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Can’t Discount Corporate Greed: Circuit City Axes 3,400 Workers |
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It’s one thing to discount flat-screen televisions and computer software, but when a company discounts its workers the way Circuit City did this week, it is simply immoral and offensive.
The electronics retailer whacked 3,400 of its hourly workers simply because the company thinks they were being paid too much. Didn’t ask them to take pay cuts to keep their jobs at lower salaries. Just “goodbye.”
The company, based in Richmond, Va., is not eliminating the jobs, mind you. Circuit City says it will immediately hire new workers to fill the jobs at lower pay.
Anyone can apply for those jobs right now, except the 3,400 worker who were fired. The company says the fired workers can reapply for their jobs down the road, in 10 weeks. By then, they might be hungry enough to take the slop Circuit City is offering.
As blatant as a daylight robbery on a busy street, Circuit City admits that tossing the 3,400 employees out of work—some with more than 20 years experience—has nothing, repeat nothing, to do with the workers’ job performance. Straight from the horse’s mouth (complete that phrase another way, if you like), Circuit City spokesman Bill Cimino says:
It had nothing to do with their skills or whether they were a good worker or not.
In Roanoke, Va., 47-year-old Bobby Young, with more than 20 years at Circuit City, was given the boot when his boss handed him a letter yesterday morning addressed “to whom it may concern.” He told WSLS News Channel 10:
What they did as a company to me, it’s not the American way. I’m just lost right now. I’m lost. I don’t know what I’m going to do.
Without the protection of a union and a collective bargaining contract, the 3,400 workers have few options to fight back.
Warren Bennis, who teachs leadership at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, slammed the firings as “demeaning and counterproductive”
Several business observers said there is likely to be a public backlash because of the harshness of the move. Hamilton Smith, an 88-year-old retired federal worker, may have been speaking for a lot of people when he told an Associated Press reporter at a Circuit City store in Falls Church, Va., that he just might stop shopping at any of the chain’s stores.
“You need to give people a living, working wage.”
Apparently not if you’re Circuit City.
Surprise. There was no word from Circuit City headquarters if any of the best-paid corporate types—including CEO Philip Schoonover, who the Rocky Mountain News reports was paid $8.52 million in fiscal 2006, including a $975,000 salary—were axed to save a few bucks. Don’t hold your breath.
13 Comments
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Big business in the USA and its race to the bottom has taken a new and even more agressive twist. They are no longer trying to hide their true agendas by distorting the truth and lying to us. They flat out have waged war on the entire labor movement.
I know that I will never purchase from this company ever again unless the become unionized and with an impressive contract!
I saw this on the news this morning and I was absolutely stunned!I hope Circuit City goes belly up. It sickens be that I have spent so much money there. Well, never again, unless it’s a big going out of business sale. You know they won’t pass the savings on to consumers. They are no better than Walmart with their execs making wages and bonuses in the millions while their employee’s children receive welfare to cover medical expenses. It’s a damned shame.
There are important facts that we as U.S. consumers and workers must remember about this tragedy: 1) Circuit City is NOT going broke! 2) The firings are all about the bosses saving money as they will hire replacements at a cheaper wage level.3) Circuit City bosses are after one thing and one thing only; HIGHER PROFIT MARGINS!
I say we push harder for Employee Free Choice, encourage the labor movement to begin organizing after passage of this bill and we need to consider legislation that will outlaw companies making money to just abandon their workforce as Circuit City, Levi’s and others have done in the past!
Circuit City sells about 50% junk…..you get much better deals by shopping around on the internet…I for one will boycott the big PATRIOTIC company…
Once again corporate greed shows that they don’t care about anyone but themselves, maybe this will help to bring more workers to realize why they need the protection of a Union. If this trend continues we will be a third world country.
Well…CNN is doing a good job today bringing it to our attention that which we workers already know…that we are losing wages and jobs while the top 1% have gotten 400 times richer in the past year or so. Perusing this web site and others similar, I am seeing where the labor movement as a whole is hard at work attempting to salvage what is left of our jobs, wages, health care and pension benefits, not only for us American workers, but globally as well. We all know the agenda and we all know the devisive tactics of corporate america. So, my question is this. Is it time for a one day national illegal strike/march on washington where the banner says: You may have the money and the power, but we have the numbers….don’t xxxx w/us! This ‘illegal’ strike could be deemed legal if the basis of the strike was to repeal that part of the Taft-Hartley Act which prohibits union members striking in solidarity w/yet another striking union. Just a thought. thanks, sue
Corporate greed equals capitalism. Back during the Cold War, capitalism needs the American Middle Class to protect it from Communism. But now that the Cold War is over, capitalism has nothing more to fear except for a few Islamist extremists; therefore, capitalism feels it can do away with the American Middle Class in any way it can by sending jobs to and investing its capital in Communist China. In the final analysis, capitalism will do very in FaScist states where the voice and freedoms of the many are subjugated to the overall power of the state or of one person. In the case of Circuit City firing 3,600 employees so that its CEO can collect millions of dollars, this is pure fascism, isn’t it?
[...] Robert McLaws wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIt’s one thing to discount flat-screen televisions and computer software, but when a company discounts its workers the way Circuit City did this week, it is simply immoral and offensive. … [...]
[...] Robert McLaws wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIt’s one thing to discount flat-screen televisions and computer software, but when a company discounts its workers the way Circuit City did this week, it is simply immoral and offensive. … [...]
In regards to comments by sue, I’m in total agreement! It is time for another “National Strike” like the steel strike of 1919. During this strike 1 out of 5 workers were out on strike. sympathy strikes were common place. It is time for the workers of america to shut this country down until we are treated fairly once again.
Union members in Ontario recently attempted to pass a bill banning the use of replacement strikers. It failed by one vote. It is time for all of our unions to ban together and pass such a bill here in the USA. Until our right to strike is safe guarded by protection from replacements, it will not give us the power we need to combat corporate greed.
I belong to UE506 and I remember PATCO and Reagan. I was veryy disappointed that none of the Unions including my own did nothing. What have should have been done was lost by being apathetic. I am not saying was that PATCO was right and according to their contract was a no strike clause. But as unionist we should have gone on strike for a few days or a week. Our government spends money before we make it would have been in hurt. The same with Circuit City a national boycott . Remember CEO Philip Schoonover Address: 9950 Mayland Dr., Richmond, VA 23233 Phone: 804-527-4000 still takes home 2.1 million and stops paying into Social Security at 90K.
Just thinking of that … now what are WE going to do just lay down.
Lou Cioccio
I am the 47 year old mentioned in the top of this story from Roanoke, va and i would just like to Thank you all for the support that everyone has given us by not supporting a company that did not and will not support in workers. thanks
I just heard an ad for a discount at Circuit City if you are a AAA club member.
I’ve written to the Auto Club and I encourage every member to write and tell them how appalled you are by this association.