cracked butt
Member
Yup, I buy alot of the WWB pistol ammo from walmart, but have no use for most of the other stuff they sell- they don't stock alot of the calibers that I shoot, and they don't sell reloading supplies.
Walmart . . . Again
- Thread starter cdbeaver
- Start date
- Status
joab
Member
Who doesn't? I just added the 46th gun to my collection today and was told for the 46th time no abbreviations
Cosmoline
Member
Not even an FFL holder. I have no tolerance for crappy service at any gun store. But frankly I've never been treated as Wal-Mart treats its gun buyers. Not even the rudest idiot at a local gun store has ever insisted they need to escort me to the door! Unless you are a uniformed LEO you don't "escort" me ANYWHERE. I am not a sheep to be herded, thank you very much.
What genuinely gets me banging my head into the wall is yet another thread about how abusive Wal-Mart staff is to gun buyers who will in the NEXT POST defend Wal-Mart like it's their home country and insist that you'd have to be a communist to not shop there.
It's insane, people. If any other store had the idiotic ink rules, the long waits for service, and escorted you to the door like a shoplifter, you'd be crying for a boycott. But when it comes to Wal-Mart entire sections of the gun-owning public seem to be utterly blind.
Mulliga
Member
All the gun shops near me have so-so service and crappy prices. Sapp's Pawn and Archery, for example, charges 9 bucks for 4 ounces of Breakfree CLP(!). M&C Army Surplus charges 430 bucks for a WASR-10(!)
. Harry Beckwith charges 6 bucks for every half-hour of time on his handgun range. And so on...The owner of Sapp's also couldn't even be bothered to check on the price of an 870P for me...gee, thanks.
While they do escort you to the door, never at Wally World have people declined to call their distributing centers and ask for prices and availability. Maybe all the gun stores near my place are crappy, but I'm not going to shop there just because it might help preserve RKBA.
Cosmoline
Member
There's a fine line between bargain hunting and penny pinching. But you may find one day that the cost of those Wal-Mart bargains was very high indeed. I would suggest you've already paid too high a price if you've ever allowed a manager to escort you out "for safety" after having the nerve to buy a gun at his store. No savings is worth your self respect.
Cosmoline,
I can respect your choice to not shop at Wal-Mart, but I am going to have to disagree with you. I have never bought a gun from Wal-Mart, but I have made several purchases from a large sporting goods chain that “escorts†customers out. I always thought it had to with the fact that they were connected to a shopping mall and this was something that the mall wanted them to do, but I am not positive. Frankly, it did really hurt my self-respect all that much. I was going to leave anyway and the salesman was more bothered by it than I was.
In purchasing a firearm, I am looking for a good price and good customer service. I can’t say which is more important, but they are pretty close. The local gun stores wanted $1200 for a gun that the sporting goods chain was selling for $950. Was the “escort†worth $250? In this case, it was. Now don’t get me wrong, I am sure I am annoyed by things that wouldn’t bother other people. I don’t like being ignored by salespeople. If they are busy, that is one thing, but if they are just chatting with each other I am out of there. The same holds true if they are condescending. My wife was looking for a carry gun at one of the local stores. They tried to steer her towards a .22 Beretta. She never said anything about being bothered by recoil or wanting a tiny gun. Needless to say, we left.
I think that I am so conditioned to put up with a lot of hassle to purchase a gun, that it might be easy to tolerate some rudeness. Here in MI, the only easy sales are private sales and then only if they are long guns. If you buy a handgun, not only do you have to put up with the forms, you have to sign a state form saying you received a lock and then you have to have it “inspected†at your local PD, by someone that may or may not be careful with your new purchase.
I can respect your choice to not shop at Wal-Mart, but I am going to have to disagree with you. I have never bought a gun from Wal-Mart, but I have made several purchases from a large sporting goods chain that “escorts†customers out. I always thought it had to with the fact that they were connected to a shopping mall and this was something that the mall wanted them to do, but I am not positive. Frankly, it did really hurt my self-respect all that much. I was going to leave anyway and the salesman was more bothered by it than I was.
