Dollar general store burned.

[powderman]

Our local $ general burned a few months back, as well as several other businesses. The paper had a statement right after the fire that the $ store big shots bragged about putting all their people to work at other stores, a lie. One lady was given a 4 hr day 2 wks after the fire only after she signed up for unemployment. I managed to track them down and found that they are only allowed a max of 16 hrs a week, just enough to knock them out of unemployment. One lady had been with them for 17 yrs, since she was 18 yrs old and a very hard worker. She was drawing the max amt that $ gen paid cashiers, so I'm sure they wanted her gone. She too was given  16 hrs a week 30 miles  OUT of the district she worked in. She couldn't drive that far for 4 hrs a day and was told to take it or quit. She gave em what the wanted, she quit. I really miss those guys, we'd known them for many years. Seems that the $ general has used this catastrophe to thin out the higher paid workers. Looks like they want to replace them with min wage. Other than mgt they stopped ALL bonuses after 9-11-01. Low lifes. Remember this when you shop there. POWDERMAN. 

[Austin from NC]

Sounds like they may have started the fire. My local sheriff's evidence room all of a sudden burnt down when he lost the election. Sounds like he was covering the fact that some evidence(drugs) were missing in action.

       Austin

[powderman]

AUSTIN. The whole mini mall burned and it started in a smoke shop. The investigators say it was arson but have not made a final determination and no arrests. I hope they rebuild. It was the highest in the district for sales and profits. Most of those workers were like family. Burns my butt to see them crapped on. POWDERMAN. 

[gypsyman]

I've seen this happen time and time again, in many jobs and company's. One of these days, we're going to hear of an employee that takes a gun and shoots a boss because of this. Don't put me on that jury! I'm just glad I'm self-employed. gypsyman

[BUGEYE]

I will not shop at $general anymore.

[Conan The Librarian]

Devil's advocate position: Aren't these jobs designed to be filled by easily replaced people? Same as with Walmart. Basically, these are no-skill jobs that anyone can fill. That's part of what makes it possible for Dollar General to operate successfully. I'm surprised any of them got any jobs anywhere else with Dollar General.

[magooch]

Anyone who expects a business to have its employees as their prime concern is living in a dream world.  Yes, there are those types of employers, but it is unrealistic to think they are all going to be that way.  I was never self employed and never had any illusions about my relationship with my employer.
 
I have seen the employer/employee relations from both sides, since my daughter has a business.  Believe me, employees in general have nothing to be proud of when it comes to employer loyalty.

[blind ear]

Anyone who expects a business to have its employees as their prime concern is living in a dream world.  Yes, there are those types of employers, but it is unrealistic to think they are all going to be that way.  I was never self employed and never had any illusions about my relationship with my employer.
 
I have seen the employer/employee relations from both sides, since my daughter has a business.  Believe me, employees in general have nothing to be proud of when it comes to employer loyalty.

Devil's advocate position: Aren't these jobs designed to be filled by easily replaced people? Same as with Walmart. Basically, these are no-skill jobs that anyone can fill. That's part of what makes it possible for Dollar General to operate successfully. I'm surprised any of them got any jobs anywhere else with Dollar General.

No loyalty from either side anymore. Laws have been passed to enforce that.
 
How long can those people last at 16 hours a week, that is cheaper for Dollar General than paying unemployment. ear

[powderman]

They should have been allowed to draw unemployment instead of being treated like this. Several have been with them for many years and deserve better. The low hours are designed to force them to quit so they can all be replaced by min wage earners. Of course if they quit the co says they refused work so they cannot draw unemployment. A cheap shot to fatten corporates pockets.
Conan. These no skilled people are human beings with families depending on them to provide a living for them. It takes a certain amt of skill to deal daily with the public because there are some real nasty folks  in this world. Employes can make or  break a business with their work ethics and how they come accross and relate to customers. POWDERMAN. 

[dukkillr]

They should have been allowed to draw unemployment instead of being treated like this. Several have been with them for many years and deserve better. The low hours are designed to force them to quit so they can all be replaced by min wage earners. Of course if they quit the co says they refused work so they cannot draw unemployment. A cheap shot to fatten corporates pockets.
Conan. These no skilled people are human beings with families depending on them to provide a living for them. It takes a certain amt of skill to deal daily with the public because there are some real nasty folks  in this world. Employes can make or  break a business with their work ethics and how they come accross and relate to customers. POWDERMAN. 

