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Walmart announces wage increases for thousands of employees

 
Angelo Escano of Tampa is one of about 12,000 Walmart employees in the Tampa Bay area who’s celebrating the store’s widespread wage hikes announced Thursday.
Angelo Escano of Tampa is one of about 12,000 Walmart employees in the Tampa Bay area who’s celebrating the store’s widespread wage hikes announced Thursday.
Published Feb. 20, 2015

Angelo Escano is one of about 12,000 Walmart employees in the Tampa Bay area — and like a lot of them, he's feeling pretty darn vindicated today. "This is what we've been fighting for," said the 32-year-old meat department worker at the Tampa location on Dale Mabry Highway just off of Interstate 275.

Clocking in at Walmart for the past four years, Escano has actively protested his employer's wage structure — and now all that fighting might finally show up on his paycheck .

Walmart on Thursday increased wages for about 40 percent of its workforce — about 500,000 U.S. store associates out of 1.3 million total — to more than $9 an hour.

Tampa's Escano, the father of an 8-year-old, Malaya, makes $10 an hour and isn't yet sure how his pay will be affected. But no matter: "Everyone at the store is going to be feeling great. Sometimes we have to borrow money from each other at work."

The pay bump, which kicks in starting in April, is some $1.75 above the federally mandated minimum wage ($7.25). The company's average full-time wage will be $13 an hour, up from $12.85. For part-time workers, the hourly wage will be $10, up from $9.48.

In spending $1 billion on the changes, Walmart, the nation's largest private employer and one that has been criticized by labor advocates, also added that by February 2016 all full-time and part-time employees would be making at least $10 an hour or more. That will affect workers at about 55 Walmart stores in Tampa Bay.

Not to buzzkill Escano's palpable excitement, but there's still some skepticism about the move. Some economic analysts say Walmart — rebounding to $131.57 billion for the fiscal quarter ending Jan. 31 after struggling for two years with sluggish sales — could have increased wages even more without raising concerns on Wall Street. Labor groups have pushed for Walmart's hourly wages to start at $15. Fortune magazine's Stephen Gandel once called for a 50 percent raise for Walmart workers.

Plus, there's a burgeoning national urge for greater widespread pay: A new poll by the Associated Press and consumer-research firm GfK shows that a majority of Americans support raising the minimum wage. Florida is one of 29 states that has a minimum wage ($8.05) higher than the federal mandate.

Even with the changes, Walmart's hourly pay will be below the $14.65 national average for retail workers in a nonsupervisory role. It will, however, be above the $9.93 average hourly pay for cashiers and low-level sales staff, according to a survey by the Hay Group, a global management consulting firm. The new range for Walmart cashiers will be between $9 and $17.55.

A perennial punchline as a bedraggled land of oddball shoppers and bummed-out employees, Walmart has promised to also make changes in scheduling and training in order to boost morale and employee potential — and maybe curb some of those Internet gags at their expense.

"We want the company to be a meritocracy where anyone can move up," company spokesperson Amanda Henneberg said. "These changes are right for our associates and for our business. And I think you'll see a difference in our stores with better service for our customers."

If you're worried about an uptick in the cost of a case of Sun Drop soda, don't. The widespread wage increases will not impact prices, Walmart said.

Walmart follows other retailers that have announced plans to boost pay for its workers. Swedish snap-together-furniture retailer Ikea this year gave thousands of workers at its U.S. division a 17 percent average raise to $10.76 an hour. Clothier Gap Inc. raised its minimum hourly wage to $9 last year and to $10 this year.

Part of Walmart's new refigured plan will be to give new hires a $9 per hour training wage. When they complete the six-month training plan, they will earn $10 an hour. They can then pursue various career paths, including hourly supervisor or a specialty position a la bakery, or expand their skills in their current role.

"We want to make it real clear that working at Walmart is a great opportunity," said CEO Doug McMillon, who directly admitted to employees that "sometimes we don't" get it right. "Time will tell what the significance of the decisions will be."

As for Escano, the significance could be considerable. After all, if there's an extra bump in his paycheck — right now, he makes enough "just to pay the bills" — he knows exactly what to do with it: "I can go out with my daughter and have fun with her. Anywhere she wants to go."

Information from Times wires was used in this report. Contact Sean Daly at sdaly@tampabay.com. Follow @seandalypoplife.