Jewel-Osco: A Cautionary Tale of How Unions Destroy The Market Leader!!!

[GHook93]

If you lived in Chicago, then you know Jewel used to be king of the grocery market. Chicagoan didn't say they were going shopping, they said they were going to Jewel. Fastforward to the last 5 years and you see a market leader in decline. Stories aren't as busy as they used to be and most people say Jewel is their last stop if all else fails. It's not just Walmart and Target that have taken the business, but chains like Meijer, Tony's Finer Food, Mariano's etc have been taken marketshare from Jewel.

What is Jewel's issue? Not selection. They have a bigger and better selection that target or Walmart. Quality? Never has been an issue with Jewel. The problem is price!!! As the only Union shop in the grocery industry, they have higher margins than any of their competitors. These higher margins lead to higher prices and lost marketshare to their competitors!

Unions have made Jewel, the once solo market leader, so non-competitive, that store after store is closing and they are fighting for their continued survival!

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...may-have-short-shelf-life-as-part-of-cerberus
“Jewel needs to become more price-competitive,” Mr. Stern said. “They have to eliminate the price disadvantage they have now versus their competitors. Ineffective merchandising and pricing have been the big things contributing to a loss of market share for Jewel in recent years.”

Low prices are complicated by the benefit-rich unionized workforce Jewel employs, while most of its rivals are non-union.

 

[Freemason9]

Ultimately, the best competitors will be those that find a way to legally use slaves. They will really beat up the unions then, right?

Dumb shit.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Detroit would not have been possible without the Unions

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Ultimately, the best competitors will be those that find a way to legally use slaves. They will really beat up the unions then, right?

Dumb shit.

I've said it before, but there are a few reasons why you useful idiots are always the first one rounded up in a new dictatorship. It's not because you're "Intellectuals" that's a fucking joke and you guys are the punchline. You supported an economic system with a 100% Fail rate and a political system so bad it needs barbed wire, walls and armed guards to keep people in.

 

[GHook93]

Detroit would not have been possible without the Unions

Ultimately, the best competitors will be those that find a way to legally use slaves. They will really beat up the unions then, right?

Dumb shit.

I think Unions have there place and have done some good in the world, but they also have destroyed industries, drove up prices and made industries non-competitive.

Most companies, like the one I work for, doesn't have a union and it's all high paying jobs with good benefits. Mitsubshi, Toyota, Honda, Hyundia and Kia all make their vehicles stateside, pay their employees well and provide great benefits, yet none are strongarmed into bad situations like the Big Three are.

A better solution thanbankrupting our companies and sending industries overseas is to built up the manufacturing sector. A healthy manufacturing sector is 30%>of the work force. As it was in the 50s and 60s. I know you next argument is, US can't compete with low wage China and Mexico. First, both countries are seeing raising wages due to companies having to compete for workers. Second, Germany and Japan have wages that are as high or higher and they both have a manufacturing sector North of 30%. Third, the US has many advantages: (1) Infrastructure (never under-estimate the importance of established infrastructure, (2) Access to the high spending consumer market in the world, (3) Automation and Efficiency (items the China, Mexico and the 3rd world lack and a prime advantage of Germany, Japan and the US), (4) Lower shipping costs to the highest spending market in the world (FACT: It costs less to make a products in America and deliver to US markets than it does to make a product in China and deliver it to US markets (raising labor and shipping costs and speed to the market).

Growing the manufacturing base to 30% of the market, FIGHT illegal immigration and there will be competition for service jobs.

I met some oil rig workers in North Dakota. They told me jobs in McDonald's pay $15-$18 an just to work the friers and cashiers. The oil industry has snatched up so many people, that McDonald's really has to compete for workers. $31K - $37K entry level in the fast food industry isn't bad. I wish I made that in highschool!

The key is, as it always has been, grow the manufacturing sector!!!

 

[Norman]

Ultimately, the best competitors will be those that find a way to legally use slaves. They will really beat up the unions then, right?

Dumb shit.

Yes, because everyone wants to take a job as a slave?

It's in fact the Unions that partly enslave their members to work for them, as the members have to pay for the union services that they may not even want. And that's why I oppose unions, at least the ones where it's mandatory to join the club.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Ultimately, the best competitors will be those that find a way to legally use slaves. They will really beat up the unions then, right?

Dumb shit.

Yes, because everyone wants to take a job as a slave?

It's in fact the Unions that partly enslave their members to work for them, as the members have to pay for the union services that they may not even want. And that's why I oppose unions, at least the ones where it's mandatory to join the club.

American Progressives are the dumbest people on the planet

 

[Freemason9]

Ultimately, the best competitors will be those that find a way to legally use slaves. They will really beat up the unions then, right?

