The link mentions nothing about Walmart, nor about Occupy Pleasanton, but only a workers' rally in support of "good jobs and affordable health care."

Don't be misled by the facts. This rally is really communist supported by the Maoist anti-Walmart Brigade, and my sister's neighbor (whose a Marxist from way back) says that at least 10,000 marchers are being bussed in from all over the country as well as from Communist Canada. Why? To disrupt our automobile traffic, that's why!

Good jobs and affordable health care. What a joke! Don't they know that the Supreme Court is going to rule these things unconstitutional? C'mon people, wake up!

They are in contract negotiations with Safeway, Raley's, Save Mart, and now Macy's. Those corporations want to cut their labor costs, citing increased competition from Walmart. The recent opposition to Walmart has little to do with child labor in China and everything to do with the current negotiations.

This from the UFCW website says that the protestors will get on multiple buses to arrive at Pleasanton's City Hall. They are going to City Hall within Pleasanton. (Sounds like an Occupy tactic.)

And Marvin, let me guess. It is just a random and spontaneous convergence of busloads of over a hundred people that just happen to randomly decide to converge on a City Hall that is processing a Walmart application? I get it. Pleasanton's City Hall was randomly picked because someone randomly threw a dart at a California map and it landed on Pleasanton's City Hall. Spare me!

From Web Link

"Where: Macy’s Furniture Store, 4255 Rosewood Drive
Pleasanton, CA then to City Hall on buses
When: 3PM Thursday March 29, 2012

South San Francisco – leaving Union office at 208 Miller Ave at 1:30 pm – 55 passenger bus
Tri-County area – leaving former Save Mart location at 1223 N. Davis Rd, Salinas at 12 noon – 59 passenger bus
Contra Costa County – leaving Union office at 4121 Alhambra Ave, Martinez at 1:30 pm – 47 passenger bus
San Jose – leaving Union office at 240 S. Market Street at 1:15 pm – 56 passenger bus"

Holy pigs in a blanket, Roy! I think we outta get the good freedom loving Tea Party out to counter the tens of thousands of dirty, poop throwing Occupiers who plan to disrupt our traffic.

Stacey, wait just a goll-darned minute. I thought Walmart was GOOD for workers in Pleasanton. Now you're sayin' that Walmart's increased competition is giving so many employers the excuse to cut wages and benefits for P-town's workers? Holy cow!

Let's all get on out there now and fight against unconstitutional claims for living wages and affordable health care. These communist union checkout girls and bagboys are breaking us all. Have you seen what it costs even for a pound of pink slimed meat these days?!? We can't compete with the 3rd world! Why should a sweaty butcher be able to make a decent living in these times of trial and tributaries?

What do you mean "now"? This is about the third thread I've expressed that statement. It's not an excuse. It's what the market will bear. Private unions can either realize they are part of a highly competitive market where their interests align with their employer or they can lose jobs. How many stores has Raley's already closed again?

I wonder if those union paid protesters coming by bus to Pleasanton recycle their tired old signs from protest to protest "Low prices at what cost?" "Taxpayers wake up, low prices hurt the community" "Don’t shop at Walmart" or come up with new ones each time?

And probably shortly they'll be rehearsing their chant play list on the bus rides over to Pleasanton including their favorite little song ditty: "Walmart, Walmart, you’re no good... we don’t want you in our neighborhood...”

You would think that the union and Saint Consulting would come up with some sort of new strategies, don't you think?

As a once very proud worker at Walmart, I always found it easy to align my minimum-wage earning interests with each of the Walton owners' interests in adding upon their 90 billion.

I personally think it's a good idea if all the stores that have union workers go out of business. That'll leave more opportunity for Walmart to come in with its excellent products and claim the lion's share of the market. Arkansas here we come! (I've always resented how my California neighbors have looked down on me for going barefoot.)

Wow! With Safeway Corporation last year alone having annual sales of $43.6 billion, you would think the corporation and union and their paid protesters could afford more than a mere 4 buses to bus the protesters into Pleasanton.

