To grasp the future of work one must watch the film of Sergio Kirby and Lixin Fan to obtain a firm knowledge of the future of work in order to improve upon it. Sergio Kirby’s Wal-Town: The Film is a 66 minute documentary filmed in Canada that seeks to raise public awareness on the negative impacts that Walmart introduces in small town Canadian communities. The documentary includes six university activists attempting to put an end to Walmart’s negative impacts by trekking a journey of public awareness across the various Walmart’s in Canada .The students conclude that Walmart negatively impacts small communities by forcing citizens to become consumers, denying unionization, and closing small business in the local areas. The film gathers …show more content…
Lixin Fan’s Last Train Home aims to depict the strenuous lifestyle of laborers’. It demands the viewer to consider the cost at which products are made by foreign manufacturers that are clearly exploited and exposed by their employers. We must watch the films above in order to completely grasp the spectrum of work from the laborer to the consumer to truly comprehend the future of work. Sergio Kirby’s Wal-Town: The Film contains content matter that relates to the future of work, specifically employment trends, the changing labor market, the defining of good jobs and bad jobs. Wal-Mart employs 1.5 million employees in Canada ( Kirby, 2006); this is because the corporation responds to the demographic shifts. Demographic shifts affect the supply and demand for jobs especially considering aging trends, cultural diversity, and educational attainment. Wal-Mart diligently reviews demographic shifts to hire employees that are easily disposable and exploitable that will profit the organization virtually at no cost. The film introduces Sylvia working at Wal-Mart making $11 000 a year approximately $12 000 below the poverty line for a single parent in Canada (Kirby, 2006). In conclusion Sylvia barley makes enough to support her family; however, she keeps the job as it is a source of income at the cost of being exploited and easily disposed
This documentary is written, directed and produced by Michael Moore and is about the social repercussions of capitalism as well as corporate and government issues that conflict with the basic needs of people and their families. Moore takes a liberal humanistic look at the consequences of General Motors closing down several auto plants in Flint, Michigan in the late 1980's and what can happen when a city is almost completely reliant on a single industry that shuts down or moves away. Moore also looks at the failure of Flint city officials to reverse the effects of the closures with trends like Auto World which had little effect (Moore, 1989).
On the other hand, Sebastian Mallaby cares for the customer and the profits of the company, rather than the worker and their working conditions and wages. He suggests that Wal-Mart actually saves people money and is “a progressive story” (620). Their discount on food alone increases the welfare of the shoppers by fifty billion dollars a year. If you were to count all of Wal-Mart’s products into that same estimate, it would increase ten times. “This is very good news for poor and middle class families,” says Mallaby, because in this situation the customer really comes first. Even though the workers are not treated the best, they still have an advantage over the shoppers. They have less pay, but receive discounts on all of Wal-Mart’s merchandise whenever they shop there, which should be a plus for them. Compared to most companies Wal-Mart
Some may claim a Walmarts’ arrival in a community is helpful to improve the growth and development in the community, but others tell a different story. Many claim that a Walmart is great way to create new jobs in the community. They are partially right, between construction and development, plenty of jobs are created. Also, about 300 retail jobs are created based on the amount needed to run a Walmart super center twenty fours a day, seven days a week. However, Kenneth Stone, a professor of economics at Iowa State University, conducted a study in which two Super Walmart centers in two different states were evaluated. The study lasted about two years and showed that for every one job Walmart had created, 1.4 jobs were lost in local communities (Davidson 1). Walmarts’ low prices come with additional costs that we are
Walmart is the world's largest company by revenue (approximately four hundred and eighty billion dollars) and the largest private employer in the world with two point three million employees. Walmart is also one of the world's most valuable companies by market value, and is also the largest grocery retailer in the U.S. “One Nation Under Walmart” is a case about how Walmart has taken over the retail business and the effects of their market domination. The case also shows statistics of how much percentage Walmart is of many suppliers’ sales. According to the case Walmart has a 30% market share of all household items. Twenty-eight percent of Dial’s business and twenty-four percent of Del Monte’s business go through Walmart stores. It is also worth noting that Walmart imports ten percent of all United States imports from China. The case states that Walmart is able to offer cheaper prices because they put so much pressure on their suppliers to lower their prices. The case, “One Nation Under Walmart”, explains the problems that some people have with the massive retailer. One of these problems is how Walmart has forced numerous local businesses to close their doors through their extremely competitive pricing. They are able to purchase bulk goods at such low prices and thus pass the savings onto customers. As a result of these lew costs, rivals are driven out of business which results in a loss of jobs. Jobs are vital to the success of a community and with Walmart causing job
Wal-Mart founded in 1962 by Sam Walton is now the largest American retail corporation. With thousands of chains of stores and warehouses Wal-Mart monopolized the American retail industry. In addition, Wal-Mart is the second largest retail corporation in the world employing of two million employees world-wide. As one of the most valuable corporations in the world Wal-Mart continues to improve their sales annually while offering some of the lowest prices available. Wal-Mart’s famous low price guarantee, come at a high expense of the environment, the small businesses, education, the rights and safety of the consumer, but most importantly their employees. Although Wal-Mart has plays a dominate role in American economy, this “American”
Over the years, Walmart has been at the center of controversies with regards, its low wages; overtime pay abuses, employee benefits, gender discrimination, negative impact on small business, immense dealings with China, tax avoidance and much more (Crofoot, 2012). Employees have been dissatisfied with these issues but seem as if they can’t voice it
It is not unheard of to see workers protesting against the executives of their company; whether it is for better working conditions, a higher salary, or new policies that they don’t agree with. In fact, throughout American history, specifically with beginning with the Industrial Revolution, employees have protested for their rights to be acknowledged and for their voices to be heard. However, the Market Basket protest that took place during the summer of 2014 is an exception to this norm. Not unlike traditional protests, Market Basket employees left the New England grocery stores vacant with only a few essential employees remained to keep the stores opened for their beloved customers. What sets the Market Basket protest apart from previous
In 2005, social, economic, and political conditions in Alberta were ideal for the labour dispute that mushroomed at Lakeside Packers in Brooks, Alberta between workers (and their union) and management. The primarily Caucasian, conservative, change-averse community of Brooks had a long history of farming, family, and church life that hadn’t changed much in generations (Inkster, 2007). The multimillion-dollar beef processing and packing plant (a division of American megacorporation Tyson Foods) was one of the largest slaughterhouses in North America, with a reputation of treating workers badly and being confrontationally anti-union, and had been hiring a large number of immigrant workers who flooded the community. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union had been striving for years to become the bargaining unit for Lakeside workers, and with the influx of immigrant workers, recruitment and advocacy efforts were ballooning. As well, the long-entrenched Progressive Conservative government in Alberta was a supporter of big business and labour laws did little to protect workers.
