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| 5/29 |
| 2005/7/28-31 [Politics/Domestic/California, Finance/Shopping] UID:38862 Activity:high |
7/28 How is the existing global domination of IKEA, who's founder
surpasses Bill Gates as the richest man due to weakening
US currency, differ from the American domination of Walmart?
People boycott, protest, and say bad things about Walmart, but
what about IKEA?
\_ He's a lonely old miser who barely leaves the house (the IKEA guy.)
That, and IKEA doesn't have the size 30 mumus next to the family
tubs of cheap candy. I kid you not, I saw this in the first and
only Wal-Mart I ever went into. It was as close to inferno as I
ever hope to get. -John
\_ It is not Walmart's size that is the problem. It is Walmart's
behavior. -- ulysses
\_ How is Walmart's aggressive behaviour any different from
other super-mega American corporations' behaviours?
\_ Stay on topic. IKEA != American corp.
\_ Costco pays their employees a decent wage, Wal-Mart does not.
Costco gives health benefits, Wal-Mart does not, dumping the
cost onto the taxpayer. Costco allows unions to form, Wal-Mart
does not.... should I go on???
\_ You guys just don't get it. This is like thinking a minimum
wage actually helps the poor. -- ilyas
\_ So, if there was no wage, and people could be paid
$.20/hour, that would be better?
\_ I think it would. The economy is a complex machine,
but everybody wants to tinker with it, without an
understanding of what tinkering will actually do,
given the way the machine works. So if your original
tinkering doesn't work, you tinker some more! The
real art is to make a just society where people do
the natural self-interested things. I could turn your
own question on you: 'if the minimum wage was 20
dollars an hour, would that be better?' The real
question is, why are there poor people in our economy?
The poor aren't going to go away, regardless of what
you do. -- ilyas
\_ Your troll is barely amusing. The minimum wage
should be set to whatever gives people in a given
area a reasonable standard of living for a 40
hour work-week. Most poor people living on
minimum wage are barely scraping by, and there
are a lot of them. They are the ones using the
emergency room, food stamps, etc. Why do you
prefer big government programs to just plain
companies compensating employees properly?
\_ I don't prefer big government programs either.
Legislating minimum wage increases unemployment,
and fucks over the poor. Similarly for most
measures forcing companies to spend more money
on employees. -- ilyas
\_ Do you think poor people should be allowed
to be worked to death? Should the government
let poor people starve?
\_ As I mentioned in the conversation on this
topic on irc, it's very difficult to
starve in the United States. Mconst said
that in Togo they say the US is a country
where even the poor people are fat.
-- ilyas
\_ After 100 years of big government
intervention in the economy, it is
hard. It was not hard at the
turn of the century. You want to
bring us back to those days.
\_ Yes, of course, you want to claim
the cause of American prosperity
was 100 years of attempts at
socialism, whereas in reality
America prospered in spite of, not
because of it. I ve seen what
actual socialism does, you haven't.
-- ilyas
\_ No, the cause of American
prosperity is the combination
of government, business,
eductation and other efforts
over the last 100 years. The
ameliortion of the worst forms
of poverty and abuses of
capitalism were done because
of the popular will, exercised
through the political process.
You are like the man that was
bitten badly by a dog as a
child and persists in believing
that all dogs are evil.
\_ No, I just saw the 'wall of
cheese.' -- ilyas
\_ But if the min wage is increased, then the
wage required to get a "reasonable standard
of living" (define pls) must increase. It
creates unemployment and harms the ability
to get a job of the very people who would
most have trouble getting a better job.
Instead of min wage you might as well do the
zero unemployment economy thing and create
taxpayer-subsidized "jobs". They do some of
that in Europe.
\_ Wal-Mart also gives health benefits.
\_ Less than most companies:
http://csua.org/u/cv2
\_ That's not what the claim above is.
\_ Much of the Walmart hate stems not from the family founders
being filthy rich (worth billions), but the fact they are so
chincy in providing benefits to their employees. When you
have over $22,000,000,000 why would 1) you force your workers
to pay relatively high health care premiums, 2) hire illegal
aliens, and 3) discriminate against female workers in pay and
promotions. Those 3 thorny issues haven't plauged IKEA.
In fact IKEA has been rated one of the 100 best places to work
for in general and for working mothers.
\_ And the worst part in all of this is that their huge size and
power forces their competitors to do the same in order to stay
in business, so now an entire sector of the economy is always
low paying with shitty benefits.
