Clinton Blasts Circuit City Layoffs

[ProudToBeLiberal]

Source: Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Circuit City on Friday to reconsider its plan to lay off thousands of workers and replace them with lower-paid new hires.

The electronics retailer, facing larger competitors and falling sales, said Wednesday that it would lay off about 3,400 store workers. The laid-off workers, about 8 percent of the company's total work force, would get a severance package and a chance to reapply for their former jobs, at lower pay, after a 10-week delay, the company said.

"Twelve dollars an hour is now considered too high a wage in America," Clinton said at a teacher's union conference. "What's really stunning is many of these fired workers had been promoted, they'd been told they were doing a good job."

Circuit City declined to say how much those laid off were paid and how much the new workers would make.

Read more: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/money/11469303/detail.html

[Craftsman]

1. Good

[texpatriot2004]

2. Very good. nm

[UpInArms]

3. Mass Layoffs Across the United States for 2006

http://www.totalbankruptcy.com/mass_layoffs_across_us.htm

The monthly number of mass layoff events declined slightly in the last month of 2006, with 1,201 events across the country. Although few mass layoffs events took place in December than in November, the numbers are still higher than those posted in the fall. The number of affected workers also declined slightly, to 133,811.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports only on mass layoffs - layoffs impacting at least 50 employees of a single establishment - so the actual number of layoff events and of impacted workers during any given month is somewhat higher than indicated by BLS statistics.

<snip>

For 2006 as a whole, the Midwest took the lead in initial unemployment claims due to mass layoff events, with 508,798 new claims. However, all four regions saw a decline in initial claims as compared to 2005. The largest declines were in the South, but statistics from the South were heavily impacted by the large number of initial claims in 2005 as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

California posted the largest number of initial claims in a single state in 2006, with 317,907 new filings, making up 21% of the national total. Other highly-impacted states include Michigan (127,964 new claims), Pennsylvania (89,559 initial claims), Ohio (80,291) and New York (76,638). These five states accounted for 50% of all mass layoff events in 2006 and 47% of all initial claims.

...more...

why is she getting her panties in a wad over just one corporation? :sigh:

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. Wouldn't that be wonderful if we started a program called, "Hold the line."

Basically, American owned companies that pledged to hold onto employees and refuse to lay-off employees would be put on a list and American consumers would give preferential treatment to those companies.

Sometimes it's in the marketing twist.

[Canuckistanian]

54. Sometimes, you have to take a symbolic stand

You can't deal with everything at once. And this was a high profile example with an easy to understand situation.

I applaud her paying attention to this issue.

No one else is.

[okoboji]

62. here's some jobs gone that hasn't been reported in the press

At Sam's Clubs across the board, 4 weeks ago they did the following:

Management Restructure

they eliminated the following jobs:

Photo Center Manager
Meat Manager
Bakery Manager

Photo Manager's, have the option of applying for a new management position, or step down and do their old job, for less pay and as an hourly associate with no cut in the profits. The new Title is called a Team Leader.

Meat Managers have to reapply for a new position called Fresh Manager, which now encompasses the Bakery Department now.

Bakery Manager has to apply for a new management position or leave the company.

Optical Managers are still managers, they don't lose any pay, but now they have to punch the clock.


All of this will be official May 2. On April 10, any Manager that was effected that had applied and interviewed for a new managers position, will find out if they got a job.

[rodeodance]

4. Thanks HIil

[sendero]

5. More window dressing..

... from HRC. Circuit City is a corporation. Corporations exist to make money, and nothing else. If Circuit City can replace workers at a fraction of their cost, they are going to, as are most other businesses. Like it or not IT IS BETTER THAN OUTSOURCING, at least someone in America has a job.

Now let's talk about outsourcing and "free trade". These are what is killing the American worker, and HRC and her DLC minions are all about them, especially the "free trade" bullshit which could be translated to "you can buy all the cheap junk you want from us, we're not buying jack shit from you".


