#  Wal-Mart Does Something Right

     Details    Karen Dolan   ![logo](https://www.citywatchla.com//templates/ja_teline_v/images/logo.png)         March 05 2015       [ARCHIVE](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive)   - [  Previous Article **Student Debt Strike Finds a Friend in California’s Maxine Waters** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8577:student-debt-strike-finds-a-friend-in-california-s-maxine-waters&catid=16)
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> ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2015/019r.png)OTHERWORDS-Once, I indirectly forced a neighbor to drive far out of her way for a head of broccoli. I think she’s forgiven me, but I’m not sure the love is still the same.
>
> She was kindly caring for my child and running errands when she turned toward Wal-Mart for a quick stop. My kid was horrified.
>
> As they approached that dreaded house of low wages, worker exploitation, and gender discrimination, my child cried out: “No, Miss Edie! You can’t go to Wal-Mart!”
>
> Who knew she’d been listening to my tirades each time we passed the behemoth?
>
> Miss Edie patiently listened to a detailed lecture about the “high cost of low prices,” and drove several towns away to accomplish her errands without offending my child.
>
> Wal-Mart’s bad reputation is well deserved.
>
> Workers with [OURWalmart](http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-11-06/wal-mart-promises-organic-food-for-everyone) — a mobilized community of current and past Wal-Mart employees — have taken the company to task for its refusal to offer living wages, regular schedules, basic benefits, or equal opportunity. Staffers have [sued](http://www.alternet.org/labor/10-worst-things-walmart-did-2014) the retail giant for illegally [disciplining](http://occupywallst.org/article/point-of-public-information/) workers mobilizing for better conditions, mistreating pregnant employees, and [stealing wages](http://mic.com/articles/106822/these-workers-just-struck-a-185-million-blow-against-wal-mart).
>
> Most infamously, Wal-Mart pays some of the lowest wages in the retail industry. The Center for American Progress recently reported that most of its sales workers [make less than $25,000 a year](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/23/2824171/walmart-pay-25000/).
>
> Taxpayers are forced to [subsidize these poverty wages](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/black-friday-charts-demos). Many Wal-Mart workers rely on public assistance programs like Medicaid and food stamps to make ends meet, at a cost of over [$6 billion a year.](http://www.americansfortaxfairness.org/files/Walmart-on-Tax-Day-Americans-for-Tax-Fairness-1.pdf)
>
> But for all that, it’s important to acknowledge when the company does something right.
>
> Wal-Mart recently announced that it’s boosting its base pay to $9 an hour in April, and to $10 an hour next year. In all, the corporation says, half a million of its workers will get a raise.
>
> [Even better](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102447646), Wal-Mart is rolling out fixed schedules to some of its associates starting next year. Workers will also be offered the chance to sign up for open shifts if they prefer.
>
> These weren’t altruistic moves.
>
> This change comes after years of sustained campaigns by Wal-Mart workers to raise their pay, as well as a coordinated national campaign to raise the federal minimum wage. Other big-box retailers, including Costco, raised their own wages in recent years, putting more pressure on Wal-Mart to follow suit.
>
> And as of this year, 29 states and the District of Columbia have imposed minimum wages that [exceed the federal minimum](http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx), forcing about [one-third](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/24/us-walmart-wages-idUSKBN0K20AE20141224) of all Wal-Mart stores to hike up their base pay anyway.
>
> But that doesn’t mean this recent action isn’t important.
>
> Though the raise is modest, some [analysts](http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/wal-mart-raises-lift-pay-lower-wage-industries-29112615) predict that other low-wage employers, especially in retail and fast food, could feel pressure to follow Wal-Mart’s lead. Already, the T.J. Maxx-Marshalls-Home Goods conglomerate has announced a [wage hike](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tj-maxx-marshalls-wal-mart-160801317.html) of its own.
>
> This isn’t the first time activists have pressured Wal-Mart to do the right thing.
>
> In 2010, the company became a leader in the movement to [“Ban the Box](https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2014/oct/10/ban-box-movement-spreads-nationwide/),” eliminating the boxes on employment applications that require up-front notification of an arrest or conviction. These boxes have kept many formerly incarcerated people out of work.
>
> So does all this feel-good news mean that I don’t have to guilt my friends and neighbors into traveling long distances for more expensive household products?
>
> No.
>
> {module \[1177\]}
>
> Given its [$16-billion profit margin](http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2014/02/20/wal-mart-lowers-outlook-as-profit-falls-and-same-store-sales-decline-could-a-family-dollar-acquisition-turn-things-around/), Wal-Mart can afford to pay much more than its recent modest increase. Many workers will still rely on public assistance to make ends meet, even while Wal-Mart avoids about [$1 billion](http://www.americansfortaxfairness.org/files/Walmart-on-Tax-Day-Americans-for-Tax-Fairness-1.pdf) in federal taxes annually. Allegations of wage theft, discrimination, and illegal punishment of workers still abound in many stores.
>
> But if all my neighbor needs is an emergency head of [organic broccoli](http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-11-06/wal-mart-promises-organic-food-for-everyone) or some bathroom cleaner and the next store is too far out of her way, I’ll ask my child to protest more quietly.
>
> *(OtherWords columnist Karen Dolan is a senior fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC. This piece was provided CityWatch by [OtherWords.org](http://OtherWords.org).)*
>
> -cw
>
> CityWatch
>
> Vol 13 Issue 19
>
> Pub: Mar 6, 2015

  - [  Previous Article **Student Debt Strike Finds a Friend in California’s Maxine Waters** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8577:student-debt-strike-finds-a-friend-in-california-s-maxine-waters&catid=16)
- [  Next Article **Netanyahu Speaks, Money Talks** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8579:netanyahu-speaks-money-talks&catid=16)
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