\_ Wal-Mart pays 50% of health insurance premiums. The industry
standard is 75%. I read that it would reduce Wal-Mart's profits
20% in order to jump to a more standard 75%. Can they afford to
do it? Of course. However, most companies aren't in business to
give all profits back to the employees. In fact, I really detest
Wal-Mart, but I can't think of anything unique about your points
#1, #2, or #3. Wal-Mart is evil for other reasons, including
the aggressive way it does business with suppliers and
competitors. I don't know enough about IKEA to say if it is
similar, but since it is an UltraMega corporation buying a lot of
cheap product from Asia it probably has skeletons in its closet, too.
\_ costco is holding its own against walmart, and it treats its
employees well:
http://csua.org/u/cut
\_ I like Costco in that it doesn't provide plastic bags and
that items only come in big sizes, both of which cut down
wasted material which is good for the environment. Of
course Costco does it for profit reasons, but I like its
side-effect.
\_ I find the big sizes wasteful. It's good if you have
a large family, though.
\_ purchase what you need and use up. eg. I don't touch
their huge boxes of snacks i rarely eat. But, water,
or fruit juice, I purchase plenty of.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/business/yourmoney/17costco.html?ex=1122696000&en=4cd5686772a804b6&ei=5070
\_ As a friend pointed out to me, Costco's return policy is
the best. You can basically return anything anytime.
If you don't like wal-mart, don't shop there. Tell people
not to shop there. This is how a healthy economy works.
Avoid government regulation as much as possible.
\_ Yeah, my friends said they could buy a computer at
Costco, and return it 1yr later saying that they
didn't like it. I think that's insane to allow that.
didn't like it. I think it's insane to allow that.
\_ It's now 6 months on computer and computer eq.
\_ Welcome to America, where the safety net blows so hard that you
need to work to survive -- which is why America is so productive.
Create a wealth gap (they earned it), it will keep 90% of America
working like dogs to either make ends meet or keep up with the
Jones's.
I heard in Canada you can be productive and also get a lot of
social services, and the wealth distribution is not as insane.
Commies.
\_ Yup, social services that includes cheap prescription drugs
that Americans pick up the tab for. If they had to pay the
real cost of medicine, their system would completely collapse
instead of merely teeter on the edge as it does now.
\_ Their economy is also mostly based on exporting raw
materials.
\_ Like beer?
\_ Canadian cost of living is very high - higher than US.
\_ You sure about that?
\_ Factoring in taxation, yes.
\_ Are you factoring in health care costs?
\_ For quality health care or Canadian health care?
\_ Depends. Do you want to survive an illness?
\_ http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving3.htm
http://www.2ontario.com/welcome/coca_701.asp
Canadian cities are lower than American.
Canadian cities are cheaper than American.
\_ PWNT!
\_ except for american goods!
\_ 'Comparative cost of 200 items' is not cost of living.
Canadians have less money to begin with because of the
taxes.
\_ You mean sales taxes? Because income taxes shouldn't
really be part of the "cost of living"; they affect
ability to gain income but not costs, seems like.
\_ Income taxes are absolutely a part of the cost
of living. How can you think it matters if the
money came out of my check before I saw it or I
had to pay extra for each item I purchase with
that same money? You're trolling, right? IHBT. |
| 5/29 |
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| csua.org/u/cv2 -> www.ufcw.org/issues_and_actions/walmart_workers_campaign_info/facts_and_figures/walmartonbenefits.cfm Facts and Figures Wal-Martization of Health Care Wal-Martization of Health Care Wal-Marts health care coverage is well below the national average * Percent of Workers Covered by WalMart Health Care High premiums and deductibles keep more than half of Wal-Mart workers from participating in the company health plan. While the national average of workers covered by employer health insurance is 67 percent, only about 47 percent of Wal-Marts employees are covered by the companys health care plan. Majority of Wal-Mart employees cant afford company health care * The average worker would have to pay one fifth of his paycheck for he alth care coverage at Wal-Mart. On a wage of about $8 an hour and 29-32 hours of work a week, many workers must rely on state programs or family members or simply live without health insurance. Wal-Marts refusal to provide affordable health care impacts taxpayers an d other employers * More than 60 percent of Wal-Mart employees--600,000 people--are force d to get health insurance coverage from the government or through spouses plansor live without any health insurance. Wal-Mart shifts the cost of health insurance to taxpayers and other employers, driving up the health costs for all of us. There are more than 40 million uninsured working families. The more Wal-Mart grows, so do the number of the uninsured. Wal-Mart continues to further restrict health care coverage eligibility * In 2002, Wal-Mart further restricted the number of employees eligible for coverage by requiring full-time workers to work six months before become eligible to purchase the companys health insurance. Part-time workers