Summary Of Selling In Minnesota By Barbara Ehrenreich

527 Words2 Pages

Shian Thorpe Selling in Minnesota by Barbara Ehrenreich is about the disadvantages of working as a Walmart employee.the author talks about her experience with Walmart from the beginning when she stared orientation. Throughout the story the author is informing readers about what Walmart is doing to the workers and reasons not to work there for example she states “you might lose even your wages and benefits because she they would all be a risk…” with the little pay at Walmart that was given, Ehrenreich knew that it wasn't worth the labor hours what was given to her. She really didn't have a choice back in Minnesota because there wasn't a lot of jobs available and the wages were low. That is why she choose to stick with Walmart even though she didn't like the business that they were dealing with. I can personally relate to this article because of the author experience working in that type of environment. I also have been through something similar with my last working experience. Working at …show more content…

For example one of the rules states ““strive for excellence” but the employees at Walmart act the opposite. That is not what it takes to be a Walmart Employee. There was a video shown at the orientation of an employee caught on tape stealing from the cash register. When Walmart was having the presentation with the pre employees they were in a windowless room filled with no distractions because they wanted them to only be focused on that specific thing the “orientation”. While Ehrenreich was working for Walmart she saw a lot of hostile behaviors she did not like that environment but she had no choice because of the few jobs available in the town she didn't have a alternative. I felt the same way if there were more jobs in my neighborhood I would definitely would have stopped working for

Show More
Related

  • Deenu Parmar's Labouring The Walmart Way

    199 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Deenu Parmar's "Labouring the Wal Mart Way," the author discusses the business practices of Wal Mart, their impact on systemic poverty, and on existing work unions. Their business model forces competition to align with them, or close up shop. Wal Mart hires workers that would usually have a difficult time finding employment. That said, they pay them well below a living wage. Staff are also subject to abuses like overtime without pay. Wal Mart is resolute in their feelings towards unions. Their hiring process designed to cut out union sympathizers. This way, they can prevent any retaliation from staff seeking a better work environment. If anti-union efforts are unsuccessful, they close the store. It also forces existing unions to take pay

    Read More

  • The United States Of Walmart Rhetorical Analysis

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    Within an excerpt from, “The United States of Wal-Mart,” John Dicker explains that Wal-Mart is a troubling corporation. Dicker begins his article by discussing why the store is so popular within the news in an age of global terrorism, coming to the conclusion that Wal-Mart has a huge scope in the United States and that it has more scandals, lawsuits, and stories than any other supercenter. Continually, he goes on to explain that Wal-Mart outsources jobs and their companies demands makes it hard for employees to have livable wages and good working conditions. Furthermore, Dicker addresses the claim that Wal-Mart provides good jobs, by destroying this perception with statistics showing how employees live in poverty and that their union scene

    Read More

  • An Evaluation of the Article: Why Looks Are the Last Bastion of Discrimination

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mainly, the article focuses on the injustices people have encountered in a work environment. Rhodes appeals to her audience as everyday “average” people who identify with the plight of another. Although she makes a compelling argument referencing studies and personal stories of people this has happened to, there are flaws in her argument that could discredit the validity of her reasoning. The logic in her article highly finds favor with the general working public. It is both consistent and appropriate. However, it is not complete, nor fully believable. I will discuss the following in the next paragraphs. Her use of research and anecdotes are mostly one-sided and while it brings valid points for the workers, fail to portray opposing views on the issue, that of the employer. She also neglects to further explore and compare the validity of this claim against wel...

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart Is Good For America

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walmart is bad for America, as some say. The Globalization essay that was handed out in class had many good points. It states that Walmart puts many smaller businesses out of service. A recent study by David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine and two associates at the Public Policy Institute of California, "The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets," uses sophisticated statistical analysis to estimate the effects on jobs and wages as Wal-Mart spread out from its original center in Arkansas. The authors find that retail employmen...

    Read More

  • Nickel and Dimed

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...usly shamed, embarrassed, and demeaned their employees. I think this kind of behavior is a way of separating employers from employees. It helps keep employees in line and also adds the benefit of making employers feel good about themselves at the expense of their employees. Demeaning actions prevent employees from organizing or protesting for higher wages or better conditions. It keeps them “in their place” and does not allow them to hope or strive for anything better. In spite of the dehumanization of employees by employers, there are silent rebellions committed by lower class employees such as jokes, gossip, doing other's work, and just in general helping each other out. These are silent protests, they do not change the status quo in any way, that would be too risky for these employees. It is survival and caring in a corporate world that does not care about them.

    Read More

  • Reflection On Nickel And Dimed

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most companies are just out there to make money and not care for the welfare of their employees. It may be difficult to see this as business has always been portrayed as a stimulator of the economy and always on the lookout for its employees. However, this is only because the companies that abide by such practices are given as examples and not the ones that do poorly. We oftentimes complain about the little petty things in life when we should be worried about the people who are suffering in our world. The saying always goes; you never know what you have till it’s gone. Unfortunately, this saying corresponds particularly well this

    Read More

  • Always the Lowest Price at Wal-Mart

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    The anti-Wal-Mart activists believe that the creation of giant discount stores in the rural regions of the United States will lead to their economic and cultural destruction. With economic impact studies, they show that Wal-Mart's incredible gains are in fact taken from other local merchants, whom finally run out of business. According to Sarah Anderson, an economic analyst with an anti Wal-Mart stance, the establishment of a new store near a small town destroys more jobs in independent businesses than it actually creates in hiring local workers (1994). Moreover, a Wal-Mart funded community impact study in Greenfield, Massachusetts demonstrated that the construction of a new mega store would create 274 jobs. But in long terms, the community projects to lost about the same amount in the locally owned competing businesses (Sarah Anderson, 1994). The anti Wal-Mart activists are also concerned by the return of the profits in its adoptive community. The economic spin-off of the money spent in local business is largely superior than with the discount store. But almost all the profits made in a Wal-Mart are returned...

