Theft Of Labor Is Not Good Business

(This image is from the website of CNNMoney.)

Wages for American workers have been stagnant for a couple of decades now, and the median wage in this country is going down. That is because more and more jobs in this economy are low-wage and no benefit jobs. The Republicans, and their corporate masters, want us to think that companies cannot stay in business unless they are able to pay poverty wages to workers and deny them benefits.

That is not just untrue, it is an outrageous lie! Consider the story of two large American discount store chains. Since 2009, Wal-Mart sales grew an average of 4.5% per year, their profit rose by 7%, and their stock price went up by 70%. Sounds pretty good -- until you compare Costco's numbers for that same period -- a 13% average yearly rise in sales, a profit rise of 15%, and a doubling of their stock price!

And they got those results in different ways. Costco built their success on providing quality products and quality service, and on providing their employees with a livable wage and good benefits. Wal-Mart did it by paying low wages and no benefits (at least no benefits that most employees can afford). In other words, they built their profits on stealing the labor of their employees and on letting the taxpayers subsidize their profits (through government programs to keep Wal-Mart workers out of poverty -- like food stamps, housing subsidies, etc.).

Personally, I am tired of subsidizing the profits of the obscenely rich Walton family (and the other corporate moguls who steal the labor of their workers). These corporations are making record profits, and it's time they paid their own way -- by paying their workers a livable wage and providing them with decent benefits (so the taxpayers are not forced to do it for them). If Costco can do it, then all the other corporations can do it also.