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New Rules Project -Retail -The Hometown Advantage -Big Box and Wal-Mar[ Econom... Page 5 of 11 between 0.8% and 0.9% for grocery store employees. This tlrop in average eamings, combined with a reduWOn In the overall number of Jobs hr these sedors ceusetl by WaFMert's arrival, produces a total bq in eamings for grocery end general merdumdiae workers of 1.3% for each Wal-Mart store that opens. MSAS are urbanized ceuntlq Mat acceunt for neatly 85% of the populatlon. Between 1988 end 2000, Me share of MSA eountbs Mat had at least one We4Mart Irkreasad from 33%to 79%. For non-MSA coun5es, the study bund that Wal-Mart's snivel reduced earnings for grocery workers, twt reised eamkgs for general merchandiq store employees. The aggregate egad on total eamings for all retaN workers in these non-MSA coun8es was zero. The study es8mates Mel, in 2000, Wei-Man's presence reduced total eamings of retell workers nadorrwide by 54.7 billion. Reviewing and Revbing Wal-Mart's Benefits Strategy -Memo to the Wal-Mart Bgrd of Diredors from Sugn Chambers, Wal- Mart's exeative vice president for benefib. Od. 2005 This hdemal memo leaked to VJaI-Mart Watch asseasq Wal-Mart's ameM heatlh care benefits and oMers atrategbs to DoM reduce Me axnparry's - heaNh Insurance coats and neutralize rxitldam of Ns empbyment practlces. The memo reports Mat only 46 percent of Me company's ampkryga are enrolled trt Il5 Msurence pion, canpared to an average of 88 percent fir nafional employers. Excessive out-of-pocket cosb, Indudhq expensive premiums and hph deductlblq, are to blame. 'Our coverage is expensiveforlow-incase famNies, and WeFMert has a signficaM peroxdage Of Assaietes and thek chlWren on pubNc assistance," Me memo noka. Employees enro0ed in Wet-Mart's Insurance plan sperM an average of 8 percent of tlretr income on hea8h care. rrgdy twke Me natlonal average. Aknost 40 percent spBnd more Man 18 percent otthek income. a cdppling cost for workers who cam lass Man SZO,D00 a year on average. The memo a160 feparta Met W8E•Mart has a larger share d its empbyeq end Metr ehiklren eraoNed b Medirakl compared to other companies. Mn ttdal, 48 percent oT Agodates' eh9dren are ekher an AAedlcekl a' are uninsured.' k notes. Thor memo ofiera strategiq for redudng WaFMarrs health care costs, indudirg inaeesing the perceriaga of Part-time employees and "design[ing] aN jobs to kroNrde sane phydcal adk4ty (e.g., aN ceshbrs do qme art paMerkg)." The latter recerrtrrterrdatlon aims to "dissuade unhealthy peopb from carrkrg b work al Wa4Mart." The Impact of Big Box Oroeers on Southern CaIHomla: Jobs, Wages, and Municipal Flnaneq -Prepared for the Orerge County BuWreas Courai by Dr. Medon Bgmet of the UMversigr of CaNfortYa at Irvine ant Dr. Randall Crane of the UniveraNy of CaNfomia at Los Angeles, 7999. The most useful parts of Mb study dql wNh Wal- Marra impad on wagq. Thor study cenduded Mat. as wal-Mart bates supxcenters In aoulhem Ca9forMa, Me company wiN absorb W to 20 percent of the region's grocery market and cut grocery workers' income by up to 51.4 billon annuaay. Unionized supermarket workers M souMem CalHomia make Ma equivabM of 518.25 an hour In wages end benetlts, accarding to the study, while Wal-Mart empkryeea cam just 59.63 pa has. As Wa4Marl expands M the regbn, N wIN replace hqh-wage Jobs wNh low-wage jobs. It wiN probably also force unlonbed supermarket workers to accept subsmrrtlel wage and berteM ant to keep Met employers eompetltlve. The mmbMed wasp are eaNmated in Ma range r# 5500 mNbrr to St.4 http://www.newtules.org/retaiUeconimpact.htlnl ~ 9/5/2007