The cheapness of Wal-Mart comes with a hefty price tag for all of the U.S. Here are a few facts (check out http://factchecker.purpleocean.org/ for more):
"Wal-Mart Wages" is not an expression for nothing. despite anecdotal evidence of one employee telling another how great Wal-Mart is within earshot of customers, Wal-Mart is an irresponsible employer. Wal-Mart boasts that 74% of its sales employees work full-time but this doesn't mean they are making good money. In 2001, Wal-Mart sales clerks made an average of $8.23 an hour ($13,861 a year). While $8.23 an hour doesn't sound like a bad wage for part-time work while you are getting through school, people who use that job as their full-time employment are in trouble: they make $800 below the federal poverty line for a family of three. Costco's workers make an average of $15.97 per hour; Sam's Club pays $11.52 per hour.
Wal-Mart does not give good benefits. Part-time Wal-Mart workers are not eligible for family medical coverage. They become eligible for individual coverage only after two years with the company (Dan Fogleman, Wal-Mart spokesperson, is the source). Overall, Wal-Mart covers 48 percent of its workers with company health insurance. Costco covers 82 percent of its workers. Also, Costco's workers are able to get health insurance in six months, they receive thousands more dollars in health and retirement plans from their employer and far more of Costco's employees are included in its 401(k) and profit-sharing plans. Wal-Mart pays 66 percent of the healthcare premiums for those happy few covered employees Costco pays 92 percent. Employee turnover is 6 percent for Costco. For Sam's Club, it's 21 percent. Wal-Mart's turnover is a whopping 50 percent.
Wal-Mart does not help cities and counties grow their economy. U.S. counties where Wal-Mart stores were built from 1987 to 1998 had higher poverty levels than anywhere else. Here in Huntington, Wal-Mart intentionally placed its new mega store just outside of Huntington so that it would not have to contribute to the tax-base of the city. What kind of neighbor is it being? Why doesn't it want to contribute to our economy? Because that would cost more money.
You hate WalMart -> don't purchase from or work for Walmart.
Simple.
I don't like ToysRUs for their staunch support of the push to have the Boy Scouts change their anti-homosexual hiring practices. Ditto for some charity groups - including the United Way. Thus - they receive NONE of my money.
But most Walmart employees feel that they are in a BETTER job than the one they left. Go figure. Stoopid people, right?
"U.S. counties where Wal-Mart stores were built from 1987 to 1998 had higher poverty levels than anywhere else."
That's right! Why? Walmart built in low wag, lost cost areas.
Is this even a valid comparison? The figure posted for Wal-Mart is for sales clerks, while the figures posted for Costco and Sam's appear to be for all employees. I don't think any high-volume retailer could stay in business paying its clerks $11-$15 per hour.
Perhaps the taxes in Huntington are too high? It might be the same reason why people are moving out of the larger cities? They are not bad citizens, just saavy consumers.
Using an $8.23 an hour job to subsist on is not something that a responsible adult cannot change. It is always possible to return to school and acquire more and new marketable job skills that will lead to an even better job at Walmart or somewhere else. Employers do not pay and should not pay $20 an hour for a job that is only worth $8 an hour.
If you are trying to support a family of three on $8.23 an hour, then you are responsible for one or more of the following, IMO:
You didn't get enough education, which is shameful in a country which offers you a free ride thru high school, and lots of scholarships for college classes.
You had more children than you could afford.
You made poor choices of a marriage partner and are now a single parent.
You lack the ambition to at least get some classes to improve your education and your worthiness in a capitalistic society.
Many of the freepers posting here have done all of that and more.
You have made poor choices in other areas of life, including health issues and criminal issues.
If you make $8.23 an hour in 20054, that is all your skills are worth in 2005.
If you are trying to support a family of three on $8.23 an hour, then you are responsible for one or more of the following, IMO:
You didn't get enough education, which is shameful in a country which offers you a free ride thru high school, and lots of scholarships for college classes.
You had more children than you could afford.
You made poor choices of a marriage partner and are now a single parent.
You lack the ambition to at least get some classes to improve your education and your worthiness in a capitalistic society.
Many of the freepers posting here have done all of that and more.
You have made poor choices in other areas of life, including health issues and criminal issues.
If you make $8.23 an hour in 2005, that is all your skills are worth in 2005.
Our Wal-Mart did that twice. They went outside the city limits to build first a regular store and then a Super Center. It was either that are get our city council to use eminent domain to find enough land inside the city to build. Our city, then simply expanded the city limits to incorporate them. When Wal-Mart moved out of town again for the new Super Center, the city just sucked them in again. I think that's how grown ups do business.
One thing to consider is how long do sales clerks remain sales clerks? What is the promotion rate at Wal-Mart compared to Costco or Target? If Wal-Mart hires people who are only worth a hair above minimum wage, but gives them a chance to prove themselves and rise higher (70% of it's management staff is taken from the ranks of people who started working on the floor) then over the long haul, they are treating their employees rather well. Also, an important part of being employed full-time is that you are eligible for benefits. Finally, with so many double-income families around, you shouldn't assume that Wal-Mart families are below poverty line; for many, that $13,861 will be half or less than half of their income.
There's a problems with this entire premis, as if a worker is making $8.23/hr, 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, the annual wage is $16,460, a difference of $2599. I'm wondering exactly where they got the "$13,861?" Was the annual wage listed by using both part time and full time sales clerks? If so, then the "annual wage" would have been averaged using numbers coming from students who only worked 15 or 20 hours a week, as well as 40 hour a week full time employees.
Mark
Our WalMart Supercenter pays more per hour than the Mom and Pop grocery stores do and ever did. Mom and pop could get away with paying minimum wage and they don't offer health insurance at all no matter how long an employee works for them.
Maybe in your neck of the woods WalMart doesn't help the local economy but that's not true in my area. As an example, we've had 3 new fast food restaurants, a new jewelry store, an antique mall, two dollar stores and several boutique type stores open here. Home sales are up and people are getting more for their homes than they were pre-WM. The local hospital was able to afford to expand and upgrade. We're able to attract more specialists in the medical field. The local hospital now advertises for more nursing positions as do the local assisted living and nursing homes.
Only one grocery store closed because WalMart built their new store close to it. Of course the grocery store was way overpriced. They've since re-opened in their old spot but are now leaner. They're doing quite well because they've focused on what they did best which is offering excellent meats.
People's standard of living is better because they don't have to pay outlandish prices for every day items. A couple of examples: I now pay 3.50 for 8 bars of Dial/Lever Bros/other name brand soap instead of 3 bars for 4.96. A bottle of 50 extra strength, coated Bayer aspirin now costs me 4.36 instead of 6.50. I can buy the economy sized bottle of my shampoo for what I used to pay for the regular sized bottle. Or store brand Nyquil, I can either pay 3.99 for a regular sized bottle or go to WM and buy 2 family sized bottles for 4.27. I could go on using cereal, canned vegetables, pet food, etc. as examples of saving money by shopping at WalMart.
The money I save shopping at WalMart allows me to splurge at the boutique type shops or to eat steak more than once every couple of months or to put more money in savings.
Fifty new jobs were also added because the old WalMart building has been turned into a warranty facility for WalMart's jewelry.
Is my area the exception? How did we "luck" out?