http://www.mydd.com/story/2004/8/11/13343/7664Kerry vs. Bush and Costco vs. Wal-Mart
by Chris Bowers
Argument by analogy is dangerous, by Daniel Gross in Slate produces a beauty (links and emphasis in orginial):
Last week, Jeffrey Brotman and James Sinegal, chairman and chief executive office of Costco, respectively, joined the list of executives who endorsed John Kerry for president. (...)
Costco also has the sort of labor policy that would bring a smile to Barbara Ehrenreich's face. Pay starts at $10 an hour. About one in six employees is represented by a union, and workers receive nice health benefits. Sinegal has a non-zero-sum view of employee relations. Give people good jobs at good wages, and they'll be more likely to work harder, less likely to leave, and less likely to steal. As Helyar reported, Costco's turnover "is a third of the retail industry average of 64%," and "shrinkage"--the amount of inventory lost to theft--"is about 13% of the industry norm."
On the right: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (...) The company's labor policies are state-of-the-art, for the 1890s. It has been investigated for hiring contractors who allegedly hired illegal aliens to clean Wal-Mart stores and for locking them inside overnight. (One wonders if the Wal-Mart employees who in April were bused in to hear Vice President Dick Cheney sing the company's praises at Wal-Mart's headquarters were similarly confined.) In June, a federal judge certified a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of female Wal-Mart employees who claimed discrimination. The average wage at Wal-Mart, which has no unions and bitterly opposes raising the minimum wage, is lower than Costco's lowest wage. Turnover at Wal-Mart, according to the Economist, is 44 percent, meaning it "has to hire an astonishing 600,000 people every year simply to stay at its current size."(...)
Through July 6, according to Sheila Krumholz, research director at the Center for Responsive Politics, Wal-Mart--the company, its PAC, and individuals employed by it--have made political donations of $1.658 million. Of that, $1.34 million, or 81 percent, went to Republicans.
Wal-Mart and Costco show two very different ways this country can be run. The stark contrast of working conditions at Costco versus those at Wal-Mart show just how effective and beneficial to the country a well-articulated Democratic economic message could be. Who would ever want to work at Wal-Mart instead of Costco? When the lies about handouts, laziness and inefficient government surrounding the liberal / progressive economic message are torn away, you are left with good jobs at good wages that empower workers and save companies billions because of worker satisfaction.
Much like Kerry and Bush, Costco is starting to pull away from Wal-Mart in sales. Shop the Vote.