I wonder whether they'll bring a snare drum and beat the snare drum as they march like they did before the City Council meeting in Burbank last month? I wonder if it is a new snare drum or whether they borrowed the one from the paid Southern California protesters. With $43.6 billion dollars, times are tough!

I love the beat of the snare drum and especially the chant "we get no justice, you get no peace..." ... very catchy ... I think we need a good parade, it will help the much needed diversity in our city ... a little defecation on parked cars will add to the character of the city as well ... perhaps Marvin can be the Grand Marshall ...

What a bunch of totally stupid remarks to an informative article.
Why even bother to comment if you can't say something that makes sense.

It's good to know that Pleasanton is filled with good old country boys from the South just like me! (We need a good hootinanny saloon downtown for all us Tea Partyers if you ask me.)

Face it, those union workers once upon a time managed with threat of poop to wrestle a living wage from owners, but then the owners got smart and took their businesses overseas. Why pay an American worker ten bucks an hour when you can employ 100 Indonesian kids for ten bucks a day? Ah, but alas ... ya can't move groceries across the oceans. So the owners have done the next best thing. They've brought Indonesia back over here in the form of Walmart. If ya want a good taste of 3rd world flavor, just take a spin across my home state of Arkansas. Hog farms, chicken ranches, a few slaughterhouses, and our good friend and neighbor, Walmarts as far as the eye can see.

We never fell for that communist living wage hogwash down in the South. That's why we rednecks got right to work wages (nothing wrong with $2 bucks an hour!), lots of religion, and hallmarker education buildings like the University of Arkansas, and Tennsee, and Mississipp. Seems to me Pleasanton kids would do better with a little bit more exposure to Razorback (hog) culture, and fire and brimstone preaching. But short of that, Walmart will have to do.

Last thing. So, 43.5 billion in SALES for Safeway? How does that compare with each of the five Waltons possessing over 90 billion each, IN THE BANK? You boys outta get your prioritees right.

Marvin, if you really lived in Pleasanton, you would:

- know where the saloons in Pleasanton actually are
- know the average wage of hourly Walmart workers in CA was 58% higher than minimum wage
- know better than to have a rally right next to an assisted living center because you would know Centenniel Park is right next to an assisted living center

But Marvin, you don't live in Carriage Gardens, and you don't live in Pleasanton and you post mudslinging attacks on Walmart all over this message forum under different names.

So what is your real name Marvin? Ans what state do you actually live in?

I confess. My name isn't Marvin. My name is really Jimbo, and I am a pathological liar. I state blatant falsehoods such as: 'the average wage of hourly Walmart workers in CA is 58% higher than minimum wage'. I don't know what possesses me to lie as I do. But whenever I get into a discussion with the lefty elitists on these posts, I don't have the facts or intelligence to effectively counter their claims, and so I feel compelled to lie.

Please forgive me. I used to post under my name, Jimbo, but as soon as I wrote anything everyone was able to identify me because of my compulsion to lie. I'll try to post under Jimbo from now on instead of Marvin.

I saw the Teamsters semi truck at Rosewood Pavillion about 12:30 today. There is a group with gold tee shirts and picket signs at the Senior Center.

Oh my Gawd. Is the Senior Center unionized? What about the seniors? What kinds of scatological material do you think is in the Teamsters' semi truck? And where are they going to find parking for the hundreds of semi trucks and busses yet to follow?

ps My name is really Jimbo, but we're not allowed to post under more than one name.

Marvin, the union operative, does not have the correct facts and math, but just spews falsehoods. The average hourly rate in CA is 58% more than the CA minimum wage.

In FYE 2012, Walmart spent $25,851,874,802.00 for merchandise and services with 4,127 suppliers in the state of California. As a result of Walmart's relationship with these suppliers, Walmart supports 281,785 supplier jobs in the state of California.