"Free trade" is a boon to China, a boon to companies who broker their goods and a bust for the American worker. If HRC gives a damn about the American worker, she can start with "free trade".

[nealmhughes]

7. Preaching to the choir here.

I'm surprised that they actually announced what they were doing. It is common practice in retail: just when the benefits package is about to kick in, find some reason to terminate the worker (such as unrealistic work quotas) and then "allow" them to reapply again.

It makes capitalism a farce. The more that one looks at Marx, it seemed that early reports of his demise around 1990 were extremely premature. Let the world shudder at the thought of real class consciousness in this nation or in China!

[nolabels]

40. The point is that she don't really give a damn and is only giving lip service

She will pay little or nothing for this cheap shot. And people who don't follow the real story of her gravy train campaign won't know any better.

This story is essentially propaganda carried on by our fascist state

[Miss Chybil]

13. I think she said something about that yesterday...

http://www.truthabouttrade.org/article.asp?id=7333

[anotherdrew]

17. not window dressing at all

"IT IS BETTER THAN OUTSOURCING"

How are you going to outsource retail floor help?

"Circuit City can replace workers at a fraction of their cost"

they're not replacing them - they're substituting less-skilled less-knowledgeable less-motivated clock punchers for people who've proven, by CC's own standards, to be good at what they do. If they go through with this I'll certainly never set foot in a CC again.

If they want to save money how about they cut management and executive pay? Clearly they don't deserve their pay as they are unable to do their jobs - attract customers and run a profitable enterprise.

but since they don't know who to do their jobs, the "little people" get to pay the price. It's bullshit and she's right to call them on it.

[ChoralScholar]

41. ' How are you going to outsource retail floor help?'

Good point.

I see, in my mind's eye, video kiosks - two to three for every department - tied, via videoconference - to a cube farm in India. You can consult them for all your questions.

I jest - I really do.

[daleo]

47. Now you've gone and done it

I just hope no corporate honchos are reading DU today...

[anotherdrew]

48. well, it could work - McD's is actually outsourcing drive thru orders to india

or at least they were taking about it a couple years ago.

[Canuckistanian]

55. "Corporations exist to make money"

That's a cop-out. Corporations have existed since the beginning of this century.

And they've always had a sense of responsibility to the community at large, not just the bottom line.

And yet, these kind of "profit-maximizing" schemes have only materialized in the few decades or so.

Whatever happened to good old fashioned bankruptcies? In the past, when companies have faced massive losses, they went into Chapter 11 bankruptcies. They got their affairs in order, re-prioritized their business model and got some re-financing and kept their valued employees working.

In the past, these downturns NEVER meant that you savaged the very resources that made you successful in the first place. The WORKERS.

It's time we re-defined the legal responsibilities of corporations from that of the owner/manager standpoint to one of the greater social good.

And if it means letting a few major corporations fail, then so be it.

[ProudDad]

56. WHAT???? Oh, I get it -- April Fools!!!

"Corporations have existed since the beginning of this century. And they've always had a sense of responsibility to the community at large, not just the bottom line."

capitalist for-profit corporations have one and only ONE purpose -- maximize profit.

In fact, if they let down on job one -- make profits at all costs -- the Board is liable for not fulfilling their fiduciary responsibility.

I would explicitly STRIP CORPORATIONS OF their bogus personhood. That would be enough. Making corporate officers PERSONALLY liable for the damage corporations do is the only way to stop their crimes.

[Canuckistanian]

57. I see. And did your father ever get laid off for reasons like this?

No, he did not.

In the past, massive layoffs of employees in this manner almost always coincided with the demise of the company.

Now, don't get me wrong. I agree that corporations have always existed for maximizing profits.
It's just the tactics they use to remain profitable nowadays that I'm decrying.

Union busting, "Right to work" legislations, layoffs, pension raiding, benefit reductions, forced wage reductions and offshoring are relatively new phenomena.

