Biggest U.S. food stamp recipient: Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart's poverty wages force employees to rely on $2.66 billion in government help every year, or about $420,000 per store. In state after state, Wal-Mart employees are the top recipients of Medicaid. As many as 80 percent of workers in Wal-Mart stores use food stamps. 

 

The Winning Words blog asks,

When will Congress take up legislation that imposes severe fines on mulit-billion dollar corporations who line their pockets at the expense of taxpayers by refusing to pay their employees a 2012 wage and use government programs to supplement their payrolls?

As Wal-Mart celebrates its 50th anniversary, Teamsters are proudly supporting the campaign against the giant retailer. Town halls, teach-ins and protests are being held around the country on June 30 to highlight Walmart’s legacy of underpaying workers and ripping off communities.

Southern California Teamsters will join an anti-Wal-Mart rally on Saturday, where International Vice President Randy Cammack will speak. Here's how Making Change at Wal-Mart describes the event:

10,000 Southland residents concerned about the growth of L.A.’s low wage economy and the influence of the nation’s largest retailer will march through L.A.’s Chinatown to call for an end to the “Walmartization” of L.A. The “March Against Low Wage Jobs” will convene at 10am in Los Angeles State Historic Park (also known as “The Cornfield”) and make its way to a rally at the intersection of Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Broadway. There, speakers will call on city officials to reject Walmart’s proposal to build a 33,000 square foot grocery store in historic Chinatown.

Stay tuned.