Walmart collected on behalf of the state of California more than $961.6 million in sales taxes in FYE 2011.

Walmart paid more than $180.3 million in state and local taxes in the state of California in FYE 2011.

In 2010, Walmart stores, Sam's Club locations and the Walmart Foundation gave more than $29.1 million in cash and in-kind donations to local organizations in the communities they serve in the state of California. Through additional funds donated by customers, and Walmart and Sam’s Club associates throughout the state, the retailer’s contributions in California totaled more than $32.5 million.

As of January 31, 2012 (End of Q4), the average wage for regular, full-time hourly associates in California is $12.74 per hour (Walmart Discount Stores, Supercenters, and Neighborhood Markets).

Additionally, eligible associates receive an annual incentive based on the company performance.

Associates that contribute to the 401(k) Plan will receive a dollar for dollar match from Walmart of up to 6 percent of pay.

Web Link

Did they picket in front of Ranch 99 at all? If not, why not?

I mean, c'mon Marvin! It's Ranch 99 filled with lots of produce from China and non-unionized workers. Are you telling me you missed your opportunity?!

Stacey, looks like Marvin missed the rally/picketing/marching opportunity at both Ranch 99 as well as the new Fresh and Easy.

Looks like they confined the buses and the Teamsters tractor trailer to Macy's Furniture Store then headed toward downtown.

I wonder how much overtime the Pleasanton PD had to shell out for the extra police cars?

Here's why Jimbo is called a liar by so many posters. The Walmart corporate lie sheet that he quotes from says the following: "the average wage for regular, full-time hourly associates in California is $12.74 per hour (Walmart Discount Stores, Supercenters, and Neighborhood Markets)."

Now, what Walmart's corporate lie sheet fails to note is that many, if not most of its employees, are NOT REGULAR, FULL-TIME HOURLY ASSOCIATES. In fact, this is one of the ways Walmart is able to pay its California workers something approximate to 3rd world wages. It only hires them on a part-time basis, thereby absolving the company of having to pay health and/or medical benefits to many/most of its workers. This has cost the CA taxpayer approx 300 million dollars a year on medical/health expenses for California's Walmart workers. Nice!

What's more, the lies provided by Walmart's corporate office doesn't specify what/who is being counted as an 'associate'. Pharmacists? Meat cutters? Managers? Subtract their wages, and I wonder what one ends up with? We have no way of knowing, because Walmart consistently refuses to provide such information. So, only doofusses like Roy and me (Jimbo) treat the company's stats seriously. Roy and me (Jimbo), further, are either too stupid to see through the company's charade or, in the case of the pathological liar, chooses to present the lies as if they are facts.

More facts: California Employment Attorneys reported on an $85 million Wal-Mart settlement from last year, involving around 3 million hourly workers in 30 states--who all sued for allegations of wage and hour law violations.

Wal-Mart made million dollar class-action headlines again recently, after agreeing to another settlement--to pay former California employees as much as $86 million in a California class-action wage and hour lawsuit settlement.

According to the lawsuit, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the largest retailer in the world, was accused in this case of violating wage and hour laws by not compensating former workers properly under California law. Wal-Mart allegedly failed to pay the workers for overtime and vacation wages they earned before leaving the company, and neglected to pay the employee earnings in a timely manner as specified by the state of California.

The former employees accused Wal-Mart of manipulating their hourly time sheets to get out of paying overtime, as well as making them wait for days or even weeks to pay them for vacation wages after they left the company. According to employment law in California, if an employee is fired, all wages that are owed to them should be paid within 72 hours. If an employer violates that law, they can be required to pay as much as 30 days of wages to the workers.

The settlement will reportedly pay out a minimum of $43 million that will be shared by about 232,000 people, and is reported to represent a huge result for class-action members. According to Business Week, the settlement includes $12 million in unpaid vacation wages and $74 million in potential interest and penalties on wages that were unpaid. The actual amount that Wal-Mart will pay depends on how many former employees participate in the settlement--but it is estimated that the world's largest retailer will pay at least $43 million under the settlement agreement.

