Trying to polish its terrible employee degrading image and curry the favor of President Trump and Congressional Republicans, Walmart recently announced it was raising wages to $11 an hour and giving some its employees bonuses of up to $1,000, all thanks to the GOP tax cut.
But the announcement was little more than a publicity stunt to hide the more dramatic story: the company is closing 68 Sam’s Club stores and laying off almost 10,000 workers.
“This announcement is an attempt to repair a crumbling image, while ignoring thousands of its workers who struggle year after year to pay their bills or depend on government assistance,” said Making Change at Walmart Director Randy Parraz.
Business Insider reports the abrupt closures, including three stores in hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico, caught many employees by surprise.
In some cases, “employees were not informed of the closures prior to showing up to work” and “learned that their store would be closing when they found the store’s doors locked and a notice announcing the closure.”
“The fact is that Walmart is not permanently investing the estimated $2 billion it will receive annually from Trump’s tax giveaway on its workers – it is keeping almost all of it,” Parraz said.
“Once you crack the veneer, you see that Walmart’s wage increases will not raise hourly wages for many of its workers. Hourly wages for those workers making above $11 dollars will essentially stay the same. Workers will get a one-time bonus or raise, but not both.”
The facts are the one-time bonuses will only cost the company about $400 million, and the one-time bonus of $1,000 will only go to some workers – those who have worked for the company for 20 years. Most Walmart employees, of course, haven’t worked there that long. Those other employees will receive smaller bonuses based on seniority. Walmart has 2.1 million employees, which works out to an average bonus of about $190, leaving an additional $1.85 billion in the Walmart’s profit coffers.
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