Woodburn Company Stores -- Woodburn, Oregon

NOTE: In retaliation for posting this video, and the two other videos I posted about Woodburn Company Stores, the security at the mall has taken to interrogating my former coworkers and friends at the mall, asking them about my whereabouts and current employment status, etc. Apparently, democracy and freedom of expression is not something that is welcome in the fascistic institution known as "Woodburn Company Stores." To protest against the mall's interrogation of my former coworkers, write an e-mail to them at this address. STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY!

shop@woodburncompanystores.com

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Woodburn Company Stores is a outlet mall in Woodburn, Oregon. It is one of Oregon's most popular tourist attractions. The experience of the average employee of the mall, however, is almost without exception a negative one. Employee morale at the mall is extremely low, and most who work at the mall are paid minimum wage and live lives akin to those described in the book Nickel and Dimed. It is likely that morale at the mall among employees is very low because the stores within the mall are owned by transnational corporations that view their employees as liabilities that can be replaced instantly. Additionally, the mall is heavily micro-managed by the inner clique in the mall administration. For example, despite the fact that all stores in the mall pay a (relatively high) rental fee, the corporate administration of the mall dictates that stores are fined if they do not open at designated times and do not close at designated times; thus stores are not their own independent agents. The mall management has put the lives of its employees in danger by threatening to fine stores if their employees do not drive to work and open the stores on time during days where the roads are so dangerously covered in snow and black ice so as to warrant the closure of most area schools.

Additionally, despite the come-on of promised savings, there are actually very little savings at the mall, which accounts for the fact that few citizens of the Woodburn or outlying areas shop at the mall. The mall depends highly on commuter traffic from the Interstate 5 corridor, often from Canada, who are taken in by the name brands and the promise of tax-free shopping, which can be found anywhere in the state of Oregon anyway, but is often promoted in WCS advertising as though it is an exclusive opportunity at this mall.

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/wcs_employees/

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• woodburn
• company
• stores
• oregon
• tourism
• anti-consumerism
• noam
• chomsky
• george
• carlin