Showing posts with label Wal Mart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wal Mart. Show all posts

Friday, October 31, 2014

Amazon Fulfillment Center Among State Employers Honored for Championing Disability Employment

Maps of counties in Virginia
Maps of counties in Virginia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Awards ceremonies across the state celebrate Disability Employment Awareness Month.

The Amazon Fulfillment Center in Chesterfield County, which has hired more than 40 clients of the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), was among the Virginia employers honored this month for outstanding commitment to hiring and supporting people with disabilities in the workplace.
DARS held six awards ceremonies across the state to recognize Virginia’s champions of disability employment and to celebrate October as Disability Employment Awareness Month. The final awards ceremony was held today at Stratford University in Virginia Beach. Previous events were held in Central Virginia, Northern Virginia, Southside, the Peninsula and the Shenandoah Valley.
“Virginia prospers when all of its workers have a chance to contribute to our great Commonwealth,” said Governor Terry McAuliffe. “These employers deserve credit for providing job opportunities to individuals with disabilities, but the real reward for these businesses is a productive, capable, vigorous workforce committed to high-quality products and services and a stronger economy that benefits everyone.”
Among the 30 Disability Employment Champions Award recipients this year are:

·             Amazon Fulfillment Center, Chesterfield County
·             The Hershey Co., Stuarts Draft
·             Skookum Contract Services, Fort Lee
·             U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
·             Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), Norfolk
·             Walmart Supercenter, Stuart
“These employers cut across a variety of economic sectors, from commerce to manufacturing to retail,” said Dr. William A. Hazel, Secretary of Health and Human Resources. “The jobs they create enable workers with disabilities to learn skills, earn wages and engage with coworkers and their communities.”
DARS’ Division of Rehabilitative Services offers vocational rehabilitation to assist people with disabilities to prepare for, secure, retain or regain employment.
“This month raises awareness about disability employment issues and honors the many diverse contributions of Virginia’s workers with disabilities,” said DARS Commissioner Jim Rothrock.“Truly advancing disability employment is about much more than just hiring; it is about creating a common ground of career opportunities and a continuum of inclusion in the Commonwealth.”



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Friday, October 3, 2014

Tens of Millions Now Employed In US At Sweatshops

Photograph taken in a 'sweatshop' c.1890
Photograph taken in a 'sweatshop' c.1890 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sweatshop Defined:  A place where people work long hours for low pay in poor conditions.

B:) A shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions.


From Wiki

More recently, the anti-globalization movement has arisen in opposition to corporate globalization, a process by which multinational corporations move their operations overseas in order to lower their costs and increase profits. The anti-sweatshop movement has much in common with the anti-globalization movement. Both consider sweatshops harmful, and both have accused many companies (such as the Walt Disney CompanyThe Gap, and Nike) of using sweatshops. Some in these movements charge that neo liberal globalization is similar to the sweating system, arguing that there tends to be a "race to the bottom", as multinationals leap from one low-wage country to another searching for lower production costs, in the same way that sweaters would have steered production to the lowest cost sub-contractor.


Today we see a new format emerging throughout the entire United States. With ObamaCare however, the hours are not long on a single job as corporations downsize how long they will allow workers to actually work during any given week.  The conditions in the work environment may be clean, but the wages are ridiculously low and not in the least bit a living wage.  More and more workers are depending on two, three and even four jobs just to try and scrape by anything that resembles a living and are still barely clinging on.

  McDonald's, Wal Mart, K-Mart, Sears, Burger King, Lowe's, Home Depot, and plenty of other places can now be considered modern day sweatshops as not one of them pay the majority of their workers anywhere close to a living wage.  Most of the workers in these locations are part time, little to no benefits, making barely above minimum wage which comes no where close to a living wage.

A living wage allows for a person to pay their rent or mortgage, car payment, insurance, medical expenses, clothing costs, food, utilities,  furniture expenses, and also allows for entertainment expenses and money left over to put into savings for a rainy day.  For a single person in the US today, the average income, outside of major metropolitan areas is around $45,000 per year and rising in order to be making a living wage.  Again, that is for one person.

Recent complaints in raising the minimum wage to anywhere between $10.00 or $12.00 per hour falls horribly short of coming close to making a living wage.  What difference does it make if you pay a person $25.00 per hour if all you are going to work them is 20 hours a week?  That is only $500.00 per week before taxes.  Rent in most areas throughout the US anymore is going to eat up half of the monthly wages leaving very little left for anyone to try and survive with.

