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Wal-Mart's No Good, Very Bad, Pre-Thanksgiving Week

This is supposed to be a cheery season for retailers. Not at Wal-Mart (WMT), though, where it’s been a really bad week—and this is only Wednesday.
 
On Monday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer broke the news of a holiday food drive at an Ohio Walmart store—for its own employees. The newspaper story, including a photo of the bins set out for the donations, quickly made its way pretty much everywhere. And it came from OUR Walmart, a group of union-backed employees pushing for higher wages and better working conditions.
In the media
Susan Berfield

Think Tank: How Walmart Could Pay Workers $14.89 an Hour

A progressive policy research center says that the nation’s largest retailer could easily afford to increase the wages of its employees, if it would choose to avoid “Wall Street financial maneuvers.”

In the media
Christopher Freeburn

Report Shows Real Factors Behind Detroit Crisis: Revenue Decline, Wall Street Deals Play Largest Role

Modest Pension Benefits Play Little Role in Financial Crisis

DETROIT — In their push for bankruptcy, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and other public figures are incorrectly looking at Detroit’s long-term debt—figures generated using aggressive and in some cases inaccurate assumptions—to the detriment of solving the City’s immediate cash-flow crisis and its long-term structural challenges, according to a report released Wednesday by Demos.

Press release/statement

A Politics of Public Goods

We need to restore the positive concept of public goods that existed decades ago.

Blog
June Sekera

Why Big Fines Don't Scare Wall Street's Cowboys

A historic $13 billion settlement is in the works between the federal government and JP Morgan -- the biggest-ever penalty for wrongdoing by a bank. 

But this settlement is unlikely to deter tomorrow's lawbreakers in finance, and here's why. 

Blog
David Callahan

Why Port Truckers Are Striking: 12-Hour Shifts, Noxious Fumes and $12.90 Paychecks

“We are on strike today to have respect and dignity at work,” says Walter Melendez, one of approximately 40 Los Angeles port truck drivers who walked off the job at 5a.m. morning in protest of alleged unfair labor practices. The strikes featured the rolling “ambulatory pickets” that the truckers have excelled at—chasing down trucks as they leave the port and setting up picket lines in front of them.

In the media
Sarah Jaffe

The Simple Path to a Living Wage at Walmart

In the past week, both a senior editor at Fortune magazine and the liberal think tank Demos have made similar proposals for how Walmart could greatly increase worker wages without harming its business prospects.

In the media
Hamilton Nolan

New Demos Report Shows a Substantial Raise is Possible for Walmart Workers This Holiday Season

A new brief by the national public policy organization Demos analyzes one way Walmart can raise worker pay to meet employees’ $25,000 benchmark target. A Higher Wage is Possible: How Walmart Can Invest in Its Workforce Without Costing Customers a Dime details how Walmart can give workers a raise by redirecting the funds spent annually on buying back shares of Walmart’s own company stock.

Press release/statement

Thank Big Government for the Toilet

Today is World Toilet Day, which strikes me as a good moment to reflect on how government can radically improve people's daily lives.

Blog
David Callahan