Walmart employee Thanksgiving donations at Canton store cause controversy

[stinkcat_14]

What about his employees?

At least they won’t be taken advantage of anymore.

 

[Trader]

The living wage number I’ve most often seen has been $10.00/hr. It’s not a lot but it will make life a little easier for those at the bottom of the wage scale. If an employer cannot pay this and must go out of business. We understand, and wish him well in the future.

How’s that?

One of the effects of a higher minimum wage would be more self-service checkouts and fewer jobs. Walmart, Kroger, and Meijer have already added a lot of them here. There are a lot of other that industries would accelerate automation if wages are too high. Companies would also be more picky in who they hire at the minimum wage. Low skilled and under educated people who need more supervision would not get jobs at all. Is that what you want for people at the bottom–to deny them the starting job they need to acquire job skills?

 

[Dawnia]

I disagree with that, why would the higher level people suddenly demand more money? Id love to know how many corporate workplaces have donation bins set up for other employees, Im not referring to bins set up to help the needy or poor, but bins set up specifically for employees to give to other employees? If the felt like they needed to do this in the store, I truly hope walmarts corporate offices have similar bins set up to help employees who work there too.

I dont think $15 minimum wage would cause prices to go up that much, look at the profit margins for walmart and other such companies, there is PLENTY of wiggle room! they are not about to raise prices anyway, they would not want to risk loosing customers.

Really, this should not be an issue, but since greed is so rampant, it has become a major issue, the CEOs and high level people at walmart should be smart enough to realize the low level employees are the reason they have HUGE profits, they are walmart to the millions of customers who come thru the door, so why not give them more respect and pay as a result?

This reminds me of a funny statement I once heard somewhere…’ a company claims its employees smiles are their greatest asset, yet the company does not even offer dental insurance’ LOL…??

Seriously? You you really think that someone with more skill than say a cart pusher isn’t going to want a raise relative to what the cart pusher gets? If a cart pusher is worth $15 an hour, those of us with skilled jobs aren’t going settle for the same pay as someone with an unskilled job. Raising the minimum that much would put many many people out of work because most businesses are small businesses with very small profit margins that would either have to dramatically increase their prices or layoff staff or worse case, close up shop all together. They are not massive global corps like Walmart.

And those people with $15/hour will still be scraping by. They were poor when minimum wage was $3.15/hr…they will still be poor with the minimum wage at $15/hr because expenses will rise to meet their pay.

 

[Skye_Ariel]

The only reason this is controversial is because Wal-Mart has come under fire lately by those who don’t think they pay a “fair” wage, whatever that means.

A lot of companies do this. Wal-Mart has clearly stated that it is for employees going through a financial hardship. For example, the store referenced in the article said that one of their employees stopped receiving child support. Is that Wal-Mart’s fault? No. But they wanted to make sure her kids have a good meal on Thanksgiving.

I worked at a company that did this. The employees there were unionized, made $18 an hour and got great benefits. Does that mean that company didn’t pay a “fair” wage?

I agree with this. I work at Walmart as a cashier part time as my second job and half of the ones who work there have a second job. My other job which is a full time office job which pays good, more than Walmart, has things like that too where we donate to help other workers going through hard times, we even have a giving tree at Christmas where people submit requests for help with toys for their kids and coworkers volunteer to take tree decoration hanging from the tree that says the age and gender of the child and you anonymously buy a gift and turn it in to the office and those who buy are anonymous and those who request the help are anonymous. I think it’s nice. I bought some gifts like that last year for the kids. I see nothing wrong with Walmart doing that too. Some have small kids they can’t afford to buy toys for and they need help.

 

[Lochias]

Man.

May God help the poor, 'cause from what I see here, there’s not a lot of other people that are going to step up.

$.50 a year raise, for minimum wage. Good freaking grief. My heart may just break from the empathy.

We who are the dregs of society will, it seems, simply be forced to wither away as we stretch what little we’ve got to cover what others won’t. Ya’ll can cook your own meals, at that point.

Outta this thread. I’ve never been so freaking disgusted with people in all of my life.