And why was this behavior not tolerated before? Because of societal, moral and legal reasons.
Anyone who tried this sort of thing back in the 50s or 60s would have been pilloried on the public stage, never to work in business again. They would have been branded "greedy", "cold-hearted", "avaricious" - and even "immoral".

Now, because of public apathy and the willingness to swallow whole the capitalist mantra of unhindered profit-taking at the expense of all else - it's carried to new levels of greed.

And we're not even talking about corporations that have suffered losses - some are still VERY profitable. They just want MORE profit, even if they have to abandon all sense of decency.

That's where you're wrong. "make profits at all costs" was NEVER Job 1 in the past. Everyone realized that there was a cost for irresponsibility and greed.

[liberalnurse]

6. The concept arises from

the low wages the willing illegal immigrants accept. So, whats good for the goose is good for the gander.....Big Brother comes out the Fat Cat once again.

[shaniqua6392]

8. My family will NEVER shop there again.

I don't care if they are giving shit away. Everyone should boycott companies who do this.

[Saturday]

9. We went into a CC yesterday.

Looked around and when we were asked if we needed help told them no, we wouldn't be buying there because of the mass firings and told them to tell their boss. Then walked out. Hope their boss got our message.

[jayfish]

10. I Hope You Were Pleasant About It.

You might have been talking to one of the 3400.

Jay

[shaniqua6392]

19. That is so awesome!!

I think I will send an email or a letter. But I sure do like your idea too!

[Centered]

63. The sad part is

neither the person you spoke with or even their boss have anything to do with this. Some Vice-President of some department is probably heading this up so he/she can put on his/her resume they saved CC 29% in operating costs and then high tail it out of there to head up a division for Best Buy or something.

[Orsino]

11. Hillary dissing a potential corporate contributor?

Well, potentially potential, anyway. Way to go, Hillary!

[Miss Chybil]

12. Good! Hopefully with this kind of attention, the business they lose will

take away from any gains they will have made with their underhanded layoff scheme.

[AnneD]

14. I hate to be the fly in the ointment,,,

but considering how hubby crammed that NAFTA bill through----apologizing is the least thing she could do. This is the end result of the actions he took.

Many of us in Labour felt and still feel betrayed by this. This is a blot on his presidential record and it eviscerated organized labour. Sorry but my memory lasts a bit longer than 8 years. Are her actions the right thing to do-yes. I don't think this will buy her labour support though. I'm tired of them only making nice to us when they want money or a campaign volunteer.

[zalinda]

15. Okay, I'm confused

Many people here say Bill Clinton put through the NAFTA bill, but awhile ago someone here on DU posted an article that the bill was actually Bush 41's, it just went through on Clinton's watch.

zalinda

[still_one]

20. Bill Clinton was a free trade advocate. Yes bush one start the process

but Bill Clinton was a firm backer. The same thing with the communication act which allowed right wing media to take over our airwaves

However, just yesterday, Hillary broke with Bill Clinton on NAFTA, and said she did NOT agree with him on it?

They are NOT the same people, and there are differences

My gripe with Hillary is mainly her position on the war. That is a show stopper for me

[AnneD]

27. Yes, the war

is a deal breaker for me too. We should have done Afghanistan and left it at that. Thanks for reminding about the Communications Act. Yeah, I'm pissed about that too. At least he did throw us a few bones in the form of a decent economy, and I do like the big Dawg....but I'll pick these bones with him any day of the week.

[still_one]

30. You and I are on the same page, and yes compared to these guys

I would pick Bill Clinton also, but I would hope we could do better than that

The economy was helped by the internet boom more than what Clinton did. However, he did reduce the deficiet, gave us positive standing in world affairs, tried to bring people together, and lead us toward fiscial responsibility. Everything positive thing which Clinton had done, this administration has completely undone.

