause inflation in regularly perchused goods, leaving the worker no better off than they where before the increase. When labor rates rise so do prices!

Walmart is bad.
TARGET FTW!

[quote331d19f4f0="gnznroses"]i never shop at small shops, so that's mnot my problem with Walmart. nor is employee wages. it's just that walmart will do anything for profit, including siding with chinese companies that they know break trade laws to screw over and underprice american companies. and at the same time squeezing everything they can from people in china and india to make an extra penny.[/quote331d19f4f0]

So you hate apple too? Workers that make your iPod are paid $50/mo. You also hate Disney? Nike? And just about any other big company that producers products in a foreign country or contracts them to be produced. They do this for certain advantages such as cheap labor and low environmental regulation. Don't kid yourself that these companies don't squeeze costs as low as possible to get the largest profit margin. To single out one company to launch allegations against is just silly. You then complained about them "underpric[ing] american [sic] companies", but WalMart itself is an American company. I guess if you want to classify things it could be called a multinational country similar for Ford or other large international companies, but it was created in the U.S. and has a large base of stores and headquarters in the U.S. Taking away money from one store and diverting it to another doesn't hurt anyone in the long run and can only benefit the consumer.

/rant against protectionists off

yeah, i do hate that companies like Nike and everyone else has their products made in low-wage countries. like i said, anytime i shop, i look at where it's made, and i try to buy american goods. it's just that it's nearly impossible to find anything that is actually made here. i'm more than happy to pay a little more for something to have it made by americans.
i'm not singling out walmart, however they were a major force in spurring the movement toward foreign-made goods, and like i said, it forced others to match them.
taking away money from one store and diverting it to another isn't going to hurt (much -- lack of strong competition is never good). but taking all of our manufacturing jobs and diverting them overseas sure will. i recently read that if every american diverted just $20 away from foreign-made goods, and spent it on american-made goods, it'd create 5 million new jobs. i don't see how you can think that us buying $500,000 of chinese goods per minute is not going to affect our economy.

people are basically stupid. they complain about the economy while they export a large chunk of it overseas, and they complain about the environment while we move our manufacturing to places like china that don't give two shits about it. to quote myself from a recent a4f thread about "what are you doing to save the earth?"
[quotebadfd52750]
by exporting so much of our industry to China, where most of their energy comes from coal plants that don't even have scrubbers to filter what's coming out, we're causing a lot more pollution than anything we can do here to reduce it. the pollution in china is just ridiculous. they have 16 out of 20 of the most polluted cities on earth, they make practically no effort to prevent any of it, and i think i heard that 25% or something of the air pollution in this country has drifted over from china. i tried to goole that fact but couldn't find it. i did find tho a report from the chinese govt themselves saying their pollution causes 750,000 deaths per year in their country. yet the world bitches because the U.S. doesn't sign the Kyoto protocol (which, of course, china is immune from). [/quotebadfd52750]

-edit-
it's funny tho that you ask if i hate apple, because i've been trying and trying to order a damn gift certificate from them, and their website won't accept my order (saying i need to provide a U.S. address...) and the phone number that they constantly give on the site is useless because it says they don't offer suppoort by phone for itunes related issues. so yeah, i've been cussing their name all day.

[quote845ea03c0e="gnznroses"]
-edit-
it's funny tho that you ask if i hate apple, because i've been trying and trying to order a damn gift certificate from them, and their website won't accept my order (saying i need to provide a U.S. address...) and the phone number that they constantly give on the site is useless because it says they don't offer suppoort by phone for itunes related issues. so yeah, i've been cussing their name all day.[/quote845ea03c0e]

But you're cussing them due to bad customer support, not due to the fact that they manufacture their products in China. In fact, you're trying very hard to purchase a gift certificate, so that the person who gets the gift certificate can buy a foreign-made product from them.

So, which is it?

Also, if we are to follow your theory strictly, we should expect all other countries to do the same -- meaning we would no longer export any of our products to them.

