Saturday, December 15, 2018

Tell Congress: Support Sen. Sanders' "Stop Walmart Act"

Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with Rep. Ro Khanna, introduced legislation called the "Stop Walmart Act
The petition to Congress reads:
"Massive corporations like Walmart that do not pay a living wage to their employees should not be allowed to buy back stocks to reward wealthy shareholders. Support the 'Stop Walmart Act' now."
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►

Stand with Sen. Sanders: Support the Stop Walmart Act
When Donald Trump and Republicans enacted their $1.5 trillion tax scam late last year, they promised voters higher wages and more good-paying jobs. Instead, Trump's tax scam made the rich richer and failed to raise wages or create new jobs.
That's because, over the last year, massive corporations used the huge windfall to buy back their own stocks, propping up their own share prices and rewarding their wealthy investors. In fact, stock buybacks are expected to reach $1 trillion by the end of 2018.1
Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, has rewarded its shareholders with more than $120 billion over the last decade, including an additional $20 billion through 2019, while it continues to pay most of its employees poverty wages.2
Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with Rep. Ro Khanna, introduced legislation called the "Stop Walmart Act," to prevent wealthy corporations from buying back its stock unless it pays employees at least $15 per hour. If Walmart won't raise wages for its employees, we must stand with Sen. Sanders and pressure Congress to take action.
The Waltons, who own about 50 percent of Walmart stock, are the richest family in the country with a net worth of roughly $180 billion.3 In 2017 alone, Walmart made more than $13 billion in profits, yet 55 percent of its more than 1 million employees are food insecure, and the company's starting wage for full time workers is below the federal poverty line.4,5
According to the Roosevelt Institute, if Walmart redirected $10 billion of its stock buyback plan to raise wages, the average Walmart employee would see an hourly wage increase of more than $5.66, raising the starting wage for all employees to at least $16.66 per hour.6
Sen. Sanders' bill would prevent these outrageous buybacks by Walmart and other wealthy corporations by:
  • Ensuring all employees, including part-time employees, contractors and franchisees, are paid at least $15 per hour,
  • Allowing employees to earn up to seven days of paid sick leave; and
  • Prohibiting the CEO or highest paid employee from making more than 150 times the median company salary.7
With so many Walmart employees and underpaid workers across the country struggling to make ends meet this holiday season, we must stand with them and pressure Congress to support this critical legislation to stop Walmart's corporate greed and help lift millions of workers out of poverty. Click the link below to sign the petition:
Thanks for everything you do.
Josh Nelson, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►
References:
  1. Jamie Condliffe, "The Stock Market’s Next $1 Trillion Milestone: Buybacks," The New York times, Aug. 6, 2018.
  2. Emily Stewart, "Walmart is paying $20 billion to shareholders. With that money, it could boost hourly wages to over $15." Vox, May 30, 2018.
  3. Forbes, "The World's Billionaires," accessed Dec. 14, 2018.
  4. MarketWatch, "Annual Financials for Walmart Inc." accessed Dec. 14, 2018.
  5. Michael Sainato, "'They Obviously Can Afford to': Workers Call On Walmart To Raise Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour," Common Dreams, Nov. 19, 2018.
  6. Lenore Palladino and Adil Abdela, "Making the Case: How Ending Walmart’s Stock Buyback Program Would Help to Fix Our High-Profit, Low-Wage Economy," Roosevelt Institute, May 22, 2018.
  7. Office of Sen. Bernie Sanders, "Summary of The Stop WALMART Act," accessed Dec. 14, 2018.

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