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The international retailer Walmart, owner of Palí, Mas por Menos, Hiper Mas and Maxi Bodega, will open 24 new stores in the CR during 2011, which will create more than 800 new jobs. These new stores as well as the existing stores will change their names to Walmart. This investment of $160 million will also include several new distribution centers throughout CR
Most working class Ticos would consider Walmart a good, steady job but I must confess that on the few occasions I have visited the Escazu Hipermas, the employees didn’t seem to be particularly happy doing their jobs.
Did you know that Walmart employs 2.1 million people? In the United States alone, the company employs 1.4 million people which is 1% of the U.S.’s 140 million working population.
Scott
Walmart is the largest private employer in the U.S., and with the addition of eight hundred jobs in Costa Rica (for now), it’s likely to become the largest employer here, too. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen.
Scott, I agree that the employees at Hipermas seem less than enthusiastic, but that’s not atypical for retail most places in Costa Rica. Enthusiastic customer service hasn’t quite arrived. But at our local MaxiBodega, here in Grecia, they do remain. It’s been open about a year and many of the faces have become very familiar. Something good must be happening . . .
The good news in all this is that Walmart employees in Costa Rica will enjoy more rights and protections than their counterparts in the States.
In Miami, we have a large Latin immigrant population and over the decades, they have acclimated quite well into the US culture which means they have adapted to a certain attitude towards work. Importing a work force into a culture has worked here so far.
However, it seems to me that exporting an American corporate culture to Costa Rica would be more difficult. If Ticos who are employed at Walmarts in Costa Rica are indeed somewhat unhappy at work, maybe it has to do with an attempt to overlay Walmarts’ employee slave-like behavior policies onto a culture which is in direct conflict with that sort of policy. Something has to give. People who are used to living free from work slavery are naturally going to be resistant. But economic necessities generally overcome this resistance, at least that has been the case in the U.S. And it seems to work elsewhere. U.S. jobs have been exported successfully all over the planet. Any bets on who does the adapting, Ticos or Walmart Corporate policy in CR?
[quote=”sprite”]In Miami, we have a large Latin immigrant population and over the decades, they have acclimated quite well into the US culture which means they have adapted to a certain attitude towards work. Importing a work force into a culture has worked here so far.
However, it seems to me that exporting an American corporate culture to Costa Rica would be more difficult. If Ticos who are employed at Walmarts in Costa Rica are indeed somewhat unhappy at work, maybe it has to do with an attempt to overlay Walmarts’ employee slave-like behavior policies onto a culture which is in direct conflict with that sort of policy. Something has to give. People who are used to living free from work slavery are naturally going to be resistant. But economic necessities generally overcome this resistance, at least that has been the case in the U.S. And it seems to work elsewhere. U.S. jobs have been exported successfully all over the planet. Any bets on who does the adapting, Ticos or Walmart Corporate policy in CR?[/quote]
While Wal-Mart in the US certainly has issues regarding workers rights – to compare it to slavery is a complete fabrication and shows your ignorance. I think you do have a point regarding the corporate culture of Wal-Mart and the complete disregard to CR customs. However in todays global market – mañana doesn’t cut it in any country.
Haven’t you left the US yet or are you logged on from your nuclear fall out shelter.:lol:
i try to support as many local small businesses as possible. i’d even rather pay a few colones more for something than to contribute to the corporate greed of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart moved into my small town in Colorado and put every hardware store out of business, even one that had been in existence for over 80 years. Even the local variety store closed and if i wanted something as simple as a needle and spool of thread, i had to drive 14 miles to the bloody Wal-Mart to get it. I like the personalized service i get from the local merchants, most of whom i know by name. I didn’t move here to be part of the homogenization of shopping culture; i could’ve stay in the US for that. Wal-Mart does not have a stellar reputation as a good employer otherwise there wouldn’t be so many lawsuits pending against them for various abuses.
While Wal-Mart in the US certainly has issues regarding workers rights – to compare it to slavery is a complete fabrication and shows your ignorance. I think you do have a point regarding the corporate culture of Wal-Mart and the complete disregard to CR customs. However in todays global market – mañana doesn’t cut it in any country.
