Walmart takes on NYTimes columnist

Jason Abbruzzese of Mashable writes that Walmart is in a tiff with New York Times columnist Timothy Egan about a column he wrote regarding its pay scale.

Abbruzzese writes, “The response, which can be found in its entirety below, takes issue with some of the factual assertions of Egan’s column, including how much the average Walmart employee makes. Egan cited studies that said Walmart ‘associates’ make anywhere from $8.81 per hour to under $11 per hour, below the $11.83 Walmart claims (when part-time workers are factored in).

“Egan hit back at Walmart on Tuesday, defending his column and taking the opportunity to continue his criticism of the retail giant.

“‘My central point was how much their business model costs taxpayers, and makes the income gap worse’ Egan said in comments first reported by Business Insider and confirmed by a Times spokespreson to Mashable.

“Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor of the Times, also defended Egan’s work. ‘We stand by the column, which was thoroughly fact-checked,’ Rosenthal said in a statement released to Mashable. ‘It does what opinion pieces should do: makes a compelling argument addressing possibly the most important issue facing Americans today — inequality. The fact that Walmart thought this issue was something to have ‘fun’ with says volumes about their practices.'”

Read more here.