Look, I think everyone has a misguided vision of how corporations (concerned with their long term future) should work in a fully free environment. There should always be a balance between 3 parts of a triangle - the corporate profit, the employee welfare, and the customer experience. Somehow, maybe b/c of Wall Street and stock prices, everyday Americans and corporations themselves seem to be forgetting two parts to the triangle and focusing solely on the corporate profit. This narrowed focus is how you instantly lose customers when the next "new" guy hits the street. If you create no loyalty from employees, they screw your customers and your profit when they leave when you most need them for the next guy who pays a penny more. If you create no loyalty from customers, they screw your corporate profit and in turn, your employees when they leave for the next guy, putting you at risk of going under. If you create no profit, you eventually screw your employees and customers when you go bankrupt.
Businesses should really never be in the business of trying to put the screws to their customers for every last dollar, nor to putting the screws to their employees by trying to pay them the lowest possible salary the market will support...it's a recipe for a short term profit and a long term disaster.