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Senator Bernie Sanders stopped Wednesday in Arkansas to detonate Walmart executives at their annual meeting with shareholders.
Employees of the largest US retailer want a seat on Walmart's board and hope the high-profile presidential candidate will help them make their case.
Publish the shame of billionaires and CEOs for underpaid workers is a characteristic gesture of Sanders. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Sears General Manager Eddie Lampert are frequent targets. Sanders' appearance at Walmart's annual holiday in Arkansas will give him the opportunity to call the worst author of his book: the Walton family, which owns about half of Walmart's stock.
Sanders has long been interested in Walmart, the country's largest private employer, and is a prime example of how the US economy is rigged in favor of billionaires and corporate interests.
"Walmart workers are fed up with starvation wages while the Walton family, the richest family in America, is worth more than $ 170 billion," Sanders told a group of Walmart workers at the Walmart. A rally on Wednesday in Arkansas. "It is time for Walmart to pay all workers a base salary, give them a seat at the table and allow part-time employees to work full-time."
Although Walmart raised the minimum wage to $ 11 a year last year, it still lags behind competitors such as Target and Amazon, who recently announced they would pay at least $ 15 an hour. . Until now, Walmart has resisted the pressure of doing the same.
Walmart employees have been trying for years to have the company listen to them at their annual shareholders meeting in Arkansas. They presented proposal after proposal, calling for higher wages and better working conditions. All were rejected.
This is the first time they will present a plan to give workers a seat on the company's board – no US public company has yet done so and no employee has yet nominated at a meeting of shareholders.
"In a time of deep economic and racial divide and insecurity, hourly associates can guide a more equitable, inclusive and equitable business ecosystem that brings differences closer together," the proposal says.
The plan was filed by Cat Davis, a Walmart employee, who is also a leader of the United for Respect workers' rights organization. The proposal points out that the lowest paid workers in Walmart are women, blacks and Latinos, and that their low wages keep them in poverty.
Davis said in the proposal that having an employee on the board of directors to defend Walmart employees would help the company improve its relationship with its 2 million people without harming profits.
"Instead, with collective focus and diversified front-line representation, this could lead to long-term financial returns and profitability for all stakeholders," the proposal says.
The council will also vote Wednesday on another employee proposal to improve protection against sexual harassment at its more than 5,000 stores across the country.
If the past is an indication, the board will reject both ideas. Walmart's board currently has nine men and three women, including McDonald's CEO Stephen Easterbrook, former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, three members of the Walton family, and former CEOs of Pepsi and American Airlines.
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