Last Saturday, Jeanell and I happened to catch a documentary entitled "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices." Now we probably have a little different feeling about Wal-Mart than some because Jeanell has been employed there for the past seven years. There are definitely accusations made against Wal-mart that I am in no way qualified to respond to, particularly related to human rights and the environment, but I did want to comment on an area where I feel Wal-Mart is maligned a bit unfairly.
We constantly hear about how many Wal-Mart employees are paid a wage that puts them below the poverty line. The thought that comes to my mind is how many of these positions are intended to be "primary bread-winner" jobs? It seems the vast majority of jobs in retail pay a wage that would not support a typical family of four. I realize that my experience is anecdotal, but Jeanell has looked at various employment opportunities in our area including Old Navy and Vulcraft (where I work) and was able to make a higher wage at Wal-Mart than either of those places. I guess it just seems to me that most jobs in the retail sector will provide supplementary income, but will not work as the only source of income for a family. I would doubt that a cashier or stocker at Target or Albertson's is paid sufficiently to support a family either.
So is Wal-Mart just picked on because of its size? Is it easier to group all the Wal-Mart employees together and make generalizations about them than to compare them objectively to the retail sector as a whole? Or is the argument that employees in the retail sector used to make a reasonable wage before Wal-Mart came into the picture?
I don't know the answer, but wanted to see if any of you had any strong feelings one way or the other about Wal-Mart or if anyone could show me where I'm wrong.
3 comments:
My opinion is that if you want to make a certain wage, you need to choose a career that fits. I think it's funny when people want a white collar salary when they work in retail, education, whatever...just doesn't work that way. Any problems I may have with Wal-Mart has nothing to do with salary...retail generally means "supplemental income." There's my shpill.
By the way, it was Rachel that made the last comment, not Carl.
Was wondering why Carl sounded intelligent and coherent.
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