In purchasing a firearm, I am looking for a good price and good customer service. I can’t say which is more important, but they are pretty close. The local gun stores wanted $1200 for a gun that the sporting goods chain was selling for $950. Was the “escort†worth $250? In this case, it was. Now don’t get me wrong, I am sure I am annoyed by things that wouldn’t bother other people. I don’t like being ignored by salespeople. If they are busy, that is one thing, but if they are just chatting with each other I am out of there. The same holds true if they are condescending. My wife was looking for a carry gun at one of the local stores. They tried to steer her towards a .22 Beretta. She never said anything about being bothered by recoil or wanting a tiny gun. Needless to say, we left.
I think that I am so conditioned to put up with a lot of hassle to purchase a gun, that it might be easy to tolerate some rudeness. Here in MI, the only easy sales are private sales and then only if they are long guns. If you buy a handgun, not only do you have to put up with the forms, you have to sign a state form saying you received a lock and then you have to have it “inspected†at your local PD, by someone that may or may not be careful with your new purchase.
I live in Ohio, and we just got our CCW law. There are many retailers in the area that are posting no carry signs, including one of the major shopping malls.
Walmart has a corporate policy of allowing legal concealed policy in their stores. For me that's a big plus for Walmart.
I've never purchased a gun at Walmart, but I do buy ammo there. I've had a wide variety of experiences buying ammo there. Some clerks are helpful, some are clueless. None have been beligerant.
I would consider buying a gun at Walmart. Being escorted out of the store is likely there response to the lawsuit happy society we live in. Walmart has deep pockets and makes a good target for lawyers and money grabbers. If you don't like the escort, start protesting by contacting your congresmen about tourt reform.
Walmart is one of the few large chain stores of it's type to still sell firearms. You won't find firearms at Kmart or Target. They are far from perfect, and you'll very likely get much better service at a gun shop. Selling guns is not their main business like a gun shop. They are much more likely to have clueless sales people. Processing the paperwork will take longer.
However, they buy in huge volume, so their prices are good. You decide if it's worth the extra money for better service.
Personally, my pride isn't harmed such things as being escorted through the store. It's just another silly rule made up to keep lawyers happy. I suspect it's much more embarrasing for the manager that has to escort you. He's the representative of the company that's has to enforce the stupid rule. Being in his position would hurt my pride.
Walmart has a corporate policy of allowing legal concealed policy in their stores. For me that's a big plus for Walmart.
I've never purchased a gun at Walmart, but I do buy ammo there. I've had a wide variety of experiences buying ammo there. Some clerks are helpful, some are clueless. None have been beligerant.
I would consider buying a gun at Walmart. Being escorted out of the store is likely there response to the lawsuit happy society we live in. Walmart has deep pockets and makes a good target for lawyers and money grabbers. If you don't like the escort, start protesting by contacting your congresmen about tourt reform.
Walmart is one of the few large chain stores of it's type to still sell firearms. You won't find firearms at Kmart or Target. They are far from perfect, and you'll very likely get much better service at a gun shop. Selling guns is not their main business like a gun shop. They are much more likely to have clueless sales people. Processing the paperwork will take longer.
However, they buy in huge volume, so their prices are good. You decide if it's worth the extra money for better service.
Personally, my pride isn't harmed such things as being escorted through the store. It's just another silly rule made up to keep lawyers happy. I suspect it's much more embarrasing for the manager that has to escort you. He's the representative of the company that's has to enforce the stupid rule. Being in his position would hurt my pride.
Highland Ranger
Member
We have a local Sporting goods store (Ramseys for those in NJ) who does the same thing . . . . I've stopped shopping there because of very poor service. This is just one aspect of it . . . . . that didn't particularly bother me but didn't really make sense either.
I can go load the gun right outside and come back in as others have said, so I don't get it. But if you want me to leave without spending any more money, that's fine by me!
I can go load the gun right outside and come back in as others have said, so I don't get it. But if you want me to leave without spending any more money, that's fine by me!
Cosmoline
Member
I don't see it as a minor issue. I see it as a statement that they consider firearm buyers dangerous and want you out of their store ASAP. Let me ask you this. The next time you buy your iron at Wal-Mart, refuse to go with the manager. Just refuse, say you have some more shopping to do. If he says "no problem" and leaves you alone with your rifle, I'll stand corrected.
But my guess is you are NOT free to do this, and your refusal to leave the store would cause them to alert security. Ergo that little "escort" out of the store is in effect the same escort they give screaming nutjobs and nogoodnicks. You are not free. You are in the manager's custody. THAT is wholly unacceptable and not to be tolerated. I am deeply disturbed that so many of you seem to just shrug your shoulders and abide with it because it's corporate policy. So what if it is? Seems like a darn good reason to stop shopping at that armpit of a store.
