U.S. retail giant Walmart has drawn the ire of consumer advocates when a store in Oklahoma put out a food collection bin asking visitors to donate food to Wal-Mart employees.

It is not clear if the bin was set up with store approval or, following a similar example set last year in Ohio, a movement among store employees trying to look out for one another. 

Like Us on Facebook

A photo of the collection bin (above) was posted on the Facebook page of Making Change at Walmart, a union-supported group demanding higher wages for the store's employees. "3430" is thought to be the store identification number, leading online watchdogs to suspect the bin is at a Walmart Supercenter in Oklahoma City.

While critics praise the solidarity among the store's employees, company management is under fire for not paying its workers a living wage. Walmart is the largest retailer in the U.S. and is ranked first on the 2014 Fortune 500 list of the world's largest companies by revenue. According to the company's own website, for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2014, Walmart increased net sales by 1.6 percent to $473.1 billion (and returned $12.8 billion to shareholders). 

Walmart has frequently courted criticism for paying only minimum wage in spite of its large profit margins. The Walton family, which still owns more than half of the Walmart business started by Sam Walton more than 60 years ago, is one of the world's wealthiest families.

"My co-workers and I don't want food bins," said an Ohio Walmart worker and member of pro-union organization OUR Walmart to Consumerist.org. "We want Walmart and the Waltons to improve pay and hours so that we can buy our own groceries." 

Walmart habitually resists called to increase wages. In the past, company officials worked with local law authorities to minimize hourly pay rates. Consumerist.org reporters found that the retailer convinced Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray to veto a city law mandating increased pay rates for workers at big box retailers, including Walmart, operating within the District of Columbia to $12.50 an hour.

Other stores resorted to similar grassroots charity drives; a store in Indiana recently held a management-approved but employee-funded bake sale.

Rival Costco willingly raised its wages much to the praise of employees and fair-wage advocacy groups alike, giving impetus to critics saying a company can increase its payrolls and still remain profitable. 

TagsWalmart, Minimum Wage, Charity