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Wal-Mart's infamous wage cap seems to apply only to greeters, cashiers, cleaners, guards and ordinary people. When it comes to the top management in Bentonville, it is another story. And of course, the Walton owner family are solidly established at the top of the list of America's richest.

Now, when the retail giant is under increasing pressure because of its anti-social behaviour, it is adding another group of more than well paid employees. These are the troops who have to turn the trick and clean up Wal-Mart's tarnished image, while making sure that it does not cost too much.

The renowned civil rights leader and former UN ambassador Andrew Young was the first publicly acclaimed figure whom Wal-Mart sent out to defend itself, well paid of course. Now he has had to go, some of Wal-Mart's tarnish sticking also to his person, after derogatory comments about small shopkeepers from some of America's many ethnic backgrounds.

As Young had to leave, Wal-Mart grabbed for its fat wallet again

It was no surprise that Wal-Mart grabbed its wallet once again and moved fast to find a replacement to Young. The WakeUpWalMart.com Bus Tour through the United States is breaking all previous records, mobilising the American public opinion to defend the fundamental rights of the Wal-Mart workers and their families and to demand decent behaviour from the country's largest employer.

Wal-Mart and its Walmartization are being pushed into the corner, and the giant retailer is trying to mobilise more and more forces to defend itself. The significant difference to WakeUpWalMart.com and other movements for change is that the Bentonville retailer has to buy its supporters with money.

This is what Wal-Mart now has done, once again. They found a willing object in Leslie Dach, who used to work for the Clinton Administration and who was a senior political operator for the Democratic Party. But he did not come for free: During the next two years - if he succeeds to stay on longer than Andrew Young, that is - he will cash in at least over 3 Million Dollars, according to the Los Angeles Times yesterday.

Dach's move would surely not score any points with his former boss and employer, and we also know that Senator Hillary Clinton sent an unsolicited election contribution back to Bentonville by return mail. With the pressure on Wal-Mart to change its behaviour growing day by day from leading Democratic Party politicians, many bridges have surely been burned again, 'thanks to' the almighty dollar.

WakeUpWalMart.com Bus Tour success sends Wal-Mart planning new smoke screens

While Wal-Mart is busy planning new smoke screens and diversions, the UFCW supported WakeUpWalMart.com seems to go from one success to another. People flock at the bus stops and leading politicians sign up behind its call for a decent life for America's working families. This is the fastest growing popular movement that the United States has seen, campaign director Paul Blank correctly says. No wonder that Wal-Mart gets so nervous and pressed that one of its defending troopers recently stumbled badly by trying to label these mainly Democratic political leaders as 'hezbocrats'.

The mainly cosmetic measures that the company has tried to put in place to fend off this criticism have clearly failed to convince the American public. One after another they have been mercilessly exposed by WakeUpWalMart.com and others, such as when the company trumpeted that they are now resolving the issue of lacking healthcare for workers and their families, or recently with the much advertised raise in minimum entry wages.

The truth is that the wage cap which Wal-Mart imposed on its workers - not on management, of course - by far outweighs any other measures included in the package. To say to its workers that this is as high as you can get, and it is not very high as we have seen, is to cut away any expectations of one day having an income that would pay for what Americans would describe as a 'middle class' life. At the same time it is an open affront against those Wal-Mart workers who have been for some time with the company and who have invested effort in doing a professional job, and there are surely many of them. Now they get a stark message from Bentonville - don't even think about you're being important or irreplaceable.

Millions of dollars to executives, but no affordable healthcare for workers

WakeUpWalMart.com did not hide its disgust with Wal-Mart's new hiring operation and addition to its Bentonville 'war room', a disgust which would be shared by everyone with a sense and feeling for social justice.

- It's outrageous and disgusting that Wal-Mart finds millions of dollars to pay its executives like Dach but seemingly doesn't have the money to provide affordable healthcare and good wages to its workers,"a spokesman for WakeUpWalMart.com, Chris Kofinis, commented for the Los Angeles Times.