Progressive Oasis

OMAHA, NE – While retail and other companies have been receiving bad publicity for paying their workers too little while the executives get huge raises and bonuses, one retail giant has been paying their workers well and still achieving their bottom line.

The American economy needs a strong, thriving middle class in order to thrive.  I think it is long overdue that the conversation switch from being concerned about shareholder and CEO’s but to those are working for wages.  It is the buying power of the worker, the consumer, the middle class that is the power behind the American economy.  This always has been and always will be the truth.  Unfortunately, because of the Cold War and the Reagan Era, any talk about unions or public ownership or even fair wages is relegated to traitor or commie bastard talk. Its time to change that conversation, because the American worker is suffering.  All these years, under the concept of low wages and low prices Wal-Mart rose to the top.  But underneath the canopy is another model, one that works better for the American worker, and thus more people. The model championed by Costco, the anti Wal-Mart.

Costco has developed a great model that helps perpetuate the fact that you don’t have to pay your workers minimum wage to support your bottom line.  Why should a large company have to go bankrupt just to pay its executives outlandish salaries and bonuses? Costco pays its workers an average of $17, 42% over its closest rival, Sam’s Club.  The result is lower turnover for Costco’s employees as well as achieving a higher production rate, too.  Why should a retailer pays its workers at poverty level so its shareholders can live it up? Costco has resisted the urgency from Wall Street thinking to lower wages and raise prices.  In fact, Costco’s shares have been increasing, while Wal-Mart’s shares have been slipping.  Wal-Mart’s recent bad publicity hasn’t been helping its image nor its stock prices.

A comparison of Costco and Wal-Mart.