“Up Against Wal-Mart” by Karen Olsson, a senior editor at Texas Monthly and who’s article appeared in Mother Jones, introduces her article through the perspective of a Wal-Mart worker. She focuses on the negatives of Wal-Mart by telling the real life struggles of different Wal-Mart employees. “Progressive Wal-Mart. Really.” by Sebastian Mallaby, a columnist for the Washington Post, focuses his article on what Wal-Mart critics say and attempts to defend Wal-Mart by comparing Wal-Mart to other retailers. Even though Karen Olsson and Sebastian Mallaby both examine the negative effects of Wal-Mart, Olsson berates Wal-Mart’s unfair treatment towards employees and the unlivable wages that the world’s largest retailer provides while Mallaby
Please read Barbara Ehrenreich's recent book, Nickel and Dimed. In her brilliant book she reveals the misery of working for a big box retailer and the impossibility of living in America on poverty wages. She spent time working at Wal-Mart in St. Paul, Minnesota and struggled to survive. Read her account of the anti-union propaganda that Wal-Mart espouses. Wal-Mart is no friend to the working poor.
Whether it's a brand new 59” LCD widescreen television or merely a pack of gum, each purchase you make from a Walmart store inadvertently results in a higher price paid; both within your community as well as the greater world around you. Relying entirely upon you-the ever consuming scavenger – to fuel the bustling utopia of the manufacturing industry, exists Walmart. More importantly, Walmart relies upon the oblivion towards matters outside of our own lives that we as society generally project. However, by looking past our own greed in a world full of price cuts and sales, we can expose Walmart for what it truly is; an entirely corrupt corporation feeding off of countries' vulnerabilities and reaping the benefits.
Wal-Mart has a very clear objective of promising, “everyday low prices” to their costumers. This is their way of using convenience for an advantage as a wide-ranging merchandiser. Wal-Mart ruthlessly searches for the most cost-efficient ways of grasping suppliers, distributing very low wages, and offering minimum health care. Charles Fishman wrote a book called The Wal-Mart effect – How the world’s most powerful company really works – and how it’s transforming the American economy where he took a deeper look at Wal-Mart, and carefully researched for the facts. On the other hand, Author Barry Estabrook dug into the world of the tomato industry; his goal was to discover the truths regarding the processes of how tomatoes are grown, especially when the risks and consequences faced by field laborers are taken into consideration. Estabrook wrote the book Tomatoland: How
If Wal-Mart has such little regard for their own employees, it would make it difficult for a company to have minimal regard to where their merchandise is coming from. On the documentary, The High Price of Low Cost, informs of the countries and Wal-Mart’s effects on these countries, including its presence for manufacturing in China. The workers work in conditions of extreme temperatures from morning until dawn and provided boarding, which is shared with several others and lined with bunk beds. The board and utilities are deducted from their wages even if the workers choose not to stay on the facilities the board is still deducted from their pay. These workers that are looking for employment to make a better future for their families are
Within the mind, we have thoughts and triggers that set our fears. Fear is the number one thing that can cause us from doing things in life. No matter what time frame we are in, on this planet, we learn that fear is worth controlling in life. One spectacular movie that inhibits fear and control so well in our human nature is The Village by M. Night Shyamalan. Mr. Shyamalan shows so much potential in this film with ourselves and the viewing of certain scenes that trigger the mind with control and fear. A few of the scenes in the movie inherit the cultural background with the late 1800’s time frame and sets a real tragedy throughout the film. In this motion picture, we learn certain things that fear some of us and have plot twist actions that make the movie so spectacular. As we approach the plot twists; fear, themes, and control for this video, it is a life lesson in most cases maybe for those who are in-love or just looking for a movie to open our minds.
This is a strong acceptance of capitalism (so the normative theory applied here is the ‘questioning versus accepting capitalism’ theory). Mona Williams implies that workers there should work in an environment, the same as any other factory in that country. This -in the advantage of Wal-Mart- keeps the costs for products low because they “adjust to local standards” and don’t give workers any more than their co-inhabitants with