Lawmakers, community groups, and labor unions have joined forces in an effort to prod Wal-Mart into paying higher wages. In newspaper advertisements and community campaigns, the organizations contend that the nation's largest company, whose employees regularly earn less than $19,000 a year, has an obligation to provide higher wages ? citing auto makers General Motors and Ford as large companies that have been known to pay fair wages.
See "Can't Wal-Mart, a Retail Behemoth, Pay More?", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, May 3, 2005