[paulk]

36. Bush 41 signed NAFTA, but it was ratified under Clinton

from WIKI -

(emphesis mine)


"The agreement was initially pursued by conservative governments in the United States and Canada supportive of free trade, led by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and the Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. The three-nation NAFTA was signed on 17 December 1992, pending its ratification by the legislatures of the three countries. There was considerable opposition in all three countries, but in the United States it was able to secure passage after Bill Clinton made its passage a major legislative initiative in 1993. During his presidential campaign he had promised to review the agreement, which he considered inadequate. Since the agreement had been signed by Bush under his fast-track prerogative, Clinton did not alter the original agreement, but complemented it with the aforementioned NAAEC and NAALC. After intense political debate and the negotiation of these side agreements, the U.S. House passed NAFTA by 234-200 (132 Republicans and 102 Democrats voting in favor).<2> and the U.S. Senate passed it by 61-38<3> Finally, Clinton sanctioned the ratification on November 1993."

[jayfish]

21. Here's The Deal Though.

If Gore had taken office in 2001, tweaks would have been made to NAFTA over time in an attempt to alleviate the strains caused by it. The * admin and the Thug Congress have taken a fire and forget approach.

Jay

[still_one]

31. They were not just "tweaks" as you refer to them

Countries such as China did NOT have to maintain pollution standards , healthcare benefits among other things that we do.

Free trade was the biggest bill of goods sold to us. There is no such thing, and not only wasn't it free, it wasn't fair to us

[AnneD]

32. I am not against...

fair tade....I am vehemently opposed to free trade. I think we are on the same page still one.

[still_one]

33. I agree /nt

[PassingFair]

60. What does NAFTA have to do with China?

North American (America, Canada, Mexico) Free Trade.

I'm not being facetious, but are we using the proper
terminology here?

Did NAFTA's provisions allow EVERY country to SCREW
OVER the working people of the US?

[blondeatlast]

16. The more that can draw more attention to this travesty, the better.

Don't have a dog in the primary fights yet, but I'd like to see them all mention it.

[still_one]

18. Circuit City sells products viewed as conveniences, rather than necessities

It is an extremely competitive business dependent on macroeconomic conditions which include energy costs, interest rates etc.

This layoff had nothing to do with performance, it is purely reducing costs

What would Hillary like to do, have the government run Circuit City?

[WindRavenX]

23. So you're completely ok with companies replacing workforces with cheaper workers?

:thumbsdown:

Nice attitude. You must be a fan of outsourcing as well.

[still_one]

28. I am not a fan of outsourcing, those are two different issues my friend

and I am for a minimum wage increase, but again that is not this specific issue.

NAFTA and the other wonderful trade agreements that the Clinton administration pushed through was for the benefit of corporations, NOT the working people in this country, and that is where the problem needs to be addressed

One of the problems with NAFTA is that business in this country is required to adhere to certain standards, WHICH IS A GOOD THING. NAFTA doesn't require companies overseas to adhere to those same standards.

You don't like that jobs are being offshored, you can thank Bill Clinton and previous administrations, both republican and Democratic, along with Congress for it

Competition is a good thing, but it needs to be on an equal playing field or it won't work

[fasttense]

53. Corporations want to us to buy their product but don't want to pay us fair wages.

They want to sell us whatever they make but don't want to pay us what we are worth to sell and make their junk. I don't see this as fair. They are using us while they can. When most people can't afford their junk, they will move on to another country and use up their middle class too.

[kiwilover]

24. Wages

Would you like to have your wages cut.
Remember the people losing their jobs were making in the range of 24,000 dollars a year---not a good wage to begin with---now poverty wages!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll pass on CC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[still_one]

29. Is it better for a company to go under, or have a wage cut?

Not a good wage to begin with? then our wonderful elected officials should NEVER have negotiated unfair trade agreements which gave advantage to the corporations, at our workers expense.

Bill Clinton, who many view as a god at DU, was responsible for that, and also responsible for allowing right wing media monopolies to take over.

