Walmart has announced that it will lay off thousands of workers across the country as it closes dozens of Sam's Club locations.
The announcement comes on the same day the retail giant announced it was raising its starting minimum wage for new employees to $11 an hour.
The company told Business Insider that 63 Sam's Club stores will close.
Some locations reportedly stopped business suddenly on Thursday without giving advance warning to employees.
Along with the higher minimum wage, Walmart announced earlier Thursday that it would expand parental leave and give some employees one-time bonuses of up to $1,000 following the passage of the GOP tax overhaul.
Well that last part's nice, you know for those Wal-Mart employees who managed to keep their jobs.
Ironically the announcement about the store closings only happened after Paul Ryan made these remarks:
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised Walmart's gesture to raise its employees' wages on Thursday, calling the tax bill a major help to middle-income families.
"Today marks 20 days since the Tax Cut and Jobs Act became the law of the land," Ryan said. "Already, this new law is helping to improve the lives of middle-income families across the country. You saw the announcement from Walmart just this morning: more than a million Americans are due to receive their bonuses because of tax reform."
You know if this weren't so damn pathetic it would almost be funny.
I first learned about this when I received a text yesterday informing me that all of the Alaska Sam's Club locations had suddenly locked their doors.
Courtesy of KTVA:
All Sam’s Club locations in Alaska are closing, as part of an unannounced nationwide rollback of the Walmart-owned wholesale club’s stores.
KTVA viewer Joe Gerace, owner of the Chevron gas station outside the Dimond Fred Meyer, said he visited an Anchorage Sam’s Club location for before-hours business shopping Thursday and found security officers turning customers away at the door.
Now personally I'm a Costco shopper so this does not directly affect me, but it does mean that suddenly there are a bunch of unemployed Alaskans looking for new jobs.
https://slate.com/life/2018/01/wal-mart-announces-new-employee-paid-leave-policy-leaves-part-timers-out-in-the-cold.html
ReplyDeleteAnd most of their employees are part timers.
Delete@12:31 60%
Delete"bonuses will be determined by an employee's length of service. Those workers with more than 20 years of experience will qualify to receive the full $1,000. However, workers with less than two years of experience will receive $200,"
"Walmart's bonuses: Here's what workers will receive
In total, Walmart will spend $400 million in fiscal 2018 to fund one-time bonuses.
Some workers will receive $1,000, but only if they've served at the company for at least 20 years.
The announcement came on the heels of new tax legislation.
Walmart also revealed it would be shuttering dozens of its warehouse club stores across the country." aka Sam's Club
I've never spent a penny in Walmart. Never will.
I have never shopped in any of these noted (Walmart's and Sam's) and am proud to say so. Supported local places with a special intention in doing so.
DeleteGotta protect the Walton family's wealth, ya know.
ReplyDeleteScrew the citizens who helped them gain that wealth.
another issue not mentioned as Congress is getting pats on the back for the tax plan and bragging that companies are giving bonuses. Walmart gave some bonuses, but only to people that had been working there 20 years which does not include very many people.
ReplyDeleteSam's Clubs in Alaska closing?
ReplyDeleteWhere will Sarah get her clothes, shoes, and wigs?
I think that the Palins actually shop at WalMarts I've seen photos of them in the one here in Wasilla. WalMarts are kinda gross and they always smell weird, like bad produce and slightly outdated meat. Went once won't go again. Had no idea that the Sam's clubs were a Walmart thing as well, I think their entire business model is just based on selling crap to poor people and it's rather sad.
DeleteLocal businesses went to bigger retailers.
ReplyDeleteBigger retailers went to Walmarts and Sams Clubs.
Walmarts and Sams Clubs going to Amazon.
OT...Nancy French’s husband was on MTP Daily.
ReplyDeleteWhat's a "Nancy French"?
DeleteJust about every big company has either made a big deductible charitable donation or given a one-time bonus to staff (way cheaper than even a tiny pay raise) to disguise massive layoffs.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been some CEO lunch, did they all swear a blood oath?
A lot of them have put their tax windfall into stock buybacks -- that is, the corporation buys about a zillion shares of its own stock. A buyback inflates the value of the stock, thereby allowing executives to cash in their shares for a PILE of $$$$.
DeleteAlso -- the "tax reform bill" has both corporate and individual tax cuts. The corporate tax cuts are PERMANENT. The individual tax cuts will begin to expire in three years and all will be gone in eight years. This means, for most of us, our taxes will go down for the next three years, then, will start to climb and beginning in 2027, most of us will pay up to 25% more than we pay now.
Kentucky upends its Medicaid program, thousands to lose coverage
ReplyDeleteWork requirements and premiums are just two fundamental changes to the 50-year-old program.
...The state’s upended Medicaid program, Kentucky HEALTH, asks beneficiaries to pay premiums and cost-sharing and imposes work requirements (failing to pay after 60 days or failing to report timely employment changes means coverage is suspended). A few groups are exempted — more on that later. Additionally, the Medicaid expansion group — with the exception of “medically frail” — will not reap the same benefits as the original Medicaid group (whose income difference is about $4,000): non-emergency medical transportation is not covered and beneficiaries will need to purchase separate vision and dental care. Additionally, retroactive eligibility ends for most beneficiaries — meaning coverage won’t kick in until first premium paid.
According to Kentucky administration officials, the changes are expected to save Kentucky $2.4 billion over the next five years. The trade-off? Thousands go without health insurance; state officials say 95,000 people will move off Medicaid and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KCEP) projects nearly 96,700 people over the next five years. (KCEP’s projection is based on an August version of the plan, which is largely the same as the current plan.) State officials contend Medicaid beneficiaries will transition to private insurance, and presumably some ousted enrollees will look to the Obamacare marketplace, which Gov. Matt Bevin (R) has described as a “disaster.”
Currently, roughly 1.4 million people are covered through the state’s Medicaid program.
https://thinkprogress.org/medicaid-kentucky-program-upended-f8e5684be743/
Oh fucking well, that's what the citizens of Kinfucky voted for.
Deleteryan is a jerk - when i think of middle class i do not think of part-time employees at walmart. jeez
ReplyDeleteI could care less about any Walmart entity closing since they get exactly $00.00 from me.
ReplyDeleteIf any of those Sam's Clubs employees voted for Old Unfaithful then I have no sympathy for them.
ReplyDeleteTo add insult to injury Sam's Club dropped the membership requirement today when they opened this morning instead of letting members have priority in shopping.
ReplyDeleteATT did the same thing. Bragged about bonuses for workers and tried to hide how many were being laid off.
ReplyDelete