Wal-Mart under attack for way it treats staff

In preparation for this November's vital Congressional elections, senior Democrats have launched a series of attacks against Wal-Mart - accusing the world's largest retailer of failing to pay its workers a living wage or provide adequate health benefits.

In recent weeks figures such as Senators Joe Biden and Evan Bayh and former Senator John Edwards - all likely to make a run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 - have criticised the corporation and said its business practices are undermining the US middle class.

"My problem with Wal Mart is that I don't see any indication that they care about the fate of middle class people," he said in a recent speech, reported by the New York Times.

"They talk about paying them US$10 an hour. That's true. How can you live a middle class life on that?"

Mr Bayh, from Indiana, said: "It's not anti-business. Wal-Mart has become emblematic of the anxiety around the country, and the middle-class squeeze."

Attacks on Wal-Mart are nothing new.

Campaigners have long targetted the company, accusing it of exploiting its workers and unfairly destroying competitors with its ability to enforce lower costs from its suppliers.

The company is the largest private employer in both the US and Mexico and in the US it accounts for 20 per cent of grocery sales.

Last year it made US$11bn profits.

But the recent wave of attacks from Democrats appears to be part of a coordinated strategy ahead of November's mid-term elections to try and portray the party as a champion of Middle America and a campaigner for egalitarianism.

John Edwards, the former Democratic vice presidential candidate, has been campaigning on this issue for years.

In an interview with the New York Times, he said: "Wal-Mart as an example of the problems that exist in America is a powerful political issue.

I think our party pretty much across the board agrees that people who work hard should be able to support their families.

When a company like Wal-Mart fails to meet its corporate responsibility, it makes it impossible for that to occur." Democrats alleged that fewer than half of all Wal-Mart employees are covered by the company's health care plan and that the average worker earns less than US$20,000 a year.

Wal-Mart says its wages are above the national minimum wage and that 150,000 Americans who would otherwise not have health care plans, do so because of its schemes.

There is a danger that the Democrats' attacks could see it lose support from some Wal-Mart workers.

The company has responded by telling its workers of the attacks that politicians have been making, saying: "[We] would never suggest to you how to vote but we have an obligation to tell you when politicians are saying something about your company that isn't true."

- INDEPENDENT