Kmart management denies they are about to screw their workers

[GagHalfrunt]

Fuck their management. Put them out of their misery now instead of stringing them along

So firing them today would be better than firing them 6 months from now?

 

[DrPizza]

I prefer shopping at Kmart to Walmart, if I know Kmart will have the item: very similar items, sometimes even cheaper; zero lines.

 

[1sikbITCH]

how are they screwing the workers?

Kmart: "No, don't get a new job! Your job at Kmart is perfectly safe!

Next day: "Haha you're fired!"

 

[master_shake_]

All this sounds Super, K

:awe:

 

[KeithP]

Lying to workers.

Yeah it isn't. Time to start dusting off the ol' resume.

I think the workers are doing more lying to themselves. K-Mart has been circling the drain for some time. Anyone working there over the last two years that hasn't been looking for another job is delusional.

-KeithP

 

[Ichinisan]

Best K-Mart memories are getting my NES out of lay-away and buying my N64 at launch. Also playing the Sharp TV with the built-in NES.

Worst was when no one could open the counter display for me to buy a PS3.

 

[KMFJD]

Best K-Mart memories are getting my NES out of lay-away and buying my N64 at launch. Also playing the Sharp TV with the built-in NES.

Worst was when no one could open the counter display for me to buy a PS3.

Buying and trying out c64 games at our k-mart, and the dinner wasn't that bad back in the 80's

 

[Sonikku]

Money's money. Combine it with one or more low hour jobs, it fills the time.

The problem is with so many low skill jobs turning to computer driven scheduling workers are finding themselves pulling all kinds of crazy shifts. A few hours in the morning, big gap in the middle then a few hours in the evening, 3 hours shift day every day etc.

The computer doesn't care about the employees life, only the hours in which it anticipates need by the store and when you also never know what your shift will be one week from the next it makes holding down a second type retail job almost impossible. Working two jobs is possible if the schedule is consistent and straightforward but for low skill jobs it no longer is.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

The problem is with so many low skill jobs turning to computer driven scheduling workers are finding themselves pulling all kinds of crazy shifts. A few hours in the morning, big gap in the middle then a few hours in the evening, 3 hours shift day every day etc.

The computer doesn't care about the employees life, only the hours in which it anticipates need by the store and when you also never know what your shift will be one week from the next it makes holding down a second type retail job almost impossible. Working two jobs is possible if the schedule is consistent and straightforward but for low skill jobs it no longer is.

Managers love this, since it makes the employee completely dependent on the job. They also have unpredictable time in which to go, say, interview at a different place.

 

[madoka]

So firing them today would be better than firing them 6 months from now?

No, but that's a straw man argument. Warning them today that they will be fired in six months will help the workers plan and prepare.

 

[tcsenter]

I have fond memories of Mom taking me and my 3 siblings there for shopping and lunch. We could buy five sub sandwiches for $5 back then. And then there were the "blue light specials", which would keep the shoppers in the store for a bit longer, to see what was going to pop up on sale. And those huge bags of popcorn and carmel corn!

HA! Same here it was a special treat when on Friday once per month my dad would stop on the way home from work and pick-up K-Mart subs. Our K-Mart's (in that area) had a cafeteria that served hot food in addition to the mini-deli that served sandwiches or cold cuts. Pimento loaf! Now that I think about it probably would think the subs were nasty today but things were simpler then it didn't take a lot to impress and people ate because they were hungry (everything tastes better when you're hungry).

On other Fridays we would get Little Caesars pizza back when they still served a pretty decent pie, made their own sauce at each location instead of opening a premix bag or can. Oh and "Pizza! Pizza!" still meant 2 for 1! Nobody can definitively tell me when Little Caesars stopped doing that 2 for 1 concept. It's like they quietly just surprised everyone and stopped doing it.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

No, but that's a straw man argument. Warning them today that they will be fired in six months will help the workers plan and prepare.

You need to look up "straw man argument" and get back to me. Anyone that doesn't understand the company is in trouble is probably too stupid to be employed at all. The employees have jobs, their paychecks don't bounce and they all get to keep making a living until they find something else. That's the best situation they could possibly hope for.

 

[madoka]

You need to look up "straw man argument" and get back to me.

Did you need me to explain it to you?

 

[DesiPower]

big gas lies...

 

[Carson Dyle]

Kmart was very much a johnny-come-lately to where/when I grew up in western Pennsylvania.

We had G. C. Murphy (later just Murphy's), of course, which was probably well established even before my grandmother was born. They were in downtowns everywhere, then in indoor malls when malls became the rage in the 1960s and later.

