Here's a way that you can take a stand against Wal-Mart

With most of Wal-Mart's workers earning less than $19,000 a year, a number of community groups and lawmakers have recently teamed up with labor unions in mounting an intensive campaign aimed at prodding Wal-Mart into paying its 1.3 million employees higher wages.

Wal-Mart says its full-time workers average $9.68 an hour, and with many of them working 35 hours a week, their annual pay comes to around $17,600. That is below the $19,157 poverty line for a family of four, but above the $15,219 line for a family of three.

Hey, but isn't this a capitalist country? Shouldn't a company be allowed to pay its employees whatever it wants? Well, no, because the fact of the matter is that people need to make a living wage. If they don't, then the government has to step in and help. Critics of Wal-Mart contend that their low wages are not only affecting the lives of their employees but also the entire community. In addition to squeezing out all of its competitors in any given area, Wal-Mart's low pay has forced tens of thousands of its workers to resort to food stamps and Medicaid, costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

On April 26, as part of a campaign called Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart, five members of Congress joined women's advocates and labor leaders to assail the company for not paying its female employees more. You can actually take part by clicking on the image above.