I don't know about you, but Roy and me (Jimbo) sure think this is a company worth defending against the tyrannical union checkout girls and bagboys at Safeway.

566 words. Not bad there. I admit I didn't bother to read it. A page or two of Finnegan's Wake would have been just as effective at introducing noise into the conversation.

You didn't read it, but you troubled yourself to count the words? I see. Attention deficit disorder? Careful you don't trip over a few facts as you scurry back into your little hole.

Oracle was sued for allegations for class action wage and hour violations and not paying overtime. They settled it and it made the news. Web Link And then there are the sexual harassment lawsuits. Go picket Oracle and write 500+ diatribes about them and Larry Ellison. Walmart seems angelic in comparison.

Send your buses to Oracle and unionize them.

Software Engineers Unite! Solidarity, Brothers and Sisters!

When I read your posts, Roy (Jimbo), it's impossible not to think "cognitively overburdened." Is it that which lurks behind your resort to lying the way you do?

I got it Marvin. You think the $35 million Oracle overtime lawsuit was made up.

So maybe the San Francisco Chronicle actually made up the story about Oracle having to settle a $35 million dollar overtime lawsuit, and published it right here on this web link Web Link then crossed their fingers and hoped that Ellison would not sue them for libel.

Marvin, you give me too much credit to think I actually counted the words. It was 3477 characters too.

I got facts that are irrelevant to UFCW's contract negotiations with Safeway like yours. Try these on for size!

- The wc utility is compliant with the IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 (``POSIX'') specification.
- A passwd command appeared in Version 3 AT&T UNIX.
- The sed utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
- There's no perm option for the naughty bits.

No, Roy (Jimbo). You got caught up in a fib, once again, as per usual, and now you're attempting to deflect matters on to Oracle. Yes, there are many companies out there that mistreat their employees. That is, after all, what prompted the union movement in the first place, and it continues to point to the need for a strong state to protect workers from corporate exploitation. If you desire continue your harangue against Oracle, well, hey, knock yourself out! It doesn't to even the slightest degree change the facts about your good friend Walmart.

I always have thought you're a better counter than reader, Stacey. Keep up the good work.

Well Marvin, there was really no point in reading your irrelevant post to begin with. It was off-topic and diverted away from UFCW's march earlier today. I had hoped you could answer my on-topic questions but that was asking too much.

Stacey, if you don't bother to read my posts, how can you say they are irrelevant or off topic? Your logic is being exposed for what it is(n't). Around and around in circles you go.... Now, quick, attempt to save face!

It's like Godwin's Law, only instead of Nazis it's "save face!". Yep, no reader scans the first few sentences of a long post to see if it's worth reading in detail in Marvin's world. I suppose I'll never get an answer from Marvin on whether UFCW happened to protest in front of Ranch 99, which would be unbelievable considering that it was right next door!

Marvin's logic from his viewpoint:
- Everyone reads my extremely long posts in detail.
- No one except I knows what the word "liberal" means or the differences between its American, international, and historic usage.
- Everyone is continuously fooled by my changing name and misrepresentations I make about myself and others.

Wow, lots of posts from Stacey simply to get an answer to her simple question! My response: I don't know. I wasn't there.

Not sure what to make of your statement about "liberal." Care to elaborate? Careful! Long posts are prohibited!

But according to the Fortune list of the richest Americans Web Link , the 3 richest Americans are Bill Gates ($59 Billion), Warren Buffett ($39 Billion), and Larry Ellison ($33 Billion), and you keep yammering away about the Walton's being well off, which they are, but here you have Oracle with a $35 million overtime violation lawsuit, and Larry Ellison is much richer than any of the Waltons.

So you haven't answered Stacey's Ranch 99 question. Why aren't the unions sending busloads of protesters there?

