[Flashback] Walmart ups pay well above minimum wage

money.cnn.com ^ | Chris Isadore

[cotton1706]

Walmart, the frequent focus of advocates for low-wage workers, is giving its lowest-paid workers a raise.

The company said 500,000 full-time and part-time associates, more than a third of its work force at Walmart (WMT) U.S. stores and Sam's Clubs, will receive pay raises in April to at least $9 an hour. That will be $1.75 above the federal minimum wage.

By next February 1, their pay will go to at least $10 an hour.

The company said workers will also have more control over their schedules, but it declined to give details of those changes. And it said it would invest more in training to give entry-level workers greater chance for promotion and other career advancement.

The wage scale and other improvement in work conditions will cost the company about $1 billion in this fiscal year.

Walmart's pay and employment policies have been the focus of protest by some workers and outside labor groups seeking to organize Walmart employees. Black Friday protesters last year were demanding a $15 an hour pay minimum across the company.

[Phillyred]

And now they are closing stores to pay for it.

[etcb]

And now they are closing stores to pay for it.

I don't understand how closing profit generating stores would help pay for an increase in salary at other stores. If a stores is generating sufficient revenue to cover their expenses (including employee salaries) and generating a profit for the corporation, closing that store would cause the corporation to have less money for salary increases, not more. If the store is not generating a profit, it would be subject to closure regardless of corporate pay policies.

[DoodleDawg]

And now they are closing stores to pay for it.

There are over 5000 Walmart and Sam's Club stores in the U.S. You think closing fewer than one-tenth of one percent of them is going to offset the pay raises? Really?