Dumb shit.

I've said it before, but there are a few reasons why you useful idiots are always the first one rounded up in a new dictatorship. It's not because you're "Intellectuals" that's a fucking joke and you guys are the punchline. You supported an economic system with a 100% Fail rate and a political system so bad it needs barbed wire, walls and armed guards to keep people in.

I'm not sure why you started foaming at the mouth and blathering on and on, Frank, but I'd sure like to see your response to my slavery idea. Slavery is the ideal source of low-cost labor for businesses, right?

 

[Freemason9]

Detroit would not have been possible without the Unions

Ultimately, the best competitors will be those that find a way to legally use slaves. They will really beat up the unions then, right?

Dumb shit.

I think Unions have there place and have done some good in the world, but they also have destroyed industries, drove up prices and made industries non-competitive.

Most companies, like the one I work for, doesn't have a union and it's all high paying jobs with good benefits. Mitsubshi, Toyota, Honda, Hyundia and Kia all make their vehicles stateside, pay their employees well and provide great benefits, yet none are strongarmed into bad situations like the Big Three are.

A better solution thanbankrupting our companies and sending industries overseas is to built up the manufacturing sector. A healthy manufacturing sector is 30%>of the work force. As it was in the 50s and 60s. I know you next argument is, US can't compete with low wage China and Mexico. First, both countries are seeing raising wages due to companies having to compete for workers. Second, Germany and Japan have wages that are as high or higher and they both have a manufacturing sector North of 30%. Third, the US has many advantages: (1) Infrastructure (never under-estimate the importance of established infrastructure, (2) Access to the high spending consumer market in the world, (3) Automation and Efficiency (items the China, Mexico and the 3rd world lack and a prime advantage of Germany, Japan and the US), (4) Lower shipping costs to the highest spending market in the world (FACT: It costs less to make a products in America and deliver to US markets than it does to make a product in China and deliver it to US markets (raising labor and shipping costs and speed to the market).

Growing the manufacturing base to 30% of the market, FIGHT illegal immigration and there will be competition for service jobs.

I met some oil rig workers in North Dakota. They told me jobs in McDonald's pay $15-$18 an just to work the friers and cashiers. The oil industry has snatched up so many people, that McDonald's really has to compete for workers. $31K - $37K entry level in the fast food industry isn't bad. I wish I made that in highschool!

The key is, as it always has been, grow the manufacturing sector!!!

McDonalds pays higher wages in North Dakota because nobody wants to live in fucking North Dakota. Alaska has similar wage structures.

 

[Freemason9]

Ultimately, the best competitors will be those that find a way to legally use slaves. They will really beat up the unions then, right?

Dumb shit.

Yes, because everyone wants to take a job as a slave?

It's in fact the Unions that partly enslave their members to work for them, as the members have to pay for the union services that they may not even want. And that's why I oppose unions, at least the ones where it's mandatory to join the club.

Oh, okay.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Ultimately, the best competitors will be those that find a way to legally use slaves. They will really beat up the unions then, right?

Dumb shit.

I've said it before, but there are a few reasons why you useful idiots are always the first one rounded up in a new dictatorship. It's not because you're "Intellectuals" that's a fucking joke and you guys are the punchline. You supported an economic system with a 100% Fail rate and a political system so bad it needs barbed wire, walls and armed guards to keep people in.

I'm not sure why you started foaming at the mouth and blathering on and on, Frank, but I'd sure like to see your response to my slavery idea. Slavery is the ideal source of low-cost labor for businesses, right?

Businesses are not like the Democrat Party, they need educated and resourceful people to produce and market their products

 

[Freemason9]

I've said it before, but there are a few reasons why you useful idiots are always the first one rounded up in a new dictatorship. It's not because you're "Intellectuals" that's a fucking joke and you guys are the punchline. You supported an economic system with a 100% Fail rate and a political system so bad it needs barbed wire, walls and armed guards to keep people in.

I'm not sure why you started foaming at the mouth and blathering on and on, Frank, but I'd sure like to see your response to my slavery idea. Slavery is the ideal source of low-cost labor for businesses, right?

Businesses are not like the Democrat Party, they need educated and resourceful people to produce and market their products

This is truly some stupid, ignorant shit you post on this board, Frank. Do you ever have anything useful to contribute? You know, something above 10th grade level?

 

[GHook93]

Detroit would not have been possible without the Unions

Ultimately, the best competitors will be those that find a way to legally use slaves. They will really beat up the unions then, right?

Dumb shit.

I think Unions have there place and have done some good in the world, but they also have destroyed industries, drove up prices and made industries non-competitive.