Huh.  Interesting topic, and it got me thinking:
 
Let's pretend you have absolute power to handle this situation however you would like.  Obviously pure capitalism isn't going to be your choice, so what is?  To be more specific, what, exactly, do you think should be done in a situation like this?  We are going to assume that Dollar General, like all companies, is in the business to make money.  Should the company be forced to employ extra workers at full time schedules, even if they don't need them?  Do employees with families get to beat out other employees who may be single?  I assume we would need a law to do that? 
 
I'm just wondering, in a world where we already have an incredible number of employment laws designed to thwart capitalism, what changes you think we need, and why?

[no guns here]

Seems like a company who cared about employees/public image would offer a paycheck to these people for the time required to rebuild that store.  IF the store had been there that long, then it was obviously a profitable store.  They will rebuild.  The additional $100k (or less) in salary to support the employees until they are rebuilt would be a drop in the bucket and would be MORE than made up by the up-vote in public image by a public show of support for those employees and their families.  Most $ general's are in metal buildings in smaller towns, lower income areas or rural areas.  The cost to rebuild along with the time to rebuild couldn't be TOO long or TOO much.  FAithfully support those long term employees and reap the benefits of a wonderful public relations opportunity.
 
 
NGH

[SHOOTALL]

I will not shop at $general anymore.

I never did

[blind ear]

Seems like a company who cared about employees/public image would offer a paycheck to these people for the time required to rebuild that store. 
 NGH

 Cooporarions have no heart or soul. Make coorporations illegal would solve many of the problems of todays business and every day world.
 
People would have to stand up and face the people that they have been working with, for, or useing. Business people couldn't hide behid the coorporate curtain and shrug thier sholders and say,"oh, I couldn't do anything about, it is the coorporate rules".
 
Of course, a lot of people would probably get "taken care of" until the corporate minded realized that they had to treat people right or face the consequences. There would be nothing to hide behind.
 
Coorporations have paved the way for the New World Order by provideing giant power structures a place to hide while they carry out thier evil plans.
 
ear

[LONGTOM]

I feel they should have been allowed to get their unemployment money until they found another job or the time limit ran out which is quite long I hear.
They lost their job the same as someone being let go.
The reason they lost their job has no bearing as far as the law is concerned in this case.
 
 
 
LONGTOM

[blind ear]

I feel they should have been allowed to get their unemployment money until they found another job or the time limit ran out which is quite long I hear.
They lost their job the same as someone being let go.
The reason they lost their job has no bearing as far as the law is concerned in this case.
LONGTOM

They still had a job, with Dollar General, different town, different hours but still a job with Dollar General. Refuse the job and you got nothing, you quit. ear

[no guns here]

What part of my reply sounded "lefty libber"?
 
Nope... lefty libbers would make a law and make it mandatory.  More aggressive lefty libbers would make yet another governmental program to pay the poor out of work employees and then hire a bunch of GS5-GS15's to run the program.  All I'm talking about is a profitable company being LOYAL to the employees that made it profitable.  Taking a small hit in the pocket to make more money in the long run has absolutely nothing to do with liberalism or left-wing politics.  In fact my approach is ALL about supporting your employees, enhancing the corporate images and developing chances for higher corporate profits down the road.  Pretty damned conservative actually.  Some management types are just to stupid to see the opportunity for long term benefit and are soley interested in profit THIS quarter.
 
I said NOTHING about "Real US type conservatives would say these people are just SOL...they should have seen it coming and got to higher ground beforehand, and quit pining for us taxpayers to pay them....."  Nor about taxpayers footing ANY of the bill for the out of work employees.  My approach is for the COMPANY that is getting rich to keep their employees off the roles of the taxpayer funded unemployment system.
 
Then, the company rebuilds and puts the same experienced workers back to work with a publicitiy campaign.  BANG!  Instant loyal customers (family, friends and others in the local area) who are PROUD to shop at a store that would support their workforce this way.
 
 
"Now let's get back to being conservatives and leave Dollar General Corp (and WalMart) alone to run their own affairs...."    EXACTLY.  Keep the government out of it by keeping the employees off of welfare.  Run your business to take advantage of the opportunities presented.  $General squandered an opportunity.  Tough crap for them.  Unfortunately, tough crap for their employees.  $General could have profited from this as well as taking care of their employees.
 
