"Statewide Tour to Pass AB 880 & Close the "Walmart Loophole" Kicks Off in West Sacramento"

2013-05-10 "Sacramento Workers Join Early Morning Protest to Close Walmart Loophole” from "California Labor Federation Spotlight":
This morning before dawn, dozens of workers gathered outside Walmart in West Sacramento to spread the word to shoppers about a loophole in the Affordable Care Act that Walmart and other corporate giants are exploiting to get out of paying their fair share for workers’ health care. They carried signs that read “Protect Taxpayers- Close the Walmart Loophole” and delivered an invoice to the store’s manager that detailed how Walmart’s practice of dumping workers onto Medi-Cal is costing taxpayers $32 million annually.
“Walmart is the most profitable company in the United State of America, with $444 billion in revenue last year alone,” California Labor Federation’s Steve Smith said at the early morning action. “Their CEO makes $28 million a year, and yet they’re pushing their own workers onto Medi-Cal and onto taxpayers.”
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"Statewide Tour to Pass AB 880 & Close the "Walmart Loophole" Kicks Off in West Sacramento"
by Steve Smith, "California Labor Federation" [http://www.calaborfed.org/index.php/site/page/statewide_tour_to_pass_ab_880_close_the_walmart_loophole_kicks_off_in_west]:
Walmart shoppers probably didn’t expect to be greeted this morning at 5am by a lively group of taxpayers protesting the “Walmart Loophole,” which allows large companies like Walmart to avoid their responsibilities to pay their fair share for their workers' health care. But that’s exactly what they encountered in West Sacramento.
 About 30 demonstrators launched a statewide tour today aimed at educating shoppers and the media about Walmart’s practice of paying its workers so little that they are pushed into taxpayer-funded programs like Medi-Cal. The group also handed out information about AB 880 (Gomez), which would mandate that the state’s largest and most profitable companies pay their fair share when their workers end up on taxpayer-funded Medi-Cal.
 The bill is a fix to a growing problem. Walmart and other large companies are cutting their workers’ hours and wages to skirt their responsibility under the Affordable Care Act to provide affordable health care or pay a penalty. If these large companies reduce workers’ pay to poverty levels, the workers go on Medi-Cal, and Walmart avoids the penalty. As a result, taxpayers have to pick up the tab. It’s called the "Walmart Loophole," and this morning’s demonstrators said it must be closed.
Barbara Aldridge works for Walmart in Placerville. She’s seen her hours erode over the last year to the point that she must apply for public assistance to obtain health coverage for her and her son.
[begin excerpt]
We live paycheck to paycheck. I make $12.05 cents an hour, but of course, I’ve been there for 8 years, and with my hours getting cut it’s a hard struggle. If we get the hours to qualify for (health coverage), we make so little that it’s a decision that’s really hard to make. Winter clothes or health benefits? Food on the table or health benefits? I’m tired of struggling.
[end excerpt]
The protesters delivered a $32 million invoice to Walmart, representing the cost of Walmart shifting its health care responsibilities onto taxpayers every year [http://www.calaborfed.org/index.php/site/page/new_report_taxpayers_on_the_hook_when_corporate_giants_dump_workers_onto_me]. Walmart management rejected the invoice, steeling the resolve of today’s demonstrators to pass AB 880 and close the Walmart Loophole.
Watch news coverage from today's actions here [http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/05/10/group-accuses-walmart-of-cutting-employees-hours-to-avoid-healthcare-law/], here [http://www.kcra.com/news/protestors-attack-walmart-loophole-in-west-sacramento/-/11797728/20094948/-/k6ah8z/-/index.html] and here [http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/html5/video?id=9097186&pid=9097207&section=news/politics].
Demonstrators are headed to Stockton and Fresno next as part of a statewide "Close the Walmart Loophole" tour. AB 880 passed the Assembly Health Committee this week and will be heard in the Appropriations Committee as early as next week. The bill is sponsored by the California Labor Federation and the United Food and Commercial Workers.