Wal-mart needs a better image..

[chevyman282]

Good Morning to all,
After reading this story, I think Wal-mart needs to clean up its image..I can not imagine a company, locking employees up in the store overnite......

chevyman..

here is the story..
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/natio ... ner=EXCITE

[Roody]

That is outrageous. That guy should have gone through the fire exit and if he was fired sued them for millions. That crap is unnecessary. Walmart is friggin stupid for doing that.

[zooner]

Originally posted by Roody
That is outrageous. That guy should have gone through the fire exit and if he was fired sued them for millions. That crap is unnecessary. Walmart is friggin stupid for doing that.

three states filed claims (and won) against walmart for actions like that, forcing employees to work overtime WITHOUT pay.

This isnt an image problem, we really should watch where we spend our dollars.

[qball15j]

Another reason for lock-ins, he said, was to increase efficiency — workers could not sneak outside to smoke a cigarette, get high or make a quick trip home.

Oh that never happens....

[Spicer]

Walmart has been recognized in Canada....Yet Again!!

As one of the Top Places to work..So Walmart USA must do something totally different....

**According to Pulse 24**....

http://www.pulse24.com/Business/Top_Sto ... 1/page.asp

“After five years of analyzing data from employers with engaged employees, we've been able to determine what these top organizations have in common. It's clear that, without all of these traits, an employer will not appear on the 50 Best list.”

According to a release from Hewitt, the traits are:

Leadership team is aligned - with each other and with employees
Employees are intrinsically motivated
"The basics" are done well
People practices are designed, communicated and executed effectively
Employees are connected to the business

The study was made up of three surveys - the Employee Opinion Survey, the Leadership Survey and the Human Resources Survey.



1. BC Biomedical Laboratories Ltd., Surrey BC
2. Flight Centre North America, Vancouver BC
3. Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., Toronto ON
4. Cintas Canada Ltd., Mississauga ON
5. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Mississauga ON
6. EllisDon Corp., London ON
7. PCL Construction Group Inc., Edmonton AB
8. Chubb Insurance Company of Canada, Toronto ON
9. Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc., Toronto ON
10. L'Union Canadienne, Sillery QC
11. Microsoft Canada Co., Mississauga ON
12. Edward Jones Canada, Mississauga ON
13. Crystal Decisions Corp., Vancouver BC
14. Wal-Mart Canada Corp., Mississauga ON
15. JTI-Macdonald Corp., Toronto ON
16. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Markham ON
17. Golder Associates Ltd., Burnaby BC
18. Merck Frosst Canada Ltd., Kirkland QC
19. Creo Inc., Burnaby BC
20. Maritime Travel Inc., Halifax NS
21. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., Dorval QC
22. Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals Canada, Kirkland QC
23. Envision Financial, Langley BC
24. GlaxoSmithKline Inc., Mississauga ON
25. Maritime Life Assurance Company, Halifax NS
26. Bennett Jones LLP, Calgary AB
27. Dofasco Inc., Hamilton ON
28. HEPCOE Credit Union Ltd., Toronto ON
29. QLT Inc., Vancouver BC
30. Whirlpool Canada Inc., Mississauga ON
31. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., Toronto ON
32. Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd., Bolton ON
33. ACNielsen Company of Canada, Markham ON
34. Keg Restaurants Ltd., Richmond BC
35. S. C. Johnson & Son, Ltd., Brantford ON
36. Eli Lilly Canada Inc., Toronto ON
37. Nexen Inc., Calgary AB
38. Shell Canada Ltd., Calgary AB
39. Ceridian Canada Ltd., Winnipeg MB
40. AstraZeneca Canada Inc., Mississauga ON
41. DaimlerChrysler Services Canada Inc., Windsor ON
42. Carswell, a Division of Thomson Canada Ltd., Toronto ON
43. Unilever Canada Inc., Toronto ON
44. Xerox Canada Inc., Toronto ON
45. The Co-operators, Guelph ON
46. Ernst & Young LLP, Toronto ON
47. SaskTel, Regina SK
48. BTI Canada Inc, Toronto ON
49. R.C. Purdy Chocolates Ltd., Vancouver BC
50. Farm Credit Canada, Regina SK

[Mark]

i think walmart violated some fire codes by locking the employees in, that is just plain stupid IMHO.

