I lived in Austin, and I don't think HEB employees are particularly happy. Randall's paid better, and their parent company, Safeway, allows workers to unionize, in union states, not Texas. I worked for a heavily unionized retailer, Macy's, in a non-union/right to work state, and it still made a difference, like we got health insurance, 401k's, an hour lunch break instead of the typical 30, the workplace culture seemed less toxic. HEB was blamed for trying to create a monopoly in central Texas, and push out smaller grocers, so they're kind of doing what Walmart did to small businesses, but also, how much of that can we avoid in this country? How do you define a quality company? That they make quality goods, or treat their employers well? Are they ethical?

I currently work at Target, and the CEO, Brian Cornell, is heavily anti-union. But if you search, there are a few items made with "that union label", mainly some Target brand kitchenwares made by the United Steelworkers. I was actually blown away finding their store brand Pyrex and some glassware and ceramics are made by workers under that union. The quality of the items though, I think it's on par with everything else these days. Older union made items that I can usually find at thrift stores are definitely higher quality. Companies are now into fast fashion, things that wear out, because that's what rolls a profit. Even those Stanley cups everyone are after. You drop them once, and the seal is probably ruined. Not like the Stanley cups that are popular with blue collar workers.

For housewares, which is what I'm most familiar with, I think Lenox is still a quality brand, Kitchenaid and Cuisinart if you are buying from a department store. Their lines at stores like Walmart and Target have cut corners to bring the cost down for their customer demographic. Most brands have their quality line and their more budget friendly line now. I think, unfortunately, once a company gets to be a certain size, they start to lose a lot of their ethics. Finding one that is both quality products and ethical seems like a real challenge.