Shoppers don't care about Wal-Mart pay

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — It's 74 degrees, the sun is shining and the parking lots are filling up at the two new Wal-Mart Supercenters here.

A few days ago a third Supercenter opened about 15 minutes away in Urbana. Within 26 miles there are nine Wal-Mart stores.

According to Democrats, this is a disaster for the region, which had the only county in the swing state of Ohio in 2004 to switch its presidential vote from Democrats to Republicans, thus re-electing President Bush.

Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, does not provide health insurance to new workers, although eventually they may purchase it. The company pays on average $10.11 an hour to its employees (the federal minimum wage is $5.15). That's a pre-tax income of about $20,200 a year.

When unions have tried to unionize Wal-Mart workers to demand higher wages and better benefits, the company has driven them out. Local businesses, claiming they can't compete with Wal-Mart's one-stop shopping, low prices, convenient hours and ease of parking, often unite to try to keep Wal-Mart out of their communities.

The City Council in South Side Chicago recently blocked Wal-Mart from moving in, fearing it would put small retailers out of business. Wal-Mart responded by opening a store just outside city limits in Evergreen Park. (Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott said in a speech a few days ago that 25,000 people applied for 325 jobs at that store.)

Wal-Mart insists its stores are the best thing to happen to the "everyday" man and woman. Its motto: "In everything we do, we're driven by a common mission: To improve the quality of life for everyday people around the world."

It employs 1.8 million people around the world (1.3 million in the United States), has opened 6,500 stores (3,800 of them in the United States) and claims to serve 176 million global customers a week. Sales in June were $33 billion, up 10 percent from a year ago.

Democrats and unions this month have opened a new campaign against Wal-Mart, with rallies and bus tours organized in such states as Iowa, where the 2008 presidential campaign already has begun.

Four Democratic presidential aspirants, Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Evan Bayh of Indiana, Govs. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Tom Vilsack of Iowa, are among politicians complaining about Wal-Mart. Biden said in Des Moines, "My problem with Wal-Mart is that I don't see any indication that they care about the fate of middle-class people. They talk about paying them $10 an hour. That's true. How can you live a middle-class life on that?"