Maryland Wal-Marts...

[Geowitz]

So what do you guys think of Big Brother forcing a company to spend its money a specific way?

Wal-Mart, being that it is the only employer with over 10,000 employees in Maryland, is now required to spend atleast 8% of it's payroll on healthcare or give it directly to the states program for healthcare for the poor. Again, unions find there way into legislation. So who's gona pay for it now? Either Wal-mart will raise prices to cover this bill, fire workers, or loose money.



Wal-Mart Denounces Health Bill
Retailer Says Maryland Could Lose Future Jobs

By Michael Barbaro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 7, 2005; Page E01

ROGERS, Ark., April 6 -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. yesterday said approval of a bill that would require it to boost health care spending in Maryland could endanger its plans for growth in the state, including a new distribution center that would employ as many as 1,000.

The company questioned the motivation behind the bill, which is backed by a top competitor and its labor union.

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Wal-Mart "will have to rethink its future growth in a state that is willing to pass such a bad business bill," said Nate Hurst, a government relations manager for the company. "This type of legislation, where lawmakers single out one employer, does not create a favorable environment."

The bill nearing approval in the Maryland General Assembly is touted by supporters as a step forward in health care policy for workers, but Wal-Mart is asking why Giant Food LLC and the union representing Giant workers have so strongly endorsed the legislation.

Wal-Mart, with 52 stores and 15,000 employees in Maryland, is now a powerful force in the grocery industry, and its growing share of the local market is coming, in part, retail analysts say, at Giant's expense.

"It's unfortunate that a competitor would use the legislative process," Hurst said. "Is this bill really tackling health care for the state of Maryland or trying to get at one of Giant's competitors?"

Wal-Mart's distribution center planned for Somerset County could be affected, the company said. The company is planning to build an approximately 1-million-square-foot distribution center in the town of Princess Anne. Hurst said the facility would initially employ 350, and after five years, up to 1,000. "The company is still working through plans to build a distribution center," he said.

Wal-Mart's sharp reaction to the bill came as it wrapped up a two-day media conference here in northwestern Arkansas that was designed to repair its image.

The discount giant, which in the United States operates more than 3,700 stores and employs 1.2 million people, has been the subject of class-action lawsuits accusing it of gender discrimination and labor law violations, and last month it forced out a director for allegedly misusing as much as $500,000 in company funds.

In a series of presentations Wednesday, executives documented Wal-Mart's efforts to improve the diversity of its workforce and to address discrimination complaints, saying it boosted the percentage of women and minorities across the company last year. As of 2004, women accounted for 38.3 percent of salaried managers, up from 36.3 percent in 2003, the company said.

[hybrid]

Im all for it.........with a company like walmart, why not require them to compete at an equal level? Why shouldnt they provide health care? If they dont your going to pay for it anyways with your taxes.

I mean do the waltons need another billion dollars or is 100 billion enough? How about taking care of the peeps making you the buckets of duckets?

[jim schmidt]

I think it is great. It will go a long way toward providing health care for Maryland's neediest children, as well as some of their moms and dads.

[Geowitz]

LOL, figured you guys would be the first to say that. I guess I could agree that it may place less burden on the Maryland tax payer with respect to state health programs, but I doubt anyone will get a tax break for it so they end up paying the same amount they would have in taxes anyways. Wal-marts just not gonna eat the extra cost though. Something's gotta give. And come on, unions have a big part of this. It's a band-aid, not a cure for getting enough coverage to people without healthcare. This doesn't encourage anything. All we have is another loophole created for wal-mart to figure some way around.

[jim schmidt]

We'll see.

[hybrid]

Walmart might find a loophole but the more the government bands together and forces walmart to commit to the people breaking their backs for a few to get rich, the better off we will be.

If walmart gets its way, we will be like china is right now, working as indentured servents

[bumblebee]

Originally Posted by hybrid

Walmart might find a loophole but the more the government bands together and forces walmart to commit to the people breaking their backs for a few to get rich, the better off we will be.

If walmart gets its way, we will be like china is right now, working as indentured servents

Better take a good look around, you're already there...Even if you think you are self-employed.

Wal mart has historically treated their employees shabbily and the taxpayer picks up the tab for the underinsured

It is not a bad for business bill...it is a financial responsibility bill

[hybrid]

Originally Posted by bumblebee

Better take a good look around, you're already there...Even if you think you are self-employed.

Wal mart has historically treated their employees shabbily and the taxpayer picks up the tab for the underinsured

It is not a bad for business bill...it is a financial responsibility bill

Youre not getting an argument out of me........Im captain anti walmart.

I generaly prefer to believe I dont live as an indentured servent. I dont "finance" my lifestyle. I dont believe in it. If I can afford something, I dont buy it.

[Fargin_Bastige]

I think it's great. Takes the burden off of the state.

[cacapants]

Why shouldn't WalMart pay for healthcare? They're just dumping their workers on the taxpayers.