Bernie Sanders is Declaring War on Walmart
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Sen. Bernie Sanders is no fan of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and there are many reasons for that:
- The company doesn't provide benefits for most of its employees, and about $2.66 billion of taxpayer money goes to Wal-Mart employees in the form of food stamps and government healthcare each year.
- Wal-Mart lost a class-action lawsuit alleging wage theft by making employees work through unpaid breaks and meal times, among other things.
- Some have accused Wal-Mart of paying off foreign officials so they won't reveal the terrible conditions under which people labor in their overseas factories.
Not to mention the family in charge of the retail chain is incredibly rich.
On Black Friday the Democratic presidential candidate pointed out some of the reasons he hates Wal-Mart:
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This isn't the first time Sanders has spoken out against Wal-Mart. When the company announced that it would raise its bottom wage to $10 an hour by 2016, Sanders remained unimpressed.
“While this is a step forward and a response to grassroots activism across the country, this is nowhere near enough," he said in a press release. "Wal-Mart should raise their minimum wage to at least $10.10 an hour now and move it to $15 over the next several years. Struggling working families should not have to subsidize the wealthiest family in the country. Wal-Mart also should end its vehemently anti-union activities.”
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Sanders called what Wal-Mart pays its employees "starvation wages." Sanders also recently distributed a Bloomberg Businessweek article about how Wal-Mart spied on its employees when there was concern that a large group of them might have been organizing a Black Friday strike, which could have been costly for the company.
In the Bloomberg article, Wal-Mart declined to comment and cited the ongoing case. This was the statement sent via email:
“We are firmly committed to the safety and security of our 2.2 million associates as well as the 260 million customers we serve each week. It’s important to remember that Walmart is the largest company in the world with 11,500 stores in 28 countries. Unfortunately, there are occasions when outside groups attempt to deliberately disrupt our business and on behalf of our customers and associates we take action accordingly.”
All of that said, Wal-Mart will still let you buy Bernie Sanders books and films in its online store.