Most companies, like the one I work for, doesn't have a union and it's all high paying jobs with good benefits. Mitsubshi, Toyota, Honda, Hyundia and Kia all make their vehicles stateside, pay their employees well and provide great benefits, yet none are strongarmed into bad situations like the Big Three are.

A better solution thanbankrupting our companies and sending industries overseas is to built up the manufacturing sector. A healthy manufacturing sector is 30%>of the work force. As it was in the 50s and 60s. I know you next argument is, US can't compete with low wage China and Mexico. First, both countries are seeing raising wages due to companies having to compete for workers. Second, Germany and Japan have wages that are as high or higher and they both have a manufacturing sector North of 30%. Third, the US has many advantages: (1) Infrastructure (never under-estimate the importance of established infrastructure, (2) Access to the high spending consumer market in the world, (3) Automation and Efficiency (items the China, Mexico and the 3rd world lack and a prime advantage of Germany, Japan and the US), (4) Lower shipping costs to the highest spending market in the world (FACT: It costs less to make a products in America and deliver to US markets than it does to make a product in China and deliver it to US markets (raising labor and shipping costs and speed to the market).

Growing the manufacturing base to 30% of the market, FIGHT illegal immigration and there will be competition for service jobs.

I met some oil rig workers in North Dakota. They told me jobs in McDonald's pay $15-$18 an just to work the friers and cashiers. The oil industry has snatched up so many people, that McDonald's really has to compete for workers. $31K - $37K entry level in the fast food industry isn't bad. I wish I made that in highschool!

The key is, as it always has been, grow the manufacturing sector!!!

McDonalds pays higher wages in North Dakota because nobody wants to live in fucking North Dakota. Alaska has similar wage structures.

Not true. Many people are going to North Dakota because of the oil fields and the competition for low waged service workers is fierce

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

If you lived in Chicago, then you know Jewel used to be king of the grocery market. Chicagoan didn't say they were going shopping, they said they were going to Jewel. Fastforward to the last 5 years and you see a market leader in decline. Stories aren't as busy as they used to be and most people say Jewel is their last stop if all else fails. It's not just Walmart and Target that have taken the business, but chains like Meijer, Tony's Finer Food, Mariano's etc have been taken marketshare from Jewel.

What is Jewel's issue? Not selection. They have a bigger and better selection that target or Walmart. Quality? Never has been an issue with Jewel. The problem is price!!! As the only Union shop in the grocery industry, they have higher margins than any of their competitors. These higher margins lead to higher prices and lost marketshare to their competitors!

Unions have made Jewel, the once solo market leader, so non-competitive, that store after store is closing and they are fighting for their continued survival!

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...may-have-short-shelf-life-as-part-of-cerberus
“Jewel needs to become more price-competitive,” Mr. Stern said. “They have to eliminate the price disadvantage they have now versus their competitors. Ineffective merchandising and pricing have been the big things contributing to a loss of market share for Jewel in recent years.”

Low prices are complicated by the benefit-rich unionized workforce Jewel employs, while most of its rivals are non-union.

Those greedy union workers, always trying to get the highest price for their labor! No other market participants would even dream of trying to get the highest price for what they are selling.


BTW, if the union contract was so bad for Jewel, they should not have signed it. Sounds like a poor business decision on their fault. Blaming the unions is kinda like blaming prospective home buyers for the housing bubble bursting. Like you said, Wal Mart is doing fine w/o union labor. Why can't Jewel? No one forced them to sign a union contract, the law only requires they negotiate in good faith - they don't ever have to take a union agreement.

 

[Freemason9]

I think Unions have there place and have done some good in the world, but they also have destroyed industries, drove up prices and made industries non-competitive.

Most companies, like the one I work for, doesn't have a union and it's all high paying jobs with good benefits. Mitsubshi, Toyota, Honda, Hyundia and Kia all make their vehicles stateside, pay their employees well and provide great benefits, yet none are strongarmed into bad situations like the Big Three are.

A better solution thanbankrupting our companies and sending industries overseas is to built up the manufacturing sector. A healthy manufacturing sector is 30%>of the work force. As it was in the 50s and 60s. I know you next argument is, US can't compete with low wage China and Mexico. First, both countries are seeing raising wages due to companies having to compete for workers. Second, Germany and Japan have wages that are as high or higher and they both have a manufacturing sector North of 30%. Third, the US has many advantages: (1) Infrastructure (never under-estimate the importance of established infrastructure, (2) Access to the high spending consumer market in the world, (3) Automation and Efficiency (items the China, Mexico and the 3rd world lack and a prime advantage of Germany, Japan and the US), (4) Lower shipping costs to the highest spending market in the world (FACT: It costs less to make a products in America and deliver to US markets than it does to make a product in China and deliver it to US markets (raising labor and shipping costs and speed to the market).

