Posted on 05/18/2019 5:25:25 AM PDT by Kaslin
In a move that has the supermarket industry scratching its head, the United Food and Commercial Workers, or UFCW, is singing its own praises for negotiating a wage increase that is already common practice among some of the largest non-union businesses.
Last month, Kroger stores in Kentucky and southern Indiana agreed to increase wages for part-time workers and new hires to $10 an hour, keeping one of the nation’s largest supermarket chains in line with its competitors on employee pay.
It’s the same song, different day for union leaders who think they deserve reward and recognition for implementing changes that business executives and CEOs long before understood as necessary.
Before taking a victory lap, the UFCW should look to other stores that have paved the way for higher starting wages, especially Walmart, Target, and Publix, each of which the union has consistently tried (and failed) to organize.
In 2018, Target raised its starting minimum wage to $12 and announced a business plan to increase that to $15 by the end of 2020. Also in 2018, Walmart increased its minimum wage to $11 an hour and bolstered its benefits package, resulting in an estimated total value of $17.50 an hour. This latter number includes the value of regular and overtime pay, a 401(k) match, health care benefits, an associates’ discount, paid time off — and a quarterly bonus that more than 1 million full- and part-time associates earned in 2017 based on store performance.
President and CEO of Walmart Inc., Doug McMillan, explains the importance of looking at more than just starting wage in his report, “Preparing for the Future of Work,” published last year: “We’ve increased our starting wages by more than 50 percent in the last three years, and we’ve invested in adoption, parental leave and education benefits at the same time. Let’s not get stuck, however, thinking about starting wages only. There can be unintended consequences of that focus. For example, raising the start rate at some companies ends up capping compensation for those who stay for years.”
Publix, like Walmart, raised wages last year. As a private company, it does not disclose its starting wages, but it did give hourly workers and some managers a pay raise to compete with Walmart and Target. The company’s employees and board members also receive shares in its privately traded stock as part of their compensation. The worker-owned store increased its stock price several times in the last two years, with the latest increase on May 1 taking it from $42.85 per share to $44.75 per share.
It’s not just workers who are gravitating toward grocery stores that understand how to stay competitive in the market. Consumers are choosing nonunion grocery chains to do their shopping. As first noted in the newsletter LaborUnionReport, a June 2018 consumer survey conducted by Market Force Information shows that America’s favorite grocery stores are mostly union-free.
Not only were Publix (ranked at number two) and Target (ranked at number 18) both on the list, but eight of the top 10 grocery chains and 14 of the top 20 chains were entirely or mostly free of union affiliation. Unionization may not have been the deciding factor in where consumers decide to shop, but these business-savvy grocery stores are certainly doing something right to remain competitive and keep their customer base in a crowded market.
Pay trends are not just interesting data points; they are closely studied by companies that rely on human capital to do business. Publix, Target and Walmart monitor the market and make the necessary adjustments to retain talent and stay competitive in the industry. These private companies watch the economy and have voluntarily raised wages without government oversight — and without direction from unions.
Unions continually try to make the case that they are the only way workers can get ahead. Yet in a bit of irony, they also try to artificially raise the minimum wage through state-level legislation as well as federal legislation like the Raise the Wage Act.
But the examples of private companies show that businesses value their workers and will pay to attract and retain talent. The market and good business practices are the way for workers to get a raise, not government or union intervention.
The workforces on staten island at chain restaurants is HYSTERICALLY low and I have stopped going altogether because service is so slow.
It will add years to my life :)
the small business restaurants are fine because there are 3000 mexicans working at each one.
that 15 dollar minimum wage IS REALLY HELPING the average person that works there /s
The inflation is upon us
What will the FED do? Raise interest rates?
I read a study that showed Walmart could DOUBLE wages of its floor employees and the retail price would only tick up 2 cents per dollar.
I’m sure there is in fact such a study
I read a study that showed Walmart could DOUBLE wages of its floor employees and the retail price would only tick up 2 cents per dollar.
It’s easy to calculate. You can do it yourself. Pick a year for Walmart, say 2016. Find total revenue from sales, which is most of Walmart’s revenue, probably 90+ percent of total revenue. Find out the total amount paid by Walmart to their hourly employees for 2016. Then DOUBLE that figure. Walmart would have to raise revenue to cover that increase. So how much? OK, take that increase in total hourly wage cost increase and divide by current revenue. It comes out to about 2%.
There are 2,748,978 ( 3 million rounded off ) civilian federal employees in the United States as of January 2009.
This is for 2009 but it will work for an good example.
Total compensation = 3,000,000 employee x $80,000/yr( estimated ) = $240B. Total Federal outlays 2009 = 3.5T.
So Federal employees consumed .240/3.5 = 7% of the budget.
So to answer your question you are off by 5%. It would cost 7% not 2% to DOUBLE wages of ALL Federal employees.
You know a study is bogus when it makes such a qualified claim.
If they doubled the wages of the floor employees, they would also have to raise the wages of the the support and administrative staff, most of which are higher value jobs than stocking shelves or running a cash register. Economic principles show labor is generally 33% of a businesses cost. Doubling the cost of labor would increase the final cost by generally 12% - 15%. Under those circumstances, increased automation and outsourcing would be the better alternative so a good 30% - 40% of Walmart employees would lose their jobs.
The floor employees do not exist in a vacuum. They are part of a competitive balance in the companies labor pool. Any positive change affecting them must also be reflected across the company as a whole.
Any study that shows the economic impact of only making a change within a targeted group in a companies labor pool defies the Laws of Economics and isn't worth the paper it is written on. Of course one of the core beliefs of Progressives is the the Laws of Economics are only helpful suggestions and can be readily ignored at any time.
Walmart's margin is 1%. Congratulations. They just went out of business.
Not if they raised prices by 2%.
If they could raise prices by 2% and increase their margin to 3%, I think they’d do it now.
So to answer your question you are off by 5%. It would cost 7% not 2% to DOUBLE wages of ALL Federal employees.
My example shows how wrong you were and the perception that wages have on overall costs. The reality is it is pennies on the dollar. This apples to manufacturing, retail etc . etc.
The reality is it is pennies on the dollar.
Again,
Why not raise everyone’s wage? When you have employees, you can raise their wages.
Who should determine wages? govt, employers, employees, unions. You?
I for one am damn tired of it would only cost a few cents argument. Been used too many times...……………
Are you a conservative who trusts the market place or is government the answer to every issue?
You want to be RIGHT about your 2% rather than think about it.
In my mind if you raised retail 5% and doubles wages you could then make a real argument for eliminating the welfare state.
Corporations don't want that, instead they want tax payers to subsidize their work force, even Amazon does that!
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