Will the real Wal-Mart please stand up?
Today, 46 Republican U.S. Senators turned their backs on the terrible plight of working families by refusing to support a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. Incredibly, while America’s largest employer, Wal-Mart, publicly bragged about supporting a minimum wage increase, it is clear that not only did Wal-Mart do nothing to support the passage of the minimum wage bill, they actively worked against it.
In fact, of the 46 Senators who voted against raising the minimum wage, 42 received campaign contributions from Wal-Mart over the last ten years. In addition, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), of which Wal-Mart is the leading member, actively lobbied to kill legislation that would help millions of working families achieve a better life.
Sadly, it becomes more apparent every single day that the so-called “changes” Wal-Mart has spent millions of dollars bragging about to the public, the media, and our elected leaders, are little more than empty public relations stunts meant to repair a company whose faltering public image has become a liability with the American people.
If Wal-Mart is truly serious about changing for the better, if they are concerned about the plight of millions of working families, they will now stand with us, and the overwhelming majority of the American people, and join the national fight to raise the minimum wage.
In that spirit, we challenge Wal-Mart and the Walton Family to publicly endorse legislation to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour as proposed by Sen. Kennedy in the U.S. Senate and Rep. Hoyer and Rep. Miller in the U.S. House.
We also call on Wal-Mart and the Walton Family to use their significant political power to convince the 46 U.S. Republican Senators and the Republican leadership in the U.S. House to reverse their opposition to the Kennedy/Miller legislation. Finally, we call on Wal-Mart to publicly disavow itself from RILA's position and demand RILA stop lobbying against efforts to raise the minimum wage.
The truth is Wal-Mart can no longer have it both ways. Wal-Mart must stop talking about changes that go nowhere and, instead, take real actions that will directly benefit its workers and the American people.
In the end, its time for Wal-Mart to stand up for working families and stop fighting against the very changes that will benefit the American people.
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