[quote36b51aa7d0="gnznroses"]
taking away money from one store and diverting it to another isn't going to hurt (much -- lack of strong competition is never good). but taking all of our manufacturing jobs and diverting them overseas sure will. i recently read that if every american diverted just $20 away from foreign-made goods, and spent it on american-made goods, it'd create 5 million new jobs. i don't see how you can think that us buying $500,000 of chinese goods per minute is not going to affect our economy.

people are basically stupid. they complain about the economy while they export a large chunk of it overseas[/quote36b51aa7d0]

Is that you Barack? For some reason I was thinking our unemployment was at our lowest sustainable long term rate, but I must be missing something. Apparently I am not counting all those people that lost their jobs or the fact that because of globalization of both labor and resources we can buy more for the wages earned from less work. And no, this isn't inflation, it's productivity. We have an absolute advantage in making many goods, but we specialize in what we have a comparative advantage in, which is mostly services and large production items such as airplanes. We let other countries do our other work and everyone becomes richer in the process.

I guess some people will never move away from the mentality that having $1,000,000 while your neighbor has $900,000 is better than having $500,000 while your neighbor has $50 when the dollars buy the same amount.

CollidgeGraduit, it is impossible to boycott products that are foreign made. If I boycotted anythiong not made in the U.S. i'd be naked and typing on a typewriter from the 1980s right now ;)
In any case, a member of my site wanted the iTunes certificate, so who am I to deny them that, based on personal opinion (which like i say, isn't to boycott everything).

Our advantages are service? That's crazy. Our advantages are only service because we can't understand what foreigners are saying. Of course that doesn't stop every company under the sun from outsourcing to India, leaving me trying to figure out what in the hell "Bob" on the other end is trying to tell me.
We do have advantages in some manufacturing areas, but how long will that last? Even industries that we pioneered are gone from our shores. 99% of all CPUs are made in other countries (the majority in Taiwan, but China will be invading them in a few years anyways...).
We dominate the global car market, but China is entering that too and will begin selling cars here in a matter of a couple years. What really bugs me though is that no matter how badly China cheats in trade, how much piracy of everything they allow, and how badly they rip off american companies, those american companies will still deal with them just to make an extra buck. Who is partnering with China to bring Chery cars over here? Chevy. Chery makes an exact 11 copy of Chevy cars, without permission, and so now Chevy goes and partners with them so they can exploit their cheap labor. It's just messed up.

I'm not at all saying it's better for us to be rich and for Chinese people to be poor. It's the exact opposite. If walmart, and the american public in general, would pay a little bit more for their goods, instead of insisiting on buying from whoever can sell the cheapest stuff possible, those people who work for 12+ hours a day would make more than pennies an hour. Walmart directly oversees many of those manufacturing plants and refuses to give any raises. They've reversed the traiditional way of business. Instead of buying goods from companies, and the companies setting the prices, walmart sets the price they want to pay and say "get me this product at $x per unit" and doesn't care what has to be done to make it happen.

are you in a globalization class cause we just had a discussion on this?

what i think is walmart went all Nazi after Walton died i think but i mean you cant hate them them they took advantage of the market.

[quoted144a2acfc="gnznroses"]
Our advantages are service? That's crazy. Our advantages are only service because we can't understand what foreigners are saying. Of course that doesn't stop every company under the sun from outsourcing to India, leaving me trying to figure out what in the hell "Bob" on the other end is trying to tell me.[/quoted144a2acfc]

Services, not customer service. Like financial services. Consulting services. Research & Development.

[quoted144a2acfc="gnznroses"]
They've reversed the traiditional way of business. Instead of buying goods from companies, and the companies setting the prices, walmart sets the price they want to pay and say "get me this product at $x per unit" and doesn't care what has to be done to make it happen.[/quoted144a2acfc]

It's called volume. It's the same reason why Freepay got paid more for Real Rhapsody signup than you ever would. Volume is gold in a market, and manufacturers deal with WalMart because they know if they don't take it, someone else will. But don't kid yourself and think these manufacturers aren't profiting, companies will only engage in a contract if they profit too. These companies aren't a "victim" to WalMart, what company wouldn't want to be on the shelves of the largest retailer in the world?

[quote8bed67eade="michae229"]are you in a globalization class cause we just had a discussion on this?[/quote8bed67eade]

no, i just catch stuff here and there from TV and news.

