1 sarah you're post about wal-mart is bunk period.unions in this country built the middle class.i'm proud to be a union member and a veteran.don't buy the right-wing hype.fox news and bush 43 are full of shit.they look at people like you and me to take out their trash and clean their f****n house.take your head out of the sand.

2 I don't fault Wal-Mart (though I won't shop there) as much as I fault the U.S. Congress. $5.15/hour (same since 1997) equates to a yearly 2000-hour $10,300 pre-tax. Based on conversion tables (oregonstate.edu) from 1997 to 2004 dollars, that's a 15% pay-cut between 1997 and 2004. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_minimum_wages

3 I think your two previous posters missed he point. It's about unions - not WalMart. Specifically the hypocrasy of some of the union officials. Many union officials are more concerned with justifying thier own pay and perks than with the rank and file. If you're not a dues paying memeber, they won't give you the time of day. But, if you are especially UAW members you don't even necessarily have to do your assigned job.

4 S. Sorry about that last post. I've probably opened a real can of worms. We'll both get flamed by the rabid union sympathizers out there. Nobody can be nastier than a union member who thinks they're being criticized. Please let me say that I know the unions have done some good things. But, it has become just another overblown bureaucracy. There really needs to be some common sense applied. BTW, I've been associated with the UAW for 11 years now. P.

5 Associated with the UAW for 11 years? Well, then, Pamela, you are a candidate to appear at the next State of the Union address, trotted out as an example of a long-time union supporter who has been mistreated by the labor movement and now agrees with the nutcase right wing that anyone with a job is lucky to have one, and that wages and working conditions are properly to be determined by the upper class. What, you don't agree? Of course not, but you must remember that our country is being taken over by wealthy right-wingers, they have an agenda and they don't care much about what you really think, as long as they can use your well-meaning criticism to "prove" their points. There's a time to debate, and a time to close ranks and fight for fairness and dignity.