by Marion Garcia

Created on: July 30, 2009

Is Wal-Mart bad for America? No, with today's economic crisis, Wal-Mart can be a blessing for a lot people.

Why do people think Wal-Mart is bad for America? The unions don't like Wal-Mart because they don't agree with their methods of obtaining contracts with their suppliers. Wal-Mart refuses to enter an agreement with the unions. They refuse to unionize their workers. They don't have benefits for their employees. Wal-Mart is not the only company in America that doesn't pay union scale. They are not the only company in America that doesn't offer benefits for their employees.

Some people think that all of their employees are under paid because they are non-union. In reality, only the sales and warehouse people are under paid. Retail positions in general are underpaid positions. This holds true for most stores, including some of the top retail stores. People that stay at Wal-Mart for a few years and work their way up can actually earn a fairly decent salary.

People who think Wal-Mart is bad for America are the ones that have good jobs. There are a lot of people who didn't have the opportunity to attend college or even finish high school that would appreciate the opportunity to have a job. These people depend on jobs from places such as Wal-Mart to earn a living.

People don't realize that although union jobs pay more money hourly, they also have high union dues and pay high medical insurance deductions. When this is taken into consideration, that hourly pay is reduced by quite a few dollars. Although it is still above the minimum wage, it still is tough to live on.

Not every union job offers top wages. The idea that unions guarantee a good salary is not always true. What the union tries to do is guarantee that workers are not taken advantage of in the sense that their work place is safe. The union helps to guarantee that a worker gets overtime pay and the companies follow certain guidelines pertaining to the employee's rights.

In these times there are many people being laid off from work, including union workers. If someone in the household has been laid off from work, a job at Wal-Mart can look pretty good as opposed to filing for benefits from the state.

Wal-Mart sells some of their items at a lower price than most top retail stores. Most of the top retail stores sell American made products. These products are made by union workers. The price you pay reflects the high pay

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