When most people think of Wal-Mart they think of cheap prices and a place where they can get everything at one stop. I'm actually very surprised as to the things I've learned just by reading the article in "They Say I Say". Karen Olsson talks about the ways in which they make people work, making them work overtime and not get paid for it. They push people to their limits and see how much push it takes until they have to hire someone new.
Then their is the low wages that the employees are paid. "The way they pay you, you cannot make it by yourself without having a second job or someone to help you, unless you've been there 20 years or a manager," (607) explains McLaughlin who is a mother of one who lives with her boyfriend. I had no idea these employees were paid such low wages. I knew that no one could really live off minimum wage without help, but they can't even afford insurance from the company.
I don't think the trade off for low prices is fair to the low paid workers. It doesn't seem like the greatest job as it is and with the wages they are being paid it makes it that much worse. I do know a lot of people that shop there because of the low prices, but I however do not. As for Black Friday shopping I won't be there either. Why? I don't see the need to stand in lines for endless hours to get something at an extremely low price. I also know of the nutty people that don't care who is in front of someone and will just plow them over as soon as the store opens.
Since my brother is an employee I only hear the good things he says about it, which their are a lot, but you never hear about these negatives. I know he loves working there, but don't know how he expects to pay for everything on what they pay him alone. As for how they wait to see how much they can push people before they leave, I agree with that. All the time they ask my brother to work late even though he was only part time, and he would always agree to stay because he didn't mind and would get overtime since he only had limited hours at the time. Its hard to believe such a big store like Wal-Mart would treat its employees so poorly.
