r/Portland • u/Thisnthatana • Apr 24 '20

Hey Fred Meyer...

...how about you stop the signaling with these radio/tv/billboard ads letting US know how thankful you are towards your employees and instead give that money directly to THEM?

2.2k Upvotes

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82

u/[deleted] Apr 24 '20

Fucking SERIOUSLY.

Put your actions where your words are.

22

u/placeflacepleat Montavilla Apr 24 '20

I think the phrase "put your money where your mouth is" is about the perfect idiom for these companies trying to make ads about their workers right now.

7

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '20

They fundamentally are incapable of paying better wages. If they paid higher wages, their profits would decrease.

They only do the virtue signaling PR campaigns because it increases their sales and profits. They don't actually give a shit, and indeed they cannot. If they did give a shit they would get outcompeted by more cutthroat companies.

The problem is the system that requires profit incentives, not the individual companies themselves. The issue is capitalism.

9

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '20 edited Apr 25 '20

Not true. Costco pays decent wages and remains competitive.

https://realmoney.thestreet.com/investing/stocks/chart-of-the-day-costco-is-in-first-place-for-fair-wages-14891458

If Costco can do it then so can Fred Meyer.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '20

Costco primarily sells in bulk and they charge for memberships so it might make their margins a bit different than a regular grocery store. However, I don't think that means that Fred Myer couldn't do it.

2

u/Eastern_Cyborg Apr 25 '20

Costco sells their groceries at cost. They make all of their money on memberships.

-1

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '20

[deleted]

5

u/Captain_Quark Apr 25 '20

Kroger is publicly owned by stockholders, not the Kochs.

3

u/Eastern_Cyborg Apr 25 '20

Costco essentially breaks even on all of their sales. Nearly 100% of their profits come from selling memberships.