The days of the 40 hour work week are for most, a buried memory, left in the dust of yesteryear.  Businesses are paying less and less of the benefits for employees and paying low wages to boot.  It's a mix that simply does not work.  That makes Wal Mart, Target, Subway, Chick-Fil-A and others the new modern sweatshops and tens of millions of people are stuck in the rut of these new deals.  
It's time for some new thinking about.....well.....every aspect of modern society.

English: Walmart Home Office, the headquarters...
English: Walmart Home Office, the headquarters of Wal-Mart - Bentonville, (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Gloucester, VA Animal Control Breaking And Entering? What About "YOUR" Rights? (Part 4)


This story continues to grow more interesting.  We have heard that certain Gloucester officials are running damage control.  Here is the latest information heard.  It is being said that the owners of the car pictured above were paged in Wal Mart.  Well we can tell you that we have witnesses that say no page was ever announced in the store during this situation.  The entire event was witnessed from beginning to end and at every level.  It is also being said as we have heard it, that Ms Dickie was trying to be nice to the dog in the vehicle.  Witnesses say that she was causing the dog to get upset.  She was trying to throw in dog biscuits through the windows of the vehicle to the dog, but the dog kept getting upset with her presence and barking at her for invading it's space.

  (Read part one of this story again and you can see where they got the argument about paging the owners of the vehicle and dog from anyway).  

  Now as we have been saying, this to us is an illegal search and seizure operation.  Here is what state code says about this.

§ 3.2-6564. Complaint of suspected violation; investigation.

A. Upon receiving a complaint of a suspected violation of this chapter, any ordinance enacted pursuant to this chapter or any law for the protection of domestic animals, any animal control officer, law-enforcement officer, or State Veterinarian's representative may, for the purpose of investigating the allegations of the complaint, enter upon, during business hours, any business premises, including any place where animals or animal records are housed or kept, of any dealer, pet shop, groomer, or boarding establishment. Upon receiving a complaint of a suspected violation of any law or ordinance regarding care or treatment of animals or disposal of dead animals, any humane investigator may, for the purpose of investigating the allegations of the complaint, enter upon, during business hours, any business premises, including any place where animals or animal records are housed or kept, of any dealer, pet shop, groomer, or boarding establishment.

Upon obtaining a warrant as provided for in § 3.2-6568, the law-enforcement officer, animal control officer, State Veterinarian's representative, or humane investigator may enter upon any other premises where the animal or animals described in the complaint are housed or kept. Attorneys for the Commonwealth and law-enforcement officials shall provide such assistance as may be required in the conduct of such investigations.

B. If the investigation discloses that a violation of § 3.2-6503 has occurred, the investigating official shall notify the owner or custodian of the complaint and of what action is necessary to comply with this chapter.

  
Upon "OBTAINING" a warrant.  A Warrant.  There was no warrant in the above situation.

Here is Gloucester County Animal Control Ordinance once again.

3-18

Sec. 3-18. Animals in enclosed vehicles.permanent link to this piece of content
(a)
It shall be unlawful to leave any animal in a vehicle without the benefit of air conditioning when the outside temperature reaches eighty (80) degrees fahrenheit or greater.
(b)
Any person who confines an animal in an unattended vehicle so as to cause the animal to suffer from heat stress, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The animal control officer or other officer shall have the authority to remove any animal found in an enclosed vehicle that appears to be suffering from heat stress. The animal shall be provided immediate veterinary care. The animal owner or custodian shall be responsible for all expenses incurred during the removal of the animal or its subsequent treatment and impoundment.
(c)
In the event that the person responsible for the violation cannot be ascertained, the registered owner of the vehicle, as required byChapter 6 of Title 46.2 of the Code of Virginia, shall constitute in evidence a prima facie presumption that such registered owner was the person who committed the violation.


If you look up a violation to 3.2-6503, it states that the violation is only a class 4 misdemeanor.  Why did Gloucester make this a class 1 misdemeanor?  Way to many questions.  Ethics from the county?  ZERO!  



