Walmart math - Walton family vs Walmart workers
Last edited Fri Nov 28, 2014, 01:05 PM - Edit history (1)
This Black Friday Walmarts are being protested around the country for the shameful pay and benefits they provide their employees. Walmart says, “We don’t talk to organized labor.” claiming that the protests are union-led (I say they sure as hell should be.) and they don’t talk to unions. If employees have a problem have a problem with their wages or working conditions, there is an open door policy - they can talk to the managers at any time. Of course “open door” also means employees are free to quit their jobs and walk out the open door.
A quick review of the math shows that in the last year Walmart Corp. made $18.5 Billion in net profit, and the Walton Family’s wealth grew by $33 Billion. All of that the money was made, either directly or indirectly as a result of the labor of Walmart workers. Yet they have no collective voice, only the individual right to get fired.
If we do the math, we might let the Corporation keep all of its profit, honoring the legal requirement that the Board of Trustees act to maximize the profit of the shareholders. If we just take half of the unearned growth in wealth of the Walton family, $16.5 Billion and divide it among the 1.4 million Walmart employees in the US, and assume they work full time, 40hrs/week all year, each employee could get a $5.66 hourly pay raise. This would go a long way toward the $15/hour wage Walmart workers are seeking. An even better version of this pay raise funding would include some of the Corporate profit could easily put Walmart workers closer to the living wage and leave plenty of money to let the outrageously wealthy owner-family to continue to swim in oceans of wealth.
So if you drive by a Walmart today and wonder why workers are outside protesting, just think of how the extra money in their paychecks would flow through the economy if they all got a raise, and remember that the $16.5 Billion in Walton family wealth would have to spend to provide them a raise would just barely make up for the billions in corporate tax breaks and billions more in public assistance for Walmart workers in poverty that you and I pay each year.