Manns Medium

Consider the possibilities that the world’s number one retail store would suddenly have to close stores and those who can see nothing more than a conspiracy saying it is because of the livable wage debate currently raging all over the place?  Could they be right?  According to an article titled “ Wal-Mart suddenly closed 5 stores and laid off thousands of workers and no one knows why ” written for Reuters by Hayley Peterson that may be the ultimate question. The article states that “Wal-Mart suddenly closed five stores in four states on Monday for alleged plumbing problems.  The closures could last up to six months and affect roughly 2,200 workers in Texas, California, Oklahoma, and Florida, CNN Money reports.  Wal-Mart employees say they were completely blindsided by the news, having been notified only a couple hours before the stores closed at 7 p.m. Monday.  All workers will receive paid leave for two months. After that, full-time workers could become el...

Call it cynicism or skepticism but whatever you call it, I have to wonder why after all these years and millions of dollars Wal-Mart made off the backs of its employees they all of a sudden decided to do right by them and give them that pay raise.  In an article titled “ Wal-Mart will give half-million employees pay raises ” written by Katie Little for CNBC.com, it is reported that “Wal-Mart will give a half-million employees pay raises, the discount retail giant said Thursday as it announced a mixed quarterly earnings report.  Hourly workers will earn at least $1.75 above the current federal minimum wage, or $9 per hour, in April. By next February, it will rise to at least $10 per hour.  "I think it actually is good news," Deutsche Bank analyst Paul Trussell said about the wage move. "Frankly part of Wal-Mart's problem has been concerns around inventories being out of stock, been about bad customer service, long lines at the checkout counters. There have been a lot...

I was somewhat happy to hear the news that was reported by Ramkumar Iyer and Devika Krishna Kumar in their article titled “Dollar Tree to buy Family Dollar for $8.5 billion” not because I own stock in either but mainly because it may be time for Wal-Mart to finally receive it comeupings.  What I mean by that is Wal-Mart has located in distressed areas all over the United States and in areas of towns that sorely needed jobs but that is all that they have really done for those areas.  They preach that they care about community but I find that hard to believe when many of their workers still have to seek governmental assistance to make a decent life for them and their families.  You would think that all Wal-Mart needs to do is offer a wage that a family could satisfy the needs of their family with just one job and not have to be added to the list of those having to seek help elsewhere especially while Wal-Mart owners and shareholders pockets grow and their bottom line incre...

“Wal-Mart employs 2.2 million people and runs more than 10,000 stores around the world”.   They also will locate in the poorest areas of a city becoming an anchor to keep that neighborhood afloat and providing jobs to those who need it worse.   Wal-Mart also allows those on fixed incomes or little income to be able to put food on their tables at a decent price as well as provide so many other basic necessities without breaking the bank.   It is also true that they are often targeted by labor and community activists who argue that it underpays its workers and its sprawling stores undercut smaller shops, often putting them out of business but Wal-Mart continues to go where other big box and chain stores refuse to tread. Now it takes another tremendous hit and one that it may not be able to recover from.   According to Jessica Wohl and Carlyn Kolker of Reuters in their article titled Wal-Mart probe could cost some executives their jobs , it is reported that “the...

I must admit, when I was first beginning to read this article, I immediately went to the thought that the Supreme Court had once again sided with big business like they did with the Citizens United case.   I was so wrong and I realized it only after actually reading this article instead of just scanning it.   The article that I speak of is the one written by James Vicini of Reuters titled Wal-Mart wins Supreme Court sex-bias ruling What made me realize that I was wrong   was when I read that “The justices unanimously ruled that more than 1 million female employees nationwide could not proceed together in the lawsuit seeking billions of dollars and accusing Wal-Mart of paying women less and giving them fewer promotions” and “It accepted Wal-Mart's argument that the female employees in different jobs at 3,400 different stores nationwide and with different supervisors do not have enough in common to be lumped together in a single class-action lawsuit.”   It became very...

I touched the wings of an angel today and it felt like all was right with the world.   I didn’t know that I was speaking to an angel at first and only realized it long after the contact was over.   This feeling of euphoria still sticks with me and it is because of that that I would like to share it with you. I have been involved in the Transportation industry for quite some time now and that combined with my years in the military plus all of my interactive experience with people; have made me come to believe that there are angels among us.   They are nothing like those we see in movies or in print and they do not come with halos or wings.   These angels are very similar to us and many times so much like us that it makes me wonder why we can not be much more of an angel than some of us already are. The angel I met today went by the name of Jay and drove for a company called Natural State Carriers.   The first time I met him it was strictly business.   I...