Trumka, Dick (AFL-CIO Head)

"Walmart's recent announcement of a plan to hire returning honorably discharged veterans is more about public relations than honoring our heroes...After facing enemies abroad, is an $8.81 an hour part-time job the best we can offer returning veterans?"

Many things jumped out at me with these comments:

1.  When I got out of the Air Force I was desperate for a job.  I took the first one offered to me, even though the pay and hours sucked and I was working with a bunch of women and children - something I wasn't used to or trained for at all...I'm still with that same company almost 20-years later, and I am grateful my employer opened their arms to me.

2.  People can say whatever they want about Walmart, but Walmart is the biggest employer in the U.S. (outside of government, that is), with over 2 million employees.  Incredibly, 1 out of every 70 working Americans is working at Walmart...I'm sure many who work for Walmart might rather work elsewhere, but can you imagine where they'd be without Walmart?  Can you imagine how much worse the unemployment rate would be without this massive job creator?

3.  Is Trumka, Dick offering to find as many jobs for our war vets as Walmart?  I doubt it...He may be able to find a very small fraction of the amount Walmart is offering, and they will surely be at better than 8.81 an hour, but it will most definitely be less jobs for far less returning vets.

4.  The sad reality is in our current post-recession-presently-Obama-economy "an $8.81 an hour part-time job" may not just be "the best we can offer returning veterans", it may be the best we can offer most Americans.

5.  Hey Dick, unless you can do better quit ripping Walmart, or anyone offering jobs to vets - offering jobs to anyone, for that matter.