[quoted93b6584a7="ragefu"]Yeah most of the people that shop at wal mart are TRASH, Target ftw[/quoted93b6584a7]

Why are we "TRASH?" I go to Wal Mart because of their convenience and proximity.
They don't force people to work there...everyone's an at-will employee...what's the problem here? You don't like your job, you do what you can do to change it...that includes supporting lobbyists, becoming outspoken, and yes, even quitting.

Their international trade shit all falls within law. Yes, they exploit every loophole, but it's within law.

The biggest beef I have with them is that they will blackball someone who doesn't want the contract Wally World says they get. Tupperware (or Rubbermaid) got screwed out of a deal with Wal Mart, and their profit margin is minimal b/c of wal-mart's negotiation tactics.

But that's business. That's how the world works. Wal-Mart's a giant. They got lazy in customer service, but that's a luxury they can afford. If there wasn't Wal-Mart, it'd be someone else. It's doing what it can within the limits of the law (for the most part as a corporation as a whole...some little stores fucked that up).

They're cheap, and it's convenient, they have competitive (and sometimes more expensive or the same) prices. I enjoy shopping there.


I shop there because I fucking want to. I like it, and I don't give a shit what people say. I suppose I'm "TRASH."


You douche.

my uncle works for a refridgeration repair company (i think he may be their vice president or something), and he said they'll never work with walmart again because they never did pay for the work that they did (in the thousands of dollars i think). they had no complaints about how it was done or anything, they just give them the runaround. he said he knows of other companies who have gotten screwed too and won't work for them anymore unless they're paid upfront.

I shouldn't generalize and I'm not trying to sound superior, I was just trying to make a point that Target>Wal mart in customers and overall store quality. I know not everyone there is trash, sorry if I offended you.

Don't buy flip flops from walmart[=http//www.lamanaphotography.com/walmart2.htm]Don't buy flip flops from walmart.

They have good deals on Samsung LCD's )

If you don't like wal-mart, don't shop there....pretty simple.

And if you don't like how they treat employees, don't get a job there...

I read through most of the responses, & I didn't see anyone really say why Walmart is so hated. If I missed it forgive me, but it is really just one simple reason. They are not unionized. It's the unions that are the ones stirring up all the trouble with Walmart. I've seen plenty of shows talking about that very reason. If they went union tomorrow, the complaints would stop. I used to respect unions, but now they have become money hungry entities at the top levels just like the big corporations. Think about this. If Walmart was so terrible, it wouldn't be so successful. Walmart just reported a profit for this quarter, & is projecting a strong holiday season. As always, if you don't like what's on tv, change the channel. If you don't like Walmart's business practice's, shop somewhere else.

I agree that unions are evil. They may have served a noble purpose in the old days, but we now have federal and state labor laws that provide adequate protection for employees. Unions in most cases are nothing more than strongarm extortionists who profit from their members and drive costs up. You work when the union says work, but then you must stop working when the union says strike. Ask all the folks who have been thrown into financial hardship by their unions forcing them out of work because some union "demand" wasn't met how they feel about unions. And those who refuse to pay dues and join the union are ostracized, and in many cases, threatened or forced out of work.

It's not a far leap from paying mobsters and street thugs "protection" money.

[quoteb6ff4006ad="dmorris68"]I agree that unions are evil. They may have served a noble purpose in the old days, but we now have federal and state labor laws that provide adequate protection for employees. Unions in most cases are nothing more than strongarm extortionists who profit from their members and drive costs up. You work when the union says work, but then you must stop working when the union says strike. Ask all the folks who have been thrown into financial hardship by their unions forcing them out of work because some union "demand" wasn't met how they feel about unions. And those who refuse to pay dues and join the union are ostracized, and in many cases, threatened or forced out of work.

It's not a far leap from paying mobsters and street thugs "protection" money.[/quoteb6ff4006ad]

I agree with that 1000%. Look at how many people are out of work just because a few writers strike in Hollywood. I mean come on. A writers strike? What a slap in the face to all the people struggling to make it in the real world.

i agree too. i hate unions.
we have hopitals works on strike here - two different hospitals. and kroger. if you don't like your pay/benefits, find another job...

Bleh. I agree. $39 out of the first paycheck of the month. As if my paycheck wasn't already inadequate roll We just had a vote for a new contract at UPS. I'm glad I'll be out in a couple years.

Teamster FTL ?