McDonalds and Wal-Mart are desperate for recession stretched dollars, but overpaid CEOs and underpaid workers are a good reason to take your business elsewhere.
According to Pay Scale, here are the five highest and lowest CEO to worker pay ratios:
It isn’t surprising that Wal-Mart is at the top of this list. The entire Wal-Mart business model has been about keeping payroll costs below market. The less they can pay their employees, the more money will flow to the top of the corporate food chain. Wal-Mart CEO Duke claims that Wal-Mart pays competitive wages. What he doesn’t tell you is that those wages are both below market and below poverty levels. Consumers seem to be wising up. Wal-Mart’s profits are crumbling, and their customers are fleeing to the much more worker friendly Costco.
Like Wal-Mart, McDonalds has become huge by keeping worker pay down, and corporate profits up. McDonalds pays 6% below market wages, and in an effort to squeeze every last dollar out the market tried to get their employees to work on Christmas for no overtime pay. After decades fast food dominance, McDonalds has been passed in total number of US stores by Subway, and isn’t even among the top 10 restaurant choices for Americans age 23-36.
In this era of consumer boycotts, a customer’s values are often reflected by where they choose, or don’t choose, to spend their money. It isn’t a coincidence that McDonalds and Wal-Mart both have well deserved reputations for poor treatment of employees, and now they are struggling.
Because one company’s employee is another company’s consumer, the behavior of Wal-Mart and McDonalds negatively impacts the entire economy.
When corporate giants like Wal-Mart and McDonalds place CEO pay ahead of employee wages, they are harming the economy by creating fewer consumers. When competitors like Target follow the Wal-Mart model, they helping to create a domino effect that drags down the entire economy.
America will never rebuild a strong middle class as long the Wal-Mart mindset towards workers dominates our economy.
If we are the company we keep, it might be best for all of us if we stop being seen with Wal-Mart and McDonalds until these two get it together and clean up their act.
PoliticusUSA
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Mathew Dunham
Mar. 29th, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Righteously said.
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Charlie F
Mar. 29th, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Wal-Mart and McDonalds don’t pay their employees a living wage, and the Republicans want to drastically reduce program that would help them, what heartless people.
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carrie
Mar. 29th, 2013 at 5:48 pm
Wouldn’t eat a crap sandwich from either place. They treat their workers like dirt!
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JJM
Mar. 29th, 2013 at 5:51 pm
I believe Costco is on the better side of the equation, no?
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Reynardine
Mar. 29th, 2013 at 8:13 pm
I wonder if some of the unhappy McDonalds employees started that earthworm rumor that won’t go away.
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djchefron(Moderator)
Mar. 29th, 2013 at 8:28 pm
Found this at one of my favorite fonts of wisdom.Let this be a warning for those who criticize our beloved corporate overlords LOL
Has a big corporation ever conspired to kill someone?
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3099/has-a-big-corporation-ever-conspired-to-kill-someone
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Shiva
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 1:00 am
I bet there’s thousands of cases for that stuff
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Reynardine
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 8:52 am
Karen Silkwood was exactly who came to mind.
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PSzymeczek
Apr. 1st, 2013 at 11:35 am
“Dead Peasant” policies.
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Shiva
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 12:57 am
I dont think the corporations are interested ina strong middle class, even though its in their best interests. I say let them fail. I wont touch McDonald’s garbage and I havent been in Walmart for over a year.
But then again my body is a temple. Even though its round
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Reynardine
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 8:50 am
There are round temples.
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Greg
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 1:23 am
I’m sure it has nothing to do with obamacare….Walmart and McDonalds are exempt… Yet our health care premium’ s will be going up 80% here in Wisconsin
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Mateo
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 2:49 am
Am I the only one who thinks the Hyatt Ad on this article should be removed! Hyatt should be added to the list! Hyatthurts.org
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Kate Palasek
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 6:31 am
Haven’t shopped at Wal-Mart for several years. There is no way I would save a couple dollars to put in the hands of the greedy rotten owners. And, I live on a fixed income. Furthermore,there products are cheap foreign made. As for McDonalds, that’s a No Go as well.
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Might Mac
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 7:52 am
Looking at the information you listed it is obviously skewed for you to make the point. The total compensation for some of the CEO’s you listed like Jim Skinner includes all of their salary and stock. To list Warren Buffet ata meager $490,000 is completly false. he is worth 62 billion!
One our of every 7 americans started their career at McDonald’s including Jim Skinner.
Wal- Mart and McDonald’s provide gainful employment for those starting their careers and many go on to great things both inside and outside McDonald’s . There are thousands of franchisees who own Mcdonald’s today that started as crew members.
Be a little better informed before you blog.
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Shiva
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 9:56 am
Wages and worth are two totally different things. For instance there are CEO’s that take $1.00 for a salary yet are millionaires many times over. Warren Buffet only takes a certain amount for a salary. You really need to learn the differences.
The comparison here is CEO salary vs average salary in the company. McDonalds pays 6% less then the market for its industry yet its CEO makes well more then 430% more then the average person at that food slop house. The fact that it has franchises has nothing to do with the discusssion of pay.
Learn to read and understand. You just showed yourself as hopelessly out numbered in reading comprehension
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PSzymeczek
Apr. 1st, 2013 at 11:37 am
Their official salaries may be $1.00, but they take the vast majority of their compensation in stock options. That really skews the statistics.
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Shiva
Apr. 1st, 2013 at 12:35 pm
There are some that do, and some that don’t. Some are rich enough that they don’t have to do any of that stuff, they just take compensation when they leave
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cpswede
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 12:59 pm
I believe I heard on the Ed Schultz show that the largest group of people on medicaid and food stamps are Walmart employees, because they don’t pay a living wage. Walmart HR people show new employees how to get signed up. Yet their owners are among the richest in the country. Maybe we need a special tax on large companies that underpay employees and don’t provide benefits.
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djchefron(Moderator)
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
I wouldnt say walmart employees I think Ed was saying that the largest group are the working poor.Some people has the idea that only “lazy” bums receives aid and thats why there is hatred for the social net on the right.Another failure of our corporate media to inform people of the truth.
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Tim Hall
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 1:34 pm
Here in the West, In-N-Out Burger starts their employees at $10/hour. Besides, why would you go to McDonalds and order a Big Mac animal style?
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djchefron(Moderator)
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 8:30 pm
Well as they say “Aint this a bitch” A women was fired from KFC because she is homeless.Yeah,that is not a typo.These people talk about bootstraps and all and when you ry the heartless bastards still knock you down.SMDH Here is the link
Woman fired for being homeless
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130322/NEWS01/303220029?nclick_check=1
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Frank
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 8:48 pm
Wal-Mart and McDonald’s could do a lot worse than to pay attention to some examples in nature. One that comes to mind is the symbiotic relationship between sharks and pilot fish.
Sharks allow pilot fish to swim into their mouths where they find the food they live on stuck between the shark’s teeth. Sharks could chow on pilot fish like popcorn, but they don’t. They let the fish eat the bits from between their teeth and move on.
Everybody wins: sharks get the crap removed from their teeth, pilot fish get meals. They need each other and help each other.
Whereas in the corporate world, the sharks are predators and parasites; they eat all the pilot fish, then wonder why there are fewer and fewer fish to come along and clean their teeth and skin. But they will continue to eat any fish that swims into their mouths until they are no more.
The analogy is not as elegantly phrased as it might be, but I hope the general thrust of my point is clear enough.
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aimee
Mar. 30th, 2013 at 10:44 pm
WDW, in Florida and California (theme parks) are unionized. Just an FYI, I used to work at WDW Florida and was a union member.
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