More than 46 million Americans now live below the poverty line. Many of them have jobs. The problem is these jobs just don’t pay enough to lift their families out of poverty.
Walmart jobs (Like McDonaldisation) are now cultural shorthand for low-wage, dead-end positions with poor benefits and few opportunities for advancement. Despite $16 billion in profits last year, Walmart pays such low wages that in most states, it has the largest number of employees reliant on government assistance of any company. Its workers are demanding that Walmart provide a wage of at least $13 per hour, affordable benefits and more full-time positions, and a stop to retaliation against employees who speak up at the workplace. Half of Walmart's associates make less than $10 an hour. According to an IBISWorld report, the average Walmart employee make just $8.81 per hour. One third of the company’s employees are denied benefits because Walmart scheduling keeps them on fewer than 28 hours per week, even though many of them want full-time positions. The next Wal-Mart dividend will be issued December 27 instead of January 2, which would have been after the Bush tax cut for dividends expires and so saves the Walmart family as much as $180 million. (According to the online weekly “Too Much,” this $180 million would be enough to give 72,000 Wal-Mart workers now making $8 an hour a 20 percent annual pay hike.)
Why Walmart?
Fifteen million Americans work in retail, most earning about $21,000 per year. Unionized jobs in the sector enjoy better wages and benefits, but only 5.4 percent of the sector is now unionized nationwide, and the “union wage premium” has fallen significantly in recent years as a result of the pressures of non-union competition. The “Walmart effect” looms large over the retail sector. Walmart has driven several unionized retailers out of business and forced many others to drive down wages and benefits.
For decades, Walmart has intimidated employees who try to speak up against low wages and poor conditions. The situation is even worse when it comes to Walmart’s supply chain workers. A 2012 apparel industry survey by the human rights organization Not for Sale ranked it equal last out of 50 major companies when it comes to respect for workers’ rights.
Walmart jobs (Like McDonaldisation) are now cultural shorthand for low-wage, dead-end positions with poor benefits and few opportunities for advancement. Despite $16 billion in profits last year, Walmart pays such low wages that in most states, it has the largest number of employees reliant on government assistance of any company. Its workers are demanding that Walmart provide a wage of at least $13 per hour, affordable benefits and more full-time positions, and a stop to retaliation against employees who speak up at the workplace. Half of Walmart's associates make less than $10 an hour. According to an IBISWorld report, the average Walmart employee make just $8.81 per hour. One third of the company’s employees are denied benefits because Walmart scheduling keeps them on fewer than 28 hours per week, even though many of them want full-time positions. The next Wal-Mart dividend will be issued December 27 instead of January 2, which would have been after the Bush tax cut for dividends expires and so saves the Walmart family as much as $180 million. (According to the online weekly “Too Much,” this $180 million would be enough to give 72,000 Wal-Mart workers now making $8 an hour a 20 percent annual pay hike.)
Why Walmart?
Fifteen million Americans work in retail, most earning about $21,000 per year. Unionized jobs in the sector enjoy better wages and benefits, but only 5.4 percent of the sector is now unionized nationwide, and the “union wage premium” has fallen significantly in recent years as a result of the pressures of non-union competition. The “Walmart effect” looms large over the retail sector. Walmart has driven several unionized retailers out of business and forced many others to drive down wages and benefits.
For decades, Walmart has intimidated employees who try to speak up against low wages and poor conditions. The situation is even worse when it comes to Walmart’s supply chain workers. A 2012 apparel industry survey by the human rights organization Not for Sale ranked it equal last out of 50 major companies when it comes to respect for workers’ rights.
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