As Cover The Uninsured Week Begins Walmart Watch Calls Upon State Legislators To Follow Maryland Law
AS “COVER THE UNINSURED WEEK” BEGINS, WAL-MART WATCH CALLS UPON STATE LEGISLATORS TO FOLLOW MARYLAND LEGISLATURE AND COMPEL WAL-MART TO IMPROVE HEALTH CARE SPENDING FOR ITS WORKERS
For Immediate Release
Monday, May 02, 2005
Washington, DC, May 2, 2005 – As “Cover the Uninsured Week” begins, Wal-Mart Watch, the new nonprofit organization aimed at reforming the business practices of retail giant Wal-Mart, has called upon state legislators nationwide to follow Maryland’s lead and compel Wal-Mart to improve its health care spending for workers. Wal-Mart Watch has also called upon its nationwide network of supporters to contact their state legislators in support of such action.
The Wal-Mart Watch appeal to over 3,400 state legislators notes that Wal-Mart, as America’s largest private employer, is contributing to the crisis of uninsured Americans by failing to cover 60% of their workers – over 600,000 men and women. According to a study of 2002 data by Harvard Business School, Wal-Mart spends $1,300 less per employee annually on health care than average retailers and $2,100 less than average U.S. companies.
Wal-Mart Watch commends the Maryland legislature for recently passing a bill that would compel Wal-Mart to increase its health care spending for the more than 10,000 employees in that state. But Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich has threatened to veto the bill, saying that protecting the retail giant trumps the health care concerns of his constituents. (Ehrlich has also been the beneficiary of political donations from Wal-Mart, including a Wal-Mart-hosted fundraiser in December 2004 and a donation in January 2005.)
Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director Andrew Grossman said, “In calling upon state legislators to pass similar bills – and as companies like Starbucks rightfully point to their commitment to providing health care for their workers – we note that last year alone, Wal-Mart reaped a $10 billion profit. Improving health care spending for Wal-Mart workers is an attainable goal for a company that is under increasing pressure to reform. During ‘Cover the Uninsured Week’, we also note that more than eight in ten of the uninsured live in families where the head of the household is employed. The crisis of affordable health care can be mitigated by responsible employers. Wal-Mart bears tremendous responsibility and must be amenable to change.”
Wal-Mart Watch, a campaign of Five Stones, a 501(c)(4), was founded in December 2004, along with The Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, a 501(c)(3). Their mission is to reform Wal-Mart’s business practices and help improve Wal-Mart as a neighbor, employer, and corporate citizen. The organizations have three broad goals: to synthesize and distribute Wal-Mart-related data and resources; to foster enhanced communication and cooperation among the hundreds of organizations currently engaged against Wal-Mart and its practices; and to help provide intellectual and political leadership to this nationwide community of citizens and activists. (Factual back-up follows below and a copy of the letter to state legislators is available by contacting Wal-Mart Watch.)
FACTS ON WAL-MART, HEALTH CARE COVERAGE & THE MARYLAND LEGISLATION
Roughly 60% of Wal-Mart Employees Fail to Receive Health Insurance Benefits. Among uninsured working families are a significant number of Wal-Mart employees, many of whom instead secure their health care from publicly subsidized programs. Fewer than half – between 41 and 46 percent – of Wal-Mart’s employees are insured by the company’s health care plan, compared nationally to 66 percent of employees at large firms like Wal-Mart who receive health benefits from their employer. [U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and the Workforce, Democratic Staff, “Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart,” 2/16/04;]
Wal-Mart, America’s Largest Private Employer. “Wal-Mart has 1.2 million employees in the United States, making it the nation's largest private employer.” [Associated Press, 1/13/05]
Harvard Business School Analysis Said Wal-Mart Spends Less on Health Care. According a Harvard Business School case study, in 2002 Wal-Mart spent $1,300 less per employee annually on health care than average retailers and $2,100 less than average U.S. companies. [Panjak Ghemawat, Ken Mark, and Stephen Bradley, “Wal-Mart Stores in 2003,” HarvardBusiness School, Case Study 9-704-430, 1/30/04]
MARYLAND’S GOVERNOR THREATENING VETO OF HISTORIC LEGISLATION
Ehrlich Threatened to Veto Bill to Increase Health Care Spending for 1,000 Maryland Wal-Mart Employees. Gov. Bob “Ehrlich ticked off a number of Democratic-led initiatives he has opposed, including several proposed tax increases and legislation passed this year that came to be known in Annapolis as ‘the Wal-Mart bill.’ The bill requires businesses with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent of payroll on employee health benefits or pay an assessment to the state's health insurance program for the poor. As written, the only known company operating in Maryland that would be affected is Wal-Mart. Yesterday, Ehrlich repeated his pledge to veto the bill. He displayed a full-page advertisement in the New York Times, recently placed by an anti-Wal-Mart group, that heralded the Maryland legislation as a model for the nation. ‘Fill in your business right there in this ad, because it's coming. Believe it,’ Ehrlich said.” [Washington Post, 4/29/05]
Ehrlich Benefited from Wal-Mart Fundraiser in December 2004. On December 15, 2004, Wal-Mart held a reception honoring Gov. Robert Ehrlich in Annapolis, MD. According to the invitation, tickets to the event cost $1,000 per person. The Baltimore Sun reported, “A $1,000-per-head fund-raiser hosted by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. last week in Annapolis has raised some eyebrows, especially among groups that don't like the company's business practices.” [Baltimore Sun, 12/28/04; Wal-Mart Invitation]
Ehrlich Received $4,000 Wal-Mart Donation This January. On January 12, 2005, Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s campaign committee disclosed a donation from Wal-Mart for $4,000. [Maryland State Board of Elections, Campaign Finance Database]
Starbucks is a Model of a Business Committed to Providing Health Care to Workers. “From the beginning, Starbucks has been committed to offering comprehensive, affordable health coverage to our employees. In fact, we were one of the first companies to offer coverage to part-time retail workers.” [Starbucks Advertisement, Washington Post, Page A9, 5/2/05]
Wal-Mart Made A $10 Billion Profit in 2004. “Wal-Mart had sales last year of $288.19 billion and profit of $10 billion” [Associated Press, 4/21/05]
Cover the Uninsured Week Highlights the Plight of 45 Million American, including 8 Million Children. May 1 – 8th, 2005, is Cover the Uninsured Week, a project hosted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which is aimed at raising awareness for uninsured Americans. According to the latest figures from the Census Bureau, 45 million Americans lack health insurance. Among that number 8 million are children. The [http://covertheuninsuredweek.org; Census Bureau, Health Insurance Coverage: 2003]
8 out of 10 Uninsured Americans Have a Job or Live in Household with a Job. “More than eight in ten of the non-elderly uninsured (83 percent) live in families where the head of the family works.” [http://covertheuninsuredweek.org/factsheets/display.php?FactSheetID=109]