[Spicer]

Originally posted by Mark
i think walmart violated some fire codes by locking the employees in, that is just plain stupid IMHO.

Ya no doubt about the Fire Codes....Also *Human Rights Codes*

Spice

[qball15j]

I think it's a good idea in a way ONLY IF there's a store manager there with a key to unlock to doors during an emergency.

[minir]

Hi chevyman


Surely someone is Not Thinking. In this case 2.

The man should have called 911 and had someone meet them at the Fire Door.

The Company should have ensured a Manager, or Trusted Employee with a Key was their at all times.

As to Locking the Doors, i see nothing wrong in that when the appropriate measures have been taken.


regards

minir

[Ronny]

he should have went out the fire exit in an emergency or broke a glass out.
if someone wants to go outside for a smoke on their break and they won't let them i say just light up inside in a safe place to smoke.

[downhill]

Originally posted by John
Show me the article about it in the WSJ and I will read it. NYT is crap.

WJS?

The story isn't a NY Times story per say.... but one printed in the Times...It's in quite a few newspapers. It's written by Steven Greenhouse...

I suppose one could google him to see which side of the political fence he's one but then I wonder if we would all cry foul..

[downhill]

Originally posted by John
OK, I read it.

This was going on for how long...




... and their almighty Union didn't step in to save the day?

Walmart? Union? What am I missing here? I wasn't aware that there was a Walmart union, anywhere.

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]

Originally posted by downhill
Walmart? Union? What am I missing here? I wasn't aware that there was a Walmart union, anywhere.

I believe only two stores in Windsor, Ontario are union and all grocery workers in their SuperCenters.

[poptom]

Their only mistake, and it's a serious one, is not having someone with a key on site.

Emergencies like this can be expected to occur and I would lay the blame on the store manager.

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]

Originally posted by poptom
Their only mistake, and it's a serious one, is not having someone with a key on site.

Emergencies like this can be expected to occur and I would lay the blame on the store manager.

[Rainbow]

This is common practice. My wife's company also locks them in overnite. This is not just a Walmart thing.

[zooner]

Originally posted by John
Why not.

are you serious?

walmart fires anyone and EVERYONE that tries to push through a union. The meat-packers attempted to and they shut down the ENTIRE OPERATION.

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]

Originally posted by zooner
are you serious?

walmart fires anyone and EVERYONE that tries to push through a union. The meat-packers attempted to and they shut down the ENTIRE OPERATION.

Read above. Not everyone.

[BaLa]

Originally posted by Rainbow
This is common practice. My wife's company also locks them in overnite. This is not just a Walmart thing.

yep Night Stockers at the KMArt I used to work at, also got locked in overnite..

[lance-tek]

Even some retail industry experts questioned the policy. "It's clearly cause for concern," said Burt Flickinger, who runs a retail consulting concern. "Locking in workers, that's more of a 19th-century practice than a 20th-century one."

200 Years ago as opposed to 100 years ago eh?

[Roody]

Originally posted by Rainbow
This is common practice. My wife's company also locks them in overnite. This is not just a Walmart thing.

I wouldn't even feel comfortable working somewhere like that without a key of some sort on the premises that I would have access too.

Some businesses truly amaze me.

[Brandon_k_W]

Also, recently, they made employees work overtime, without giving them overtime pay.

[fivesixseven]

this is my second forum in a row where nobody likes walmart i personally have nothin against it

[Rainbow]

Quite frankly as a former business owner I dont see anything wrong with it at all.
Give them a smoking room inside and an emergency number to call if they need to.
Other than that they'll get out at 7am at the end of their shift.

[Prey521]

I'd take a baseball bat and smash the window in order to get out!

[lonewolfz28]

Originally posted by Rainbow
This is common practice. My wife's company also locks them in overnite. This is not just a Walmart thing.

Yup, so does Winn-Dixie (worked as a shelf stocker for a couple months).

