The PBS news program, "Now With Bill Moyers,'' recently reported that Wal- Mart's personnel offices actively encourage employees to apply for public assistance. In addition, economists at the Institute for Labor and Employment at UC Berkeley estimate that in 2002 California taxpayers subsidized $20.5 million worth of medical care for Wal-Mart workers.
Recently it was reported that Georgia’s tax-subsidized health insurance program for low-income families, now serves more than 10,000 children of Wal-Mart employees. Meantime the five heirs of Sam Walton rank among the 10 richest people on the planet, with a net worth of $20 Billion each. Less than 1% of that could provide affordable health care for their employees.
In other words, we taxpayers pay for the federal programs that provide health care for the children of Wal-Mart's workers. We also pick up the tab for the local public hospitals that provide health care for Wal-Mart employees.
Congressman Miller released a 22-page report by the Democratic staff of his House committee detailing how non-unionized Wal-Mart, the largest employer in both the United States and Mexico, allegedly imposes financial burdens on local governments. A certain percentage of its workers must turn to subsidized medical care, free school lunches, housing subsidies, and other taxpayer- supported welfare services, Miller said.
A typical Wal-Mart store with 200 employees would cost taxpayers $420,750 per year, according to the report. Its employees were paid an average of $8.23 an hour in 2001, compared with $10.35 for a supermarket worker, the report said.
Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, a Democrat representing parts of Contra Costa and Alameda counties, said at Miller's office that Wal-Mart represented "one of the greatest fortunes in the world that has been built on human misery and public subsidy."