Wal-Mart wants you dead

[jmowreader]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/08/trucker.rules.ap/index.html

Rep. John Boozman (R-AR) has introduced at Wal-Mart's behest a bill that will set the maximum allowable workday for truckers to 16 hours with a maximum of 14 hours of driving. The current trucker workday is 14 hours with a maximum of 11 hours of driving.

[solinvictus]

Fuck Wal Mart!!

God-damned Red Chinese supporting Communist lovers! If a Freeper type praises or defends Wal Mart, ask them why they support Asian Communism!!

[dolo amber]

2. And *mandatory* birth control

I have no doubt (nor any proof, but y'know) that they enforce their population control "by any means necessary", either.

[solinvictus]

5. I've seen the pics..

of newborns cast into the gutter on rural streets like refuse. It's sad. I know Chaing Kai Shek was a shit through and through, but damn, what about these people?

[politicaholic]

1. Only if they have a counter on the back of the truck...

showing how long the driver has driven from the beginning of each shift. That way we could all stay away.

What the hell am I saying? Keep the law the way it is.

[Tux]

3. How about

Reintroducing slavery like Republicians want and get it over with?

[etherealtruth]

4. Perhaps ...

they can be required to do all of this for no more than minimum wage---provided it is not increased.

[benburch]

6. Break Up Wal-Mart!

One Store At A Time!

WITH AXES!

[Synnical]

7. Wal-Mart to skirt size limit by building side-by-side stores

http://www.wmdt.com/wires/displaystory.asp?id=30528913

DUNKIRK, Md. (AP) - Wal-Mart is trying a new tactic to skirt
local ordinances limiting the size of its stores.
The company now plans to build two stores side-by-side at a site
in Calvert County where plans for a single big store were thwarted
by a size limit adopted last year.
Wal-Mart officials are calling it one of the first arrangements
of its kind in the country. The store and garden center in Dunkirk
will have separate entrances, utilities, and restrooms. And the
combined size of the stores will be 30 percent larger than the
75-thousand square-foot limit for a single store.
The community affairs manager for Wal-Mart's eastern region, Mia
Masten, believes it's the first time Wal-Mart will build two
adjacent stores in response to size restrictions. And she says it's
a strategy the company is likely to consider in other areas.
Dunkirk residents who object to the potential traffic are urging
county planners not to allow Wal-Mart to skirt the rules.

[jmowreader]

29. I'm trying to figure out why the Dunkirk city council is allowing this

It's one tract of land. It has one company's stores on it. IT IS ONE STORE!

[DeepModem Mom]

8. This is really scary! nt

[BrotherBuzz]

9. Dead or alive, they just want your money

Wal-Mart Moves Into Banking and Financial Services


By By Wendy Zellner
Published by Business Week Jan 27, 2005



Wal-Mart Stores didn't get to be the world's biggest retailer by giving up easily. So despite being twice thwarted by lawmakers in its efforts to buy a bank, it has quietly but tenaciously expanded its foothold in financial services.

In its latest move, announced on Jan. 21, the retailing giant is introducing a no-fee Wal-Mart Discover credit card that offers 1% cash back, which it will launch with GE Consumer Finance in March.

This relentless push into financial services is starting to send shivers through the banking industry. Few believe Wal-Mart will stop with basic services as it applies its low-price, high-volume formula to yet another business category. And while other companies, from Nordstrom to General Motors, have bank and thrift charters or hybrid Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-insured industrial loan companies (ILCs) in tow, no one trips alarms like Wal-Mart.

ON THE MOVE
Many community bankers are convinced the behemoth won't rest until it has obtained full banking powers. "It's not a question of if Wal-Mart is going to be a bank, it's a question of when," says D. Anthony Plath, a finance professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

<more>

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/walmart/banking_financial.php

Hey, anyone that banks with Wal-mart gets exactly what they deserve.

[w4rma]

10. This law is some sick stuff. Walmart gains money and families on the road

lose their LIVES or they are put into the hospital by a sleepy trucker, thereby costing the trucker and some innocent family, while Walmart profits from their inevitable misfortune. BAD for the nation.

[jmowreader]

12. And always remember, Wal-Mart truckers are fully insured!

Wal-Mart has a life insurance policy out on every one of its associates, with benefits payable to the corporation. If a Wal-Mart driver falls asleep behind the wheel and wipes out a whole family, that driver's dead-peasant policy will richly compensate the firm for the loss of a valued associate.

If Wal-Mart's congressman figures out a way for trucking companies to sue people for causing accidents by driving in front of Wal-Mart trucks, look the fuck out.

[LevelB]

11. You missed part of the story

They will be "allowed" to drive the extra hours only if they take an unpaid two hour break.

B.

[bvar22]

13. Wal-Mart????? DIE!!!!!

MONEY SPENT AT WAL-MART KILLS
GOD'S UNBORN CHILDREN!!!

Score some of those bloody posters that the Anti-Choice crowd uses to picket Planned Parenthood, and use them to picket Wally World.

Wal-Mart supports
COMMUNIST DICTATORS!!!

I’m absolutely PRO-CHOICE, but think the Fundies need to face this hypocrisy.

