How the Walton Family Can Lift Their Workers Out of Poverty

An open letter addressed to Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton posted to the Walmart Hunger Games Tumblr reads:

I'm writing to you because it hurts to see the pain in my younger brothers' eyes when we can't afford food to fill their stomachs. Sure, they see that I'm working hard, taking the bus an hour each way to get to work at Walmart. Even though they know that things are tight right now, that our mom is often too sick to work, they just can't understand why last year on Thanksgiving they didn't get turkey and gravy like other kids their age.

That letter came from LaRanda Jackson, a 20-year-old Wal-Mart worker from Cincinnati, Ohio. Her story is a sad reality for many Wal-Mart workers in this country. About 800,000 of Wal-Mart's 1.4 million workers earn below $25,000 annually. For the last two years Wal-Mart workers at some stores organized food drives to help their fellow associates who couldn't afford to buy food for the holidays. And here in New York City on Monday, a giant food bin was seen chained outside Alice Walton's home, a $25 million Park Avenue penthouse.

But LaRanda and the 800,000 Wal-Mart workers can have a better life if the Waltons choose to share their wealth. OURWalmart, a nonprofit organization that "works to ensure that every associate ... is respected at Wal-Mart" launched a video narrated by Robert Reich explaining how can the Waltons, the richest family in America, can lift their workers out of poverty.

How 1.4M Americans Could Get a Raise Right NowIn two minutes, Robert Reich completely destroys every possible excuse for Walmart's low wages.