What is Digg?184 Comments
- RuffRidr, on 10/10/2007, -3/+96Its not just Walmart. Grocery baggers working for tips seems to be the norm down there.
- Jonjonr6, on 10/10/2007, -4/+70Think of it this way:
Walmart doesn't employ baggers. However, Walmart is letting kids come in and provide a private service for tip money.
It's no different than the homeless guy who started picking up garbage for tips. The city could give him a job doing that.
I'm not saying its right or wrong, but atleast its and opportunity for the kids to learn responsibility and to make some money. - timusca, on 10/10/2007, -9/+59How is Wal-Mart at fault for this? Its not like they're enslaving people to bag groceries... they VOLUNTEERED!!!
- iBenzin, on 10/10/2007, -1/+46Yea thats the normal thing to do. why do you think they are making a profit down there? so next time you go down to mexico at your good ol' walmart, tip the bagger please.
- bzImage, on 10/10/2007, -0/+28Hey it has been always like that, when i was younger (15 to 20 years ago) i was a bagger for the "Conasupo", and later "Comercial Mexicana".
I never got any proper payment, just the tips that the customers gave me.
And in order to have the "privilege" to be a bagger we had to do chores around the store (collect shopping cars, carry boxes, help cleaning, etc.)
This is nothing new down here in Mexico, it has nothing to do with walmart. - PatoLucas, on 10/10/2007, -2/+30True, I'm a mexican (living in México, spare me the bs) and since kid every single grocery store does this, kind like a tradition.
This is also great for kids who can't get some bucks, and actually some stores like HEB help parents with the kid's school expenses. - Alphateam, on 10/10/2007, -0/+26I have seen is every store I went to. If I remember right it even says it on their blue smocks in white lettering about only being paid in tips. In English of course.
Its a good job for a kid. Life sucks down there. - lukas88, on 10/10/2007, -3/+26I'm not a walmart fan, but consider how grateful the 4300 people will be after they don't have that opportunity any more. Make sure you go down there and let them know how much you helped them by making walmart fire them.
- kittynipples, on 10/10/2007, -1/+22Hey kids, stop by a DoD Commissary sometime. None of the baggers there work for more than tips either.
- pandasonic, on 10/10/2007, -4/+25I grew up in Ecuador, like Mexico except smaller and more effed up. This is what some of the less fortunate kids do as volunteer work in hopes that someone will give them tips. It's not really Walmart trying to exploit them. They don't even have baggers in their stores here in the U.S. (last time I checked at least). I really don't support Walmart practices but I think this time they're not to blame. All we'll probably gain from this is the ban of these kids at all W stores in Mexico, then they'll really have nothing to eat. Good job America, once again all you do to solve a problem is open your big effing mouth and manage to make the problem bigger in the process.
- vividgates, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16It's either bagging groceries or other alternatives, such as joining gangs, working the fields in the sun, hanging out with no job and education, etc.
The article doesn't give much context of the cultural and economic situation down south of the border for one to really consider the moral implications of this situation. - noahhoward, on 10/10/2007, -7/+22This article is extremely sensationalist, they are making a problem out of nothing. They are not unpaid, they earn tips from the people they help. They are not "volunteers" implying they were bought into slavery or some such nonsense, they are volunteers, they had no money and they opted for a way to make money.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15In UK we bag it ourselves.
- migraineboy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13I live in Guadalajara, Mexico and this is the norm. The owner of the Costco franchise also owns a chain of grocery stores down here called Comercial Mexicana and they have the same practice. I'm not justifying this practice and I don't like it, but it is how things work. Alphateam says that this is "a good job for a kid", but I would beg to differ. These kids are working a lot for nothing but tips, which isn't much.
- floppyparty, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13" 'These kids should receive a salary,' says Labor Undersecretary Patricia Espinosa Torres. 'If you ask me, I don't think these kids should be working, but there are cultural and social circumstances [in Mexico] rooted in poverty and scarcity.' "
This digg article title is misleading. They work for tips, it doesn't sound that bad to me. I've seen military commissary baggers make tons of money here in the US, and they are not paid, but simply working for tips. Nowhere in the article does it give an average daily income of these "unpaid teenagers" - geekfrom99, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11don't we still have this in the us? if not then it couldn't have been that long ago. i remember seeing teenagers bagging groceries for tips at the military base grocery stores (can't remember what they are called)
- manano, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11I grew up in Mexico, and I can tell you that part time jobs for teenagers are very rare. Given the opportunity to be a "cerillito" as the baggers are affectionately known, I would have taken it to help pay my way. It may not be properly regulated, but it is self-regulated and as many posters have said, it's 100% voluntary.
