The Maryland House of Delegates and Senate voted to force Wal-Mart to spend 8% of its payroll on employee health care. In fact, any Maryland company that employees 10,000 or more workers will have to follow the same prescription or pay into a state low-income health insurance fund.
This could be the beginning of a state-by-state epidemic that could force afflicted companies to lower wages, to hire temporary workers, to subcontract labor forces, and ultimately to drive up the cost of doing business. None of this is good for management, labor, and consumers. It’s no wonder that Wal-Mart’s stock dropped nearly 2% on the news!
Now Wal-Mart is considering whether to scrap plans to build a large distribution center on Maryland’s eastern shore. If the company were to go ahead with such a plan, it would provide nearly 1,000 new jobs.
If the companies of Corporate America do not learn from the Maryland experience and so intelligently negotiate with unions, they may find themselves bearing the burden of onerous legislation in states with predominantly Democratic legislatures.
I have negotiated on behalf of many large corporations, and I have found common ground where management and labor can come together and where (as I wrote in my book) Everybody Wins! It’s time for Corporate America to become pro-active.
