Ex-Sen. Edwards stumps against Wal-Mart pay, benefits [View All]

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06216/711198-100.stm

Former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards gave a stump speech in the Hill District today in his latest campaign: he's running against Wal-Mart.

Mr. Edwards, who dumped his Wal-Mart stock during his 2004 bid for the party's presidential nomination, says the retail giant underpays its workers and cheats taxpayers when those same employees rely on public funds for medical care.

"It's not bad enough that people make seven or eight or nine or 10 dollars an hour, but when you make seven or eight dollars an hour and you don't have health care coverage, what are you going to do when your 5-year-old gets sick?" Mr. Edwards told a crowd of 400 people at the Hill House. "You'll go to the hospital emergency room and beg for health care -- that's what you're going to do. Or, you're going to depend on the taxpayers for your health care."

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As Mr. Edwards began his leg of the tour, Hank Mullany, senior vice president for the chain's Northeast division, issued a letter asking the former senator to meet with Wal-Mart officials and employees "without the fanfare of media or staff or supporters."

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(Edwards) "I'm happy to meet with anybody," he said, adding that "it's obvious to me what's going on . . . Wal-Mart makes plenty of money. They need to pay their people well."