[ad_1]
Walmart Inc.’s pledge to raise its average hourly wage above $ 15 comes amid a debate in Washington over whether to more than double the federal minimum wage.
The big box retailer’s goal is politically significant as it is consistent with President Biden’s proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour from the $ 7.25 an hour in place for 11 years. It also comes from the country’s largest private employer, with stores located in different labor markets across the country.
But Walmart’s announcement on Thursday is not an endorsement of Mr Biden’s plan, which is part of a $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief proposal by Democrats in Congress that is expected to pass by the Room later this month. The company supports a higher federal minimum wage, but not $ 15 an hour. Although he plans to raise the wages of 425,000 hourly workers from an average of over $ 14 in January 2020, his starting minimum wage would remain at $ 11 an hour.
Still, the company’s decision could play into both sides of the federal minimum wage debate.
Democrats who back Mr Biden’s pay plan can say that Walmart’s pay hikes are proof that employers can afford pay hikes despite the economic disruption of the pandemic, economists and analysts say. Republicans who oppose the doubling of the federal wage floor will likely see it as an example of effective free market forces, arguing that the government does not need to intervene.
[ad_2]
Source link