Posted on 10/25/2005 2:29:37 PM PDT by Crackingham
Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott said he's urging Congress to consider raising the minimum wage so that Wal-Mart customers don't have to struggle paycheck to paycheck. Scott told Wal-Mart directors and executives in a speech Monday that he believes "it is time for Congress to take a look at the minimum wage and other legislation that can help working families."
"The U.S. minimum wage of $5.15 an hour has not been raised in nearly a decade and we believe it is out of date with the times," Scott said. "We can see first-hand at Wal-Mart how many of our customers are struggling to get by. Our customers simply don't have the money to buy basic necessities between pay checks."
Given increasing gas prices and other economic pressures on Wal-Mart customers, Scott went on to say that Wal-Mart shoppers will further be challenged to "support themselves and their families."
"While it is unusual for us to take a public position on a public policy issue of this kind, we simply believe it is time for Congress to take a responsible look at the minimum wage and other legislation that may help working families," he said.
Tracy Sefl, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Watch, a group that's been highly critical of the retailer, said Scott's comments on raising minimum wage were "laughable and out of left field."
"I find it disingenuous and laughable that Lee Scott makes these remarks while the company hires lobbyist such as Lee Culpepper who oppose raising the minimum wage," Sefl said.
"We would be the first to applaud real change. But when a comment on raising minimum wage is dashed off and it flies in the face of Wal-Mart's own corporate stance, that's laughable," she added.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Maybe if they'd stop spening all their money on useless crap from Walmart they wouldn't have to live pay-check to pay-check.
It seems to me that Wal-Mart should raise its own minimum wage (maybe $8.50), and then many other employers will follow the W-M lead. The popular W-M should also hire more workers to staff their many vacant registers to speed up customer service.
"Don't give our employees more money, but give our customers more money so they can buy crap from China."
Please don't misunderstand this statement ... my wife and children love spending all our money on useless crap from Walmart. I in no way intend to criticize Walmart for offering me just the kind of useless crap my family wants at prices that we can afford.
My point only is that we need less government interference, not more.
The "minimum wage" was never meant to be a living wage, because the originators of the concept never expected people to make a career out of flipping burgers at McDonalds.
Lee, I have an idea that doesn't require an act of Congress: go ahead and raise your wages right now. Unless the point of your grandstanding is to push for regulations that will harm your competitors more than you, but that certainly isn't the case, is it?
How stupid. Wal-Mart can raise its wage anytime it wants to.
Maybe if they were smarter than rubbing two sticks together, they'd make more than minimum.
Do that many high school kids shop at Wal-Mart?
Perhaps Wal Mart could lower their prices, at least for their poorest customers. Maybe Chavez (D, Venezuela) would make up the difference rather than WM having to go, hat in hand, to its chinese bosses.
I say WalMart's customers should quit their low-end jobs paying $5.15/hr, and get high salaried jobs at WalMart.
Raise it to $6.75 an hour. That's all.
http://jibjab.com/Home.aspx
See Big Box Mart
Might as well say : "WALMART CALLS FOR INFLATION AND HIGHER TAXES".....
Now, now, I never made minimum wage at Wal-Mart. I was hired in at a full dollar an hour above minimum, and by the time I quit to get a real job, was making over twice minimum wage. To top if off, I had only been there 3-4 years, one of which I was on a leave of absence to finish my schooling.
The amount that Wal-Mart pays its employees is irrelevant, what is relevant is the fact that we have yet another schmuck publically announcing that minimum wages are good things.
Total and Utter drivel.
This has nothing to do with whether Walmart can raise their minimum wage...obviously they could.
But they aren't going to do it in a vacuum, by themselves...they are a low cost, high volume, low margin retailer and by raising their paid wages on their own they would be shooting themselves in the foot.
But no matter how many employees Walmart has, theres a much larger pool of Walmart shoppers. Raising the minimum wage by government decree makes ALL employers pay their employees more not just Walmart...it maintains their margins, and give Walmart shoppersf more to spend in the store.
"What's this?"
"It's useless crap, dear."
"Do we need it?"
"No dear, we don't need it"
"Throw it in the cart"
Amen brother!
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