Walmart Gave Workers a Raise—But It’s Not Enough to Keep Them off the Dole

A Black Friday protest at a Walmart store in Chicago<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ufcwinternational/15716560339/in/photolist-pWPtQg-qecJkS-phgFZo-qbYM4u-phv83T-pWFSmU-phgP3G-qeg8GD-qbYLuJ-pWPi7x-pWPti4-pWFZQw-pWFXth-qe5ZhP-pWPqtg-qecEQA-qecFxs-phvdzV-pWQSjk-phvfGv-qefUcx-qbYCsb-pWG4f7-pWPrkB-pWFS7f-qe5UDk-pWGVTU-qeg2y6-qecKc1-qefYAn-pWPmna-pWFYJJ-pWQP1M-phgQy7-pWG7p3-phgUwN-pWGaLy-qecGzh-qe5Q9P-pWPnqn-pWGX7f-pWG3d7-pWHacC-phvjTB-qecLsh-pWGb3W-phvfvt-phgBch-qe5Pc8-qecBMG">UFCW International Union</a>/Flickr

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A typical Walmart Supercenter costs taxpayers more than $900,000 a year in public assistance doled out to its low-wage workers. This fact, published in a congressional report in 2013, galvanized labor protests at Walmart stores across the country last year, leading the retail giant to announce in February that it would give some 500,000 workers a raise. (Today, McDonald’s announced a similar increase). And that’s something. But according to a report released today by Americans for Tax Fairness, Walmart’s pay is still far too low to wean many “associates” from federal subsidies such as food stamps and Section 8 housing.

Under Walmart’s new plan, full-time associates who’ve completed a six-month training program will earn at least $10 an hour next year. Many Walmart workers, however, are involuntary part-timers, and nearly half of the associates turn over each year. But workers who qualify for the $10 base wage by working at least 34 hours a week, which Walmart considers “full time,” would still earn only $17,680 a year—well below the cutoff for many federal assistance programs, especially if a worker has children.

Americans for Tax Fairness

The four Walton heirs, who are collectively worth $144.7 billion, are Walmart’s largest stockholders and constitute the nation’s wealthiest family. If they wanted to stop enriching themselves at the expense of taxpayers, they could pay their workers at least $15 an hour for a 40-hour workweek. According to Americans for Tax Fairness, this would have cost Walmart about $10.8 billion in 2014, or about half of the increase in the Waltons’ net worth that year.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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