Snitch of the Week: 10/22 - 10/29

(Anonymous Wal-Mart employee)

Following the success of last week's Snitch of the Week feature, it's only right that there be a follow-up.

Wal-Mart, my least favorite, multinational, publicly-traded corporation caused a lot of confusion recently when they lowered the price for workers to participate in the company's health care plan, demanded that Congress raise the nation's minimum wage and vowed to switch to renewable energy sources.

Of course Wal-Mart employees still have a $1,000 deductible, (which is a large percentage of the $18K the average full-time Wal-Mart employee makes) a minimum wage increase helps the buying power of their customers and the environmental pledge seems like an image ploy. But it was still oddly positive for Wal-Mart.

Proud Wal-Mart haters such as myself, had to pause with concern. Where to direct my unabated hate for Wal-Mart? Where is the Wal-Mart I used to know?

The one that used child labor, chained its doors to prevent workers from taking breaks at night and helped spread horrible country boy bands with its $7.88 Lonestar CDs?

Well the answer is they didn't go anywhere.

An internal memo (PDF link) leaked to Walmartwatch.com by an anonymous Wal-Mart insider, detailed how the company plans to the lower their health insurance costs after the seemingly benevolent move of lowering the price for its health care plan.

By making everyone do hard physical labor, from the obese check-out clerks to the elderly clean up lady, they aim to discourage the weak and the sick from applying. They have other old school evil tricks to cut costs as well as some positive ideas, such as increasing discounts on health foods (not a bad idea at all)

Besides Wal-Mart being evil, the deeper issue here is the American health care system. People are getting older, fatter and sicker and your job doesn't want to pay for it anymore. While Wal-Mart's approach wasn't the slickest one possible, it underscores an ugly reality more and more Americans will have to face as we compete internationally for jobs with countries they will pay health care.

Anonymous Wal-Mart employee, we here at Start Snitching commend you for outing Wal-Mart's bullshit PR campaign and hopefully bringing health care into the American discussion.