You ask if you I would like to have my wages cut, that isn't the issue? The issue is competition. During the internet boom days, people left one job for another because it paid higher wages. Then came these free trade agreements, along with H1B visas, and we have what we have today. It will only get worse until people start holding their representatives feet to the fire, and get rid of lobbists on capital hill.

If Circuit City offers lower pay than its competition, will people still work for them, that is the question?

Illegal Immigration is also an issue which relates to cheap labor. It may or may not pertain to CC, but it definitely affects wages in our country.

[zalinda]

34. Here's my problem with them

If they cut the wages for all the top executives and CEO, then I wouldn't have a real beef with them. But, you know that that hasn't happened. They are cutting wages from those who can least afford it.

When will these companies learn. If you don't pay your employees well, they will not have money to buy your product. The more companies who out source or lower wages, the more people have to buy at Walmart. I would much rather buy a $300 dvd recorder at Circuit City, but if I'm only getting 7 or 8 dollars an hour, I would have to go to Walmart and buy their $78 special. It's simple math, get a smaller pay check, buy cheaper stuff. And, pretty soon, it won't be just cheaper stuff, it will be only stuff we need to live.

zalinda

[fasttense]

52. In a real Democracy, those soon to be unemployed workers would be on the picket line.

They would have been Unionized and marching in front of the all the Circuit Cities in the US. Everyone would know how they are treated as just excess baggage by management. Then their sales would noticeably droop. Instead, thanks to the anti-union goons in the repuke party, these fully qualified and good performing workers have absolutely no recourse but get a job barely making a living wage. Soon we will all be in the same position.

[WindRavenX]

22. good for hillary!

Not a fan of her, but I'm happy to see her publically denounce this horrific move by CC :thumbsup:

We need many more outspoken Dems to condemn any and all policies similar to CC's. 12/hr is barely a livable wage in many places of the country, especially if you have a family.

[Doremus]

26. I'm not crazy about her, but I like what I'm reading!

You go, Hillary! On this issue, you go!

The more we pound away at what passes for wages in this country, the better!

[blues90]

35. Circuit City is just ONE of the many companies turning banana yellow

What about the other companies who are rushing to outsource and the companies who have closed and others who have moved out of the country entirely ?

I don't see any immediate end in sight to this trend .

Most jobs in expensive CA are at $10 per hour with no benefits , high gas prices and long drives involved to and from work .

If you ask me this is just a small target zoomed in by Hillary for her campaign and nothing more .

[KillCapitalism]

37. I boycott CC anyway.

With their markup as high as it is, you'd think they would be able to pay their workers a living wage.

You can find WAY better deals on your electronics from places like new egg.com or ebay anyway.

[lpbk2713]

38. Piss on Circuit City

I hope their days are numbered.

[smitty]

43. If you get your wish won't all the employees of CC be thrown

out of work?

[lpbk2713]

51. I tend to think that anyone who works at a place like that ....

must consider it an interim position. That is to say, they took the job until something better came along. So, I don't really think the majority there don't really regard themselves as being in a longtime career position. Just another BushCo era McJob. I could be way off base but if I worked there that's how I would view it.

[grannylib]

39. $12/hour is still about $4/hour less than minimum wage SHOULD be at this point

Fuckin' greedy - ass corporate whores. Gotta keep the CEOs and the gamblers happy, I guess. Screw the folks who are actually doing the work that creates the wealth in which they do not share.

[smitty]

42. For a minimum wage of $16 an hour I'd come out of retirement

and start flippin' burgers.

[grannylib]

44. Can you imagine the positive changes that we would see if people actually

made a living wage? More parents might decide to stay home, at least before and after school, to be with the kids; more savings; more consumer spending to fuel the economy; less absenteeism and illness and stress because people could actually pay their bills; more people paying taxes because they'd be earning more than poverty-level wages....
It just goes on and on.