Growing the manufacturing base to 30% of the market, FIGHT illegal immigration and there will be competition for service jobs.

I met some oil rig workers in North Dakota. They told me jobs in McDonald's pay $15-$18 an just to work the friers and cashiers. The oil industry has snatched up so many people, that McDonald's really has to compete for workers. $31K - $37K entry level in the fast food industry isn't bad. I wish I made that in highschool!

The key is, as it always has been, grow the manufacturing sector!!!

McDonalds pays higher wages in North Dakota because nobody wants to live in fucking North Dakota. Alaska has similar wage structures.

Not true. Many people are going to North Dakota because of the oil fields and the competition for low waged service workers is fierce

Your statement does not contradict mine at all. Yes, it is true that many people are going to North Dakota because of the oil fields and their are a lot of jobs. HOWEVER, wages are high because--despite the abundance of jobs--there is a severely limited labor pool.

Because NOBODY WANTS TO LIVE IN NORTH DAKOTA. For several reasons, including climate, hillbillies, lack of opportunity, nothing to do, bad roads, no towns, bad infrastructure, laws based upon 1800's society, right wing vigilante groups, rampant alcoholism, no professional opportunities, etc.

Don't kid yourself. North Dakota sucks. Do you know why they have a low unemployment rate? Because nobody in North Dakota stays there if they are unemployed. That would be stupid, because there is no reason to live there except to work.

 

[Avorysuds]

Thanks Obama for killing off another company and destroying more jobs every months than you create!

 

[GHook93]

If you lived in Chicago, then you know Jewel used to be king of the grocery market. Chicagoan didn't say they were going shopping, they said they were going to Jewel. Fastforward to the last 5 years and you see a market leader in decline. Stories aren't as busy as they used to be and most people say Jewel is their last stop if all else fails. It's not just Walmart and Target that have taken the business, but chains like Meijer, Tony's Finer Food, Mariano's etc have been taken marketshare from Jewel.

What is Jewel's issue? Not selection. They have a bigger and better selection that target or Walmart. Quality? Never has been an issue with Jewel. The problem is price!!! As the only Union shop in the grocery industry, they have higher margins than any of their competitors. These higher margins lead to higher prices and lost marketshare to their competitors!

Unions have made Jewel, the once solo market leader, so non-competitive, that store after store is closing and they are fighting for their continued survival!

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...may-have-short-shelf-life-as-part-of-cerberus
“Jewel needs to become more price-competitive,” Mr. Stern said. “They have to eliminate the price disadvantage they have now versus their competitors. Ineffective merchandising and pricing have been the big things contributing to a loss of market share for Jewel in recent years.”

Low prices are complicated by the benefit-rich unionized workforce Jewel employs, while most of its rivals are non-union.

Those greedy union workers, always trying to get the highest price for their labor! No other market participants would even dream of trying to get the highest price for what they are selling.


BTW, if the union contract was so bad for Jewel, they should not have signed it. Sounds like a poor business decision on their fault. Blaming the unions is kinda like blaming prospective home buyers for the housing bubble bursting. Like you said, Wal Mart is doing fine w/o union labor. Why can't Jewel? No one forced them to sign a union contract, the law only requires they negotiate in good faith - they don't ever have to take a union agreement.

Not a simple as you state. Unions use thuggery. If they didn't sign the bill, they go on strike. They picket and do whatever to take away profits for the workers. In the end the company has to sign a less than favorable contract.

You say it's not all the Union's fault and you are correct. Mismanagement played a role. However, the Unions are a big part of the downfall of Jewel from undisputed market leader to dead man walking!

 

[Freemason9]

I just read today that around 80% of Walmart employees use food stamps to make ends meet, due to low wages paid by the company. Walmart costs U.S. taxpayers about $6 billion annually to help support its underpaid employees through food stamps, ADC, and other welfare programs.

Walmart is a cancer.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

I just read today that around 80% of Walmart employees use food stamps to make ends meet, due to low wages paid by the company. Walmart costs U.S. taxpayers about $6 billion annually to help support its underpaid employees through food stamps, ADC, and other welfare programs.

Walmart is a cancer.

Not just Walmart dear, but all of ugly corporate America. If they would just offer enough jobs at the right wages no human being in America would be unemployed or underpaid!!

Why not pass a law mandating this???? It is tragic but all too true that not one liberal as the IQ to understand why such a mandate would be stupid!!

 

[GHook93]

I work for a large global corporation. At my location in Chicago there are over 500 alone. None make less than $50K and many, like myself, make over $100K. We have health, dental, Disability, education reimbursements, 401k with a contribution and flex time off.

We don't have now and never had a Union. So how did the employees get high wages and good benefits without Union?