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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 9:35 pm Post subject: Costco: the Anti-Wal-Mart |
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The NY Times has a good article about Costco. Apparently it pays 40% more to its employees than Wal-Mart
Costco, the Anti-Walmart |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:17 am Post subject: |
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Costco has an excellent reputation in the States. I can't understand why anyone goes to Walmart, given what is known about it.
Saving a little money and finding some item I can't otherwise conveniently get in Korea is not an adequate excuse for me to forget my ethics. |
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jlb
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:51 am Post subject: Costco |
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| Costco is where it's at in Canada as well. However, a foreseeable problem for those on tight budgets is that you have to pay up front for a membership and buy in bulk. If I had a car and cruise around and buy stuff in bulk, I would for sure shop there instead of Wal-Mart. It just seems like there's more Wal-Marts and easier to get to by walking, biking or transit (in Canada). |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:25 pm Post subject: Re: Costco |
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| jlb wrote: |
| Costco is where it's at in Canada as well. However, a foreseeable problem for those on tight budgets is that you have to pay up front for a membership and buy in bulk. If I had a car and cruise around and buy stuff in bulk, I would for sure shop there instead of Wal-Mart. It just seems like there's more Wal-Marts and easier to get to by walking, biking or transit (in Canada). |
Except for the one in Quebec that was closed because the employees wanted to unionize.
I agree about the transportation problem, but in Korea, if you are in a city with one, you can always get a taxi back with all of your stuff, or car and "card" pool with your friends. |
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Hank Scorpio
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 6:53 pm Post subject: Re: Costco |
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| desultude wrote: |
Except for the one in Quebec that was closed because the employees wanted to unionize. |
And? Collective bargaining works both ways, y'know. If WalMart doesn't want to put up with a union of bagboys and shelf stockers and they can afford to tell them to go get screwed I say more power to them. That's completely within their rights as a corporate entity. These companies don't exist to serve as a jobs program, they exist to provide value to their shareholders.
Look, I'm from Michigan and I know only too well just how unions operate and the longterm effect they have on an area and a business. Why exactly do you think that we have so little of an auto industry in this state now? Could it be because the big three would rather set up a factory in the south or in Mexico and not deal with a corrupt organization that only serves to give them a gigantic pain in the ass? By jove, I think that's a big part of it!
All that said, I won't shop at WalMart (Kroger, Target, and Costco tend to get my money), but for other reasons than them being anti-union. Hell, I consider being anti-union to just be a public service. |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:20 pm Post subject: Re: Costco |
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| Hank Scorpio wrote: |
| desultude wrote: |
Except for the one in Quebec that was closed because the employees wanted to unionize. |
And? Collective bargaining works both ways, y'know. If WalMart doesn't want to put up with a union of bagboys and shelf stockers and they can afford to tell them to go get screwed I say more power to them. That's completely within their rights as a corporate entity. These companies don't exist to serve as a jobs program, they exist to provide value to their shareholders.
Look, I'm from Michigan and I know only too well just how unions operate and the longterm effect they have on an area and a business. Why exactly do you think that we have so little of an auto industry in this state now? Could it be because the big three would rather set up a factory in the south or in Mexico and not deal with a corrupt organization that only serves to give them a gigantic pain in the ass? By jove, I think that's a big part of it!
All that said, I won't shop at WalMart (Kroger, Target, and Costco tend to get my money), but for other reasons than them being anti-union. Hell, I consider being anti-union to just be a public service. |
Read the article cited in the OP. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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If WalMart doesn't want to put up with a union of bagboys and shelf stockers and they can afford to tell them to go get screwed I say more power to them. That's completely within their rights as a corporate entity. These companies don't exist to serve as a jobs program, they exist to provide value to their shareholders.
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Substitute 'hakwon owner' for Wal-Mart and you get the kind of thinking that keeps salaries low for teachers in spite of the demand out-stripping supply.
Hakwon Owner: It's contract time. Will you stay another year?
Teacher: It's been a good place to work. What kind of salary increase are you offering?
HO: None. We pay all our teachers the same.
T: No raise, no stay.
HO: OK. You are free to work at another place next year. Bye.
HO #2: Welcome. We pay all teachers the same.
