Ashton Kutcher Stands Up for Wal-Mart Workers Rights… What?

Fusion – by Elizabeth Murray

Yesterday, while the rest of the world was captivated by a twerking turkey, Ashton Kutcher faced off with Wal-Mart over the retail giant’s low wages. On Twitter. Because of course it was on Twitter.

The Twitter showdown started when Kutcher tweeted criticism of an Ohio Wal-Mart’s holiday drive for its own employees who are facing “unforeseen hardships.”  

Walmart is your profit margin so important you can't Pay Your Employees enough to be above the poverty line? http://t.co/YT8QDmyJ8G

— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) November 19, 2013

For reasons we don’t understand, Wal-Mart responded:

.@aplusk It’s unfortunate that an act of human kindness has been taken so out of context. We're proud of our associates in Canton.

— Walmart Inc. (@WalmartInc) November 19, 2013

And again, we don’t know why, but the What Happens in Vegas star fired back:

@WalmartNewsroom you should be proud of your associates but I'm not sure if they should be proud of you.

— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) November 19, 2013

To which, Wal-Mart sent Kutcher a promo video (because really, what’s more convincing than a self-produced promotional video):

@aplusk We know you believe in opportunity like we do & we'd love to talk to you more about it. http://t.co/Mc3ixj3HNa

— Walmart Inc. (@WalmartInc) November 19, 2013

Naturally, Demi Moore’s ex-husband responded with real financial news that kind of makes a point here:

@WalmartNewsroom you had 17 billion in profits last year. You're a 260 billion$ company. What are we missing? http://t.co/pZM4qweQIO

— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) November 19, 2013

@WalmartNewsroom Walmart does a lot of great things but it needs to be a leader on this issue as well.

— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) November 19, 2013

Then WalMart had a pretty defensive series of responses:

@aplusk We think you're missing a few things. The majority of our workforce is full-time and makes more than $25,000/year.

— Walmart Inc. (@WalmartInc) November 19, 2013

@aplusk Also about 75% of our store management teams started as hourly associates & they earn between $50,000 and $170,000 a year on avg.

— Walmart Inc. (@WalmartInc) November 19, 2013

@aplusk Lastly, every year, we promote about 160,000 people to jobs with more responsibility and higher pay.

— Walmart Inc. (@WalmartInc) November 19, 2013

And Wal-Mart had one final super PR tweet:

@aplusk We know we can always get better as a company. This year we've made providing more opportunities for our associates a top priority.

— Walmart Inc. (@WalmartInc) November 19, 2013

The specific Wal-Mart in Ohio that Kutcher was initially referring to has hosted a drive for its employees for a few years, was not designed to help those chronically in need, and has benefitted about 12 employees, a Wal-Mart representative told ABC News.

But the fact is, and we kind of hate ourselves for saying this, Ashton Kutcher has a point. The fact is that Wal-Mart has a bad record with workers rights. Just this Monday, the National Labor Relations Board found that Wal-Mart illegally disciplined and fired employees over strikes and protests, spanning more than a dozen states.

Specifically with regard to the wage issue, more than half of Wal-Mart’s employees make less than $25,000 a year. A “progressive” think tank, Desmos, released a study that found that Wal-Mart could afford to give employees raises up to $5.83 per hour without having to raise store prices. The study was dismissed by a Wal-Mart representative to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

So wait, go Ashton Kutcher?

http://fusion.net/american_dream/story/ashton-kutcher-stands-wal-mart-workers-rights-248139