Myths vs. Facts:

Myth:
Wal-Mart pays "competitive wages."

Fact:
Wal-Mart Lowers Wages.
Wal-Mart workers make an average of $3 per hour less than union supermarket jobs, $2 per hour less than all supermarket jobs, and $1 per hour less than the average retail wage. An average Wal-Mart employee makes about $11,700 a year (working 30 hour weeks which is the national average in discount stores) ?early $2,000 below the poverty line for a single mother with two children. A 40-hour week--which most Wal-Mart employees don't work--would figure out to $15,000 a year, which is the government's poverty level for a family of 4.

Myth:
Wal-Mart employees receive good health insurance coverage.

Fact:
Wal-Mart's Health Coverage Leaves Most Workers Uncovered.
Huge employee premium payments and big deductibles keep participation in Wal-Mart's health plan to 38% of employees. That's 6 out of every 10 employees--more than 425,000 Wal-Mart employees, most of them women, who have no company provided health coverage. Nationally, more than 60% of workers are covered by company paid health plans. There's more: Wal-Mart workers pay insurance premiums that cover close to half of Wal-Mart's health plan expenses. The national average shows that employee premiums cover just over 25% of health plan expenses incurred by companies nationwide. The Real Story is that Wal-Mart freely acknowledges shifting its health care costs to taxpayers and responsible employers. A company spokesperson said, "[Wal-Mart employees] who choose not to participate in [Wal-Mart's health plan] usually get their health-care benefits from a spouse or the state or federal government." Wal-Mart is the biggest beneficiary of its health plan because the company shifts $1 billion in health care costs to the government and responsible employers.

Myth:
70% of Wal-Mart's employees are "full time."
Fact:
Full time at Wal-Mart means working 28 hours a week.
Last anyone checked, full-time work in the rest of the country still means 40 hours a week, although a few companies have gone to a 37.5 and 35 hour workweeks.

Myth:
Wal-Mart's benefits package for part-time employees - those working less than 28 hours a week - is "generous."
Fact:
Wal-Mart employees working less than 28 hours need to put in two years with the company before they become eligible for health insurance--if they can afford it.

Myth:
Wal-Mart creates "hundreds" of new jobs for communities.

Fact:
Wal-Mart Destroys Jobs.
Studies show that for every two jobs created by a Wal-Mart store, the community loses three. Jobs are merely shift from local businesses to the giant retailer. In a 1994 report, the Congressional Research Service warned Congress that communities need to evaluate the significance of any job gains at big-box stores against any loss of jobs due to reduced business at competing retailers. The report also pointed out that these so-called new jobs "provide significantly lower wages then jobs in many industries, and are often only part-time positions, seasonal opportunities, or subject to extensive turnover." The Real Story is that when Wal-Mart moves into the neighborhood, it devours local businesses and lowers community living standards.