Walmart recently announced that all future employees who work less than 24 hours a week will no longer qualify for the company’s health insurance plans. Employees who work between 24 and 33 hours a week will not be able to insure a spouse. Premiums will increase for full-time workers as well, and deductibles can rise to $5000 a year.
I got into an argument with a guy at the Toomey event at Penn’s Peak earlier this year. He said unions were not needed because good workers would be rewarded. I brought up WalMart, and he insisted that one person could reasonably bargain with the nation’s largest private employer. At that point I began to shout at him. (I know, I know--that was stupid.) So, in a very calm voice, I would simply point out that what WalMart is doing shows the need for a strong union that can bargain on behalf of its employees.
WalMart is also charging a differential for workers who smoke, noting that their health care costs are about 25% higher than nonsmokers. Personally, I don’t have a problem with that.
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