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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe President Should Make Walmart Part of the Minimum Wage Debate
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/05/09-2?w=630&h=419&l=50&t=50
No family should work full time and live in poverty.
Thats been President Obamas rallying cry on the stump, persuasively arguing for an increase in the federal (and state) minimum wage. Yet on Friday, President Obama plans to visit a Walmart in Mountain View to celebrate their efforts to become more energy efficient. Thats a mistake. Walmart, the countrys largest private employer, pays (at the highest estimate) 825,000 workers less than $25,000 a year, the line at which a family with two children working full-time falls into poverty.
And that is a choice the company is making. Walmart could give all of those workers a raise now. Last year, Demos found that for what it spent buying back its own stock Walmart could pay all of its workers over $25,000 a year. Walmart spent $7.6 billion on stock repurchases in 2013, which do nothing to boost the companys productivity or profits. The Walton heirs alone, already some of the wealthiest people in the country, made $2.6 billion from that round of share buybacks. Buybacks arent of long-term use to the company, even for its shareholders. On the other hand, a raise across the retail sector would boost growth, and create over 100,000 new jobs.
Earlier this week, Pam Ramos, a Walmart worker in Mountain View, wrote a must-read piece for Salon on the implications. Key quote:
I want the president to help us and tell Walmart to pay us enough to cover the bills and take care of our families. That doesnt seem like too much to ask from such a profitable company, a company that sets the standard for jobs in this country. And I hope its not too much to ask from a president who believes that income inequality is the defining challenge of our time.
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The President Should Make Walmart Part of the Minimum Wage Debate (Original Post)
xchrom
May 2014
OP
madokie
(51,076 posts)1. I would say that is pretty much what he is doing
by going there today.
The message isn't always the words spelled out.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)2. Walmart should *be* the debate about
Working poor and they should be the example at every turn. ..
Laelth
(32,017 posts)3. Hear, hear! k&r n/t
-Laelth