Also, there is no legal reason why they would have to take you into custody and escort you away just because you have a firearm you purchased. It's insane.
But my guess is you are NOT free to do this, and your refusal to leave the store would cause them to alert security. Ergo that little "escort" out of the store is in effect the same escort they give screaming nutjobs and nogoodnicks. You are not free. You are in the manager's custody. THAT is wholly unacceptable and not to be tolerated. I am deeply disturbed that so many of you seem to just shrug your shoulders and abide with it because it's corporate policy. So what if it is? Seems like a darn good reason to stop shopping at that armpit of a store.
Also, there is no legal reason why they would have to take you into custody and escort you away just because you have a firearm you purchased. It's insane.
Lord Bodak
Member
Dick's (the sporting goods chain) down here in Virginia Beach escorted me to the door when I bought my 10/22. We did the paperwork at the gun counter, then he took the gun up front to the register, I paid, we walked out the door, and only then did he hand it to me.
It does seem somewhat silly, but they are welcome to have whatever silly policies they want-- the service was good and the price was right.
Now, a day or two ago I said I've had good experiences with Wal-Mart. Spoke too soon! This evening I needed to stop in for some things, so I figured I'd grab another box of WWB. Waited a couple minutes at the sporting goods counter, no one was there. Walked through literally half the store and did not see a single employee.
During this time, someone else also wanted ammunition, and managed to find an employee to page someone to sporting goods. 15 minutes and 4 pages later, nobody had showed up. I gave up-- I don't need ammo enough to wait a half hour on a Friday night.
It does seem somewhat silly, but they are welcome to have whatever silly policies they want-- the service was good and the price was right.
Now, a day or two ago I said I've had good experiences with Wal-Mart. Spoke too soon! This evening I needed to stop in for some things, so I figured I'd grab another box of WWB. Waited a couple minutes at the sporting goods counter, no one was there. Walked through literally half the store and did not see a single employee.
During this time, someone else also wanted ammunition, and managed to find an employee to page someone to sporting goods. 15 minutes and 4 pages later, nobody had showed up. I gave up-- I don't need ammo enough to wait a half hour on a Friday night.
I've never purchased a firearm at Walmart so I'm not sure of what will occur if you were to say you had to do more shopping after doing the paperwork.
MY guess is that they would hold it for you (kept in the room where the gun was stored) until you were ready to leave and escort you out then. It would be an interesting exercise to go through to see what would happen but the only gun WM sells that I would be interested in is the 10/22 but I have plenty of those and am following the light boycott concerning the Ruger-mag cap issue.
I have, however, been escorted out (to the door after financial transaction at the counter) after running through the paperwork of transferring a few guns (on seperate occassions) at a Gander Mountain. I have, also, been escorted to the checkout counter (from the gun section in the back of the building - handgun purchase) at a gun shop (Vance's in OH). I think, though, this was more of making sure the gun isn't stolen instead of safety.
MY guess is that they would hold it for you (kept in the room where the gun was stored) until you were ready to leave and escort you out then. It would be an interesting exercise to go through to see what would happen but the only gun WM sells that I would be interested in is the 10/22 but I have plenty of those and am following the light boycott concerning the Ruger-mag cap issue.
I have, however, been escorted out (to the door after financial transaction at the counter) after running through the paperwork of transferring a few guns (on seperate occassions) at a Gander Mountain. I have, also, been escorted to the checkout counter (from the gun section in the back of the building - handgun purchase) at a gun shop (Vance's in OH). I think, though, this was more of making sure the gun isn't stolen instead of safety.
Mr. Mysterious
Member
Guess I better not tell you what the ranges by me charges for a half-hour.
As for escorting out, I don't care. The Galyans by me escorts you to the door and the gun has to be in a case. No big deal, it is their store, they can do what they like.
First gun I bought there I did ask them why, they basically said it was to 1) keep you from walking into the mall that is connected to it, and 2) Keep you from freaking out the non-gunners.
Its really not that much of an inconvenience, the entire transaction and paperwork is completed at the gun counter and the walk to the door takes the same amount of time with our without a manager.
