Walmart employees have voiced frustration after the company raised its minimum wage to just $12 an hour, while its subsidiary Sam’s Club was bumped up to $15. Mendy Hughes, a cashier in Malvern, Arkansas, with 11 years of service, earns $12.85 an hour—only 85 cents above the starting wage for new hires. 'You can’t pay your bills, rent and buy groceries on $12 an hour,' she said. 'I don’t understand how they think $12 an hour is enough to live on.'
Walmart, the largest US employer with nearly 1.6 million workers, has long faced criticism over low pay and poor conditions. In September, it raised Sam’s Club wages to $15 but only increased Walmart store wages from $11 to $12. Earlier in 2021, it announced raises for 425,000 employees to $13, touting an average hourly wage above $15. Yet many workers still struggle, prompting members of United for Respect to campaign for a $15 minimum wage.
Hughes, a diabetic mother of four, worked through the pandemic and described worsening conditions due to understaffing and customer hostility. 'We never have enough people,' she said. 'Long lines, sometimes only one cashier, and self-checkouts are card only, so people are mad.' Competitors like Target, Amazon, and Costco have already adopted $15 or higher minimum wages.
In fiscal 2021, Walmart reported over $13.5bn in profit and approved a $20bn stock buyback. The Walton family, the world’s wealthiest, saw their net worth rise by over $10bn each during the pandemic. Anna Turner, a former worker in Stockton, California, was fired after complaining about Covid safety. She earned under $15 an hour in part-time work and relied on Medi-Cal. 'After eight and a half years, I was making just under $15 an hour,' she said. 'They cut hours so we couldn’t get full-time or health benefits.'
Brookings Institution analysis found Walmart provided only a fraction of its pandemic profits to workers as hazard pay, while the Waltons’ wealth grew 26 times more.
