Given the escalating expenses of dental treatment, it makes sense for the people to get coverage under dental insurance. Dental insurance falls under two categories, group dental insurance and individual dental insurance. Before discussing these two ca…

In his making his case for Wal-Mart I’d like to see [Will] use numbers that weren’t themselves produced by Wal-Mart.

Can you produce more accurate numbers? Or should we just accept your ad hominem slur as persuasive?

(Though I don’t know the situation at all regarding your son-in-law it seems like he did the right things but it didn’t pay off. I can understand how that could be deflating- but hell I’m in school again so I can understand you might never really finish training…)

Leah, not everyone can afford to go to college and some people just aren’t cut out for it, but all people must eat and pay bills, raise a family, etc. They work at Walmart, or some of them are skilled tradesmen/women. I do think that the pendulum has swung to and fro to the point that people are being exploited more again and unions do have a place. Do you know that federal employees have a union? Actually, I think that’s rather outrageous … I used to work closely with the Center for Veterinary Medicine and even the professional veterinarians I worked with making upwards of 80-100K per year were in a union…that’s ridiculous..but I think the trades do need unions and even the service employees. Not all employers are benevolent as we all know.

We’re in changing times in this country. It isn’t the 50’s, even the 80’s. I have a degreed son-in-law who is making a pitiful wage in my opinion. He got his degree in IT about the time the IT bust occurred and the bottom fell out. He’d have to go back to school and get new certifications, etc. to be able to make a decent wage and he just graduated a few years ago! My son-in-law is a wonderful person and he is so good to my daughter, but I just want to kick him in the ass. He’s almost given up and I just can’t understand that. That kind of thinking doesn’t exist in my brain.

I listened to a man I deemed a very smart economist recently who said a person has to think strategically. Root yourself in a job that is not likely to be exported and acquire a skill that puts you a notch or two above the person who has no formal education of any kind. Lots of people are going to be competing for your job and the job of tomorrow.

But, back to Walmart. Hey, right now I think they’re a whipping boy. They used to be considered the greatest success story on the face of the earth. I think we need to look at the whole picture.

And by all means, unionize Walmart so their under educated employees can earn $20-$30/hour. Makes sense to me. But my suggestion is : If Walmart employees are unhappy with their lot in life, then they need to go back to school and get a degree. That way, the under educated could continue to fill the void left by the newly degreed ex-Walmart employee.
There will always be those who have a limited education and Walmart fills a need by employing those who might otherwise be found standing on the sidewalk in a labor pool, waiting to be called.

First was a late 20’s jewelry clerk female. By the way, I told all of them that I had been having a discussion with friends about what it was like to work for Walmart and wondered if they’d share their thoughts with me..they didn’t have to of course. The jewelry clerk said it was ok, but not a place you would work at for a long time..not bad, but it could be a lot better. The second was a 30’s something black guy who was the customer service manager. He told me he had worked for Walmart for 13 years and that it was a good place to work. He knew they were getting a lot of bad press recently that he didn’t think they deserved. The third was my checkout clerk, 20 something and she also said she liked working there. A few minutes later she spoke up again and told me they got medical and dental insurance and profit sharing. I asked her how long she had to wait for the insurance and she said 6 months. All three people were very nice and forthcoming and I think they were telling me the truth.

The above were all young people. I did see several older people, possibly retired and picking up extra income but didn’t speak to them.

This is a very nice store in a good location. I’d have to conclude there is little if any unrest in this store. I’m sure all of these people would like to make more money, (I didn’t have the guts to ask them their wages) but I think they were all quite happy with the jobs they had and I’m sure insurance benefits are very important to them and possibly one of the main reasons they work there. I know some people who are young, self-employed people who must pay $700/month for insurance and that kind of benefit adds a lot to a salary.

I’m interested in hearing what they say but given Wal-Mart’s union busting history I wouldn’t expect anyone to stick their neck out and say anything too negative.