President Obama didn’t take kindly to Staples executives who slashed worker hours due to what they said was the need to curtail expense related to Obamacare, saying such corporations can “well afford” to pay.
“I haven’t looked at Staples stock lately or what the compensation of the CEO is, but I suspect that they could well afford to treat their workers favorably and give them some basic financial security, and if they can’t, then they should be willing to allow those workers to get the Affordable Care Act without cutting wages,” he said, The Blaze reported.
Staples just announced that workers would have to keep their hours to 25 or less per week to rein in health reform related costs, Buzzfeed said.
But Mr. Obama rejected that claim, and said there is “no reason for an employer who is not currently providing health care to their workers to discourage them from either getting health insurance on the job or being able to avail themselves of the Affordable Care Act.”
Staples isn’t alone. The Blaze reported that hundreds of other employers have trimmed back employees’ hours to avoid taxes tied to Obamacare. And that has Mr. Obama incensed.
“It’s one thing when you’ve got a mom-and-pop store who can’t afford to provide paid sick leave or health insurance or minimum wage to workers,” Mr. Obama said, The Blaze reported. “But when I hear large corporations that make billions of dollars in profits trying to blame our interest in providing health insurance as an excuse for cutting back workers’ wages, shame on them.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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