But rePiglicans think short term, selfish gains for themselves and their ilk (corporate whores and the like) and take no interest in the long-term good of society or the nation and certainly not for the working poor who make the egregious wealth of the fat cats possible.

[smitty]

45. There are two possible disadvantages to a $16 minimum wage:

1. Small businesses might not be able to afford it (businesses with a restricted cash flow cannot afford to give employees a big pay raise).
2. It might be inflationary (i.e., people with lots more money to spend will start bidding up the price of goods).

What do you think?

[grannylib]

46. Oh, I realize it's not something that could be implemented in one fell swoop,

or without taking into account those small businesses and other issues.
It's just that it's where the MW would be today if it had kept pace with inflation.

[smitty]

49. Agreed, increasing the MW to $16 an hour overnight isn't feasible

but it could be accomplished incrementally; the other issues could be dealt with minimal disruption if intelligent planning was done beforehand. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen until after the next Presidential election.

[grannylib]

50. No, if it's taken almost 10 years to get an incremental increase over the

next three, and that just to what, $7 something??? Pretty sad.

I read not too long ago that back in the 70s I think, a minimum wage worker with just the one income would have to work something like 47 hours a week at that wage to afford basic standard of living: apartment, car payment, utilities, food, insurance, etc.
Now, it's 111 hours a week for the same standard of living at today's minimum wage.

Per DOL, from 2000 to 2005, worker productivity in the US rose a record 20%; (corporate profits soared beyond all sanity during that same period, but for some reason, DOL does not post that stat; I e-mailed and asked them to add it) and worker wages over that same time period rose a whopping 2%.
Wow. Kind of puts a big fat lie to the continued statement by business owners that the best way for American workers to improve their lot in life is to improve productivity. Hmmm.

[sthomas]

58. I was an employee at Circuit City

Circuit City is the biggest joke in the world of retail business. I have been with the company for about 5 years until 6 months ago when i decided to quit. I started off as a commission based employee until they ended that pay structure a few years back. So i got stuck with an hourly rate of $15 while they let go of every other employee who were making above $20 an hour. I mean this was the company that told us to make as much money as we can for the company and good things will happen for us. Well if laying off all those hard working, dedicated employees without any notice was a good thing they were talking about then you all reading this can see what kind of corporation Circuit City truly is. I found out a few days ago that Circuit City did the same thing once again by letting go of the rest of the employees that were making probably over $8 or $9 an hour. Many of these employees were my friends, even from back in the day when i first started and many of these people are older, trying to support a family. It is unbelievable that Circuit City can once again prove to be a lowlife of a corporation but hey, that's retail for you and it goes to show you that the company does not care about absolutely anybody, even if its own employees. This is also proven by what the store environment is like as well. When i used to work there as a PC hardware technician i always observed as to how customers would walk into the store and wait and wait for an employee to help them but of course that was hard because of all the hourly cuts that our store in Staten Island had. The employees were there at odd hours and not even hours during the week. I would have to end up dropping my responsibilities and jump in to help whatever customers there were but i would see many of them just walk out saying they would never come into the store again and goto Best Buy which was just about half a mile away. I didn't blame them and i'm glad that they did leave. Management was horrible at my store and that was a major reason that i left, the management truly did not know how to manage it seemed to me that they enjoyed getting their asses kissed by certain employees and getting bought and brought latte to them throughout the day instead of respecting and working with their employees to solve problems. I really hope that this joke of a company does go down the drain and gets dissolved by it's own greed. And i urge everyone reading this that Circuit City should not get your business anymore because they really do not care about anyone...the customers as well as its own employees.

[JCMach1]

59. Welcome to DU and I am sorry you had to deal with that POS

Corporation...

[mvd]

61. Good for Hillary! I won't be buying any products from them.

It's an example of the out of control corporatism that has happened under Bush. This is about as weasely as it gets. They should be fined for unfair practices.