And so you haven't also answered why you all let Oracle with its labor overtime violations off the hook, (is so close, you could have made a pit stop and protested there too) when Ellison is much richer than the Waltons. It is just a quick bus ride away. I'll bet they would just LUV to be represented by the UFCW.

Oh, I forget. You just yammer away in a propaganda campaign about Walmart being the evil empire, because this is just about Safeway and Luckys eliminating competitors and keeping prices artificially high.

Of course Marvin wasn't there. Who would be left from Saint Consulting to man the keyboard and distract the conversation away from UFCW's contract negotiations and march?

If one could teach without joining a union, bag without joining a union, police without joining a union, fight fires without joining a union, build houses without joining a union, check out and bag without joining a union, etc. there would be no unions and everyone would be getting along just fine. What workers now pay in union dues they could save for retirement, and with that they might then actually have a retirement. As it stands, the unions have negotiated themselves out of any retirement: within a decade the cities will be bankrupt or the retirement plans will be scrapped. You can't have it both ways.

You raise great points, Chemist.

Also, I don't agree with a lot of what Governor Jerry Brown says, but when he called the unsustainable taxpayer funded public employee pension system a Ponzi scheme, I think he was exactly right.

Also, in a union environment, when someone stands out as exceptional, regardless of where the environment is, pressure is put on that person to not outshine anyone else and modify their performance to average productivity. The "you are making us all look bad because you are good" syndrome is alive and well.

To Roy,
Striving for mediocrity is an inevitable by-product of unions, and it is killing our education system, our service industry, our manufacturing, etc. Blocking traffic is the least of the damage that is done by unions.

The menage a trois aligned in their goal to turn the United States into a socialist or communist country:
- Labor unions
- Left-wing loons (Communists, Marxists, Socialists, Progressives)
- Illegal aliens

If you don't want to live in a society modelled after the USSR, you had better:
- Not patronize businesses that are unionized
- Vote in Republicans, especially those that will close the border, enforce our immigration laws, and bust the chops of the unions.

Exactly, Chemist. This is quote is about the retirement effects on siphoning off the General Fund:

"If we tally up all of the promises made to current and past employees of state and local government, including retirement checks and health care costs, we could owe as much as $500 billion. There is no sustainable plan to pay for it except to continue siphoning off more and more of the state budget's general fund. The general fund is supposed to pay for critical services like fire protection, parks maintenance and education. Instead, nearly 4 percent of that fund is going toward pensions. In the near future, experts say that could increase to 17 percent if we fail to put reforms in place."

For the public sector example (using education as an example) --

So all of those unsustainable salaries local school boards negotiate with unions combined with all the debt they are taking on, means that the General Fund at the State level is being siphoned off for retirement for public employees rather than being distributed to the school districts for funding current education. Local school districts claim they don't have money from the State, but that is because of the local school districts have put in place sweetheart salary and benefit schedules so that the typical ending pre-retirement salary is well over six figures for the typical employee.

Meanwhile, the bottom one-fourth of teachers that are regularly poor performers are never let go. Parents have to hire tutors for their children to make up for poor instruction. The bottom one-fourth of teachers stay on the payroll because the management of the school district is too lazy to discipline and fire poor performing teachers.

For the private sector example (using manufacturing/service as an example) --

These unsustainable salary and benefit schedules means higher prices for consumers. Often times union contracts put in language that indicates manufacturing companies cannot modernize and eliminate personnel costs by streamlining their businesses. Higher prices are charged to consumers. When the higher prices for consumers get too much, there are two options: 1) go overseas to do your business or hire contract manufacturers overseas (like Apple) or 2) go bankrupt.

Service portions get outsourced as well.

The effect? The devastating effect is economy of the US goes into gradual decline and the US can no longer be innovative, much less keep up with the rest of the world.

How come the left-wing loon media didn't cover this march of the loons?

Jeb Bing:

Would you please publish a list of grocery stores in Pleasanton that are not unionized so we can make sure we patronize those stores?