Wal-Mart criticized for substandard wages and health care benefits

A number of Democrats this week in Iowa and this month nationwide have criticized Wal-Mart Stores, the largest private employer in the U.S., "for what they say are substandard wages and health care benefits," the New York Times reports.

According to the Times, the focus on Wal-Mart "is part of a broader strategy of addressing what Democrats say is general economic anxiety and a growing sense that economic gains of recent years have not benefited the middle class or the working poor," and their criticism of the company "dovetails with their emphasis in Washington on raising the minimum wage and doing more to make health insurance affordable."

In recent weeks, Sens. Joe Biden (D-Del.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and John Edwards (D-N.C.), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) and other Democrats have appeared at rallies in opposition to Wal-Mart.

In addition, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who previously served as a member of the Wal-Mart board, last year returned a $5,000 campaign contribution from the company to protest employee health benefits.

Democrats have criticized Wal-Mart as a "potent symbol of corporate excess," the Times reports.

Wal-Mart reported $11 billion in earnings last year, but fewer than half of employees in the U.S. receive health insurance through the company.

However, Wal-Mart maintains that more than 150,000 U.S. residents who previously did not have health insurance currently receive coverage through the company.

Mona Williams, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart, said of the criticism from Democrats, "There is far more evidence to show that this short-sighted political strategy will backfire than that it will actually work" (Nagourney/Barbaro, New York Times, 8/17).