Walmart needs to step up or shove off

This Thanksgiving, as you’re gathered around the dinner table with your family, make sure you give an extra thanks if you’re not dependent on Walmart as your sole source of family income.

In Canton, Ohio, Walmart employees have decided to hold a canned food drive to feed those in need this Thanksgiving.

But this food won’t be going to an orphanage or a homeless shelter.

It’s going to fellow Walmart employees who can’t afford to buy food this holiday.
Walmart, the store that pulled in $17 billion in net income last year, hasn’t contributed to this food drive at all.  

As the country’s largest low-income employer with 1.4 million United States employees, Walmart pays workers an average of $8.81 an hour.

This gross lack of wages results in these workers having to go to the government for aid.

In fact, the average Walmart store costs U.S. taxpayers between $900,000 and $1.75 million a year.

Meanwhile, the company has refused to raise employee wages, with leaked internal memos showing how they cap wages to lower costs.

The net sales for the company in 2012 totaled more than the entire economic output of Norway.

And though Walmart offers purchasable health insurance to their employees, the insurance only covers preventative care, like check-ups.

If you actually visit a doctor for tests or go to the emergency room, your deductible is at least $1,750.

What is sad about the entire situation is that these employees are so poor that other employees are paying to give them food.

It’s a testament to the generosity and compassion felt by Walmart employees and the greed of the corporation.

Now, I’m not just bashing capitalism or corporations — I think both play a very important role in society.

It’s just weird that a company that makes more money than some nations —Walmart’s annual revenue exceeds Norway’s GDP — still refuses to give its employees enough money to stay off government assistance.

Men and women who work at Walmart can’t afford a health insurance plan other than the insufficient one Walmart offers.

Many Walmart employees are on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or the Women, Infants and Children program to feed their children and families.

Now, is there a single, God-given solution to this problem? Not quite.

However, I think we can all agree that Walmart can afford to help these poor families instead of watching other, slightly less poor families pay to keep their fellow employees alive.

That’s not capitalism. That’s just cruel.

­— ajguenth@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Andrew Guenther on Twitter @GuentherAndrew.