Some of the Galyan employees are reluctant to remover trigger guards on guns. A couple year ago a guy walked in, looked at a shotty...popped a round in and blew his brains out.
larry_minn
Member
I had a Fleet Supply clerk want to (escort me) when I bought 300 or so rds of 9mm Blazer ($5 a box and for training where you leave brass why not use cheap stuff) 
I took him along and loaded him down with water softener salt and other stuff. My PERSONAL shopping supplies barrer. He soon gave up and handed me the ammo while he went for pallet cart.
I did have a gal do the escort at Wally World in the cities. I asked her what her parents thought when she told them she was working as a Night Escort. She dang near dropped my ammo. : (BTW this was before I got married) BUT I would do it again.
They are worried about a couple hundred rds of ammo what about the 21rds I have on me?
.Cosmoline posted...
I don't see it as a minor issue. I see it as a statement that they consider firearm buyers dangerous and want you out of their store ASAP. Let me ask you this. The next time you buy your iron at Wal-Mart, refuse to go with the manager. Just refuse, say you have some more shopping to do. If he says "no problem" and leaves you alone with your rifle, I'll stand corrected.
But my guess is you are NOT free to do this, and your refusal to leave the store would cause them to alert security. Ergo that little "escort" out of the store is in effect the same escort they give screaming nutjobs and nogoodnicks. You are not free. You are in the manager's custody. THAT is wholly unacceptable and not to be tolerated. I am deeply disturbed that so many of you seem to just shrug your shoulders and abide with it because it's corporate policy. So what if it is? Seems like a darn good reason to stop shopping at that armpit of a store. ...
Never bought gun there but as said I do that with ammo. I would make manager my rifle bearer.
Of course I would likely just take the gun and start walking. Let him TRY to keep up. I did that at a Menards where I got a junker Fire Extinguisher. They gave me a new one and I wished checker Merry Xmas and walked out. She came after me into dark parking lot to ask if I had reciept (as she knew I had not paid anyone.) I said "yep" and she went back in. Not the brightest bulb to do that but I do have to give her creidit for wanting to ask. Even if stupid.
I took him along and loaded him down with water softener salt and other stuff. My PERSONAL shopping supplies barrer. He soon gave up and handed me the ammo while he went for pallet cart. I did have a gal do the escort at Wally World in the cities. I asked her what her parents thought when she told them she was working as a Night Escort. She dang near dropped my ammo. :
(BTW this was before I got married) BUT I would do it again. They are worried about a couple hundred rds of ammo what about the 21rds I have on me?
.Cosmoline posted...
I don't see it as a minor issue. I see it as a statement that they consider firearm buyers dangerous and want you out of their store ASAP. Let me ask you this. The next time you buy your iron at Wal-Mart, refuse to go with the manager. Just refuse, say you have some more shopping to do. If he says "no problem" and leaves you alone with your rifle, I'll stand corrected.
But my guess is you are NOT free to do this, and your refusal to leave the store would cause them to alert security. Ergo that little "escort" out of the store is in effect the same escort they give screaming nutjobs and nogoodnicks. You are not free. You are in the manager's custody. THAT is wholly unacceptable and not to be tolerated. I am deeply disturbed that so many of you seem to just shrug your shoulders and abide with it because it's corporate policy. So what if it is? Seems like a darn good reason to stop shopping at that armpit of a store. ...
Never bought gun there but as said I do that with ammo. I would make manager my rifle bearer.
Of course I would likely just take the gun and start walking. Let him TRY to keep up. I did that at a Menards where I got a junker Fire Extinguisher. They gave me a new one and I wished checker Merry Xmas and walked out. She came after me into dark parking lot to ask if I had reciept (as she knew I had not paid anyone.) I said "yep" and she went back in. Not the brightest bulb to do that but I do have to give her creidit for wanting to ask. Even if stupid.
B
BeLikeTrey
Guest
Has this been posted yet?
Possibly.....
Is it maybe for the sheeple that don't know any better that are shopping? I think Wal-Mart management realizes as we do how utterly silly it is. I think they just are about appearances to their other customers. Not to oppress you or make you feel like less of a human, but to make the ninnies shopping there feel warm and fuzzy. Just a thought. We can piss and moan all we want, but at least Wally World still sells guns. That gives them a plus in my eyes.
Really, I think they implemented that policy for the the "oh my god it's a gun" people seeing you walk out with the gun as a feel-good sorta comfort for them ..
Possibly.....
