Walmart's CEO Calls on Congress to Boost Minimum Wage

[TexasTowelie]

Walmart Inc. urged Congress to boost the federal minimum wage, a rare instance of the nation’s biggest private employer demanding change on a contentious issue it’s long been pilloried for.

Calling the current $7.25 minimum wage “too low,” Walmart Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon said Wednesday it’s “time for Congress to put a thoughtful plan in place” to boost it. Walmart has raised its starting wage several times in recent years to the current $11 an hour, but that’s still below rivals like Target Corp. and Costco Wholesale Corp.

McMillon has previously expressed support for a higher minimum wage, but this is the first time in more than a decade that a Walmart CEO has specifically demanded new legislation on the matter.

“It’s clear by our actions and those of other companies that the federal minimum wage is lagging behind,” McMillon said at the company’s annual meeting in Rogers, Arkansas. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders took his presidential campaign to the meeting and introduced a shareholder proposal to add representatives from Walmart’s rank-and-file to the company’s board. The motion has no chance of passing, but Sanders’s presence has forced Walmart to address the issue of its treatment of workers head on.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-05/walmart-chief-mcmillon-calls-on-congress-to-boost-minimum-wage

[hatrack]

1. So, $11/hr @ 40 hours/wk times 52 weeks in a year . . . let's see . .

Oh, yeah, that would be $22,880 per year (before taxes, of course).

Sales must really be sucking.

[Initech]

7. When nobody has any money how can we be expected to buy their crap?

If people have to choose between living or a flat screen TV, I would think that living should come first.

[hatrack]

8. Uh yeah . . .

Even the most pointy-headed small town Chamber of Commerce president understands that people can't spend money they don't have.

[Initech]

9. But then when you look at the constant, non stop barrage of credit card offers we get...

I'm sure there's plenty of people spending beyond their means. In fact I'd be willing to bet there's several on this page right now.

[Iliyah]

2. Senate Republicans beg to differ.

Democratic House yes.

Vote the Republicans out of the Senate and WH.

[rurallib]

3. Hey Walmart - just because there is a minimum wage doesn't mean

that's what you have to pay.

[edhopper]

4. They don't

they pay $11 and hour. But that is still too low.

[blueinredohio]

5. If congress doesn't raise minimum wage there isn't a law saying Walmart

has to pay minimum wage. They could pay a living wage and still make millions.

[Wounded Bear]

6. I believe if min wage were indexed to inflation it would be over $20 by now...

Perhaps my math is a little off, but even the $15 rate being pimped by some doesn't work well in urban areas.