Will the Republicans stand on Moral Values when their wallet is threatened?
Only immoral people (Communist abortion lovers) shop at Wal-Mart!

[blondeatlast]

30. Don't forget Wal-Mart supports FORCED ABORTION!

With their heavy reliance on imports from China, they directly support (through tarriffs) forced abortions.

[cynatnite]

14. Repubs love to abuse labor

My hubby's been a truck driver for 7 years and I ran this past him. Basically, it's not much different than what they have now except for the two hours of unpaid downtime in that 16 hours. Not many drivers will go along with this for one thing.

For another it opens up even more potential for abuse by pushing the drivers to make their deliveries and pickups. They've got enough worries with having to meet the current DOT regulations as it is.

Most truck drivers go to great lengths to be safe and when something like this comes along they will see it as one more attempt to keep them on the road and not get the sleep they need.

The current driving rules are a little restrictive for many, but they do have time to eat, shower and take care of other responsibilities. Owner operators have a lot more to contend with than your company driver and can still operate under the current driving rules.

My husband's biggest complaint is how drivers are pushed to meet their deadlines plus still follow the strict laws which regulate him and his job. It's a tightrope drivers have to walk and is manageable, but I sure hope they don't tighten the rope any more.

Drivers get paid when their trucks are on the road, but they also know that no paycheck and no load is worth anyone's life.

[applegrove]

15. Always making their suppliers the competators. Like it wasn't hard

enough to make the highways safe to begin with.

[wadestock]

16. Buying Chinese has been analyzed as....

a waste of your money.

I buy Japanese electronics, which are more and more scares...or American whenever I can.

The Chinese have discounted the notion of Japanese TOTAL QUALITY....they looked at it in the 70s and basically said...screw that...we can make more money in QUANTITY.

Fact is...look at what you buy at Walmart...it will break, you will have to take it back, and in the end.....YOU WOULD PAY LESS IF YOU BOUGHT SOMETHING OF QUALITY IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Simple example....American made rake at Home Depot, $12.
Chinese rake at Walmart $5. Broke in 3 afternoons of raking.

[earth mom]

17. If the freepers love Wal Mart so much let THEM work there! eom

[HEyHEY]

18. Never fucking ends does it?

[Melynn]

19. The Teamsters need to organize Wal-Mart truckers

Wal-Mart is the corporate version of Bush. Both have no shame and are waging class warfare on America. Boycott Wal-Mart and get their trucks off the road!

[cynatnite]

20. This isn't just Wal-Mart truckers

This would apply to ALL truck drivers. Wal-Mart truck drivers have to abide by the same laws and regs the rest of them do.

[Melynn]

21. I wonder what the Teamsters view of this proposed law is?

I would imagine that they are against it and hope they use some of their political muscle to defeat it.

[cynatnite]

23. International Brotherhood of Teamsters are against it

This is what it said in the article. I hope someone in Washington fights hard against it.

[Paintedlady]

22. That is crazy!

That is like working two regular work days with just a two hour break in between.
If this passes the interstates will be a death trap.

[cynatnite]

25. It is crazy, but....

This is the basic gist of the driving rule:

Drivers are allowed 70 hours of drive time every seven days. For every 24 hours, they are required 10 hours of sleeper berth. They don't get paid for this, mind you, but it is the time they have for sleep, watching TV or whatever else they'd like.

As the rule stands right now, they can drive 14 hours in a 24 hour period.

The jerk that wants to change it wants it to be 16 hours driving time with two hours of rest which is unpaid. He says :eyes: it's so the driver will have time to shower, eat and so on.

Looking at it this way there seems to be no difference, but when it's changed to 16 hours, that only leaves 8 for the sleeper berth. It equals to less sleep and down time for the driver.

I support the current rules they have in place even though hubby bitches about them from time to time. He gets the rest he needs and has down time to relax after driving all day long. He's lucky that way, but a lot of drivers aren't since many, including Wal-Mart drivers, do night driving.

It's a hard life.

[Paintedlady]

28. Are they keeping the 70 hour rule?

It doesn't leave 8 hours for uninterrupted sleep, since you have to take the two hour break during the day. I imagine you have to use it to eat and maybe take a shower etc.
So there's only 6 hours left to sleep and that is if you throw yourself straight into bed from the driver seat. I say it will be more like 5.

[Art_from_Ark]

24. Boozman's district is also home to several trucking companies

including one of the largest in the country, J.B.Hunt. What do they think of this bill?

[cynatnite]

26. Good Question!

JB Hunt has a horrible rep with drivers and also has one of the highest turnover rates for drivers in the industry. They love to keep their drivers out on the road for as long as possible.

I'm not sure what his district is, but Arkansas does have a lot of trucking outfits.

I think I'll start passing this news on some trucking forums and see what they have to say.

[Art_from_Ark]

27. Boozman is from the 3rd district

The main cities include Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Fayetteville, and Fort Smith, in the northwest corner of the state.

[blondeatlast]

31. Good idea, and keep us posted.

My uncle was a Teamster driver for Safeway and must be spinning in his grave at this news.

He was a strong union man, but respected and appreciated by his employers.