>

Yeah, that's not enough.
Walmart's problem isn't just the wages, it's their manipulation of hours. They give just enough hours at inconsistent times to limit an employee from getting a second job, while not providing enough hours to make an employee eligible for health insurance. Until there's more regulation on this issue, or consumer accountability, then all walmart has to do is reduce employees by another one or two hours to make this wage increase functionally mean nothing. >

They also get rid of positions altogether basically every 6 months. When I worked there they were chronically under staffed and most of the staff they do have are useless, or at least act like it, and I can't really blame them. >

Why would you bust your ass for Walmart? Like even if you need the job, there is zero incentive. >

This is good news in that it represents a step in the right direction, but it isn't enough.

In my Inaugural, I laid down the simple proposition that nobody is going to starve in this country. It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living. 

FDR >


but it isn't enough

got my first job in a lumber yard in '88 at $12hr (my 2 bed apt was $400, smokes were $1 a pack, and gas was $.99 per gal) and when i quit a few years later i was making $21hr
it's not nearly enough and it's insane that young people are expected to get anywhere making what i did 35 years ago >

$12 in '88 is $29.69 after inflation. People making $14 now are getting the equivalent of less than $6 in '88. >

Minimum wage was introduced in 1938 at $0.25/hour, or about $5.12 adjusted for inflation.
$14/hour is more than anyone on minimum wage in the US has ever made (adjusted for inflation), which peaked out in 1970 at about $12/hour. 
At this point, the federal minimum wage is mainly there to prevent exploitation. I don't know of any major company that pays that little. >

You would be surprised. A lot of companies get away with paying only minimum wage and if you are a server then you make even less than that and are expected to supplement the rest with their tips. It doesn’t make for a happy employee. Remember that when you don’t tip your server due to bad service. >

In 2020, people making minimum wage accounted for 1.5% of all hourly workers.
Also, if a server's wages plus tips does not meet the federal minimum wage, the employer must pay the difference. >

Okay, but that says that 1.5% are making $7.25 an hour or less. Further reading shows that 32% make less than $15 an hour. Compare that with what would be considered the average living wage in the U.S at $24 an hour. Looks pretty bleak for the younger folks. >

If Costco can afford to start at $17 an hour, Walmart should be able to start at least that. >

It’s fine to quibble about the difference in structure and business model, but the larger and more important point is that Walmart’s net income last year was $13.67 Billion, yet an enormous number of their employees rely on government assistance programs just to survive.
Sure, they’re structured very differently from CostCo.
They can still afford to pay their store-level workforce considerably more. >

The Walton family fortune is broken down as such:
Jim Walton, $66.9 billion[13]
Alice Walton, $66 billion[14]
S. Robson Walton, $65.7 billion[15]
Lukas Walton, $16.7 billion[16]
Ann Walton Kroenke, $9.1 billion[17]
Nancy Walton Laurie, $8.2 billion[18]
Christy Walton, $8 billion[19]

sorry don't have any more spare billions to share with employees.... >

What are these figures in brackets please? >

It looks like they copied it from somewhere the numbers would be links to sources on the original page
Probably wikipedia. >

Or maybe it's the number of the Walton clan from No 1 to the youngest heir as I see it's chronological >

Next time one of you goes into Walmart and some dead eyed employee gives you the bare minimum help or flat out ignores you I want you to remember this.  
Walmart doesn't give a shit about those people so why should they care about Walmart. >

I’m pretty sure I’ve been to Walmart like 6 times in 3 years.    5 of those were during COVID searching for TP.   
I went like a month ago to buy a hunting license while I was visiting my in laws.   
80% of me doesn’t understand why people still shop there.   The other 20% of me realizes that I’m better off than a portion of society and willing to pay more for a better grocery store with better food and that treats their employees (somewhat) better.  
Where my in laws live there is Walmart and Tops.   Those are the only grocery stores.  And I’ll admit that it’s convenient to get your tires replaced while you buy paint and groceries….    But go support local businesses.  Even locally franchises businesses. >

Correct on all accounts.  I honestly can't remember the last time I shopped at Walmart. Not only do they treat their employees awful but they also contract companies to make worse versions of things they already make to cut costs. Why would I buy a pair of shoes there when I can get the same exact pair somewhere else they'll last me way longer? >

And Aldi in MD was paying new cashiers $15 and higher years before the pandemic. This isn't enough. >

After 10 years at Walmart and multiple position changes I was making 13.27 an hour… >

Hooly shit, why did you stay there and not go anywhere else?
I feel spoiled in tech, I see people stick around maybe 2 to 3 years just so they can finally get a raise. >

It was easy. I am always nervous about leaving a job. Not really sure. I stuck it out 10 years and the next job is took had better hours and better starting pay than I was getting at Walmart >

"Raise will keep them calm enough that they won't unionize." >

Heh, that's cute. If workers try to unionize, corporate shutters the store. It's the New American Way. >

