Wow. If Wal-Mart keeps this up, I might have to end my boycott of them:
WASHINGTON - Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, joined hands with a major labor union Tuesday to endorse the idea of requiring large companies to provide health insurance to their workers, a move that gives a boost to President Obama as he is pushing for health legislation on Capitol Hill.
"Not every business can make the same contribution, but everyone must make some contribution," Wal-Mart's chief executive, Michael T. Duke, wrote in a letter to White House and Congressional officials, adding that he favored "an employer mandate which is fair and broad in its coverage."
The letter was issued jointly with Andrew W. Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents two million workers, many of them in the health care industry, and John D. Podesta, who ran Mr. Obama's transition to the presidency and leads the Center for American Progress, a Democratic policy organization here.
Of course they want conditions on it to make sure it's cost effective, but it's a good start.
I never thought I'd see the day when unions and Wal-Mart actually agreed on something. |