Then there was W. T. Grant (or just Grants), which opened up in the new shopping center just up the street from where I grew up. I'll always remember the huge candy counter in the middle of the store and the smell of popcorn. When Grandma took us there we made a beeline for the candy and she'd buy a little of everything by the 1/4 and 1/2 pound. Most, or maybe all of it was Brachs, I remember. The store had a large attached restaurant with a lunch counter with stools. I remember having the best chocolate milkshakes that I've ever had there. This was before a single McDs, Burger Krap, or any other fast food chains had polluted the area.

Grants went out of business in the 1970s and the one near us was replaced by a McCrory's. Very similar store.

About that same time, the first K-Mart opened in a new expansion in that same shopping center. The only thing I remember about it was that one of my friend's mom worked there for years. I recall her walking up and down the street to work many days. It wasn't nearly as large as the McCrory's store, but it was clean and a bit newer.

But the real discount store in the area, was Gee Bee. It was the first anchor in the first strip shopping center in the area. It had the most outrageously cheap and crappy goods that you could find in any store in the area. My mom was a little bit of a snob, and in all the thousands of times she took me and my siblings out shopping, I don't remember ever going into Gee Bee with her.


.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

No, but that's a straw man argument. Warning them today that they will be fired in six months will help the workers plan and prepare.

Many years ago my landlord, intending to tear down the house I was renting, one of 3 on the lot and erect apartments instead, did not inform us. Instead he doubled our rent. With such short notice, all 3 of us had no choice but to pay him, till we could move out, which was his goal.

 

[NoTine42]

big gas lies...

Hehe

They shipped my sheets

 

[runzwithsizorz]

You need to look up "straw man argument" and get back to me. Anyone that doesn't understand the company is in trouble is probably too stupid to be employed at all. The employees have jobs, their paychecks don't bounce and they all get to keep making a living until they find something else. That's the best situation they could possibly hope for.

In November '77 our boss, (the son of the founder), drove in to work in a brand new Ferrari. 4 months later the 45 year old company folded. None of us saw it coming, cuz we were all just too "stupid".
How crass, and arrogant of you to make such a statement.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Many years ago my landlord, intending to tear down the house I was renting, one of 3 on the lot and erect apartments instead, did not inform us. Instead he doubled our rent. With such short notice, all 3 of us had no choice but to pay him, till we could move out, which was his goal.

Wow. Very smart. That was exceptionally well played on his part. Dick move, for sure, but ... God damn ... I"m impressed, which is rare.

 

[Carson Dyle]

In November '77 our boss, (the son of the founder), drove in to work in a brand new Ferrari. 4 months later the 45 year old company folded. None of us saw it coming, cuz we were all just too "stupid".

Not sure I see your point there.

I do, however, get a huge kick out of things like workers paying intensely close attention to the car the boss drives, the size of his house, how much time off he takes. Like my neighbor growing up who could tell you the model, year and color of every car ever owned by anyone on the block in the last 15 years.

 

[Mai72]

Money's money. Combine it with one or more low hour jobs, it fills the time.

Time is money. By the time it takes her to drive to K-Mart for that $7 an hour job she has already lost. She's getting paid $28. Minus gas and taxes she's bringing home $20

I'd rather be selective with that time and skill up. Learn skills that will put you in the position to make more money.

It's not my life. But, when she sits there and complains that she's only getting 4 hours, she needs to take a hard look at her life.

 

[Mai72]

Not sure I see your point there.

I do, however, get a huge kick out of things like workers paying intensely close attention to the car the boss drives, the size of his house, how much time off he takes. Like my neighbor growing up who could tell you the model, year and color of every car ever owned by anyone on the block in the last 15 years.

Someone's jealous. What does that solve?

It gives you heartache and an ulcer. That's it.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Wow. Very smart. That was exceptionally well played on his part. Dick move, for sure, but ... God damn ... I"m impressed, which is rare.

Ah, so you're that guy,--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMcny_pixDw

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Not sure I see your point there.

I do, however, get a huge kick out of things like workers paying intensely close attention to the car the boss drives, the size of his house, how much time off he takes. Like my neighbor growing up who could tell you the model, year and color of every car ever owned by anyone on the block in the last 15 years.

The point is, we the "stupid" employees seeing the upscaling of the owners, which gave us the impression that the company was doing well, and that we were working for a stable company, and perhaps would soon receive the promise of an increase in wages, which was a lie, continued to work diligently. meanwhile, the kids who had inherited the business, quietly, and quickly siphoned all company assets, including our pensions, and then folded company to live happily ever after.

 

[zinfamous]

Uncle was a senior pharmacist for KMart the last ~40 years, and they've been shuffling him around to take over/close out stores, jerk around with his pension for the last 10 (dragged out his retirement for that long).

He's finally done as of ~3 months ago and not nearly as miserable as he used to be.

But from what I know, KMart has effectively been shutting down for about 15 years now.