NGH

[LONGTOM]

I feel they should have been allowed to get their unemployment money until they found another job or the time limit ran out which is quite long I hear.
They lost their job the same as someone being let go.
The reason they lost their job has no bearing as far as the law is concerned in this case.
LONGTOM

They still had a job, with Dollar General, different town, different hours but still a job with Dollar General. Refuse the job and you got nothing, you quit. ear

 
"One lady was given a 4 hr day 2 wks after the fire only after she signed up for unemployment."
 
This lady wasn't offered a job until after she signed up.
From the rest of the post I take it that if she didn't accept the offer then she was considered to have refused work and was not to receive unempolyment.
That is wrong.
If they had offered it first and she refused then went down to sign up that's different but that is not how the OP reads.
 
 
 
LONGTOM

[powderman]

LONGTOM. That is right, she was offered a 4 hr day AFTER she signed up for unemployment. My point was that the DG big shots lied, they wanted it to appear that they valued their employees and were going to take care of them, they haven't and don't intend to. The local dg stores have been understaffed for a long time. I asked for some dog food last fall, they had one person for the entire store. I said,  it was supposed to be on the truck last week, she says, it was. It was in the back room and the co wasn't giving them enough hrs to stock the shelves. like wm, the big shots can't seem to understand that they can't sell bare shelves. Greed and ignorance costs sales and profits. POWDERMAN. 

[bobg]

      Looks like the DG store here is different than most. I am in there when they first open in the morning. Usually 2 people stocking shelves. If i can't find an item one of them will go get it for me.
      Their prices are a little cheaper than the other stores around here. Being on a fixed income i try to save a buck or two when i shop. Guess i will keep going to DG.

[hunt-m-up]

16 hours a week and allowing a few hours for drive time, seems they should be using the other hours to find another job and for interviews. Loyalty has gone out the window,but it certainly is not a one-way street. Doesn't sound like your friend fits this description, but from what I've seen at my workplace, in general most of these "marginally-skilled" people have not decided whether they want to work or not. Many were raised with a sense of entitlement and think they should be given a supervisor or manager title just because they show up. Employers spend a lot of time sorting out the good from the bad, sorry your friend got caught up in the shuffle.

[LONGTOM]

I am not a person that thinks everyone should sue just to make some quick, easy money but in this case, it sounds like some of these employees should contact a good lawyer and file a class action suit.
 
 
 
LONGTOM

[no guns here]

You and NGH have some very socialistic ideas that are contrary to private sector business practices...like paying for employees you don't need, or bestowing unemployment benefits on workers who still have jobs, or Corp loyalty to employees based on egalitarian principles an unproven business concepts......when you don't know the financial health of Dollar General to begin with....like spending other people's money, or company wealth redistribution..

Socialism is a form of government that is based on redistribution of wealth from all to all.  My statements have categorically denied any need for or use of governmental involvment in this situation.
 
Never once have I stated any socialistic idea in this thread.  I have never stated anything about providing unemployment benefits for workers who still have jobs.  You are sir, are lieing and putting false words in my mouth.  Please cease and desist with your personal attacks.  I have advocated corporate loyalty to small numbers of employees who have been put out of work through no fault of their own nor through any fault of the corporation.  This has nothing to do with company wealth redistribution.  Yet another attempt to put words in my mouth.  You are lieing again.  Once again... please cease and desist with your personal attacks.
 
Once again, there is a segment of the American population who will respond positively to an outward show of loyalty from an corporation to their employees.
 
I feel that Dollar General would have profited greatly in the long run if they had made a public statement such as "We at Dollar General recognize that our employees are key to our success.  In keeping with this, Dollar General will continue to pay these employees salaries while we rebuild a bigger and better store to serve this community.  The employees will, if they wish, remain employees of Dollar General and will be the first employees put to work in the new store.  The Dollar General company and family supports this community and our employees."
 
The Dollar General management responded with a very old capitalistic view of the situation.  A view that is predicated upon the immediate profit margin.  My proposal is that a different capitalistic view MAY have made more money for the corporation in the long run.  A profitable store with long term employees burned.  They didn't do it.  Dollar General didn't do it.  Realistic, positive support for those employees would have played extremely well in the press in that area and state.  This was a perfect opportunity to enhance their corporations public image without having to pay for any advertising.  As it turned out they wasted their opportunity and that resulted in a degredation of their public image which ultimately will hurt their bottom line.
 
I hope you don't feel the need to continue misconstrued and manipulating my words to further your personal attacks.
 
 
NGH

[Old Fart]

Once again a thread is locked because we can't talk to eachother in civil manner.