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart As A Communist Regime

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    To this day, when I walk into Wal-Mart and come face to face with a manager I once worked under they give me dirty looks. People report that managers will trash talk you to another job that applied for if that job contacts Wal-Mart about you. Wal-Mart has unrealistic workloads for some overnight stockers, their managers aren’t the best in the world, and their policies are harsh. This is why I constantly call Wal-Mart a communist regime; not because it shares the ideals but because it is just bad for everyone in general. Hopefully one day a high positioned power will restore the order and peace that once was Wal-Mart according to the history they teach you in training and that their policies and workloads may become more realistic and doable.

    Read More

  • Gender Discrimination at Walmart

    2006 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lichenstein, N. (2007) Why Working at Walmart is Different Connecticut Law Review, Volume 39 Number 4, May 2007

    Read More

  • Is Walmart Good Or Bad For Health And Social Care?

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    Today Wal-mart has a higher GDP than the entire country of Switzerland, but don’t worry they’re pretty neutral about it. But there has also been news about how they treat there employees. In 2004 an article was released entitled Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart, and soon after Washington got involved. The bad publicity took a toll on Wal-mart and in fact is still today, Maryland passed a law in January, 2006, that said larger employers, such as Wal-mart, must spend at least 8% of their payroll on health benefits for their employees, and now many other states have followed suit. The bad publicity also made it so 8% of customers shop elsewhere because of what they’ve heard, this has caused lower expected sales around the holidays during 2004, and 2005. Some things they’ve done is in 2006 they paid employees on average 9.36 dollars, while other major retailers like Target and Sears pay on average 11.08 dollars. While this can be easily denied by Wal-mart, another way they have gained bad publicity is from something called off-the-clock work. If they had not finished their job they had to clock out and then still finish their job, meaning they wouldn’t get paid for

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices

    1949 Words  | 4 Pages

    Walmart has had a long-standing presence in America society since the middle of the 20th century, seen as a place to get everything done, Walmart has become a fixation in our society. From grocery shopping, to changing your oil and even filing your annual tax returns, Walmart is always there, everyday. Started by Sam Walton in 1962, it began as a small operation catering to a small Arkansas community. It was started on principles very similar to small local businesses in small towns. Today Walmart has gotten a different, darker reputation. On the surface, Walmart may seem like the solution to everyday issues. Low-income families are attracted to the low prices, and people who work odd hours benefit greatly from the 24 hours a day that many Walmarts are open. Lately, Walmart has also managed to be publicly recognized as a store that sells many of today’s green products, including organic food, environmental conscious cleaning products, as well as, paper products made from recycled paper. However, underneath all this, Walmart has a different side. Exploitation of its workers is widespread amongst Walmarts who do not belong to a union, especially in the United States. Wal...

    Read More

  • Gender Discrimination at Wal-Mart

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wal-Mart maintains aggressively, a distinct and consistent corporate culture through out its operations. The issue is that local managers and supervisors are given unguided discretion on the hiring, firing, promoting, and disciplining of employees (Hart, 2006). These individual managers bring with them their own beliefs, biases, stereotypes, and assumpt...

    Read More

  • Walmart Reflection Paper

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    Walmart’s throughout the United States continue to succeed. Two things that they continue to succeed at is telling the Walmart story in commercials, where we see they continue to lie and “staying the course.” Throughout the documentary they look into struggling families and how Walmart is a big factor in that. The Hunter family ran a hardware store by the name of H&H Hardware and after serving there town for 48 years had to close down due to the arrival of Walmart. Numerous other Mom and Pop businesses will continue to close down due to Walmart and the ability they have to drop sales and also knock the value down on numerous items. Due to most Walmart employees conscious, employees often have to stay late with no overtime pay due to the amount

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart: The Challenge of Making Relationships with Stakeholders

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    Employee stakeholders have another story. The discrimination lawsuits ranging from female employees not getting equal pay or equal positions, to disabled employees, class-action lawsuits stating that Wal-Mart doctors questionnaires to prevent disabled workers from applying, Wal-Mart does not rank very high with these employees. Lawsuits stemming from Wal-Mart’s failure to monitor labor conditions at oversea factories and hires illegal immigrants add to the rift in relations between the employees and the company. Wal-Mart continues to deny charges...

    Read More

  • The Future Of Work And The Future Of Work

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Today’s world, the composition and how work is done has massively changed and is still continuing to change. Work is now more complex, more team base, depends greatly on technological and social skills and lastly more mobile and does not depend on geography. Companies are also opting for ways to help their employees perform their duties effectively so that huge profits are realized in the long term .The changes in the workplaces include Reduction in the structure of the hierarchy ,breakdown in the organization boundaries , improved and better management tactics and perspectives and lastly better workplace condition and health to the employees. (Frank Ackerman, Neva R. Goodwin, Laurie Dougherty, Kevin Gallagher, 2001)

    Read More

More about Summary Of Selling In Minnesota By Barbara Ehrenreich

Open Document