Shame on you, Sam

News Flash! OK, maybe it’s not all that new, but I just read it this morning.

“A new group of Wal-Mart critics ran a full-page advertisement on April 20 contending that the company's low pay had forced tens of thousands of its workers to resort to food stamps and Medicaid, costing taxpayers billions of dollars. On April 26, as part of a campaign called "Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart," five members of Congress joined women's advocates and labor leaders to assail the company for not paying its female employees more.”

Could it be that some people are finally seeing the light?

“H. Lee Scott Jr., Wal-Mart's chief executive, vigorously defends his company, arguing that wages are primarily determined by market forces and that Wal-Mart pays more than most retailers and provides better opportunities for advancement. Wal-Mart states that its full-time workers average $9.68 an hour, and with many of them working 35 hours a week, their annual pay comes to around $17,600. That is below the $19,157 poverty line for a family of four, but above the $15,219 line for a family of three.”

He’s right…in a depressed job market; people will take what they can get. That’s certainly a “market force”. And Wal-Mart studies the markets carefully, knowing exactly how low they can go.

“He said that if Wal-Mart were as greedy as its detractors say, it would never have attracted 8,000 job applicants for 525 places at a new store in Glendale, Ariz., or 3,000 applicants for 300 jobs in outlying Los Angeles.”

What he doesn’t say is that when there are no other jobs to be found…people will flock to where any kind of employment is available, even if it means working at Wal-Mart. Does he really expect us to believe that these people chose Wal-Mart over other job offers? His statement tells me that the economic situation in Glendale, Arizona is in dire straits and Wal-Mart is reaping the benefits of it. And it also tells me that if there were an In-n-Out Burger located in Glendale, I could make more money and have better benefits by working there. In this case, burger flipping is a step upwards.