Walmart, the Benevolent Provides Bins for Low-Wage Employees Food Drive

Everybody knows the Walton family, the people who put the “Wal” in “Walmart”, is the richest family in America.  They’re so rich you would have to pile up more than 40% of the wealth in the entire United States to even be on the same level.  If each member of the family lived to be a thousand years old, they couldn’t even begin to spend all of their fortune.  So asking them to pay their employees a living wage and a few measly benefits is like asking them to give up, say, 1/10,000th of their fortune.  (Don’t quote me on that; I don’t know that for absolute sure.)

But I’m ever the optimist, so I put these questions to them:

Q:  Why won’t you Waltons listen to reason and start paying your employees–um, Associates–a livable wage?  It would barely eat into your profits, and people would like you better.

A:  We don’t wanna.

Q:  Why not?

A:  Cuz

So there you have it.  I tried.

But someone at a Canton,Ohio Walmart must have gotten wind of our concerns because something new and wonderful has appeared in their employee area:

As you can see, the bins in which poor Walmart employees can donate food items so that other poor Walmart employees might enjoy Thanksgiving dinner are brand new!  These are not moldy old bins that might have held who knows what kind of gross, horrible stuff.  Oh, no! They’re clean and nice and, if you’re into that sort of bin thing, fall-fashionable.  They are lined up purple and orange, purple and orange, purple and orange.  Like that.

But wouldn’t you know?  Some employees walked in there, read that sign, took one look at those lovely color-coordinated bins, and took offense.

[A]n employee at the Canton store wasn’t feeling that Walmart was looking out for her when she went to her locker more than two weeks ago and discovered the food drive containers. To her, the gesture was proof the company acknowledged many of its employees were struggling, but also proof it was not willing to substantively address their plight.

The employee said she didn’t want to use her name for fear of being fired. In a dozen years working at the company, she had never seen a food drive for employees, which she described as “demoralizing” and “kind of depressing”.

Strikes against Walmart are planned for Monday in both Dayton and Cincinnati.  I reached out to the Waltons for some clarification, but all I’ve received so far is this terse comment:

“No comment.”

By: Ramona Grigg

Ramona Grigg is a freelance columnist and blogger living in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.. She owns the liberal-leaning blog, Ramona's Voices, and is a contributor to Liberaland and on the masthead at Dagblog.