The above link is to the Virginia State Code regarding animals.  We can not find anything in there that gives Gloucester County the right to violate everyone's rights here at all.  If someone can show us where they can, please, by all means do so.  Also, Virginia is a Dillon Rule state.  

 http://articles.dailypress.com/2012-04-28/news/dp-nws-cns-dillon-rule-20120427_1_dillon-rule-state-budget-local-governments

Here is a link to the Dillon Rule and how it affects every locality in the state and this article comes from the Daily Press.

Your 4th Amendment Rights;

IV) The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The above is the law of the land, like it or not.  If your a socialist, move out of the country and infringe on someone else's rights.























The above sign can be found in the following locations.  Tractor Supply, Dollar Tree, and Wal Mart.  Complain about these signs to the store managers and ask that they take them down as they violate your rights.  If they refuse, then refuse to shop in those stores and tell them so.  Anyone think those signs are worth your business?

Complain to the board of supervisors.  Here is their email address.


You can just click on that link above and it will open your email account allowing you to send a quick message to them.  If you are not willing to argue for your rights and freedoms then you deserve neither.

Also, we will point out once again that Laura Dickie was overheard telling the people who had the rented vehicle that she was just about to break the window and take the dog even though the temperature was below 80 degrees as we have already shown in our first post on this issue.  Who is next?  Maybe you?

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Gloucester, VA Animal Control Breaking and Entering? What About "YOUR" Rights? (Part 3)


Now for more information we have not covered.  When Laura Dickie, animal control deputy, responded to this call, after talking to the owner of this vehicle with the dog inside the car, while she was preparing to leave, another vehicle pulled in to a parking space the next lane over with a dog in the car.  The dog's head was sticking out the rear window of the car and the dog was barking at Laura Dickie.  Ms Dickie ignored this new incident and did not even bother to talk to the owners of the new vehicle that pulled in.  Why did she only speak to the one and then ignore the other?  Something is very wrong with this incident at so many levels.

Moving back to the poster on store entrances;


Let's look at some issues here.  The sign pictured above can be found at the following locations and is posted on the main entrances of the respective sites.  Wal Mart, Tractor Supply and Dollar Tree in the courthouse area.  No other areas have we found these posters.

  First issue.  The locations where these signs are found are private property parking lots.  The sign requests that anyone can report a pet being left in a car at these locations.  Well, if you see someone pull into a handicapped parking space in these same locations, and the person is not handicapped,  you can call a tow truck but one will never come as you are not the owner of the store or property and have no authority to make the request.  You can call a Sheriff's Office, but again, the same issue.  You are not authorized to report the claim as you are not the owner of the property and therefore a deputy can not do anything about the so called violation.  Only a store manager who's parking space is being violated can file a complaint about someone parking in a handicapped space who is not handicapped.

  So with this in mind, how can any animal control deputy ever possibly bypass these same issues when a person calls in a so called violation?

  If you have an accident in a parking lot at one of these locations, you can call the police.  The only thing you will be told is all they can do is file a report about the accident.  Since it is private property, they can not determine who is at fault.

  So what we have is what appears to be an illegal search and seizure being perpetuated by county officials against anyone they choose in certain sections of the county.  Sort of like a speed trap.  Here is a catch you are not made aware of.  If you make the call to report what you think is a violation?  You may be held just as responsible for the actions of the animal control deputy should the deputy decide to break into a vehicle and remove personal property such as a pet and it is determined that the action was highly illegal.  And you should be held accountable for such a violation.

Article 4 of the Bill of Rights reads;   IV ) The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

  Our opinion?  When you shop at any of these stores, find the store manager and complain about these signs.  They are highly misleading and may just potentially get innocent people in a great deal of trouble.  The signs do not tell you that animal control might just break into a vehicle and take personal property.  The signs also suggest that temperatures of 75 degrees is enough to warrant you to call.  The inside temperature readings on the sign are highly misleading as they do not indicate whether windows were up or down during the readings or if the vehicles were in direct sun light or in the shade.  They also fail to indicate humidity factors.

Online news story quote:

“Anytime we see (the dog’s) temperature jump above the 104 to 105 range it’s dangerous for the dog,” Montgomery told the Daily Telegraph last week. “Once we break into the 100-degree range in the car, the dog will be uncomfortable and the 110-degree range can be fatal,”

More from the web.

