USA Today has a Walmart story

No employer wants unions. And Walmart has indeed been very aggressive about keeping unions out of their business. Unions fight for proper work conditions, benfits, higher pay, shorter hours, health insurance.... They are also the first to point out, when conditions are not up to par or there was an unlawful firing.... draong54u, I don't know what a cashier makes here. However, you cannot just look at the hourly wage. You need to look at the overall package. What benefits do these employees get? Are their hours kept just below the limit so benefits don't have to be provided? How are schedules set? Vacations? Time off? What other rules are there? Are the break times obeyed? Things like that. Walmart has mastered the art of tiptoeing the line between right and wrong treatment of their workforce. At times they have been successfully sued, but more often than not they got away with it. Of course they are scared, if they have to accept unions. Unions can hurt your business. Just look at the last union organized strike we had in the US. GM incurred major losses because of it. What if the workers at Walmart would strike? How many customers would still go to the store with employees picketing at the entrance and being nasty? How many customers could they still serve, if only the managers or such could work? Their finely oiled machinery would break down...

This is a very touchy subject for my husband. He is very union oriented and was upset with me because I kept shopping Wal-Mart for so long. I no longer shop there because I didn't want him being upset with me any longer and more than that I respect his feelings. I have found since no longer shopping there that I have found I can save money at other places which was the main reason I kept shopping there, thinking I was saving money. I do think it is wrong that Wal-Mart will not let their people unionize. My husband has said that he has heard of Wal-Mart literally closing stores down to keep a union from being formed. I think this is very wrong. I haven't always agreed with some of the actions of the union but they have helped my husband in the past when the postmaster of the post office where he works treated him wrongly (about six or seven years ago). The union went to bat for him, got him back at work and got him back pay plus interest so I agree that unions should be allowed in Wal-Mart or any other retail store. I agree with you that Wal-Mart is walking a fine line here. SheliaLee

I am more in favor of give the employees shares in the company. With unions, there is a chance that they may demand high wages and the store could not offer them and still give the benefits. Back in the twenties and previous, unions were a good idea because then the employees were not given decent living wages. Now that has changed. I do not like unions because it sends up an atmosphere of intimidation, if the union does not like what the store does, they can call for a strike and that is wrong. And then the people who shop at the stores, suffer.

I saw on the "bottom line" of my TV screen that Wal-Mart has denied these allegations but I tend to believe what the article says. I've never worked at a Wal-Mart but I've known quite a few people who have and they've said the same as I've read here, when Sam Walton was living it was totally different from the way it is today. From what I've heard their usual tactic is to hired someone for as many hours as possible without having to classify them as "full-time", thus denying them any benefits. If they unionized they'd have a tough time getting away with this practice. They may be able to do it sometimes but not like they do today. I'm very much a union person. It's sad to say but especially in today's "employee hostile" environment without a union workers would really get the shaft all the time. Annie

This really enrages me. Not so much about the Union stuff because unions have good and bad sides. I know because my husband used to be involved in one for a short time when he worked for the phone company. But the nerve of them to even dare think about telling anyone how to vote. Now I wonder if there is a law about this for even Non union people, I am sure it violates some rights. I am on the fence about shopping there to begin with, but now maybe I will go out and get some Obama buttons and walk around alot just to annoy them. I am a Democrat who would have preferred Hillary, but hey what can you do, it is politics.

I have worked at Walmart and it is nothing but a greed machine. They tell employees things like don't get any overtime or we won't get a bonus. The yearly bonus amounted to about $700-$900. I would get in trouble from the managers by saying at the meetings that in the long run getting the overtime would make more than a $700 bonus. They think people are stupid. And if you call them on it they just lie their way out of it.

hi dragon walmartis walking a fine line as thats just plain wrong all the way around. unions help the employees which is so good and should be permitted in walmart as in all other stores. the employees have the right to unionize as I understand it.