Eh, I have a hard time feeling sympathy for Wal-Mart employees. The reason being that I've met too many of them. It seems to be all they can do to keep from drooling on themselves while serving customers.

I have a friend in the US who used to feel the same - until he was laid off. With two kids to feed, his wife's ability to get a job at Wal-Mart to help make ends meet, made him reassess his opinion.

I'm tired of union types who insist that every non-skilled, entry level job needs to pay enough to cover all one's needs - as though corporations are privately run social programs that pay tax.

It's typical of the Sask Fed of Labour - they cut their own throats, time after time, with the backing of the labour-affiliated NDP, have succeeded in already driving Federated Co-op out of the province, among others.

If Wal-Mart closes doors, it's the people who need the paychecks to make ends meet and the consumers who can access goods at a competitive price who will suffer - not Wal-Mart.

my question are all companies in Canada unionized ie Sobey,SuperStore,Canadian Tire and so on?

I strongly dislike Wal-mart for the following reasons:

1. Their service is godawful. It's even worse than McDonalds, and that takes some effort. They're obviously hiring out of the NDP gene pool.

2. Too many of the brands they sell are garbage. Yes, you can get a $50 DVD player there, but keep in mind that it's a disposable item. I'll still be using my three year old $400 Pioneer DVD player eight years from now after Wal-mart customers have thrown out their tenth Citizen cheapie DVD special. Who saved in the long run?

3. Their customers creep me out. I don't like being surrounded by hordes of people who obviously take a dim view of personal hygiene. Yuck.

I can see taking a Wal-mart position in an emergency, but anyone with even the barest modicum of marketable skills should be able to move beyond that within a month or so.

Yes, I'm a stuffy middle-class prig.

Gee, Sean... you must not spend a lot of time in Superstore.

I fell in love with Wal-Mart back in the days when I used to handle dogs and showed a lot in the US. I even remember the moment... when I stocked up on rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide at 25 cents a bottle....

"Gee, Sean... you must not spend a lot of time in Superstore."

More than I'd care to admit. I'm one of those people who watches sales flyers closely and then swoops in to buy the "loss leader" items that are on sale. It's a safe bet that neither Wal-mart or Superstore make a lot of money from me. I occasionally shop at Wal-mart for some of their sale items, I just despise every second of it.

I do admit to liking the PC Financial banking service. I don't think I've paid any sort of service charge in the last four years. The $1500 plus in free groceries I've earned haven't hurt my feelings, either.

"I even remember the moment... when I stocked up on rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide at 25 cents a bottle...."

I like a good deal as much as the next guy/gal, and tend to stock up on sale items myself. I just don't like Wal-mart's service, or lack thereof. I guess you get what you pay for.

Uh.....gee thanks Sean,is it? I take my ol lady and kids there quite often when we hit town(we live in a logging camp).Shucks I didn't know I was one of the great unwashed herd. Thanks for enlightening me.