To the best of my knowledge there is only one department of walmart workers that successfully unionized without stores being shuttered. It was the meat processors (in store butchers). What Walmart did instead? That department was removed nationwide and the they moved to frozen meat pre processed at the packing plants. 
It's been over a decade since I worked at Walmart, but on your first day of orientation they show you a video. It's not a welcome to Walmart one either. 
It's a union busting video. >

"Walmart raises their minimum wage from below a livable wage to still below a livable wage." >

I'd rather stand outside Walmart for an hour for free than stand inside Walmart for an hour for $2. Just saying. >

When thousands of your employees are on welfare, you aren't paying them enough. The government has spent millions of dollars subsidizing Walmart's business because they don't pay their workers enough. >

Which doesn’t matter, because they’ll just cut hours or fire more people again. 
This isn’t altruism, this is competing with rising wages for all other equivalent positions, including fast food and other big box stores. >

Don't worry, all their managers will tell the employees that they're expected to do more now that they're being paid more. >

Target pays $15 a hour and health insurance better then Walmart. I work in medical billing >

This might be worth celebrating ten years ago, but in 2023 it is an insult. >

Crazy how inflation hasn’t affected the cost of labor much at all. >

It has a lot actually. Fed min wage is still like 7 an hour and that's what a LOT of these places used to pay to most of their employees. >

Walmart giving out 16% wage increases while hospitals have to shut down because we can't get over 3%
aMeRiCa iS The BesT >

Holy shit! Walmart better be careful! Those $2 could totally bankrupt them!!! >

Good lord. That's what I made as a young person 20 years ago! I made that much working for a furniture store. I made that much as a medical office worker. These were starting wages back then. Wages have basically not risen in 20 years! >

What the fuck are people supposed to do with a lousy 14 bucks? >

Two packs pall malls and some Tic Tacs >

You could save $0.50 if you get menthols >

That's about the poverty line for a family of 4 in the US in 2021.
Work full time, live in poverty. The Wal-Mart way. >

60kish a year is the poverty line? >

Where did you get 60k from? That more than double 40hrs/week at $14/hr. >

Two earners in a family of four? 29k each a year. >

Minimum wage was designed to support a family, not one person. >

So cashiers should be making 60k a year? >

Sure why not if that's what it takes to have a well balanced life where you can take care of necessities. >

About halfway to a decent wage. >

Still insufficient, Thats not a living wage. >

Oh shite, they're about to go broke because of that whole $2.00. >

It’s no totally insignificant with 1 million store employees. It’s a few billion a year. >

Yes, this will certainly put Walmart, who people lovingly refer to as "Wally-World" into bankruptcy.  💯👀🙏 >

I mean that’s cute and all, but companies exist to make profit. You do understand how that works right? It’s not a charity. 
They made a move that cost them billions a year. If it was double this amount people like you would still complain so, I guess it is what it is. >

Well. At least 2 people will get a raise. >

Not enough. Especially for the shit Walmart employees are put through. Then there's the fact that it makes obscene amounts of money per year and are introducing self checkouts. They have enough to pay those they actually employ. >

Add to this that many workers work pretty close to full time but are pulled back to whatever is just below the threshold to be full time...(30 hrs?).   
It's just a full on war between employees and employers....a constant battle where employers pull out every trick to reduce pay, hours benefits etc. They will hire two PT workers to avoid benefits. They will hire 1099 to avoid taxes and benefits. They will use third party staffing to avoid taxes and benefits. It never ends and will result in violence if they are not careful.   
On top of that any miniscule raise is eaten by some guys stupid new tax policy, getting rid of SALT and property tax deductions, sneaking in limits to out of pocket expenses or they all get together to cause inflation (see egg prices, oil, gas, groceries, coffee), they go around and buy up all the rental properties, do nothing towards upkeep and raise rents....all to keep everyone poor hungry and afraid to quit. their job >

Never forget that US minimum wage, adjusted for inflation (edit: and productivity), should be like $22 or $26 an hour. Why doesn’t Walmart believe in paying its workers a living wage? >

That calculator doesn't compare like for like, it uses substitutions that people use as products increase in price. Using just apples as your benchmark, for example, a 30-cent wage in 1939 or $1 wage in 1958 both work out to just under $15/hour in 2022.
CPI is insidious because it says "beef is too expensive, so people are buying chicken to save money, and because people are spending less money by buying chicken instead, inflation isn't actually as high as it actually is, so we can give lower pay raises!"
It's a circular logic that only makes sense when you're trying to squeeze more money out of workers and don't care if they suffer. >

Do you really think that a high schooler working at McDonald’s in 1965 was making the equivalent of $50,000 a year today? Because that’s this is insinuating when it says “minimum wage should be $26/hour”. It is true that it may not be the exact same number as what the inflation calculator displays, but no a gas station clerk in the 70s was not buying a house and two cars with that wage. >

