Wal-Mart May Be Cheap, but It Would Rather Give Up Money Than Power
The plan for a $9 pay floor follows years of union-backed pressure. This is not the first time Walmart has spent big when feeling heat
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Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s largest private employer, on Wednesday morning announced plans to start paying all U.S. employees at least $9 an hour. Current employees will make $10 an hour by next year, as will new employees who complete a six-month training course. For a company that’s long been praised for low prices and slammed for low wages, that’s a dramatic change.
It didn’t come out of nowhere. Over the past three years, Walmart has faced a wave of union-backed attacks—legal, political, media, and consumer pressure anchored by the first coordinated U.S. store walkouts in the company’s five-decade history.