Wal-Mart mobilizes against Democrats
Wal-Mart Stores Inc is mobilizing U.S. store managers to lobby against Democrats in November’s presidential election, fearing they will make it easier for workers to unionize, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if store workers unionize, the paper said.
About a dozen employees who attended meetings in seven states said executives stressed employees would have to pay hefty union dues and get nothing in return, and might have to go on strike without compensation, and warned that unionization could force the company to cut jobs as labor costs rise, the Journal reported.
The Wal-Mart human-resources managers who have run the meetings didn’t tell those attending how to vote in the November elections, but made it clear that voting for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, would be tantamount to inviting unions in, the Journals said.
Wal-Mart could not be reached immediately for a comment.
R.J. Keller 
You know, I know a woman who works for Walmart who thinks they’re just the BEST place to work. And sadly, after this, she probably STILL thinks they’re the BEST place to work.
To modify a rainman quote:
Walmart Sucks.
I saw that article and wondered if I had fallen into a time warp. I thought those kinds of attitudes died out with King Coal and the Molly Maguires.
I’m sure some unions are misguided and hurt more than they help, but that’s not the case with all of them and it’s a citizen’s right to join a union, even if it’s not in their best interest.
Molly Maguires…how very apt.
“Wal-Mart human-resources managers who have run the meetings didn’t tell those attending how to vote…”
They didn’t have to. They gave them the math.
Unions = job loss.
Democrats = Unions.
Democrats = job loss.
Sorry guys, I’m with Walmart. Seven years ago I worked for a major airline known as Northworst and because of the union, the company had to close the maintenance facility I was working at and send us to wherever are seniority would allow. For those of us who couldn’t move, due to our circumstances, it was bye-bye, out the door, so long buddy.
But on the good side 6 months later I got my first writing job. So, as my mom-n-law use to say, “Everything always works out for the best.”
Even while I was in a union, I disliked how they treated us, used are dues for things we never got a chance to vote on, etc.
Sorry to rant, but I’ve seen how unions create lazy workers who can’t be fired. I’ve also known people in unions who worked hard, but never received the recognition they deserved or the extra money for working harder than the others.
Okay, okay, I’ll stop. I’m putting the soapbox back in the closet.
Sorry!
Hi there, Stone!
Soapboxes are quite welcome here.
I agree with you about the greed and laziness that all too often comes along with unionization. My hubby’s company nearly went union a few years ago, and he–as staunch a democrat as ever drew breath–was relieved when it didn’t, for a variety of complex reasons. What I have a problem with is Walmart’s not-so-subtle attempt to influence their workers’ vote. It’s disgusting.
You’ve got a group of minimum wage workers who are already struggling to make ends meet, already nervous about job loss, looking ahead with dread to winter time and oil bills (in colder climates, anyway). I’ve been there. It’s a damned scary place to be. And these comfortable corporate cheapwads make the cold, calculated decision to take advantage of those fears to benefit themselves. Low blow.
If companies were fair, unions wouldn’t be necessary. I agree though that unionizing often hurts employees too. But it grates me when a company says you CAN’T unionize or your out.
I don’t care if you’re getting paid. When you have to work for someone else, you’re a slave, because they control your life. They own it in an economy where you can’t survive without money and the only way you can get it is through a job.