Is it maybe for the sheeple that don't know any better that are shopping? I think Wal-Mart management realizes as we do how utterly silly it is. I think they just are about appearances to their other customers. Not to oppress you or make you feel like less of a human, but to make the ninnies shopping there feel warm and fuzzy. Just a thought. We can piss and moan all we want, but at least Wally World still sells guns. That gives them a plus in my eyes.
Really, I think they implemented that policy for the the "oh my god it's a gun" people seeing you walk out with the gun as a feel-good sorta comfort for them ..
ScottS
Member
You know, I've never bought a gun at WallyWorld, but I do carry there frequently. I wonder what would happen at WW if you bought a gun, and while they were escorting you out with it, you said, "Well, what about this one...?"
Having said that, I just had another pleasant ammo-buying experience at my WW. Nice old guy (Leland) behind the counter.
Me (looking at the shelf): "Need some Winchester Whitebox .45, in the 100 round Valupak... I don't see any." I always say it that way, "Winchester Whitebox .45, in the 100 round Valupak," becuase you never know who you're dealing with, and it precludes a lot of "No, not that one...farther left...now down one shelf..."
Leland (knowing what I wanted somewhere after he heard "Whitebox .45" but politely waiting for me to finish my spiel): "Nope. Out of the .45. Have some in within the next two days, tho."
Me: "Let's make it the 9mm Whitebox."
Leland (going not to the shelf but to a crapload of cases of 9mm WWB on the floor behind the counter): "Just one, or you want a case? Case would be about...$110 or so, I guess."
Me: "Just two for now. Got a load of groceries, too."
Ammo goes into my shopping cart.
Now, remind me again...I shouldn't buy ammo here...why??
Scott
Having said that, I just had another pleasant ammo-buying experience at my WW. Nice old guy (Leland) behind the counter.
Me (looking at the shelf): "Need some Winchester Whitebox .45, in the 100 round Valupak... I don't see any." I always say it that way, "Winchester Whitebox .45, in the 100 round Valupak," becuase you never know who you're dealing with, and it precludes a lot of "No, not that one...farther left...now down one shelf..."
Leland (knowing what I wanted somewhere after he heard "Whitebox .45" but politely waiting for me to finish my spiel): "Nope. Out of the .45. Have some in within the next two days, tho."
Me: "Let's make it the 9mm Whitebox."
Leland (going not to the shelf but to a crapload of cases of 9mm WWB on the floor behind the counter): "Just one, or you want a case? Case would be about...$110 or so, I guess."
Me: "Just two for now. Got a load of groceries, too."
Ammo goes into my shopping cart.
Now, remind me again...I shouldn't buy ammo here...why??
Scott
Helllo all,
I worked for WW for a few years when I was in school. The escort rule was put in place after a person purchased a firearm loaded it and opened fire in a "mart" store, I don't recall what store it was or if anyone was hurt.
Just this last Christmas some nut case tried to break off a trigger lock with a hammer at the local WW. The shotgun discharged into the gun display and damaged several firearms. Than the guy took off with the gun and was picked up by a highway patrol (the station is a half mile from the store. Get this the reason the 911 call when in was the fact that a CCW holder heard the shot, seen the guy with the gun and gave chase, and someone saw him but not the guy with the shotgun and called 911. The trooper saw the guy with the shotgun and a man chasing him cought the first one and the CCW was even praised by a local cop on the news.
It took an hour and a half to pick up a shotgun from WW some time back. I had put the gun on layaway had the paperwork filled out and checked at that time NICS call was done at the time I put it on layaway. Still took that long, they could not find the gun in the log book. Stood there as four people (includeing the GM of the store) looked in the log to find it. What happened is when the gun was recieved they took the serial # off the barrel and not the reciever. By this time the frozen food had thawed that I had picked up before hand since I knew that I would be walked out and never thought it would take 90 mins to get it since the paper work was done. The GM had someone to go out and grab replacements to what had thawed when they figured out how to fix it I thought that was nice of him.
I worked for WW for a few years when I was in school. The escort rule was put in place after a person purchased a firearm loaded it and opened fire in a "mart" store, I don't recall what store it was or if anyone was hurt.
Just this last Christmas some nut case tried to break off a trigger lock with a hammer at the local WW. The shotgun discharged into the gun display and damaged several firearms. Than the guy took off with the gun and was picked up by a highway patrol (the station is a half mile from the store. Get this the reason the 911 call when in was the fact that a CCW holder heard the shot, seen the guy with the gun and gave chase, and someone saw him but not the guy with the shotgun and called 911. The trooper saw the guy with the shotgun and a man chasing him cought the first one and the CCW was even praised by a local cop on the news.
