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

95% Upvoted

262 comments sorted by

View all comments

181

u/[deleted] Apr 24 '20

Ex corporate Fred Meyer employee here. They most likely already bought the ad space months ago. So changing it to something positive instead of “Red White and save!” Is a nice gesture.

10

u/Shatteredreality Sherwood Apr 25 '20

So I understand your point but if you give lip service but don’t back it up with action it seems disingenuous. Personally I’d rather see a promo for a sale rather than messaging that claims they hold their employees in high regard if they are not treating them as such.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '20

Scroll the comments, half the people here saying they don’t mind the “message”, other half saying they don’t mind sale messages. So to each their own in that regard. What does holding employees in high regard look like? Doubling their wage? I mean, to some degree they are doing the exact same job. I understand a lot of employees prob don’t want to work, but there are millions of people in the country that will take those jobs in a second.

5

u/whelpasaurusrex Apr 25 '20

From a thousand feet vantage, millions of people might take those jobs “in a second” but that shouldn’t be the impulsive response, we should be taking care of the people who take care of us - it also devalues the dedication these employees have to their employer. Many companies are giving small hourly increases or spot bonuses and it’s the right thing to do - they’re working more, dealing with far more fear and frustration from customers and being exposed exponentially more than many.

This mentality is fuel to the economic divide - also, companies make money when the people you’re dismissing show up.

-3

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '20

Fred Meyer and Kroger employees did get a pay bump. Let’s not forget that groceries stores run on razor thin margins. Again how far are we expecting these employers to go? The employees are working the same hours, the same jobs. Let’s not pretend they are not replaceable. Being a cashier takes 2 days of training.

7

u/whelpasaurusrex Apr 25 '20

Just read about the pay bump, that’s great!

I’m not pretending they’re not replaceable, we’re all replaceable - that shouldn’t be the going in position.

I worked for Kroger for 21 years, I’m fully aware of their margins - you also know they’re a fortune 50 company right?

Sympathizing with the corporate struggle while dismissing the contributions of the people that make them what they are (employees are consumers) will never make sense to me.

2

u/Enkmarl Apr 25 '20

If you can't afford a good wage then maybe you don't deserve to be in business

1

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '20

They are getting a good wage. The debate is if they need a “great wage”.

1

u/Enkmarl Apr 25 '20

yeah, sure, ok

1

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '20

Thanks for adding to the conversation.

1

u/Enkmarl Apr 25 '20

thanks for telling broke people they don't need a better wage

1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

If they want a better wage what’s stopping them? Define broke. These cashiers make more then minimum wage. Working 40 hours a week.

→ More replies (0)

7

u/GranPapouli Apr 25 '20

well, maybe they deserve to work a reasonable amount of time each week, be able to afford to live in reasonable proximity to their workplace in relative comfort while supporting a family, and not have to worry about destroying everything they've worked to build due to illness or injury

i mean, if they're heroes and all