- davin510, on 10/10/2007, -3/+14You can't judge another culture w/ the standards of your own. What seems corrupt or exploitative to you may be seen as normal elsewhere, and there is no way to say which culture is correct.
- SPECOPS, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13It is hard for me to see the difference in Wal Mart letting kids (or anyone really) come in and bag and carry stuff to cars for tips, but no one blinks an eye when Walmart lets a Church group conduct a car wash in the parking lot (both bringing in customers to Walmart, and letting them use Walmarts parking lot and water, and quite often facilities (bathroom) for free. What's the difference? They come to bag the groceries/stuff because they want to make some money. Walmart is not forcing them to come to work for free, and threaten to fire them if they don't come in. It's voluntary, and to tell you the truth the tips for baggers I've seen in many small grocery stores in the South, like Kentucky and Tennessee.
- screwzluse, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11This also happens on Naval bases in the US at the grocery stores. I imagine it's really not that uncommon.
- lsatkins, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11In military grocerty stores (Commisary) the baggers just get tips. At least in the Air Force ones. Usually they were retired people or old Asian women.
- monkeyrun, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11I think the Americans are going after Walmart like it's Scientology or something.
- montagg, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Anyone want to talk about the thousands of unpaid interns working in the entertainment industry, in the good ole USA? This story doesn't seem that far off-base from that. It's the way that particular market works. Should it? Probably not, but there's no way to change once the precedence has been set.
- shellnet, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8When I was a kid, growing up on different Air Force Bases, there was at least one commissary where a bunch of white Americans bagged groceries for tips only. I inquired about a job when I was 16 and I was told there was good money to be made and a long list of people in front of me waiting for a bagger position. Seems like a fair practice to me. Don't get me wrong; I avoid Wal-Mart at all cost.
- 5urr3al5am, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8good for those hardworking Mexicans!.. this could be a great answer for the American poor/homeless... if you can stand on the street and beg.. why can't you stand at a counter and bag... and make legit money
- flink405, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8File this story in the "What negative thing can Diggers say about America or an American company today?"
When I was a kid a lot of my friends worked at the local grocery store as baggers working for tips. And this was in the U.S.
Lots of waiters in the U.S. get a real low minimum wage and make it up on tips.
Waiters in Europe get paid from tips - in Germany they automatically add 15% to the bill for the tip to pay the waiter or waitress. - Leomarth, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8The US Military, in it's base exchanges, allow teenagers to be baggers and to help carry groceries out for customers. Their pay? Only tips. The US Military does not allow the exchange to pay them wages.
Now, I must admit, this may have changed. My last experience with it was about five years ago. If it's different now, correct me. However it won't change that it was the policy for decades. - noahhoward, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Exactly, it is a good job, especially depending on where you're at. $100/day at some officer heavy bases. Great job for a kid.
- BabaRamDass, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8You never answered his question: how is Wal-Mart at fault for this? They're basically saying, "Yeah, you can bag groceries here and collect the tips under these conditions: a) you must wear this uniform and b) you can't come and go as you please." And these people say, "OK! We'll do it." It's without a doubt a voluntary agreement between Wal-Mart and these people; they are free to stop volunteering whenever they want, and they go into it knowing that they'll a) have to pay for the uniform and b) follow the agreement outlined above. *Why* they're doing it is irrelevant; as long as both parties are in voluntary agreement about the arrangement, I think it's great as it helps Wal-Mart, the volunteers, and the shoppers.
- xposiactionx, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8Like the other guy commented, its money they would not be making without Walmart, and Walmart sure as ***** isn't going to decide to pay them, they would rather just discontinue the practice. So before you try to lay the heavy hand of "american justice" down, get a perspective. These teens are more than likely trying to subsidize their families income that is next to nothing as well.