It took an hour and a half to pick up a shotgun from WW some time back. I had put the gun on layaway had the paperwork filled out and checked at that time NICS call was done at the time I put it on layaway. Still took that long, they could not find the gun in the log book. Stood there as four people (includeing the GM of the store) looked in the log to find it. What happened is when the gun was recieved they took the serial # off the barrel and not the reciever. By this time the frozen food had thawed that I had picked up before hand since I knew that I would be walked out and never thought it would take 90 mins to get it since the paper work was done. The GM had someone to go out and grab replacements to what had thawed when they figured out how to fix it I thought that was nice of him.
Here's another reason not to shop at WalMart (or at least buy only American there):
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/8473500.htm?1c
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/8473500.htm?1c
CZ-100
Member
Riley your link is NO good.. Wants you to register
Sorry........here is the story.........
China sees surge in factory accidents
By Tim Johnson, Knight Ridder | April 18, 2004
SHENZHEN, China -- The Pingshan People's Hospital in the thriving industrial city of Shenzhen has a ward devoted to hand injuries. In one room, Yan Kaiguo, 23, cradles his bandaged right hand. On April 8, a machine at an electronic circuit board plant had crushed part of his index finger.
Yan feels lucky that he lost only part of his finger, down to the first knuckle. He's confident he won't lose his job, which pays about $96 a month.
''Every day, we get five or six cases like this and sometimes over a dozen," said a surgeon at another large Shenzhen hospital, who asked that neither he nor his hospital be identified for fear of reprisal from city officials. ''Most of the machines are old and semiautomatic. The workers have to put their hands into the machines."
In a grim replay of the Industrial revolution in the United States and other countries, machinery will crush or sever the arms, hands, and fingers of some 40,000 Chinese workers this year, according to government-controlled news media. Some privately say the true number is higher.
A majority of the accidents occur in metalworking and electronics plants with heavy stamping equipment, shoe and handbag factories with leather-cutting equipment, toy factories and industrial plastics plants with blazing-hot machinery.
In Shenzhen's hospital wards, maimed factory workers tell of managers who've removed the machine safety guards that slowed output and of working on unsafe equipment. Workers toiling 100 hours a week grow dazed from fatigue, then lose their fingers to machines.
Local officials routinely overlook appalling safety conditions, worried that factory owners will relocate. They send mutilated migrant workers back to distant rural villages, shunting the burden of workplace injuries onto poorer inland provinces.
The workplace carnage is bitterly ironic in a communist country that was founded on the principles of protecting workers.
Chinese Communist Party leaders are so eager to maintain high economic growth, and to create jobs for tens of millions of potentially restive Chinese, that they now preside over a savage form of capitalism in which maimed workers are readily discarded. Independent labor unions are banned.
Labor monitors say foreign companies that demand lower prices and US consumers who gobble up low-cost goods contribute to the problem.
Zhou Litai, a lawyer who represents hundreds of workers, said foreign consumers should be aware that some ''Made in China" products ''are tainted with blood from cut-off fingers or hands."
Smaller-factory owners have no leverage with global buyers and are always worried they'll be replaced by other suppliers, so they try to make money rapidly, said Chen Ka-wai, the assistant director of the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee, a group that monitors working conditions on the mainland.
The stories of dismembered workers are disturbingly similar. Usually, migrant workers are recent arrivals in one of China's coastal industrial zones. They take any job offered, no matter the conditions. With no safety training, the worker is assigned to an unfamiliar machine.
Wang Xuebing, a 19-year-old from Hubei Province in central China, came to Shenzhen and got a job in July at a metalworking plant. A month later, his foreman escorted a work crew to a different factory, where he and two co-workers were asked ''to operate a metal mold machine," Wang said.
The machine made casings for air conditioners, using tons of pressure to mold sheeting. Wang said the machine broke, but was rigged to work again.
''When I placed a metal sheet in the machine, it pressed down. My hand was severed. I lost consciousness," Wang recalled.
Zhu Qiang came to the Pearl River Delta region from inland Sichuan Province in early 2002. On March 2 of that year, he got a job making industrial plastic and shopping bags. Two weeks later, while working a 16-hour shift, he lost his right hand.
''We were extremely tired. We were nodding our heads, almost asleep," Zhu said. ''My hand got tangled with the plastic and got burned. I was rushed to the hospital. There was no way to save my hand."
