Mercedes Schneider obtained a copy of a Walmart video for new employees, warning them not to join a union. The video was online, then taken down. She transcribed it, in the event it never resurfaces.
Shop at Walmart, and make America’s richest family richer.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I just left this note on Mercedes’ site….
“Another fantastic report, Mercedes. Thanks. Would never have seen this any other way….so please continue to keep us informed on all things that affect our society. As you know, I teach public policy and appreciate your always valid information.
BTW…was in a Salvation Army store recently, and they were using Walmart shopping bags. What is that about?
Happy Holidays….you are a treasure.”\
And a huge thanks to Diane for posting this telling video.
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Reads in a very Orwellian way. Chilling.
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The PR packaging, using fear about the loss of signature, is typical right wing exploitation of the vulnerable.
A person has to lack a soul, to prey on people desperate enough to apply for work at Walmart.
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This attempt to make the false equivalency between the Walmart Corporations and “unions are multi-million-dollar businesses, too” is nonsense. How many CEO’s have the following career trajectory and salary?
John Perez was from making $60,000/year as a classroom teacher, then after winning a democratic election, took a temporary release from teaching to serve as the United Teachers Los Angeles President, where he then made $80,000/ year (no officer, including the UTLA president can make a salary higher than the highest-paid UTLA teacher.
After serving for three years, (2002-2005), he returned to the classroom and his $60,000/year job teaching kids.
A.J. Duffy was making $70,000/year as a classroom teacher at Palms Middle School, then after winning a democratic election, took a temporary release from his teaching job to serve as United Teachers Los Angeles president, where he then made $80,000/year for the six years (2 3-year terms) that he served as president.
After serving for those six years (2005-2011), he returned to his classroom at Palms Middle School and his $60,000/year job teaching kids.
Warren Fletcher was making $70,000/year as a classroom teacher at City of Angels High School, then after winning a democratic election, took a temporary release from his teaching job to serve as United Teachers Los Angeles president, where he then made $90,000/year as union president.
After serving three years (2011-2014), he returned to his classroom at City of Angels High School and his $70,000/year job teaching kids. Current UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl was making $70,000/year as a classroom teacher at Crenshaw High School, then, after winning a democratic election, is currently taking a temporary release fro his teaching job to serve as UTLA president, where he’s making about $90,000.
After serving three years—2014-2017 (or at most six years 2014-2020 /2 terms is the limit),
Alex will likely return to his $70,000 job teaching kids. In all those instances, they went from serving as a teacher on June 30th —cleaning out their rooms, then putting all their materials in storage for their eventual return to teaching—- to getting sworn in as president and commencing their service on July 1st.
What multi-million-dollar corporation operates like this?
Not Walmart. Oh, and one more thing.
Yeah, teachers pay a few hundred dollars dues each year, but what do they get in exchange? Well, for one thing, just last spring UTLA won a 10% raise for all its members… that’s not a one-time bonus, mind you, but a permanent raise in the hourly/annual salary schedule. This is on top of having health benefits (medical/dental/vision) paid for by management … not one penny is deducted from any teacher’s paycheck.
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Thanks Jack…excellent retort.
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I haven’t stepped foot in a Walmart in 15 years. This just reinforces one of the many, many reasons why!
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The video should go on, “And remember, here at Walmart we sell some cheap goods which are manufactured by prisoners who sleep under their work tables. We care about you about as much as we care about them. They don’t need a union for their work, and neither do you.”
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I bet the longer you go without setting foot in a Walmart store, the better you’ll feel. It’s for their employees in the U.S. and the slaves of their merchandisers in China. I feel fantastic right now. I’ve never been to Walmart.
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Agree…I have never been in a Walmart.
And I understand that they teach their employees how to apply for food stamps and free public clinic health care….all of this is Corporate Socialism paid for by We, the People, while these 6 family members who did not work for their inheritance continue to try to kill the estate tax. Heaven forbid they should do anything for others. Their unending greed is disgusting. Carrie Walton Penner, whose husband now runs the company, sits on almost every charter school board in the country.
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I haven’t been to a Walmart in many, many years, and I remain morbidly depressed.
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Oh FLERP!
Stop reading all the depressing news in politics and education! Get outside for a while! #FindYourPark!
http://www.nps.gov/state/ny/index.htm
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I believe that Target also makes (or made) its employees watch an anti-union film and subjects them to other anti-union propaganda (signs and posters).
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OFF TOPIC:
Funny cartoon from L.A. Progressive…
It sums up charter schools in a little over 2 minutes:
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This video is great. Thanks for the post.
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To quote from the video transcript: “We’ve all found a home with Walmart, and we’re glad that you’ve joined the team.”
Yeah, right. What crap!
A longtime friend of mine worked at the local Walmart for years and after she managed a department for a while they booted her out the door. Reason: she was making too much money. She is also a woman willing to speak her mind. Some kind of “home” that is!
Barbara Ehrenreich, in her great book “Nickel and Dimed”, wrote about her stint working at a Walmart. She had to take a personality test when she applied. She was worried that she’d sound like a sap if she seemed too eager to kowtow to the bosses. But, apparently, you can never suck up too much in corporate America. As she described in a 2002 New York Times opinion piece titled “Two-Tiered Morality”
“Extreme submissiveness to authority is another desirable trait. When I applied for a job at Wal-Mart in the spring of 2000, I was reprimanded for getting something “wrong” on this test: I had agreed only “strongly” to the proposition, “All rules have to be followed to the letter at all times.” The correct answer was “totally agree.””
Ehrenreich details Wal-Mar’ts hypocritical form of ethics. “Low-paid employees are required to be hard-working, law-abiding, rule-respecting straight arrows. More than that, they are often expected to exhibit a selfless generosity toward the company, readily “donating” chunks of their time free of charge. Meanwhile, as we have learned from the cases of Enron , Adelphia, ImClone , WorldCom and others, many top executives have apparently felt free to do whatever they want — conceal debts, lie about profits, engage in insider trading — to the dismay and sometimes ruin of their shareholders.” http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/30/opinion/30EHRE.html?pagewanted=all
Of course, Walmart’s pattern of low pay and time theft from its employees is now well documented. But that hasn’t stopped the alleged school “reformers” in our country from trying to treat teachers and students like new hires at Walmart. Fall into line, get to work and never, ever question authority.
That way of thinking isn’t just anti-union. It’s anti-American.
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Here’s perhaps another reason to boycott Walmart (as if we needed another!).
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Walmart-fires-East-Greenbush-employee-for-6642073.php
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Wow. Just saw this post now. The word that just came to mind as I read it is “Dickensian”. And, I can’t remember the last time when I’ve thought of that idea ….. I’ll have to show this piece to my economics students.
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