Wal-Mart Memo Reflects Republican Core Values

The only thing unusual about the recently leaked Wal-Mart memo is the fact that it was leaked. Generally, management is smart enough to keep such memos only in the hands of the coddled middle managers and up.

What is striking when listening to some comment on the memo, is the complete lack of admission that it sounds exactly like some Republican blowhard on the stump; screw the working poor to benefit the corporation.

"Chambers' memo voiced concern that workers were staying with the company longer, pushing up wage costs, although she stopped short of calling for efforts to push out more senior workers.

She wrote that 'the cost of an Associate with 7 years of tenure is almost 55 percent more than the cost of an Associate with 1 year of tenure, yet there is no difference in his or her productivity. Moreover, because we pay an Associate more in salary and benefits as his or her tenure increases, we are pricing that Associate out of the labor market, increasing the likelihood that he or she will stay with Wal-Mart.'"

Here's something you won't see in the next leaked memo:

"A middle manager at Wal-Mart with 7 years of tenure makes 617% more in wages than any associate, while incurring 135% more in benefit costs. It is suggested that managers be required to unload trucks to help offset their bloated salaries. In addition, to discourage long-term management employment, force managers to use only county hospitals which serve mostly Medicaid patients (our associates.)"