For the loss of his right hand, 22-year-old Zhu was given about $4,800.
China's state-owned media are mentioning more frequently the staggering number of workplace injuries, especially in the region that includes Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.
''There are at least 30,000 cases of finger losses each year in the Pearl River Delta factories, and the total number of fingers being cut off by machines is over 40,000," the China Youth Daily, a state-owned national newspaper, said in a short report on March 13.
Chinese media call Yongkang in coastal Zhejiang Province the ''finger-cutting city." Yongkang's 7,000 small factories make tools, and some 1,000 workers in those factories lose fingers or hands each year, the Metropolis Express newspaper said on Feb. 18.
''The majority of them will be immediately fired by the owners," said the website run by the Communist Party's national newspaper, People's Daily. ''The compensation for each cut-off finger is 500 yuan," or about $60, roughly a month's salary.
For a young person, losing a hand spells doom. With as many as 20 million healthy people clamoring for jobs each year, factory owners never hire disabled people. Dismembered workers are condemned to destitution -- and often loneliness.
''With no money, it's hard to find a girlfriend," said Sun Hongyuan, 28, a worker who lost his right hand several years ago.
Industrial accidents also are disasters for rural parents, most of whom have only one or two children because of China's strict restrictions on births, and they rely on their children for support in old age.
Some workers would prefer to die because their parents would get a larger one-time compensation, said Luo Yun, professor of workplace safety at Beijing's University of Geology.
''There's a popular saying now: 'We can afford to die, but we can't afford to be injured,' " Luo said.
China sees surge in factory accidents
By Tim Johnson, Knight Ridder | April 18, 2004
SHENZHEN, China -- The Pingshan People's Hospital in the thriving industrial city of Shenzhen has a ward devoted to hand injuries. In one room, Yan Kaiguo, 23, cradles his bandaged right hand. On April 8, a machine at an electronic circuit board plant had crushed part of his index finger.
Yan feels lucky that he lost only part of his finger, down to the first knuckle. He's confident he won't lose his job, which pays about $96 a month.
''Every day, we get five or six cases like this and sometimes over a dozen," said a surgeon at another large Shenzhen hospital, who asked that neither he nor his hospital be identified for fear of reprisal from city officials. ''Most of the machines are old and semiautomatic. The workers have to put their hands into the machines."
In a grim replay of the Industrial revolution in the United States and other countries, machinery will crush or sever the arms, hands, and fingers of some 40,000 Chinese workers this year, according to government-controlled news media. Some privately say the true number is higher.
A majority of the accidents occur in metalworking and electronics plants with heavy stamping equipment, shoe and handbag factories with leather-cutting equipment, toy factories and industrial plastics plants with blazing-hot machinery.
In Shenzhen's hospital wards, maimed factory workers tell of managers who've removed the machine safety guards that slowed output and of working on unsafe equipment. Workers toiling 100 hours a week grow dazed from fatigue, then lose their fingers to machines.
Local officials routinely overlook appalling safety conditions, worried that factory owners will relocate. They send mutilated migrant workers back to distant rural villages, shunting the burden of workplace injuries onto poorer inland provinces.
The workplace carnage is bitterly ironic in a communist country that was founded on the principles of protecting workers.
Chinese Communist Party leaders are so eager to maintain high economic growth, and to create jobs for tens of millions of potentially restive Chinese, that they now preside over a savage form of capitalism in which maimed workers are readily discarded. Independent labor unions are banned.
Labor monitors say foreign companies that demand lower prices and US consumers who gobble up low-cost goods contribute to the problem.
Zhou Litai, a lawyer who represents hundreds of workers, said foreign consumers should be aware that some ''Made in China" products ''are tainted with blood from cut-off fingers or hands."
Smaller-factory owners have no leverage with global buyers and are always worried they'll be replaced by other suppliers, so they try to make money rapidly, said Chen Ka-wai, the assistant director of the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee, a group that monitors working conditions on the mainland.
The stories of dismembered workers are disturbingly similar. Usually, migrant workers are recent arrivals in one of China's coastal industrial zones. They take any job offered, no matter the conditions. With no safety training, the worker is assigned to an unfamiliar machine.
Wang Xuebing, a 19-year-old from Hubei Province in central China, came to Shenzhen and got a job in July at a metalworking plant. A month later, his foreman escorted a work crew to a different factory, where he and two co-workers were asked ''to operate a metal mold machine," Wang said.
