WASHINGTON – Today, Walmart announced that they would boost the average hourly wage of their employees to over $15 dollars an hour.
In response, Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, former managing director of BlackRock, Inc., and author of the upcoming book Tax the Rich, issued the following statement:
“While we celebrate that Walmart has decided to raise the wages of some of its employees, this announcement underscores why we need to raise the federal minimum wage. Walmart still only has a minimum wage of $11 dollars an hour – bringing the average wage up to $15 dollars an hour is great, but it still leaves behind hundreds of thousands of its employees stuck below that average. These workers have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout this unprecedented crisis and many of them struggle to make ends meet on a wage so low that they qualify for federal poverty assistance.
America’s businesses, including Walmart, will all benefit from raising the minimum wage for everyone, which will mean that all of their customers, not just their own workers will have more money, and be able to spend more. We need the law changed, to put all businesses on an even playing field. We urge Congressional leaders to swiftly pass a national $15 dollar minimum wage as part of President Biden’s economic stimulus package. Now more than ever these workers need a raise, not half-measures designed for favorable press coverage.”