 

[estesbob]

So if we disagree with your opinion on what a" fair" wage is we don’t care about the poor? It is interesting that so many believe they can abdicate their personal responsibility to help the poor by insisting Walmart do it for them

 

[Lochias]

So if we disagree with your opinion on what a" fair" wage is we don’t care about the poor?

That is my opinion, yes.

It is interesting that so many believe they can abdicate their personal responsibility to help the poor by insisting Walmart do it for them

It’s interesting that you believe that anyone said this at all. Nobody here will ever know how much I, for example, have helped to the point of grievous suffering. And nobody will care, either.

 

[Country_Gal]

The economic reality is that, if you force businesses to pay higher wages, those higher wages will buy less because you’ll end up with higher prices.

 

[Jon_Paul]

Quadragesimo Anno:

Every effort must therefore be made that fathers of families receive a wage large enough to meet ordinary family needs adequately. But if this cannot always be done under existing circumstances, social justice demands that changes be introduced as soon as possible whereby such a wage will be assured to every adult workingman.

Our Holy Father was very adamant. Social justice demands that if circumstances do not allow it, then changes must be introduced. The economy of America and my own native Britain is inherently broken. Instead of defending the economy philosophy of the free market, our Catholic religion, the very supernatural virtue of Justice, demands that we change it.

The living wage, the just wage, is not a mere matter of opinion for Catholics or any right-thinking man. It is not an idle fancy. It’s not a false sense of utopian-idealism. It’s a matter of justice that belongs to every man.

 

[Petite]

Here is a site that breaks down a living wage according to state/county: livingwage.mit.edu/

FWIW: The difference between the haves and have nots is growing at an alarming rate. I do not see how our American society can sustain itself at this pace. Historically, no civilization continues with the disparity that exists in this country without a break down. I hope we address the inequality before the system collapses. (Does raising the minimum wage address this? To a degree, but, it’s more than that.)

Obviously, some people are better at managing their limited resources than others. Does anyone remember the trend back in the 1990’s on living frugally?

I don’t know what the answer is other than there is no ONE answer. I do know that if you read the Prophets and the Gospels, both the prophets AND Jesus railed against the deplorable treatment of the poor, the widows, the orphans and the aliens.

We can make ourselves feel good by donating to food drives/toy drives, etc. That is very important–I do not want this to be taken as a dissing of these efforts. (Yes, I participate in these myself.) However, it seems to me that as a society, we are still struggling with how to help the poor.

 

[dsully]

No.

I’ll defer to a Jesuit-educated Democrat from Buffalo whose father was a sanitation worker on that:

“All of us in government, corporate America, labor unions, academia, churches, synagogues, mosques and, yes, the media, must teach, cajole, motivate our children to finish school, learn a skill, hold a job, get married, have a baby — in that order.” (- the late Tim Russert)

Now that’s old school…in a good way!

 

[DeniseNY]

That is my opinion, yes.

It’s interesting that you believe that anyone said this at all. Nobody here will ever know how much I, for example, have helped to the point of grievous suffering. And nobody will care, either.

Nor will you know how much anyone in this thread who disagrees with you helps the poor of grievous suffering. They just have a better understanding of economics than you.

 

[Jon_Paul]

They just have a better understanding of economics than you.

No, they have a different opinion on economics. I personally prefer to take my economics from Catholic sources such as the Magisterium and Pesch over my co-national Adam Smith. Belloc of course remains my favourite.

 

[PeopleB4Things]

When I worked at Walmart, there were quite a few employees who were disabled or retired. So I could see collecting food and such to help them out. But, what I’m wondering is where Walmart thinks their employees can afford to help out other employees. Most of their employees can barely afford to feed themselves let alone help feed others too.

Reminds me of the Christmas Carol with the poor scrounging around to help each other. The Waltons, the wealthiest family in the US and the owners of Walmart could use a few visits from some lesson bearing ghosts. How much money can one family need? Gee whiz. There’s success and then there’s greed. The Walton’s crossed over years ago.