The machine made casings for air conditioners, using tons of pressure to mold sheeting. Wang said the machine broke, but was rigged to work again.
''When I placed a metal sheet in the machine, it pressed down. My hand was severed. I lost consciousness," Wang recalled.
Zhu Qiang came to the Pearl River Delta region from inland Sichuan Province in early 2002. On March 2 of that year, he got a job making industrial plastic and shopping bags. Two weeks later, while working a 16-hour shift, he lost his right hand.
''We were extremely tired. We were nodding our heads, almost asleep," Zhu said. ''My hand got tangled with the plastic and got burned. I was rushed to the hospital. There was no way to save my hand."
For the loss of his right hand, 22-year-old Zhu was given about $4,800.
China's state-owned media are mentioning more frequently the staggering number of workplace injuries, especially in the region that includes Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.
''There are at least 30,000 cases of finger losses each year in the Pearl River Delta factories, and the total number of fingers being cut off by machines is over 40,000," the China Youth Daily, a state-owned national newspaper, said in a short report on March 13.
Chinese media call Yongkang in coastal Zhejiang Province the ''finger-cutting city." Yongkang's 7,000 small factories make tools, and some 1,000 workers in those factories lose fingers or hands each year, the Metropolis Express newspaper said on Feb. 18.
''The majority of them will be immediately fired by the owners," said the website run by the Communist Party's national newspaper, People's Daily. ''The compensation for each cut-off finger is 500 yuan," or about $60, roughly a month's salary.
For a young person, losing a hand spells doom. With as many as 20 million healthy people clamoring for jobs each year, factory owners never hire disabled people. Dismembered workers are condemned to destitution -- and often loneliness.
''With no money, it's hard to find a girlfriend," said Sun Hongyuan, 28, a worker who lost his right hand several years ago.
Industrial accidents also are disasters for rural parents, most of whom have only one or two children because of China's strict restrictions on births, and they rely on their children for support in old age.
Some workers would prefer to die because their parents would get a larger one-time compensation, said Luo Yun, professor of workplace safety at Beijing's University of Geology.
''There's a popular saying now: 'We can afford to die, but we can't afford to be injured,' " Luo said.
RustyHammer
Member
..... so, did you ever pay for it?
Zundfolge
Member
flatrock, Most of the anti-Walmart crowd seems to be under the impression that Walmart is the only company in the US that buys products made in China (or at least the worst offender).
First off, of the grocery and other staple items they buy the same stuff as pretty much any other grocery chain.
For consumer electronics, sporting goods, tools, car accessories the same.
For their clothing they have their own lines and some of these are made in China.
But I challenge you to "buy 'merican" from any other chain of stores including the expensive ones like Neman Marcus, Dillards, etc.
One thing people forget when considering purchasing items made in China. We defeated the Soviet Union, not with Boeing, McDonald Douglas, Colt and Lockeed, but with Coke, Pepsi, McDonalds and Levis .... the more the benifits of capitalism reach the Chinese people, the sooner they abandon communism.
Also remember that our transformation from an agrarian economy to an industrial one was pretty painfull too.
Truely free markets are good for everyone.
First off, of the grocery and other staple items they buy the same stuff as pretty much any other grocery chain.
For consumer electronics, sporting goods, tools, car accessories the same.
For their clothing they have their own lines and some of these are made in China.
But I challenge you to "buy 'merican" from any other chain of stores including the expensive ones like Neman Marcus, Dillards, etc.
One thing people forget when considering purchasing items made in China. We defeated the Soviet Union, not with Boeing, McDonald Douglas, Colt and Lockeed, but with Coke, Pepsi, McDonalds and Levis .... the more the benifits of capitalism reach the Chinese people, the sooner they abandon communism.
Also remember that our transformation from an agrarian economy to an industrial one was pretty painfull too.
Truely free markets are good for everyone.
zundfolge, I couldn't agree more. The westernization of 3rd world countries and their enrichment thru capitalism and the accompanying increase in the standard of living is a good thing.
The exploitation of poverty and labor, however, is not something we should be subsidizing. This kind of thing was rampant during our own industrial revolution. Maybe it's a necessary phase, I don't know.
Agreed, WalMart is not the only offender. They import some $12-15
billion a year, or about 10% of total Chinese imports into the U.S.
- Status