You think the kid on the street selling you craft items is getting paid a wage? Nope. How bout the towel boy at the 2 star hotel? Probably not, and if so, probably less than a buck an hour. - parasitewasp, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8Do-gooders like Labor Undersecretary Patricia Espinosa Torre should make walmart stop allowing these children to work for tips. They should be forced into prostitution...end results sometimes suck but as long as there were good intentions to start with.
- BabaRamDass, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6skjede, if you read what the guy said you'd see that he said it is a PRIVATE SERVICE. How the hell does one infer he implies public service from that? The fact is these kids and Wal-Mart are exercising the time-honored arrangement of "quid-pro-quo". Wal-Mart allows these kids, who probably have little to no real world work experience, to bag groceries without a wage. Why would anyone work for nothing voluntarily? Because they aren't working for nothing; they're gaining real world work experience and some modest cash from the shoppers who are kind enough to tip. I think it's great, and it helps everyone... Wal-Mart, the volunteers, and the shoppers.
- solidfusion, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7While I don't exactly care for some of walmart's business tactics, I must admit that walmart is not to blame for this. I have visited countries in Central and South America and many, many stores do this. All the grocery stores and major chain stores have "baggers" that expect you to tip them. These people are there completely voluntarily and are happy to work for the tips they receive.
- litebox, on 10/10/2007, -5/+11You see that's what they want you to think, i am Mexican, and i live in Mexico, and i had friends who had been working as baggers on grocery stores, first of all, they are obligated to use a uniform, like the store uniform, which they have to pay for it, they are not just volunteering in the way that they can leave whenever they want, no, they have shifts and have to work through them. Most of them are from 10 to 13 years of age, or very old people. They do this because their families need it, these are not boys who are going to spend their money on videogames or ***** like that, they provide to their families in most cases for school supplies, or money for public transport. I really think is a bad thing this companies don't even offer a book scholarship or some kind of support for these kids specially for their own education.
- SadMartigan, on 11/25/2008, -0/+6If this were happening in the U.S. the kids doing it would be looked down upon as being 'lame' and they would eventually quit, or demand better for themselves, or their parents would stop letting them ruin their 'self-esteem'
- pogfreak, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Then Wallmart should just leave and those people working for tips can go back to robbing people and starving to death.
- Anrkist, on 10/10/2007, -7/+13Welcome to the World of Waiting Tables... err, I Mean Working for Walmart.
- kenshin159, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7I have a lot of family in Mexico and travel there constantly, this is the norm there, baggers work for tips. No news here people.
- jkizzle, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5we always used to tip at the local iga before they were run out of business. the kids would bag the groceries and load them into the car as a standard service. those kids did get minimum wage though...
- Ranferi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5The brand is called "Sabritas", and they are good as hell. I myself have been to many mexican stores trying to find them, but it's no good.
- dblespresso, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Yes but in the digg mindset everyone at every level should be paid a living wage. Therefore they should be dis-allowed. And sent to starve and the digg community cheered their superiority
- Ndiggnation, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7Will someone please think of the children, and stop them from getting any money altogether through this evil slavery tactic? I hear they ship children from the nether regions of Africa in chains for this!
- jasoncz1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Let them bag for you, help them pay for school!
- johnpowell, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Well, WalMart is the biggest employer in the USA..
http://ask.yahoo.com/20040802.html - anteyekon4myst, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Good point.
- parasitewasp, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5When I was in the Army, I'd bag my own stuff and carry it for free.
I went to France a few years ago and was surprised that you have to do that by yourself anyway. - HabboX, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5The kids don't bag the merchandise. Just like in the USA the stuff is bagged by the cashier and you have to carry it out yourself. In Mexico there are kids that will carry the bags out to the customer's car. These kids aren't working for Wal-Mart, they are working for the Wal-Mart customers. So they get paid a gratuity. This is not only a cultural norm in Mexico, but it is, or has been, the norm here in the United States.
- noahhoward, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Also, Wal-Mart doesn't have baggers in the states.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -4/+8Socialism and Communism are exactly the same. If you want your country to turn into a *****, then adopt communism aka socialism.
- StudsTurkel, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6That is the sad part of political correctness, without morals anything can be OK. Child porn, genocide, euthanasia, anything. But still schools and colleges teach that other cultures are different and we cannot judge them as evil/barbaric/disgusting.
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