 

[estesbob]

No, they have a different opinion on economics. I personally prefer to take my economics from Catholic sources such as the Magisterium and Pesch over my co-national Adam Smith. Belloc of course remains my favourite.

Where does the Church call for a $15 an hour minimum wage?

 

[Jon_Paul]

Where does the Church call for a $15 an hour minimum wage?

The Church calls for a just and fair living wage, which is defined by allowing a man to support himself and his family frugally. And that if such a wage cannot be supplied, then there is something seriously wrong with the current system in place, and social justice demands that change is effected.

I’m not saying a 16 year old kid should get $15 an hour for a part time shift in Walmart and nor is the Church. Nor am I saying a fair and living wage constitutes allowing a all the kids to have the most recent iPhone release.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I couldn’t see paying that much, and being able to raise a family even if you forced your poor children to play soccer instead of hockey.

$51,000/year is well above the “living wage” for most families where I live, as shown on the later poster’s calculator. But I will also agree that I think the FNMA/FHLMC mortgage/wage standards are risky. Around here, most people making $51,000/year would be living in a house costing somewhere around $125,000-$150,000. That would be about a 2,000 square foot, three bedroom, bath and a half house with a two car garage. Still, it would be wiser to get into an older home costing maybe $70,000.00. The monthly PITI (but no PMI) payment on the lower end, given a 20% down payment, would be between $600 and $700/month.

 

[estesbob]

Reminds me of the Christmas Carol with the poor scrounging around to help each other. The Waltons, the wealthiest family in the US and the owners of Walmart could use a few visits from some lesson bearing ghosts. How much money can one family need? Gee whiz. There’s success and then there’s greed. The Walton’s crossed over years ago.

In 2013 alone the Wal mart foundation have over a BILLION dollars to charity

 

[Ridgerunner]

The Church calls for a just and fair living wage, which is defined by allowing a man to support himself and his family frugally. And that if such a wage cannot be supplied, then there is something seriously wrong with the current system in place, and social justice demands that change is effected.

I’m not saying a 16 year old kid should get $15 an hour for a part time shift in Walmart and nor is the Church. Nor am I saying a fair and living wage constitutes allowing a all the kids to have the most recent iPhone release.

As I have said before, though, you can’t legally do that in this country. You can’t pay a person more just because he/she has a family. So, do you pay a full family wage to an 18 year old kid who has no dependents, so he can live large?

“Social justice” in wages is not possible in this country in the way the Church sees that.

 

[Crossbones]

Where does the Church call for a $15 an hour minimum wage?

Given the church teaching below about a just wage, what wage do you interpret that to be?

b. The right to fair remuneration and income distribution

1. Remuneration is the most important means for achieving justice in work relationships.[659] The “just wage is the legitimate fruit of work”.[660]

They commit grave injustice who refuse to pay a just wage or who do not give it in due time and in proportion to the work done (cf. Lv 19:13; Dt 24:14-15; Jas 5:4). A salary is the instrument that permits the labourer to gain access to the goods of the earth. “Remuneration for labour is to be such that man may be furnished the means to cultivate worthily his own material, social, cultural, and spiritual life and that of his dependents, in view of the function and productiveness of each one, the conditions of the factory or workshop, and the common good”.[661] The simple agreement between employee and employer with regard to the amount of pay to be received is not sufficient for the agreed-upon salary to qualify as a “just wage”, because a just wage “must not be below the level of subsistence”[662] of the worker: natural justice precedes and is above the freedom of the contract.

1. The economic well-being of a country is not measured exclusively by the quantity of goods it produces but also by taking into account the manner in which they are produced and the level of equity in the distribution of income, which should allow everyone access to what is necessary for their personal development and perfection. An equitable distribution of income is to be sought on the basis of criteria not merely of commutative justice but also of social justice that is, considering, beyond the objective value of the work rendered, the human dignity of the subjects who perform it. Authentic economic well-being is pursued also by means of suitable social policies for the redistribution of income which, taking general conditions into account, look at merit as well as at the need of each citizen.

Source: catholicculture.org/cultu…fm?recnum=7216