Is there anything more important than prices? I would like to examine this honestly. A lot of people may instantaneously jump at the opportunity to say, 'I would never shop with a company that abuses their employees.' I, however, have seen a different type of behaviour. Either people purposely keep themselves in the dark about how workers are treated or do not honestly reflect on information they may have been privy to. Thus resulting in the same end result: Purchases. Would you buy a gallon of milk/gas/olive oil for fifty cents with the knowledge of internal corporate mistreatment of employees because of the savings?
I really don't know how most business's treat there employees since I don't think we can really know for sure unless we work there or hear about it from the employees themselves. So I do probably shop at certain stores where that is being done. That being said, I went to the Good Will here in town and got a few good deals. Then I ended up hearing about how the disabled employees get as little as .22 cents per hour depending on location and such. Yes, you heard right. 22 CENTS per hour. Now I realize those with disabilities do get money for being on disability and some may say they just work for some extra "fun" money or to keep busy. But, they are still working hard and I think the fact that they are getting paid so little is disgusting. They are not volunteering. They are working, and for a company that makes millions of dollars. Oh and you better bet I will never shop there again. Log In
I hate cruelty [mistreatment of employees being a form of cruelty] so because of my principles, regardless of how friendly the prices are to my wallet, if I know employees of a certain store are mistreated then I definitely won't buy from them. However, one thing we have to remember is, what one may suppose is mistreatment [to an observer] may actually not be what you think it is. Some employees need to be upbraided from time to time so they can perform?
I guess it depends to me on what exactly you mean by mistreatment, the extent of it, etc. In an ideal world I would refuse to get things from a place known for something like that, but I have considerations of my own regarding budget, transportation/where I *can* reasonably shop and so on...and those come before moral ground of what may or may not be happening with employees because that's my own family needs we're talking about.
I personally don't really think about the mistreatment of the employees because to tell you the truth, I have never worked in that kind of environment. Really the price is the only thing that draws me to go to one store or another because I want to try and save money for other things. Also, it's really hard to find somewhere that doesn't abuse something, which is at a reasonable price.
Since I've never personally seen a employee mistreated then I don't want to make any judgements. When I go to a store there are times where I may see employees act like they don't want to be there. Therefore, I don't know at all what goes on behind the scenes. I believe that everyone deserves to be respected and treated fairly. If a company doesn't do that then they won't get my money.
There are horror stories about employee abuse and mistreatment from major stores like Walmart, Walgreens, and even Target. All you gotta do is Google and you'll read some pretty bad reviews. I know most people can't afford to avoid major retailers just because of these reports. Honestly, I don't have the time and money to avoid these stores either. It's sad, but it's true.
I'm sure everyone here buys from unethical companies. I assume you all eat and wear clothes? It's the nature of the beast these days.. companies use sweatshops and underpay their employees or drive them to such a low quality of life it's heart breaking. The bigger the company, the more victims and the more the short cuts are taken to get you your few dollars of savings that's more important to everyone these days than the lives of other human beings. And.. there's no excuse. Everyone plays dumb, but they do know and it's easy enough to look online for a few seconds to see in black and white exactly how they got to where they are.
As you said, more or less EVERYONE is in the same boat there. And while ignorance may not be an excuse, that doesn't mean that nothing excuses it. It's just a simple fact that many of the companies most guilty of this often WILL have the best prices...and some people aren't in a position to shop somewhere with better employee treatment but worse prices. I don't think it's inherently unethical to take care of your family first and foremost.
I didn't say the people are unethical, I said the companies are. There is no excuse for MOST people. I wouldn't call someone unethical if they have absolutely zero choice in the matter.. just as the sweatshop worker feels trapped to work for them, the poor feel trapped into buying from them. I blame the company. I just know there are far less of those people than are filling those stores. For most, ignorance is bliss. And hey, they're allowed that.
I mean I cannot honestly tell how a business may treat their employees, unless I actually work there. I mean a company that I worked for that I personally did not like because of how they treated their employees was Mcdonalds. I could not stand working at McDonalds because of how poorly they treated their employees. However I am sure the employees would not be working there if they were being treated that bad, because I certainly quit McDonalds after being treated poorly.
