Wal-Mart Pay and BenefitsWal-Mart is a company that most Americans are familiar with, a company with stores that offer everything a person could need at low prices. What began as a company based in a small Arkansas town has grown to be the largest employer in the United States. By 1998, Wal-Mart had the fourth highest annual sales revenue of any American company and had stores throughout four continents. It is estimated that within a few years, twenty cents of every retail dollar spent in the U.S. will be spent at this store. Yet, most people are probably not familiar with how big Wal-Mart truly is, how it became so big, nor how powerful it is. In order to minimize operating costs and maintain low prices, Wal-Mart pays relatively low wages and provides minimal benefits to its employees. Yet, Wal-Mart has taken some fairly drastic measures to ensure that their workforce is not able to form unions.
English: Inside the Walmart (still branded as Wal-...
A protest in Utah against Wal-Mart
English: Statue of Sam Walton and his dog outside ..."Wal-Mart purchases many of its items, particularly clothing, from developing countries, including the U.S. Commonwealth of Saipan" (Democratic Socialist of America, 2008). Wal-Mart, the big giant, the place where many people usually do their shopping for the low prices and the variety of products was founded by Sam Walton. Walton was an entrepreneur with an innovative vision, started his own company and made it into the leader in discount retailing that it is today. In fact, Wal-Mart is considered to be the biggest company in the U.S. and it has stores worldwide. According to PBS, "Wal-Mart employs more people than any other company in the United States outside of the Federal government, yet the majority of its employees with children live below the poverty line"(PBS, 2000). In addition, Wal-Mart likes to portray itself as a seller of U.S. manufactured goods but in...