Springsteen’s Wal-Mart bargain — VOICES for REASON

Bruce Springsteen apologized for agreeing to market a new greatest hits album exclusively through Wal-Mart. Why? Because he’s embarrassed by the giant retailer’s “labor history.” Translation: Wal-Mart’s wages and benefits are high enough to attract capable workers, while being low enough to generate profits for shareholders. Oh, yes—the company also doesn’t welcome labor unions.

Message to the Boss: save your pity for somebody who needs it. The regular people who apply for jobs at Wal-Mart are not helpless victims—they are sovereign individuals who benefit from their employment contracts, just as you benefited from your record deal. Just check out this entertaining and insightful story by a senior writer at Wired magazine who applied for an entry-level job to see for himself if the union-sponsored gripe sites were telling the truth about Wal-Mart’s lowest-paid employees:

Getting in was not easy, as more than 100 applicants were competing for fewer than 10 job openings. . . .

Several of my co-workers had relocated from other areas, where they had worked at other Wal-Marts. They wanted more of the same. Everyone agreed that Wal-Mart was preferable to the local Target, where the hourly pay was lower and workers were said to be treated with less respect (an opinion which I was unable to verify). Most of all, my coworkers wanted to avoid those “mom-and-pop” stores beloved by social commentators where, I was told, employees had to deal with quixotic management policies, while lacking the opportunities for promotion that exist in a large corporation.

Is Wal-Mart behaving immorally by paying its workers a wage they voluntarily accept? Not at all—just as Springsteen is not behaving immorally by charging ticket prices that his fans will voluntarily pay. Under voluntary trade on a free market, people earn as much or as little as their talents allow. It’s a win-win proposition for everyone, cashiers and rock stars alike.

It is perfectly fair for Springsteen to make boatloads of money from recordings, concerts and Super Bowl extravaganzas that millions of people enjoy and willingly pay for. And it’s also perfectly fair for a Wal-Mart employee to earn far less, given the value of his skills to willing employers. Bruce Springsteen should not be embarrassed to do business with a company that pays people what they earn, and no more.