[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: Wal-Mart Announces Massive Rollback On Employee Wages

[Paul Etxeberri]

>
>
>Wal-Mart Announces Massive Rollback On Employee Wages
>
>The Onion - VOLUME 40 ISSUE 49 -- 8 DECEMBER 2004
>http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4049
>
>BENTONVILLE, AR - Wal-Mart, the world's largest
>discount retailer, announced its biggest-ever rollback
>Monday, with employee pay cuts of up to 35 percent.
>
>"Just in time for the holiday shopping season, we're
>rolling back the hourly wages of workers in every
>department - housewares, automotive, health and beauty,
>and so many more!" Wal-Mart president and CEO H. Lee
>Scott Jr. announced at a press conference. "From Baton
>Rouge to Boise, we're continuing our tradition of low,
>low prices and using our muscle to create unbelievable
>savings!"
>
>"For us!" Scott added.
>
>Scott then turned to a large projection screen on which
>the company's trademark yellow happy face whizzed
>through the aisles of a Wal-Mart, enthusiastically
>"slashing" the hourly wages of employees all over the
>store.
>
>"Paying $7.75 an hour for a Class-2 cashier with fewer
>than two years' experience?" a cheery narrator asked in
>amused disbelief. "How about $6.50? And $8.45 an hour
>for a dockworker to unload boxes of bath towels all
>day? We think $6.75 sounds more like it!"
>
>In addition to wage rollbacks, Scott said Wal-Mart will
>discontinue a number of shelf-stocking, warehousing,
>and sales-floor jobs that have been occupying valuable
>space on the payroll.
>
>"Why, some of those old stockers have been collecting
>dust in our aisles and ledgers for five years," the
>narrator said as the smiley-face ushered reluctant ex-
>employees and their bloated wages to the parking lot.
>"It's time for a store-wide clearance! Out with the old
>and in with the new!"
>
>The beaming smiley-face then placed a sign reading
>"Help Wanted - $5.15/Hour" in a window and welcomed in
>a long line of smiling job applicants bearing brand-new
>high-school diplomas, military discharge papers, and
>green cards.
>
>"Wal-Mart is the place to find the latest of
>everything!" the narrator said. "The benefits of having
>long-time employees around don't add up to the benefits
>we have to pay them. It's time for newer, fresher,
>cheaper faces!"
>
>As a result of the announcement, Wal-Mart's stock rose
>20 points Monday.
>
>"We're very excited," Wal-Mart stockholder James Seaton
>said. "After all, everyone loves a good value. And you
>can't beat the combination of low cost and high quality
>you find in good old-fashioned American labor."
>
>According to Scott, employees at all 1,362 Wal-Marts,
>1,671 Supercenters, and 550 Sam's Clubs will be
>notified of the rollbacks this week by greeters
>stationed at the employee entrance of each store.
>Greeters will address employees by their first names,
>shake their hands, and inform them of the store's
>special new wage plan. Those who remain on staff will
>find red "Wage Rollback!" stickers on their time cards
>in celebration of the occasion and in compliance with
>the scant federal regulations protecting minimum-wage
>earners.
>
>"Wow! A 24 percent reduction!" said Harold Reis, who
>works in the garden department in a Marshfield, WI Wal-
>Mart. "I can't believe it! Why, I never saw cuts like
>this when I used to work at the family-owned Seubert
>Greenhouse!"
>
>"But that was a few years ago," Reis added. "Nowadays,
>you can drive all over town looking for someplace to
>pay you more, but good luck. Wal-Mart is the single
>biggest employer in 21 states!"
>
>In spite of the savings on labor, Wal-Mart director of
>human resources Lawrence Jackson said he isn't worried
>about incurring losses.
>
>"What we might lose in terms of shrinkage of our work
>force, we'll make back almost immediately," Jackson
>said. "That's what's so great about being a part of so
>many small communities across the country - once we get
>a location up and running, people find out they can't
>afford not to work for us!"
>
>In a related plan, Jackson said Wal-Mart plans to slash
>the prices it pays for manufactured goods in various
>Pacific Rim and South American countries by 20, 30, and
>even 40 percent.
>
>
>_______________________________________________________
>
>portside (the left side in nautical parlance) is a news,
>discussion and debate service of the Committees of
>Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. It aims to
>provide varied material of interest to people on the
>left.
>
>For answers to frequently asked questions:
><http://www.portside.org/faq>
>
>To subscribe, unsubscribe or change settings:
><http://lists.portside.org/mailman/listinfo/portside>
>
>To submit material, paste into an email and send to:
><moderator at portside.org> (postings are moderated)
>
>For assistance with your account:
><support at portside.org>
>
>To search the portside archive:
><http://people-link5.inch.com/pipermail/portside/>


-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand