All Hail The Anti-Wal-Mart!
Take a look at this really wonderful New York Times article on Costco, the wholesale giant that is quickly becoming the choice of consciencious people everywhere who don't want to shop at Wal-Mart. Now, there are lots and lots of reasons to dislike Wal-Mart, from undercutting labor standards around the world to laying economic waste to small towns here in the U.S. But to me, the greatest single reason to avoid Wal-Mart is their treatment of their own workers. Oh, sorry, I mean "associates." When it comes to employment practices, there's simply no comparison between the two establishments.
Consider Costco. They pay their workers an average of $17 an hour, 42% higher than Sam's Club (Wal-Mart's warehouse store) pays it's employees. Their health care plan is actually designed to keep workers healthy, not pass their healthcare costs onto taxpayers as Wal-Mart does. Costco allows unions in, as opposed to Wal-Mart, which would rather shut down a store than allow in a union. A Deutche Bank analyst actually said last year that "It's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder" at Costco. And you want to know the funniest part? HE MEANT THAT AS AN INSULT TO COSTCO!
The point I'm trying to make is that no matter what they tell you, corporations like Wal-Mart need not resort to turning workers to wage-slaves to make a profit. Costco is the nation's leading warehouse retailer despite having almost 200 fewer stores than #2 Sam's Club. The company ranks 29th in revenue among all American Companies. Their stock has risen 10% in the last 12 months while Wal-Mart's stock has fallen 5%. And Costco's workers appreciate their employer: According to the Times article, "Good wages and benefits are why Costco has extremely low rates of turnover and theft by employees . . . And Costco's customers, who are more affluent than other warehouse store shoppers, stay loyal because they like that low prices do not come at the workers' expense."
You are no doubt wondering why more companies don't follow Costco's profitable and successful model. Perhaps this fact will help explain it: Jim Sinegal, the Chief Executive for Costco, made "only" $550,000 last year, including bonuses. Of course, he's worth over $150 million because of stock ownership in his company, but still, that salary puts him in the bottom 10% of CEO's despite his company's startling success. I'm guessing (although I don't know for sure) that this philosophy of upper-management compensation applies to other corporate officers in the Costco hierarchy, and that exhorbitant salaries are uncommon among the higher-ups. Amazingly, this doesn't seem to be keeping Sinegal up at night. He says, "On Wall Street, they're in the business of making money between now and next Thursday. I don't say that with any bitterness, but we can't take that view. We want to build a company that will still be here 50 and 60 years from now." And as if that's not enough, check out this piece crazy liberal propaganda: "Having an individual who is making 100 or 200 or 300 times more than the average person working on the floor is wrong." Wow. Treating workers well, building an business that's both ethical and very successful, and settling for being just super-duper rich instead of double-mega-super-ultra-obscenely rich. What is this guy, a Communist?
I'm sure Mr. Sinegal's company isn't perfect, and that a lot of the complaints people have about Wal-Mart also could also apply to Costco. But one thing is certain; they know how to treat their employees. I'll take them over the Beast of Bentonville any day.
Consider Costco. They pay their workers an average of $17 an hour, 42% higher than Sam's Club (Wal-Mart's warehouse store) pays it's employees. Their health care plan is actually designed to keep workers healthy, not pass their healthcare costs onto taxpayers as Wal-Mart does. Costco allows unions in, as opposed to Wal-Mart, which would rather shut down a store than allow in a union. A Deutche Bank analyst actually said last year that "It's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder" at Costco. And you want to know the funniest part? HE MEANT THAT AS AN INSULT TO COSTCO!
The point I'm trying to make is that no matter what they tell you, corporations like Wal-Mart need not resort to turning workers to wage-slaves to make a profit. Costco is the nation's leading warehouse retailer despite having almost 200 fewer stores than #2 Sam's Club. The company ranks 29th in revenue among all American Companies. Their stock has risen 10% in the last 12 months while Wal-Mart's stock has fallen 5%. And Costco's workers appreciate their employer: According to the Times article, "Good wages and benefits are why Costco has extremely low rates of turnover and theft by employees . . . And Costco's customers, who are more affluent than other warehouse store shoppers, stay loyal because they like that low prices do not come at the workers' expense."
You are no doubt wondering why more companies don't follow Costco's profitable and successful model. Perhaps this fact will help explain it: Jim Sinegal, the Chief Executive for Costco, made "only" $550,000 last year, including bonuses. Of course, he's worth over $150 million because of stock ownership in his company, but still, that salary puts him in the bottom 10% of CEO's despite his company's startling success. I'm guessing (although I don't know for sure) that this philosophy of upper-management compensation applies to other corporate officers in the Costco hierarchy, and that exhorbitant salaries are uncommon among the higher-ups. Amazingly, this doesn't seem to be keeping Sinegal up at night. He says, "On Wall Street, they're in the business of making money between now and next Thursday. I don't say that with any bitterness, but we can't take that view. We want to build a company that will still be here 50 and 60 years from now." And as if that's not enough, check out this piece crazy liberal propaganda: "Having an individual who is making 100 or 200 or 300 times more than the average person working on the floor is wrong." Wow. Treating workers well, building an business that's both ethical and very successful, and settling for being just super-duper rich instead of double-mega-super-ultra-obscenely rich. What is this guy, a Communist?
I'm sure Mr. Sinegal's company isn't perfect, and that a lot of the complaints people have about Wal-Mart also could also apply to Costco. But one thing is certain; they know how to treat their employees. I'll take them over the Beast of Bentonville any day.
posted by Yukon Sully | 4:53 PM
1 Comments:
That impresses me about Costco... My family has always shopped there, but it's good to know that they are actually built on principles and are not merely a money making machine. Also, I'm a little shocked at what the CEO makes per year, I honestly assumed it was at least four times that. Very interesting.
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