So long...it's been good to know ya

[Retail Associate]

I work for Meijer. It's a big-box retailer similar to Walmart but only has stores in the midwest. It's a hellhole. They pay minimum wage, yet we're unionized. They can't keep good people because it's impossible to earn a living wage. Many of their employees have 2nd jobs...myself included.

Two years ago we had 5 people quit in our dept and to this day, none of them have been replaced. Last year 2 more people gave their notice which would have left only one person on 2nd shift so they were forced to hire more help.

Enter Becky (name changed).

She had been a manager at a Walmart (about 30 mi from my store) several years prior but had left to work for great pay at a local factory. Last year she got laid-off from her high paying factory job and had a great deal of trouble finding work. Poor soul wound up at hell Meijer working in fashions with yours truly.

She was great. She knew retail (better than our manager) and worked her butt off. They gave her 40 hours a week but still listed her as part-time and working for minimum wage just wasn't cutting it so she continued to look for another job.

A few months ago she got hired in at the same Walmart she'd worked at years before and she would be making nearly $4.00/hr more than she was making at Meijer but she'd only be getting about 25 hrs/wk. So she decided to keep her job at Meijer working fewer hours and also work at Walmart.

Now, Meijer's policy is that you are not allowed to work for a competitor while you're in their employ. Becky didn't know this so I told her to keep her mouth shut and not tell anyone she was also going to be working at Walmart.

She got away with it for a while but she called me tonight and said someone had turned her in. This past Monday she was called into the softlines leaders office and told to make a choice. It just so happens that she had been offered a full-time position at Walmart so her choice wasn't difficult. Full-time at $4.00 more per hr or part-time at minimum wage. Plus, she gets some weekends off.

Hmmm...tough decision, huh?

She was not allowed to finish out her shift and was told, "I want you to leave right now." So she took off her name badge and gave it to the SL leader, went back to fashions to give the only other girl working all three phones and walked out.

Damn I'm gonna miss her.

And once again we are severely understaffed.

[COMINATCHA]

It must be frustrating that no matter how hard you work you still earn minimum wage - have you tried to look for work elsewhere? I respect people who can manage 2 jobs - I don't think I could handle it myself!

Can I ask exactly how much the minimum wage is..? I'm sure it's different from place to place, I have no idea what it is here...maybe i'll look that up & i'll know where abouts I fit into it....*scampers off to do some research*

[bigpedaler]

Maybe it's just me, but when confronted with an ultimatum like that -- "I want you to leave now" -- I'd have sailed that name badge as far as I could spin it.

I've heard the horror stories about Meijer -- and it kills me to know that (at one time, at least) they would charge a customer an extra $50 for bike assembly.

Gotta admit, I like their grocery section, tho....

[DerangedHermit]

Wow, their actions made Wal-Mart look good. Color me shocked.

[Emrld]

Since you worked with her . . .would she put in a good word for you at Wal-MArt where you might actually earn more?

[Gurndigarn]

And once again we are severely understaffed.

And you have networking contacts at WalMart, which seems to pay better.

Can I ask exactly how much the minimum wage is..? I'm sure it's different from place to place

In the states, a bit over half of the states use federal minimum wage (which I don't know what it is), and the rest have slightly higher state minimum wages. It's probably not worth the time you would spend to get the exact totals.

[Aethian]

I remember working at a Meijer store...there had been a sign up on the wall in the back room that listed how many people each department was supposed to have to be covered on each of the three shifts. Someone had put a sign up next to it on how many we actually had....

I also remember cashing some coworker checks up at the desk and a cashier who started two years after me was complaining because she got a raise. When I laughed and asked what raise I was annoyed that cashiers had gotten a raise....funny I hadn't gotten a raise. No this cashier working only four months and two years my junior was making three dollars more a hour. I told them I wanted to quit and rehire back in as a cashier...so I got a quarter more an hour. Bastards...


BTW I worked at store #24.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I've heard the horror stories about Meijer -- and it kills me to know that (at one time, at least) they would charge a customer an extra $50 for bike assembly.

At my store, bikes are only sold assembled and assembled free, but then again the assembly costs are probably built into the retail price.

I'd much rather pay more for an assembled bike than pay a low price but have to assemble it myself. I'd probably fuck it up royally.

[Megg]

If I recall correctly, the federal minimum wage was just recently (July, I think) raised to $6.85/hour. Since I am a server, this does not affect me much, so I did not pay very close attention. (I make $3.35/hr, for the record.)

I do know the plan is to have the fed min wage up to $7.50 at some point, but I think there were concerns about raising it so far that quickly, and the effect it would have on business owners.

[Retail Associate]

- have you tried to look for work elsewhere

Yes I have. That's how I got my 2nd job at which I usually only get 10-15 hrs/wk. The pay is much better than Meijer but I just don't get enough work to pay the bills. The economy in Michigan is so bad that there's very little in the way of jobs. Seems all there is in my area is retail or restaurants and putting food in my hands would be like arming me with a weapon.

Can I ask exactly how much the minimum wage is..?

Michigan's minimum wage just went to $7.40/hr on July 1st.

...they would charge a customer an extra $50 for bike assembly.

As far as I know, they still charge a fee to assemble bikes, grills, furniture, etc. About 10 years ago when I worked in the garden center, they charged $35.00 to assemble lawnmowers. (Which they no longer sell.)

Since you worked with her . . .would she put in a good word for you at Wal-MArt where you might actually earn more?

Yes she would and she's already tried to talk me into applying there but the store is 30 miles or more from my home (she lives in that town) and my car is old ('93) and a bit unreliable. I don't think most new employees are paid as much as she's making at Walmart. The fact that she used to be a manager there helped determine the amount of pay she receives. The added cost in gas is also a big factor. I only live 4 miles from hell Meijer.

... No this cashier working only four months and two years my junior was making three dollars more a hour. BTW I worked at store #24.

I started in '97 at a whopping $4.91/hr. The minimum wage went up shortly after that to $5.15. One year later, two new people (sisters...which is against Meijer policy ) were hired in our dept. A month or so later at one of our dept meetings, one of them mentioned that all the hard work they had to do in the outdoor garden center wasn't worth $6.59/hr.

Everyone's eyebrows went up. These two women were making more than anyone in the room and some of them had been there 5 years. The rest of us were still at $5.15/hr.

I'll tell ya, some s**t hit the fan that day and all of us got a raise!



ETA:

Meijer is unionized and with each new contract the employees get screwed more and more. Those 2 sisters I mentioned were hired in at $6.59/hr back in '98. I left the hellhole store in '02 to try my hand at my own business...which failed after 2½ yrs... and upon my return in '05, I started at $6.15/hr.

I went back as a cashier so I made 15¢ more per hour than new floor associates. Starting pay for them was $6.00/hr. Michigan's minimum wage started it's 3-stage increase in October of 2006. It went from $5.15/hr to $6.95 and has increased twice since to where it is now, $7.40/hr.

To receive your scheduled 25¢ raise at Meijer (until you're capped at $9.00/hr) you must work 1,000 hrs. I was less than 200 hours away from my scheduled raise when the first increase in minimum wage took effect. Meijer completely wiped out my hours toward my raise (over 800 of them) and I had to start all over again.

The place truly sucks.