Walmart's wages and benefits are so low that many of its employees are forced to turn to the government for aid, costing taxpayers between $900,000 and $1.75 million per store, according to a report released last week by congressional Democrats.
Walmart's history of suppressing local wages and busting fledgling union efforts is common knowledge. But the Democrats' new reportused data from Wisconsin's Medicaid program to quantify Walmart's cost to taxpayers.The report cites a confluence of trends that have forced more workers to rely on safety-net programs: the depressed bargaining power of labor in a still struggling economy; a 97 year low in union enrollment; and the fact that the middle-wage jobs lost during the recession have been replaced by low-wage jobs.The problem of minimum-wage work isn't confined to Walmart. But as the country's largest low-wage employer, with about 1.4 million employees in the US—roughly 10 percent of the American retail workforce—Walmart's policies are a driving force in keeping wages low. The company also happens to elegantly epitomize the divide between the top and bottom in America: the collective wealth of the six Waltons equals the combined wealth of 48.8 million families on the other end of the economic spectrum. The average Walmart worker making $8.81 per hour would have to work for 7 million years to acquire the Walton family's current wealth.
it's an addiction more money, more money sounds like a "in living color" skit. as big as they are it seems the symptoms turn into give a damn if you know, they are still putting up a lot of ads on how great they are to their employees, perks galore best place to work in the world.
didn't their employees that have it so good protest and strike recently? seems someone is lying about the great Walmart either them or the thousands of employees that went on strike.
Using data from Wisconsin, which has the most complete and recent state-level Medicaid data available, the Democrats' report finds that 3,216 of Wisconsin’s 29,457 Walmart workers are enrolled in the state's Medicaid program. That figure that balloons to 9,207 when Walmart employees' children and adult dependents are taken into account. The study also looked at the costs of other taxpayer-funded programs that Walmart employees on state Medicaid could also use. Here's the tab:
- At least $251,706 for state Medicaid
- Between $25,461 and $58,228 for reduced-price school lunches
- Between $12,938 and $29,588 for reduced-price school breakfasts
- Between $155,406 and $355,350 for subsidized Section 8 housing
- Between $72,160 and $165,000 for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which gives money to low-income workers
just a few to wet your whistle or anger which ever comes first the bigger the business the bigger the schemes and employee disadvantages.