T:  Where do I sign? |
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Hank Scorpio
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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| Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 4:48 am Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
Substitute 'hakwon owner' for Wal-Mart and you get the kind of thinking that keeps salaries low for teachers in spite of the demand out-stripping supply.
Hakwon Owner: It's contract time. Will you stay another year?
Teacher: It's been a good place to work. What kind of salary increase are you offering?
HO: None. We pay all our teachers the same.
T: No raise, no stay.
HO: OK. You are free to work at another place next year. Bye.
HO #2: Welcome. We pay all teachers the same.
T: Where do I sign? |
And? Did someone put a gun to your head and force you to work in a hagwon? Whose fault is it that you decided to focus on a largely worthless liberal arts degree? It's a free market, and if you don't like your chosen profession you can go elsewhere. Last I checked serfdom's been dead and buried for a long time now and the only thing holding you to your current career is your lack of motivation to leave it. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 7:34 am Post subject: |
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| Last I checked serfdom's been dead and buried for a long time now |
It seems to me the issue is not serfdom, where the powers that be require workers to stay in the same job and use the police power to enforce it, but that the powers that be use their position to distort the laws of economics in their favor.
The great crises of the 20th Century were the direct result of wealth being radically unequal. Many people believe that money is power and power corrupts. |
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Hank Scorpio
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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| Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:25 am Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
The great crises of the 20th Century were the direct result of wealth being radically unequal. Many people believe that money is power and power corrupts. |
Really? Unequal levels of wealth were the direct factors behind WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc, etc? That's news to me.
Oh, I forgot, you're regurgitating a quasi-Marxist view of history that some jackass leftist on a tenure track taught you. That makes sense now. |
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supernick
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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Walmart sucks big time.
Only a few items are priced lower than other retailers. Sure you can buy some cheap clothes there but who would want to wear them. They do have tires priced low, but not such a good selection.
If Walmart was a country, it would be China's 6th largest trading partner.
I think the U.S. has many better discount retailers than Walmart, but still Walmart is taking in a bigger share. |
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whatthefunk
Joined: 21 Apr 2003
Location: Dont have a clue
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| Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Hank Scorpio wrote: |
| And? Did someone put a gun to your head and force you to work in a hagwon? Whose fault is it that you decided to focus on a largely worthless liberal arts degree? It's a free market, and if you don't like your chosen profession you can go elsewhere. Last I checked serfdom's been dead and buried for a long time now and the only thing holding you to your current career is your lack of motivation to leave it. |
This is shocking. Youre essentially promoting serfdom. |
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Leslie Cheswyck
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile
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| Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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| whatthefunk wrote: |
| Hank Scorpio wrote: |
| And? Did someone put a gun to your head and force you to work in a hagwon? Whose fault is it that you decided to focus on a largely worthless liberal arts degree? It's a free market, and if you don't like your chosen profession you can go elsewhere. Last I checked serfdom's been dead and buried for a long time now and the only thing holding you to your current career is your lack of motivation to leave it. |
This is shocking. Youre essentially promoting serfdom. |
In what way? |
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whatthefunk
Joined: 21 Apr 2003
Location: Dont have a clue
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| Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Leslie Cheswyck wrote: |
| whatthefunk wrote: |
| Hank Scorpio wrote: |
| And? Did someone put a gun to your head and force you to work in a hagwon? Whose fault is it that you decided to focus on a largely worthless liberal arts degree? It's a free market, and if you don't like your chosen profession you can go elsewhere. Last I checked serfdom's been dead and buried for a long time now and the only thing holding you to your current career is your lack of motivation to leave it. |
This is shocking. Youre essentially promoting serfdom. |
In what way? |
Hank makes it sound so simple...if you dont like your job, just go get another job. But alot of the people in this world dont have that option. So if you work at walmart and get 6.50 and hour, just leave right? And then what, go get a job at a gas station for 6.50 an hour? The only thing holding most people to their current jobs is lack of better jobs for whatever reason (be it lack of education on the employees part, poor economy or whatever). Like hank said, it is a free market and without some amount of workers rights, we may as well be back in the industrial revolution with workers working 14 hour days and still dying of starvation. |
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Leslie Cheswyck
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile
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| Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 12:13 am Post subject: |
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| That's life, brother. Whose responsibility is it to improve your life? I wouldn't trust a Walmart to fend for me in that line. Anybody who does, well, maybe they do deserve to be making only six and a half an hour. |
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