Already notorious for underpaying employees, Walmart has put the star on the tree of Capitalist greed. Walmart employees are forced to make political contributions in exchange for matching contributions to the employee hardship fund.
This news comes on the heels of reports which surfaced in 2013, that many employees were dependent upon food stamps, and some were homeless – so poor are the wages. Those employees are now forced to support the very politicians who want to cut food stamps and keep the minimum wage far below a living wage.
The contributions from some of America’s worst paid workers go to companies such as Coca-Cola and Hewlett-Packard and Wal-Mart Inc. They in turn fund PACs for fat cat recipients such as Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Republican Senator Ted Cruz. The miserable scam is entirely legal if immoral, and as David Pakman points out, the solution isn’t clear. If we boycott Walmart they in turn, will fire workers. Workers cannot afford to strike. This is fortunate for Walmart, and it is the reason efforts to unionize have failed.
It seems the only solution is to put pressure on legislators to increase the minimum wage, and to discourage the delusional thinking that cutting food stamps will – in some way, help balance the budget. Cutting corporate welfare is of course, out of the question, as is taxing the one percent more fairly. This will be heavy going when Republicans counter that ambitious workers will rise to the top, and Reagan’s ‘Welfare Queens in Cadillacs’ is still a familiar delusion among those who have never visited a food bank or a welfare office. Any thoughts?