[Vision2020] Wal-Mart Supercenter Opposition

[Andreas Schou]

The Dube study wasn't the only one to cite that specific number,
although I'll admit that it's less generally applicable than the
Miller report on Walmart's cost to the federal taxpayer. The federal
calculation of the per-worker cost of opening a single Walmart
actually comes out a little higher.

http://edworkforce.house.gov/democrats/WALMARTREPORT.pdf

To give you a thumbnail sketch of this report, the average
200-employee Walmart offloads about $420,750 in their costs onto the
American taxpayer, or -- again -- about $2,000 dollars per employee.
This includes $36,000 for school lunches, $42,000 for subsidized
housing, $125,000 in Earned Income Tax Credit, $100,000 in Title 1
educational funds, and $9,750 in energy assistance subsidies. Wal-Mart
cuts wages and expects federal and state governments to pick up the
check.

If you're interested in information coming from the other side of the
aisle, take a good long look at Georgia's study -- taken from data
collected directly by Health and Welfare -- that found that over
10,000 of the 166,000 MedicAid clients in the state were Wal-Mart
employees. I think the evidence is clear: moving a Wal-Mart into town
enriches only Wal-Mart.

In short, using the Dube study as shorthand for all costs warranted a
clarification. But let me point out that three things you're claiming
are complete nonsense.

First: Wal-Mart's medical plan is hardly a medical plan at all.
Employees may only enroll after six months; part-time employees may
only enroll after two years. A Harvard Business School case study
found that Wal-Mart spent 33% less per employee than comparable large
retail businesses. Even after a $1000 deductible*, and a monthly
payment equal to about 10% of the average employee's earnings, an
employee of Wal-Mart must pay 42% of their medical costs.

Second: Although Wal-Mart has several complaints about Dube's study
(most of which take the form of 'We've already fixed that!), not even
they are willing to claim that the study is politically motivated. To
see a response to Wal-Mart's criticisms of the Dube study, you can
visit this site here:

http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/lowwage/walmart_response.pdf

Perhaps the data you're referring to is about one of Wal-Mart's many
violations of labor law, child labor law, or their charge that the
undocumented workers they're hiring can't sue for the terrible
conditions they were forced to work under.

Third: the number you're using that claims that "most" Wal-Mart
employees are paid over $9.00/hr is a talking point distributed by
Wal-Mart itself. That number is the average. The number you are
looking for is the median. To explain the difference: the average
income of three people making $1, $1, and $1,000,000 is $333,334.
That's a pretty rosy scenario. On the other hand, their median income
is $1. That's not.

In Wal-Mart's case, again, the average employee makes $8.50 per hour,
or roughly $14,000 per year.

For a comprehensive explanation of the talking points and how they
relate (or don't) to reality, this Slate article helps:

http://www.slate.com/id/2113954



-- ACS