Can Barack Wake Up Wal-Mart?

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"Folks on Wall Street, and people in the top 1% of the income bracket are getting more and more of the productive resources," said Obama, "while ordinary folks are finding themselves systematically in jobs where they don't find adequate wages, no health-care benefits, and no significant form of retirement security. It's not like the economy took a hit. We are grappling with this trend even as the U.S. economy has been going gangbusters and corporate profits have gone up astronomically."

Not Playing Favorites

Though it has historically been closer to Republicans, Wal-Mart has been trying to court politicians from both parties. While it has donated 69% of its federal political contributions to Republicans and 31% to Democrats, it recently hired Leslie Dach, a Democratic operative and former political adviser to Al Gore, as head of its government relations and corporate communications. It has also stepped up its political contributions to politicians of both parties at the state and local levels (see BusinessWeek.com, 9/28/06, "Wal-Mart Doesn't Discount Politicians").

The current campaign against Wal-Mart particularly targets the company's new round of workplace restrictions—wage caps, cutting the number of hours with a corresponding cut in wages, compelling part-time workers to be available for shifts around the clock, and a stringent attendance policy. Along with these changes, Wal-Mart is looking to transform its workforce from 20% part-time to 40% part-time. Some employees say that the company wants to push out full-time and unhealthy employees because they are too expensive for the company to retain (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/17/06, "Wal-Mart Workers Walk Out").

The politicians are offering Wal-Mart advice, along with their criticism. Obama pointed to Wal-Mart's rival Costco (COST), where the average pay is 60% higher and health-care benefits are provided to more than 80% of its employees, compared to less than half at Wal-Mart. Obama said Wal-Mart workers and supporters should work together to change its policies: "We have a history in this country of ordinary people doing extraordinary things when they work together."

Gogoi is a reporter for BusinessWeek Online in New York.