need to wait two years for health care insurancewhich only qualifies for single coverage, not dependent coverage. Also in 2002, the company raised the bar for new full-time workers from 28 hours to 34 hours per week to be eligible to purchase the health care coverage. Wal-Marts health plans are getting further out of reach to it employees * Wal-Mart has increased the premium cost for workers by over 200% sinc e 1993--medical care inflation only went up 50% in the same period. The company also raised the number of hours new employees must work from 28 to 34 hours per week to be eligible to purchase the expensive health care coverage. Wal-Mart spends minimal on covering employee health benefits * The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2002, average spending on he alth benefits for each of Wal-Marts 500,000 covered employees was $3,500almost 40% less than the average for all US corporations and 30% less than the rest of the wholesale/retail industry. Just 1% of the family wealth could provide affordable health care for all Wal-Mart employees. The suit, brought on behalf of participants and beneficiaries of various Wal-Mart employee benefit plans and employee pension plans, seeks an order requiring Wal-Mart to change the language in its benefit book and to notify employees of their rights to form a union without losing their benefits. Union benefits pay * The Institute for Womens Policy Research (IWPR) reported in 2002 tha t United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union-represented supermarket workers are two-and-a half times as likely to have pension coverage than non-union workers and twice as likely to have health insurance coverage than retail food workers without union representation. |
| csua.org/u/cut -> www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/business/yourmoney/17costco.html?ex=1122696000&en=4cd5686772a804b6&ei=5070 Columns How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart Rick Bowmer/Associated Press A Costco warehouse store in Tigard, Ore. The company is challenging the i dea that discount retailers must pay workers poorly. Costco Wholesale, the nation's fi fth-largest retailer, had all the enthusiasm of an 8-year-old in a candy store as he tore open the container of one of his favorite new products : granola snack mix. Enlarge This Image Peter Yates for The New York Times A Costco store in Issaquah, Wash. Some 60 feet away, inside Costco's cavernous warehouse store here in the company's hometown, Mr Sinegal became positively exuberant about the 87 -inch-long Natuzzi brown leather sofas. Most other places you'd have to pay $1,500, eve n $2,000." But the pice de rsistance, the item he most wanted to crow about, was C ostco's private-label pinpoint cotton dress shirts. Combining high quality with stunningly low prices, the shirts appeal to u pscale customers - and epitomize why some retail analysts say Mr Sinega l just might be America's shrewdest merchant since Sam Walton. But not everyone is happy with Costco's business strategy. Some Wall Stre et analysts assert that Mr Sinegal is overly generous not only to Costc o's customers but to its workers as well. Costco's average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam's Club. And Costco's health plan makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish. De utsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco "it's better to be an e mployee or a customer than a shareholder." He rejects Wall Street's assumption that to s ucceed in discount retailing, companies must pay poorly and skimp on ben efits, or must ratchet up prices to meet Wall Street's profit demands. Good wages and benefits are why Costco has extremely low rates of turnove r and theft by employees, he said. And Costco's customers, who are more affluent than other warehouse store shoppers, stay loyal because they li ke that low prices do not come at the workers' expense. He also dismisses calls to increase Costco's product markups. Mr Sinegal , who has been in the retailing business for more than a half-century, s aid that heeding Wall Street's advice to raise some prices would bring C ostco's downfall. Sears, Roebuck was the Costco of the country, but th ey allowed someone else to come in under them," he said. We don't want to turn around and say, 'We g ot so fancy we've raised our prices,' and all of a sudden a new competit or comes in and beats our prices." At Costco, one of Mr Sinegal's cardinal rules is that no branded item ca n be marked up by more than 14 percent, and no private-label item by mor e than 15 percent. In contrast, supermarkets generally mark up merchandi se by 25 percent, and department stores by 50 percent or more. "They could probably get more money for a lot of items they sell," said E d Weller, a retailing analyst at ThinkEquity. But Mr Sinegal warned that if Costco increased markups to 16 or 18 perce nt, the company might slip down a dangerous slope and lose discipline in minimizing costs and prices. Mr Sinegal, whose father was a coal miner and steelworker, gave a simple explanation. "On Wall Street, they're in the business of making money b etween now and next Thursday," he said. "I don't say that with any bitte rness, but we can't take that view. We want to build a company that will still be here 50 and 60 years from now." Costco shares sell for almost 23 times expected earnings; Mr Drehe r said Costco's share price was so high because so many people love the company. Emme Kozloff, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein & Company, faulted Mr S inegal as being too generous to employees, noting that when analysts com plained that Costco's workers were paying just 4 percent toward their he alth costs, he raised that percentage only to 8 percent, when the retail average is 25 percent. "He's right that a happy employee is a productive long-term employee, but he could force employees to pic k up a little more of the burden." Mr Sinegal says he pays attention to analysts' advice because it enforce s a healthy discipline, but he has largely shunned Wall Street pressure to be less generous to his workers. |