Haven’t you left the US yet or are you logged on from your nuclear fall out shelter.:lol:[/quote]
John,
I am still here in the States as vulnerable as ever..more vulnerable as time progresses.
“Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property and are forced to work.[1”
In what way do we not qualify as slaves under the above definition?You don’t own property as the the State can take it from you at any time. They can (and do) seize bank accounts and property daily. Mortgage foreclosures, credit card defaults and loss of jobs and income are all due to the banking cartels and their absolute control of money, wages, the economy and your standard of living. Everyone is forced to work to survive and live under this paradigm. And it is not necessary. If you do not understand this, the ignorance is yours.
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live”
[quote=”sprite”] You don’t own property as the the State can take it from you at any time. They can (and do) seize bank accounts and property daily. Mortgage foreclosures, credit card defaults and loss of jobs and income are all due to the banking cartels and their absolute control of money, wages, the economy and your standard of living. Everyone is forced to work to survive and live under this paradigm. And it is not necessary. If you do not understand this, the ignorance is yours.[/quote]
Americans have been watching as corporate America, the wealthy and the lobby industry have gained more and more control over congress over the past 40 years to the point that they now own your elected representatives.
Now, too late, they are waking up to the fact that they have been sold into the slavery you speak of with the complicity of the very people they elect to represent them.
Congress is never going to outlaw those who line their pockets and the only way out now is what you are seeing in the Middle East. All it will take now is the time for the majority of Americans to have their eyes fully opened.
Presidents cannot be blamed for what has happened since they are term limited. It is the members of congress, many of whom are elected term after term, who are to blame. As newer member are elected they see what is going on and end up marching to the beat of the same drum.
What is happening in the Middle East and North Africa is being orchestrated by the Globalists-banking cartel. It is not some revolutionary freedom fight. War, currency devaluation and destabilization all serve to concentrate more wealth and power into their hands. The prize in that region is Iran and they are now one step closer to achieving that jewel.
All of this will come to the West as well. Walmart in Costa Rica plants another international corporate flag on the map and is symptomatic of this spreading cancer. Forget about politicians and voting your way out of the closing trap. They are all paid servants. I wonder how much Costa Rican politicians have cost Walmart? I’ll bet it was a bargain.
Walmart creates 800 new jobs in CR during 2011.!!!!!
WOW, 800 new jobs?? really
that is after they have decimated 1,000 jobs of the local bodegas, small and big stores
800 jobs have been transferred to WalMart, not created.
and by the way; the biggest employer in the USA until 10 years ago was the US Post Office now it is Wally World
I thought the article below would be of interest.
Hoax press release targets G.E. tax controversy
By Brett Michael Dykes brett Michael Dykes
Wed Apr 13, 1:55 pm ET.A strong wave of populist outrage greeted last month’s news that G.E.–in addition to paying no income tax on $5.1 billion in U.S. profits–received a $3.2 billion tax refund from the government. Given the country’s sour fiscal condition, the company’s big refund sparked a fresh round of calls to end large-scale tax breaks for corporations–and for the rich more broadly–as the best way to shrink the deficit.
Enter the Yes Men–a group of anticorporate pranksters known for carrying off convincing parodies of corporate speech and pro-business spin that often receive broad media pickup. The group mocked up a G.E. press release that purported to return the company’s IRS refund back to the U.S. Treasury in order to assist the ailing jobs economy.
The fake release included the G.E. logo and a link to a slick website that looked very much like the company’s official one. The Associated Press fell for it, as did USA Today (the paper promptly removed its story, and then ran a piece pointing out how the AP had fallen for the prank).
“The AP did not follow its own standards in this case for verifying the authenticity of a news release,” AP Business Editor Hal Ritter said in a story explaining the gaffe.
Below is an excerpt from the fake press release:
GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt has informed the Obama administration that the company will be gifting its entire 2010 tax refund, worth $3.2 Billion, to the US Treasury on April 18, Tax Day, and will furthermore adopt a host of new policies that secure its position as a leader in corporate social responsibility.
“We want the public to know that we’ve heard them, and that we know many Americans are going through tough times,” said GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt. “GE will therefore give our 2010 tax refund back to the public and allow the public to decide how to spend it.”
