Why do big wealthy companies not pay their employees fair wages?

I know there is little difference between 25cents or 50cents... but on a 40 hour work week for 1000 people it adds up to $10000-$20000 a week, or $520000-$1.4M a year and this is just 1000 people. According to Wikipedia there are 2.2M Walmart employees around the work. If we gave them each a 25c-50c raise that would be $2.2B - $4.4B annual increase in salaries. If we gave everyone a dollar, Walmart would barely be a profitable company ~ They have $15.7B in profit in 2011 In the future, if you want to make an argument like this it would be best to start with legitimate amounts. The minimum wage in the United States is $7.25. Many states have higher minimum wage as high as $10.25 per hour.

Because the goal in capitalism is to maximize profits. The more they pay their employees, the less profit they make. When it was legal for capitalists to own slaves in this country, they did! If workers want rights, fair wages, a safe working environment, etc, they have to realize those things wont be handed to them from their capitalist masters on a silver platter. We have to get those things by voting for politicians who enact laws that help us (like raising the minimum wage) and by forming unions. Unfortunately, the corporations control the media and have managed to make workers believe they cant trust themselves to form unions! Vote democrat. The Republican party exists to further the interests of corporations and the wealthy elite who control them. They fight against laws that protect the environment, for example, because corporations can make more money if they can abuse nature and not worry about how much they are polluting, logging, etc.

Because Wal-Mart, like most people and companies these days, is greedy. I actually just read an article "How Wal-Mart is (Mis)Shaping the Global Economy." Not only do they pay their own employees crappy wages, but they've placed such a demand for products from manufacturers that manufacturers have moved their factories out of the US to other countries (mostly China) to places that aren't unionized so they can pay their employees horrible wages for working crazy hours. The governments of these countries really need to develop worker's rights laws but until then these people are living in slums and working sometimes 20 hour days for extremely little wages. And they often hold onto a couple months of these employees' pay at a time just so they won't quit.

Geez. What is "fair wages"? You didn't mention the fact that Wal*Mart is the largest contributor to charitable organizations in the world. Anyway, if the people who work at Wal*Mart do not like their hours or their pay, they are completely free to quit and find another job. I don't know why you equate this with slave labor. Slaves were forced to work without pay. Wal*Mart pays you and gives you freedom to leave and find a better job any time you want. Another thing, Wal*Mart is no different than any other entry level/low level job. I don't see you complaining about McDonalds, Zaxbys, 7-11, etc. Wal*Mart is no different. It is a low level job for high school kids and people who cannot or do not wish to better themselves in order to find more equitable employment. I'll be glad when you get out of your communist university and live in the real world for a while. Edit: Don't listen to Max, it was the Democrats who were fighting to keep their slaves and it was the Republicans who were trying to free them.

Its all about profit I'm guessing I can't think of any other reason then that and let's be honest the waltons are most likely white trash plus tons of money they don't think of the longtime run just how much money they'll make this year and don't realise with happier workers they work better but they wouldn't know that most likely because they were born rich , I hate my job and sometimes go really slow and do a bad job but not to mention they give me 5 hours a week and pay me 8.90 that's not even minimum wage cause I'm under 18... I wonder what someone at mcdonalds or walmart does when they don't like their job....drop the burgers by accident and pick them back up?and I have a union so every paycheck I get they take 10 dollars off so I make 38 dollars for 5 hours its a joke and the union does ABSOLUTLEY nothing for me they can still fire me whenever they want so yeee all about money for the slaves and the owners....

You're right, Wal-Mart and other giant companies could pay their employees more and give them health insurance, but there's no incentive for them to do that. Their executives and managers get paid bonuses for reaching profit targets and increasing the stock price. They do not get paid extra for spending more on employee benefits; instead, they would probably get fired for that. In the current economy, lots of people are glad just to have a crappy part-time job. That situation gives employees very little leverage. Wal-Mart will only change when the incentives change. For example, if many consumers decide to boycott Wal-Mart stores until they start treating their workers better, then Wal-Mart might decide it's in their interest to do so.