| www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/business/yourmoney/17costco.html?ex=1122696000&en=4cd5686772a804b6&ei=5070 Columns How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart Rick Bowmer/Associated Press A Costco warehouse store in Tigard, Ore. The company is challenging the i dea that discount retailers must pay workers poorly. Costco Wholesale, the nation's fi fth-largest retailer, had all the enthusiasm of an 8-year-old in a candy store as he tore open the container of one of his favorite new products : granola snack mix. Enlarge This Image Peter Yates for The New York Times A Costco store in Issaquah, Wash. Some 60 feet away, inside Costco's cavernous warehouse store here in the company's hometown, Mr Sinegal became positively exuberant about the 87 -inch-long Natuzzi brown leather sofas. Most other places you'd have to pay $1,500, eve n $2,000." But the pice de rsistance, the item he most wanted to crow about, was C ostco's private-label pinpoint cotton dress shirts. Combining high quality with stunningly low prices, the shirts appeal to u pscale customers - and epitomize why some retail analysts say Mr Sinega l just might be America's shrewdest merchant since Sam Walton. But not everyone is happy with Costco's business strategy. Some Wall Stre et analysts assert that Mr Sinegal is overly generous not only to Costc o's customers but to its workers as well. Costco's average pay, for example, is $17 an hour, 42 percent higher than its fiercest rival, Sam's Club. And Costco's health plan makes those at many other retailers look Scroogish. De utsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco "it's better to be an e mployee or a customer than a shareholder." He rejects Wall Street's assumption that to s ucceed in discount retailing, companies must pay poorly and skimp on ben efits, or must ratchet up prices to meet Wall Street's profit demands. Good wages and benefits are why Costco has extremely low rates of turnove r and theft by employees, he said. And Costco's customers, who are more affluent than other warehouse store shoppers, stay loyal because they li ke that low prices do not come at the workers' expense. He also dismisses calls to increase Costco's product markups. Mr Sinegal , who has been in the retailing business for more than a half-century, s aid that heeding Wall Street's advice to raise some prices would bring C ostco's downfall. Sears, Roebuck was the Costco of the country, but th ey allowed someone else to come in under them," he said. We don't want to turn around and say, 'We g ot so fancy we've raised our prices,' and all of a sudden a new competit or comes in and beats our prices." At Costco, one of Mr Sinegal's cardinal rules is that no branded item ca n be marked up by more than 14 percent, and no private-label item by mor e than 15 percent. In contrast, supermarkets generally mark up merchandi se by 25 percent, and department stores by 50 percent or more. "They could probably get more money for a lot of items they sell," said E d Weller, a retailing analyst at ThinkEquity. But Mr Sinegal warned that if Costco increased markups to 16 or 18 perce nt, the company might slip down a dangerous slope and lose discipline in minimizing costs and prices. Mr Sinegal, whose father was a coal miner and steelworker, gave a simple explanation. "On Wall Street, they're in the business of making money b etween now and next Thursday," he said. "I don't say that with any bitte rness, but we can't take that view. We want to build a company that will still be here 50 and 60 years from now." Costco shares sell for almost 23 times expected earnings; Mr Drehe r said Costco's share price was so high because so many people love the company. Emme Kozloff, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein & Company, faulted Mr S inegal as being too generous to employees, noting that when analysts com plained that Costco's workers were paying just 4 percent toward their he alth costs, he raised that percentage only to 8 percent, when the retail average is 25 percent. "He's right that a happy employee is a productive long-term employee, but he could force employees to pic k up a little more of the burden." Mr Sinegal says he pays attention to analysts' advice because it enforce s a healthy discipline, but he has largely shunned Wall Street pressure to be less generous to his workers. |
| www.finfacts.com/costofliving3.htm ST. ST. BANDAR SERI BEG. |
| www.2ontario.com/welcome/coca_701.asp Page Comments Price Levels of Major Cities Including Housing Cost of Living Index in Major Cities: International Comparison Canadian cities offer world class amenities and entertainment. At the sam e time, the cost of living index of Canadian cities compares favourably with other international urban centres. |