Immelt acknowledged no wrongdoing. “All seven of our foreign tax havens are entirely legal,” Immelt noted. “But Americans have made it clear that they deplore laws that enable tax avoidance. While we owe it to our shareholders to use every legal loophole to maximize returns — we also owe something to the American people. We didn’t write the laws that let us legally avoid paying taxes. Congress did. But we benefit from those laws, and now we’d like to share those benefits. We are proud to be giving something back to America, and we are proud to set an example for all industry to follow.”
And just to complete the giddy circuit, the Yes Men–which teamed with another advocacy group known as US Uncut on the prank–sent out its own post-hoax PR statement, underlining the bigger political point.
“This action showed us how the world could work,” US Uncut spokesman Carl Gibson said in the statement on the Yes Men’s actual website. “For a brief moment people believed that the biggest corporate tax dodger had a change of heart and actually did the right thing. But the only way anything like this is really going to happen is if we change the laws that allow corporate tax avoidance in the first place.”
G.E. has long operated an in-house accounting department that’s legendary for taking maximal advantage of US tax laws and loopholes. More than 970 employees staff the company’s tax division–among them a clutch of onetime IRS agents and former government officials. As one tax specialist noted as word spread of G.E.’s 2010 refund, the company prospers via “fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore.”
all major companies do this, they keep an ARMY of accountants, lawyers, lobbying people in their payroll for a department to pay no taxes
BUT!!!
they claim that all of their employes all 250,000 of them pay taxes
the irony is not misplaced
[quote=”sprite”]While Wal-Mart in the US certainly has issues regarding workers rights – to compare it to slavery is a complete fabrication and shows your ignorance. I think you do have a point regarding the corporate culture of Wal-Mart and the complete disregard to CR customs. However in todays global market – mañana doesn’t cut it in any country.
Haven’t you left the US yet or are you logged on from your nuclear fall out shelter.:lol:[/quote]
John,
I am still here in the States as vulnerable as ever..more vulnerable as time progresses.
“Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property and are forced to work.[1”
In what way do we not qualify as slaves under the above definition?You don’t own property as the the State can take it from you at any time. They can (and do) seize bank accounts and property daily. Mortgage foreclosures, credit card defaults and loss of jobs and income are all due to the banking cartels and their absolute control of money, wages, the economy and your standard of living. Everyone is forced to work to survive and live under this paradigm. And it is not necessary. If you do not understand this, the ignorance is yours.
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live”[/quote]
Great quote.:lol:
First off, that Walmart or any multinational company would decide to invest $160 million in Costa Rica speaks volumes about Costa Rica — the quality of its workforce, its investment climate and the stability of its political system. Frankly, you don’t see this size or type of investment being made in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador nor are you likely to anytime soon.
Secondly, Walmart wouldn’t be adding 24 more stores here if the demand wasn’t there. We do the weekly shopping for our family of four at the Hipermas in Heredia (San Francisco) every Sunday. Weekend shopping at Hipermas is a family affair for the Ticos and the store is always super packed. And I am shocked at the quantity of the purchases the locals make.
Is this going to drive the small, neighborhood pulperias and ferreterias business? Of course not. To suggest otherwise is ludicrous, not to mention being ignorant of local culture and customs. No Tico (Tica more than likely) is going to hop in a car they don’t have or take a bus or taxi to the nearest Walmart to buy daily bread, milk, eggs, postres or little odds and ends. This isn’t the USA where everyone gets in his/her car and drives miles to a Walmart, Home Depot or supermarket to pick up a single item.
Moreover, Walmart acknowledges that to offer comparably low prices here in Costa Rica it must locally source A LOT of inventory, otherwise it pays heavy taxes on imported products, and those taxes, of course, are passed on to shoppers in the form of higher prices. Having 24 more Walmarts to stock in Costa Rica is great news for Tico producers of beans, coffee, rice, milk and dairy items and just about any other locally grown or manufactured product you can think of.
As far as the Walmart announcement goes, I can’t think of much negative for the Costa Rican economy from the perspective of someone needing work, a consumer or a producer.
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