Study Cites Social Costs of Wal-Mart

[Cadfael]

From the Chicago Tribune:

Inadequate wages and benefits force workers at Wal-Mart stores in California to seek $86 million a year in state aid, according to a report released Monday by the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

Moreover, if other retailers cut their wages and benefits to the levels offered by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the cost to California's public-assistance programs would rise by $410 million annually, the study said.

In their report, Berkeley researchers Arindrajit Dube and Ken Jacobs contend that more than other retail workers, Wal-Mart employees rely on a variety of public-aid programs, including food stamps, Medicare and subsidized housing.

"In effect, Wal-Mart is shifting part of its labor costs onto the public," the researchers wrote. "Wal-Mart's long-term impact on compensation in the retail industry has the potential to place a significant strain on the state's already heavily burdened social safety net."
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/la-fi-walmart3aug03,1,85139.story

[Kolesar]

1. Bill Moyers did this on a segment of "Now"

Even worse is that Walmart demands tax concessions from the municipalities.

[saigon68]

2. Emergency room treatment for WALMART EMPLOYEES

No Health Insurance---Taxpayer picks up the tab.

WALMART EMPLOYEES are paid so meagerly they are Judgment Proof.

This means their wages are SO LOW they can't be Garnished. They are also eligible for Food Stamps, Rental Assistance, Energy Assistance, Infant and Children Assistance, Day-Care Assistance, Public Housing, Medicare cards and a MYRIAD of other taxpayer assistance.

[daa]

3. Same true in Georgia

http://www.goiam.org/territories.asp?c=5236

A snapshot of Georgia's program for uninsured children shows that it's packed with kids of Wal-Mart employees. A state survey found 10,261 of the 166,000 children covered by Georgia's PeachCare for Kids health insurance in September 2002 had a parent working for Wal-Mart Stores.

Wal-Mart, with 42,000 workers in the state in 2002, had about one child in the health care program for every four employees.

[saigon68]

4. That's what Happens--CORPORATE BASTARDS in public TROUGH

LIKE PIGS SWILLING AT THE PUBLIC TROUGH