Food Inflation

[OpenD]

quote:

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Originally posted by PaulW

Walmart pays at or above the legal requirement - minimum wage.
If that isn't enough to live on then the minimum wage should be raised.

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There's no question that the minimum wage is too low. If it had kept pace with inflation through the years it would be over $20/hr today. And according to a Living Wage calculator I just consulted, a living wage in Hilo for a single parent with one child is about $21.75

quote:

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There is no reason to demonize Walmart for doing what it can to keep prices low for everyone. Walmart has done more for the low-income people of Hawaii than any politician.

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Actually, if you read the articles I linked to, there are many valid reasons to demonize Walmart, and their driving down the average wages in the area, and paying employees so little that they depend on government assistance to live are just two of them. And that's without even getting into how much of their merchandise comes from China, and how their profits are taken out of Hawai'i.

IOW, their low prices came at a huge cost to taxpayers, and to the community at large.