On Nov. 15, Making Change at Walmart (MCAW) endorsed the Stop Welfare for Any Large Monopoly Amassing Revenue from Taxpayers (WALMART) Act introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representative Ro Khanna (D-California, 17th District).
The Stop WALMART Act prohibits large employers from purchasing stock buybacks for shareholders unless they meet basic criteria for workers— a $15 starting wage for all employees, the ability for all employees to earn up to seven days paid sick leave and limiting CEO compensation to no more than 150 times the median pay of all employees. Senator Sanders cited the Walton family’s excessive wealth and status as majority shareholders, and therefore owners of Walmart, along with Walmart’s over $13 billion in profits last year, as reason for the company and the Walton family to enact better pay and policies for their workers.
MCAW’s statement reads as follows:
“We strongly support any elected leaders that are willing to take a stand against Walmart and their self-serving actions that continue to needlessly hurt hundreds of thousands of American workers.
“It is incomprehensible that hard-working Walmart workers struggle to make ends meet on low wages and poor benefits while the Walton family signs off on billions of dollars in stock buybacks.
“Sadly, it is because of companies like Walmart that America’s income inequality is growing significant. For the good of the country, this must change.
“We hope that the Stop WALMART Act will do what Walmart and the Walton family have never been able to – stand up for America’s Walmart workers in the face of unconscionable greed.”