Of course, since it's Wal-Mart, you're going to get this reaction on this board. I bet good money that Piggly Wiggly and other stores do the same to the night stockers. I know the doors were locked when I'd show up early to Lowes on a Sunday or Mon morning but the stockers were in there.

As far as the fire hazard goes, get real. If I was in there and wanted out, I'd get out. If you couldn't, you didn't want to live bad enough. Even if you couldn't make it to a fire door there're plenty of heavy objects to throw through the glass doors. They're more for keeping out the folks that can't read/remember the hours than real criminals that want to loot the place.

[Brandon_k_W]

Well, ever since Wal*Mart opened their supercenters in Las Vegas, they are the reason why my family and I had to transfer here to Sacramento. Never liked Wal*Mart before either. Cashiers are a$$holes, the place is always dirty, too much scum shopping at Wal*Mart. Certainly not a place I like hanging out at.

[lonewolfz28]

Originally posted by Brandon_k_W
Well, ever since Wal*Mart opened their supercenters in Las Vegas, they are the reason why my family and I had to transfer here to Sacramento. Never liked Wal*Mart before either. Cashiers are a$$holes, the place is always dirty, too much scum shopping at Wal*Mart. Certainly not a place I like hanging out at.

Around here and north central Texas they're at least as clean or cleaner than 90% of the other grocery stores in the area.

As far as the "scum" shopping there, I love you too. I've seen everything from business suits with their Hummers to military officers with their BMW's to the airmen trying to make ends meet with 2-4 mouths to feed shopping there. Nice generalization there.

[downhill]

Slack cutting is in order here...

A forced move on any young man still in highschool is pretty hard. My guess is his post isn't as much out of truth as it is out of anger.


Strange thing about supporting a company that sells widgets cheaper than anyone else...there's a reason for it and in the end, it comes at a cost to all of us.

[Ghosthunter]

nothing new here

when i use to work in my local supermarkert overnight they did same thing to the night crew

as long as you can get out via fire doors nothing is illegal going on

those people shouold have called 911 and met by the fire door

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]

I worked at a variety of sites throughout the country.

In case of emergency just open a fire door and the police and fire dept. will be there in minutes. You DON'T need a key to get out, just push the door open.

[lance-tek]

Originally posted by lonewolfz28
Around here and north central Texas they're at least as clean or cleaner than 90% of the other grocery stores in the area.

As far as the "scum" shopping there, I love you too. I've seen everything from business suits with their Hummers to military officers with their BMW's to the airmen trying to make ends meet with 2-4 mouths to feed shopping there. Nice generalization there.

Agreed.

Ya know I don't spend a lot of money on clothing either. I have a pair of cargo Khaki's that I love to wear though they have holes all over em. Peopl often stare at me. But the sad thing is I am probably better at saving money than any one of them are.

Don't judge a book by it's cover. And if you percieve yourself to be a Godly person, you should try not to judge at all.

-lance

[Dan]

Originally posted by Brandon_k_W
Well, ever since Wal*Mart opened their supercenters in Las Vegas, they are the reason why my family and I had to transfer here to Sacramento.

you moved to another state because of a Walmart store?

[torsten]

Originally posted by Brandon_k_W
...... Never liked Wal*Mart before either. Cashiers are a$$holes, the place is always dirty, too much scum shopping at Wal*Mart. Certainly not a place I like hanging out at.

I agree.
I realize it my vary by city or region, but it's like that here too. Almost as if they've put some sort of welcome sign out front that only lowlifes can read. You can't shop there without hearing a lot of gangsta talk, semi-literate English (that is IF you hear English at all) and getting sneering hostile stares from people in large groups. It's thug central, like going into a really bad neighborhood or school. And of course the store is cluttered and unclean looking. But go just down the street to Target and you don't have to deal with that. What's with that? It's not just a slight generalization, it's a consistent dramatic difference. And the prices seem to be mostly similar, so it can't be a rich vs poor thing. I've talked to a lot of people who insist they will not shop there because of the above issues (and these are not people who hate Wal Mart for political reasons).

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]