Walmart’s Wage Increase ‘Measly’?

Member of Congress and New York Times say Walmart can afford to pay an even higher wage.

February 25, 2015

NEW YORK – Last week Walmart announced an hourly rate increase to $9 an hour for its 1.3 million-strong U.S. workforce, well above the federal minimum wage rate of $7.25. For some critics, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer can afford to do better.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that the Walton family, which owns Walmart, “is the wealthiest family in America and it is absurd that thousands of their low-wage workers are forced to use programs like food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing.” He added that while the pay increase is a step forward “in response to grassroots activism across the country, this is nowhere near enough,” adding that Walmart should raise its minimum wage to at least $10.10 an hour now and then to $15 an hour over the next several years. “Struggling working families should not have to subsidize the wealthiest family in the country,” he said.

The New York Times editorial board weighed in on the issue, penning an opinion piece last week that Walmart could do better for its employees:

“For low-wage workers, every little bit helps. And raises at Walmart could well lead to raises elsewhere as competitive pressures force Target, Home Depot and other low-wage retailers to follow suit. Still, raising pay at Walmart to even $10 an hour is only a small improvement. At Walmart, the boost will be greatest for the 6,000 workers — out of a workforce of 1.3 million — who currently make the federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour. For many other workers, the increase will be much less than a dollar an hour,” notes the news source.

“A hugely profitable corporation like Walmart can readily afford to do better than those measly increases. But it is very unlikely to do that voluntarily, without governmental action.”

The news source continues that more can be done nationwide, beginning with increase the federal minimum wage.

“Clearly, the federal minimum wage, unchanged since 2009, needs updating…With the Republican-dominated Congress unlikely to engage in any of those areas, President Obama must continue to move forward by executive action.”

Suggesting that the Obama administration should also move beyond the wrongheaded notion that a new federal minimum wage of $10.10 would be adequate, the news source writes that by “relevant economic benchmarks, the federal minimum wage today should be $11 an hour to $18 an hour. An amount in that range is what policy makers should be fighting for.”

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