For Immediate Release
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Contact: Sam Quigley
sam@patrioticmillionaires.org
202-446-0489
Walmart CEO’s Call for Higher Minimum Wage Shows That Raising the Wage “Isn’t Just a Win for Workers, It’s a Win for Businesses Too”
“A higher minimum wage means millions more consumers with more disposable income to spend at stores like Walmart“
Washington, DC – Today, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon called on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage at the Walmart annual shareholders meeting. In response, Morris Pearl, former managing director at BlackRock, Inc., and Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, issued the following statement:
“Walmart’s CEO is right, we need to raise the minimum wage. It’s great to see Doug McMillon calling on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage. McMillon’s statement shouldn’t come as a surprise – a higher minimum wage means millions more consumers with more disposable income to spend at stores like Walmart. The growing ranks of business leaders calling for a higher federal minimum wage should make it clear that raising the wage isn’t just a win for workers, it’s a win for businesses too. The additional consumer demand from millions of low wage workers getting a raise would be an incredible boost to virtually every company in the United States. It’s far past time we raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
McMillon’s support for raising the wage, along with Walmart’s commitment to paying all of its employees at least $11 an hour, is a great start. But it’s not enough. We don’t need to just raise the minimum wage, we need to raise it to $15 an hour, and to truly support workers McMillon needs to say that number. More than that, as the the largest employer in America, Walmart should take the initiative to pay each of its employees at least $15 an hour without being required to by the federal government.”
For further comments or questions, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.
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About the Patriotic Millionaires
Proud “traitors to their class,” members of the Patriotic Millionaires are high-net worth Americans, business leaders, and investors who are united in their concern about the destabilizing concentration of wealth and power in America. The mission of The Patriotic Millionaires organization is to build a more stable, prosperous, and inclusive nation by promoting public policies based on the “first principles” of equal political representation, a guaranteed living wage for all working citizens, and a fair tax system. You can find out more at https://patrioticmillionaires.org/about/
The Patriotic Millionaires have appeared on hundreds of media outlets here and abroad, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and many others. You can find more coverage at https://patrioticmillionaires.org/media
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