What planet do you live on where $50,000/year means you can afford to buy a house and two cars? Forget the median home price of over $400k, if you want to buy a mere $300k house with a full year's salary as down payment, that's a $250k mortgage. The lowest rate you can get right now is with a 15 year mortgage, at 5.6%. that works out to $14k/year in interest payments alone. Using the 1/3 calculation, you only have $2,750 left to cover paying down principle, which you only have 15 years to do in full. And that leaves nothing to cover property tax, water and sewer, maintenance, etc.
"But your partner will also have a job, so that doubles your income!"
Minimum wage was implemented in 1938, long before it became common to have two-income households. We're comparing like to like: single income households. >

1.25 was the minimum wage in 1965, and the median home price was around $21k. Median home prices are 20x higher today, so why isn't the minimum wage 20x higher too? Justify a minimum wage of less than $25/hour, or why people today don't deserve homes, or why minimum wage workers in 1965 were overpaid. Pick one and please explain. >

$1.25 works out to $2600/year at 40 hours/week, 52 weeks/year. A third of that doesn't cover the interest payments alone on even a 'mere' $15,000 mortgage. What you have missed here is that the minimum wage workers in 1965 couldn't afford home ownership either. And home prices matter because there's nothing else, NOTHING, that we spend even close to a third of our income on, and while some things have come down in relative price, other things have moved from luxury to necessity. Cell phones aren't an optional expense, you basically can't even get or keep a job without one. You sound like some 80-year-old yelling at kids to get off your grass, not like someone who understands this topic and is engaging with it honestly. >

If your point is that living expenses are high…then yes, you are correct? That in no way detracts from my point of the minimum wage not being equal to $26/hour. You can call me an old man or whatever lol, you haven’t negated a single point I’ve made, and quite frankly, I’m not even sure what point this ^ most recent comment was even trying to articulate. I believe minimum wage should go up, I’m not fighting you on that. But it was never equivalent to $26/hour, and life wasn’t this paradise you paint it out to be in 1965 >

Walmart also will now cut you down to 20 hours a week. >

All the money in the world doesn’t mean shit if you continue to treat your employees like garbage. >

They about the same as any other retail store… >

...and there will still be only 1 register open >

Great. Still an unrealistic / unlivable wage in this day and age. Slightly more than poverty. >

One unlivable wage to another! Good job Walmart! >

It’s nice to see our corporate overlords throw us peasants a bone every decade or so >

Did the ceo take a 0.00000001% pay cut?  How did they ever afford that? >

Laughs in 900% CEO pay increase since ever. >

All the Walmarts here have become primarily self checkout recently. They are paying fewer people. 
EDIT: It's always puzzling to me when you state something that is true and get punished for it. >

Because there are scumbags who benefit from the labor market being where it is right now, and they believe that the truth and people fixing it with the truth will make them "lesser" by others having more. >

Still not even close to a living wage. They raise prices, make ridiculous profits, and their workers go home poor. >

Pennies on the dollar compared with what they steal from workers in the form of timeclock violations >

What violations are those? I worked there for a few years and my pay always matched my time punches which you can keep track of via the app…. >

I make $12 an hour now, but that extra $2 is still not enough to make me work retail. >

and employees will still be on snap. >

Fucking whoopee. Really reaching for the stars there, multi-billion dollar corporation. >

Prepare for Walmart layoffs >

In Canada, this would be illegal. >

From pennies to pennies and a nickel. So sad that it's laughable. >

Around here McDonalds pays more than that.
Starting wages for unskilled work is starting to become a problem for fields like manufacturing, where flipping burgers sometimes pays more than operating a CNC machine. >

You’ll also never get 40 hours a week unless your management, fast food is all part-time. As least Walmart gave me 40 hours a week and a full hour lunch break. >

Even SS threw in half of that.  Inflation eat that up. >

Well now I can say that even Walmart's wages were more than three times my first wages. >

I have very mixed feelings about Wal Mart employees. It used to suck that they’d just plain do everything painfully slow while yacking with their coworkers. Then they became full of attitude when asked to price check anything. But the other day was the best yet. 3 different employees could not help me because they did not speak English. I mean I’m sure they can handle basics, or how would they get through the interview? But I was looking for a lightbulb, and said it slowly, describing it with my hands. Not one of them could figure it out. So, yeah, raise the pay more than this…but for workers who were properly interviewed, trained, and reviewed. Pink slip the rest. Because I don’t even have words to describe how awful their customer service is. I go there maximum of twice a year for that reason. They’d have my business on the regular if it wasn’t such a horror show. >

Hot take: Globalization has slowly eroded American privilege relative to the world. It's cheaper than ever to find workers who can do anything you do, at a fraction of the cost. 
Remember, people: For you to have whatever comfy life you have(in relative, global terms), someone else in the world must have it much worse. Nothing is for free. >

Ah, from slave wages to indentured servant wages. Very nice. >

About fucking time for one of the largest companies in America.