Sanders crashes Walmart meeting, blasts 'starvation wages'
Bernie Sanders showed up to a Walmart shareholders meeting Wednesday and blasted what he called the retail giant’s “starvation wages” and imploring it to pay people at least $15 an hour.
The Vermont senator briefly addressed Walmart leadership at its annual shareholders meeting in Bentonville, Ark. Sanders introduced a proposal to allow hourly employees to join the company’s board but used the remainder of his allotted three minutes to push for a “living” minimum wage.
“The issue that we are dealing with today is pretty simple,” Sanders said. “Walmart is the largest private employer in America and is owned by the Walton family, the wealthiest family in the United States, worth approximately $175 billion. And yet despite the incredible wealth of its owner, Walmart pays many of its employees starvation wages, wages that are so low that many of these employees are forced to rely on government programs like food stamps, Medicaid and public housing in order to survive.”
“Frankly,” Sanders continued, “the American people are sick and tired of subsidizing the greed of some of the largest and most profitable corporations in this country.”
Sanders was invited to speak as a proxy for Walmart worker Cat Davis, a leader of the pro-worker group United for Respect. It was Davis’ proposal that Sanders pitched.
Sanders called out Walmart’s CEO for the “grotesque level of income and wealth inequality,” noting that Doug McMillon makes 1,000 times more than the average Walmart employee. Sanders said the company had a profit last year of nearly $10 billion, paid McMillon more than $20 million in compensation and authorized $20 billion in stock buybacks to benefit its wealthiest stockholders.
“Surely, with all of that, Walmart can afford to pay its employees a living wage of at least $15 an hour,” Sanders said. “And that is not a radical idea, because many of Walmart’s major competitors like Amazon, Costco and Target have already moved in that direction.”
Sanders received a tepid applause in the room. A campaign aide said three of his staffers weren’t allowed in, and Rachel Brand, Walmart’s executive vice president of global governance, chief legal officer and corporate secretary, swiftly dismissed the proposal.
“Thank you, Sen. Sanders, for your presentation and your viewpoint,” Brand said. “While we don’t support this particular proposal, the importance of listening to and investing in our associates was reflected in Doug’s remarks and you’ll hear more about it later in the meeting.”
McMillon, for his part, credited Walmart earlier in the meeting for investing in higher wages for its employees but acknowledged that the federal minimum wage is too low. He put the onus on Congress, however, “to put a thoughtful plan in place to increase the minimum wage.”
In his closing remarks, Greg Penner, chairman of the board, indirectly hit back at Sanders’ criticism, praising Walmart as a company that cares about its customers and its workers. The meeting ended with a nearly two-minute-long promotional video.
Sanders, however, took his criticism outside. At an impromptu rally outside Walmart headquarters, the Democratic presidential candidate stressed that Walmart’s minimum wage isn’t enough.
“People cannot make it on $11 an hour,” he said. “You can’t pay rent. You can’t get health care. You can’t feed your kids or put gas in the car on $11 an hour.”
Sanders’ next stop is McDonald’s. His campaign announced that he will join workers pushing for a $15 minimum wage and a union in Cedar Rapids on Sunday, then lead a march to the Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Celebration.
Holly Otterbein contributed to this report.
