Wal-Mart Moves to Cut Wages

Just a week after Wake-Up Wal-Mart revealed that the retail giant was cutting health care plans, Wal-Mart's new plans to increase the number of its employees that are part-time, while capping wages of all workers, has been revealed by the same organization. Current Wal-Mart workers across the country also cite a number of recent and specific abuses: demands to be willing to work any time of the 24-hour-day on short notice (nearly impossible for parents with small children) and removal of stools for elderly or disabled cashiers (making a full work day nearly impossible). At the end of the day, the result of the policies appears quite clear: force long-time workers out. Keep wages even lower. Promote high turnaround. Pay less in benefits. The most troublesome element is that Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in America. As noted by the Times, their revenues total more than the next five largest retail operations combined. They set the direction for American employment practices and the direction they are setting is less stability and fewer rewards, lives where the wage you make when you're 25 is the same that you'll make when you're 60. Of course, there's a bright side: taxpayers are subsidizing the whole operation.