Is it illegal to leave your dog in a parked car? The answer to this question, of course, depends on in the state in which you live. Actually, only 16 states (AZ, CA, IL, ME, MD, MN, NC, NV, NH, NJ, NY, ND, RI, SD, VT, and WV) have statutes that specifically prohibit leaving an animal in confined vehicle. The next factor important to the question is the condition under which the the animal is left in the vehicle. Most of these laws provide that the animal must be confined or unattended in a parked or stationary vehicle. Further, the laws add that in order for a person to violate the law, the conditions have to endanger the animal's life. Some of the statutes specifically state that extreme hot or cold temperatures, lack of adequate ventilation, or failing to provide proper food or drink meet this definition. Other laws are more vague and just require that the conditions are such that physical injury or death is likely to result.

Above sourced from;  https://www.animallaw.info/topic/table-state-laws-protect-animals-left-parked-vehicles  Check out all the state codes on the above link.  Virginia does NOT have this code on it's books.

Estimated Vehicle Interior Air Temperature v. Elapsed Time

Estimated Vehicle Interior Air Temperature v. Elapsed Time
Elapsed timeOutside Air Temperature (F)
707580859095
0 minutes707580859095
10 minutes899499104109114
20 minutes99104109114119124
30 minutes104109114119124129
40 minutes108113118123128133
50 minutes111116121126131136
60 minutes113118123128133138
> 1 hour115120125130135140
Courtesy Jan Null, CCM; Department of Geosciences, San Francisco State University

Now checking the chart we looked up online from the AVMA.  We checked the above AVMA chart information and it's based on a vehicle in direct sunlight with the windows closed.  


We like this one a bit better.  It shows the humidity factor with heat.  



Now we do agree that leaving your pet in a hot vehicle can be dangerous and even deadly.  However, we do not think that animals have rights over humans.  We do not think pets should be treated with disrespect or even tortured.  Adding insult to injury however is madness.  We send children to school in buses with no air conditioning in the same exact conditions and nothing is done about that.


Demand Equal Rights For Our Children

Demand Equal Rights For Our Children

We put up a petition on Change.org regarding this matter.  Why are our children treated lower than pets?  Why are our rights being so blatantly violated?  

Now the Board of Supervisors knew about this before the latest BoS meeting in September.  They could have responded to this and in our view they have.  Here is the video where they address animal control issues.


A dog leash ordinance request made by a BoS member requesting more government intrusion on his neighbors they did not want or would have filed complaints themselves.  This is how they address violations to your rights?  Now that is sad.






Friday, July 18, 2014

Gloucester, VA School Board's Continued Waste of Taxpayer Money




Driver, Mike May.  Gloucester County School Board.  Department.  Facilities Services.  Contact Person.  Dave Miller.  Date and Time.  July 7th, 2014.  7:01 Am.  Vehicle number 226.  Location, 7-Eleven.




Driver, Ed Barry.  Department, Facilities Services.  Contact Person, Dave Miller.  Location. Coming out of Wal Mart.  Date.  July 7th, 2014.  Time 7:10 AM.




Driver, D Miller.  School Board.  Contact Person.  Dave Miller, Department, Facilities Services.  Location, Hardee's Restaurant.  Date, July 7th, 2014, Time, 7:37 AM.




Driver:  Unknown.  Department:  Unknown, School Board?  Vehicle number, unknown.  Back of car says Sheriff's Department.  County insignia on side of vehicle however.  Date:  July 14th, 2014.  Time, 7:19 AM.  Location, Hardee's Restaurant.




Driver, D Miller.  School Board.  Department.  Facilities Services.  Contact, Dave Miller.  Vehicle Number 273.  Date, July 14th, 2014, Time, 7:26 AM, Location.  Hardee's Restaurant.





Driver, Ed Barry.  Department, Facilities Services.  Contact, Dave Miller,  Date, July, 14th, 2014.  Location, Tractor Supply.  Time, 8:50 AM.

And these are the people we were able to get pictures of.  If we do not get the cameras out in time, then they get lucky.  We caught plenty of others but did not have the camera ready.  This is only a sampling.  For over a year we have been covering this and the pattern right now is very clear.  The school board has no concern about your tax money.  It's part of the reason why the keep wanting more of it.  They waste it so fast it's not even funny.  But the folks at the school board keep telling us that it's for the children.  Anyone see where these people above are helping the children?