A study from the University of California Berkeley concludes that big box retailer Walmart could raise its wages to $12 per hour without affecting its low prices.
Walmart, which is praised for its low prices and environmental stewardship, has frequently come under fire for its low wages.
According to UC Berkeley's report, Walmart employees earn 14.5 percent less than other workers in large retail companies. Depressing stuff, but there is any easy enough fix: If Walmart implemented a $12 per hour minimum wage for all employees, it would cost the company $3.2 billion. That is a lot of money, unless you're Walmart, in which case it's just 1 percent of your overall annual $305 billion in sales. Even if Walmart passed on the entire burden of the wage increase to customers, it would only average out to a cost increase of 46 cents per shopping trip. That's surely something that most Walmart shoppers can afford.
The UC Berkeley study argues that it's time for a living wage law that would raise the income of the 1.4 million employees at Walmart. Other labor advocates agree, saying rising gas and food prices necessitate a raise in the minimum wage. Doing so, however, business leaders argue, would kill jobs. Labor advocates counter that putting more money in the pockets of low-earners would raise consumer confidence and spending and stimulate the economy.
While the debate continues, due to the political climate, it is very unlikely that minimum wage laws will change in the U.S. this year, reports NPR.
It's a different story in Asia, where several countries are planning to raise the minimum wage "in an effort to head off social unrest."
In China, Indonesia, Mongolia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia, the governments are in the process of introducing or toughening their minimum wage laws. In Hong Kong, for example, the government is imposing a minimum wage for the first time on May 1 — just in time for International Workers' Day.
Walmart, which is praised for its low prices and environmental stewardship, has frequently come under fire for its low wages.
According to UC Berkeley's report, Walmart employees earn 14.5 percent less than other workers in large retail companies. Depressing stuff, but there is any easy enough fix: If Walmart implemented a $12 per hour minimum wage for all employees, it would cost the company $3.2 billion. That is a lot of money, unless you're Walmart, in which case it's just 1 percent of your overall annual $305 billion in sales. Even if Walmart passed on the entire burden of the wage increase to customers, it would only average out to a cost increase of 46 cents per shopping trip. That's surely something that most Walmart shoppers can afford.
The UC Berkeley study argues that it's time for a living wage law that would raise the income of the 1.4 million employees at Walmart. Other labor advocates agree, saying rising gas and food prices necessitate a raise in the minimum wage. Doing so, however, business leaders argue, would kill jobs. Labor advocates counter that putting more money in the pockets of low-earners would raise consumer confidence and spending and stimulate the economy.
While the debate continues, due to the political climate, it is very unlikely that minimum wage laws will change in the U.S. this year, reports NPR.
It's a different story in Asia, where several countries are planning to raise the minimum wage "in an effort to head off social unrest."
In China, Indonesia, Mongolia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia, the governments are in the process of introducing or toughening their minimum wage laws. In Hong Kong, for example, the government is imposing a minimum wage for the first time on May 1 — just in time for International Workers' Day.
According to mlive.com
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