Why I Despise Walmart
If you have a $20 billion dollar fortune, or a $2 billion dollar fortune, is
the lifestyle that much different between the two?
Case in point: The Walton family members are among the 20 richest
people in the world, with a net worth of about $83 billion dollars, or about
$20.75 billion dollars per member.
The S.C. Johnson family members rank down around the 450 richest
people in the World, with a net worth of about $10 billion dollars, or
about $2 billion dollars per member.
Do you suppose the Walton’s live any better than the Johnson’s?
I ask that question because I just cannot understand Walmart’s failure
to share a little of their wealth with the Walmart employees. One only
has to visit a Walmart and see the faces of the overworked and underpaid
employees to know the employees are unhappy. Low wages, limited
benefits, and sad working conditions all contribute to the dissatisfaction
of the Walmart work force.
At S.C. Johnson Wax, however, there are plenty of smiles. Johnson’s is
one of the largest family owned firms in America, and is rated as one of
the best companies to work for. In addition to good wages and benefits,
Johnson’s maintains a private park equipped with a multi-million dollar
gym for it’s employee’s use, and maintains a resort in northern Wisconsin
where, for a very nominal fee, the employees can spend a week or two
relaxing and fishing. Twice a year, Johnson’s hands out very generous
profit-sharing checks to employees. As you can imagine, employee
turnover is minimal; job vacancies occur mostly because of employee
retirement.
So I ask myself; why wouldn’t the Walton’s want to be more like the
Johnson’s? Why not settle for, say, $10 billion each and turn the
other $10 billion back to the employees so that they can have a few
benefits and earn a wage that they can live on?
I was thrilled recently to read that Publix Supermarkets – which
is relatively new to the Atlanta area – recently became the number
one grocery chain in Atlanta, beating out Kroger and Walmart.
Publix, like S.C. Johnson Wax, is family oriented and shares their
wealth with their employees. A recent article in the Lakeland
Ledger (Florida) told of how there are over 400 employees at
Publix who have accumulated over $1 million dollars in stock.
These employees – cashiers, warehouse workers, bakers,
food preparers, and truck drivers – accumulated this wealth
through stock awarded as profit sharing.
Walmart is not a ‘good neighbor.’ In my opinion, they’re not even
good Americans. Their callous disregard for the needs of their employees
clearly demonstrates that Walmart is like a huge leech, sucking the
lifeblood from their overworked, underpaid work force.
Ah, like I said, I dispise Walmart.
If you want edit me? just go to your profile than add description text as many you like. ^_*
Hey Hambone, they certainly have their issues, but without them, we wouldnt have that great website, The People of Walmart!
1HaHa…..that site always makes me feel better about the way I dress.
2I will have to admit I use Walmart. Yes the Walton’s are
3wealthy people and seem to care more about “The Bottom Line” than the welfare of its employees it shows on the faces of some of the employees who to them its just a job to make ends meet. Publix people always talk to you asking if they can help with a smile. Publix prices are higher than most others but I like the clean stores and we buy most of our food items there. I only go to Walmart so I can dress and maybe one day be one of the famous Walmart people.LOL
Henjoy, to make that list in our neck of the woods, your going to have to really work at it!
4I personally know a member of the SC Johnson family and I can attest to everything Hambone says. Class act.
I think at some point the money becomes a sickness and it just is about making more and more of it to no real end other than making more and more………
5I’ve cured that problem. I make less and less as time goes on!
6Thank you for the verification, Sad Sam. I worked for Johnson Wax for several years. To this day, when I buy products that Johnson’s makes, I always buy their brand, because I know first hand of their commitment to quality. I’ve seen them spends millions of dollars on a new product, only to scrap it because it wasn’t better than another brand on the market. If they couldn’t put out the best, then they didn’t put it out. It has been over 30 years since I worked for Johnson’s, but I still feel a loyalty and attachment to that company.
I’d like also to add to my comments about Publix. Henjoy is right in that prices are somewhat higher than Walmart, but the quality of products and service are also much better. I called the Publix home office a few months ago to ask why a particular brand of juice was discontinued at my store, and after discussing it with me, the rep asked what store I shopped;
two weeks later it was back on the shelves. Imagine Walmart giving a damn about what I want. Also, it was in the papers yesterday that Publix showed a profit of $346 million for the most recent quarter. This at a time when other grocery chains are cutting back and closing stores.
Both SC Johnson Wax and Publix are highly successful, and both are very generous to their employees. I think there’s a message here.
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