Walmart and some other big-box stores want us to believe they have to abuse their workers by paying poverty wages and working them only part-time (so they don't have to provide them benefits), or they will go out of business. As the chart above shows, that is simply a lie. Costco does very well by paying livable salaries, and providing benefits (like health insurance and a pension plan) to it's workers.But then the CEO of Costco doesn't earn $15 million a year plus bonuses. He squeaks by on a paltry $750,000 a year. The problem with Walmart is not that they can't afford to pay workers a decent wage and provide benefits, but that company owners and executives reward themselves excessively by hogging all the productivity gains (including those which rightly should go to workers). This is simply legal theft -- the theft of labor (more commonly called unregulated capitalism).
