(In These Times) — Fresh off a successful campaign to to name and shame Amazon for its low wages, Bernie Sanders is setting his sights on Walmart. Today, the Vermont senator is introducing the “STOP Walmart Act,” a bill that demands the retail behemoth raise its wages or face penalties.
Co-sponsored by California Rep. Ro Khanna, the bill would prevent Walmart and other large companies from buying back stock unless they pay all employees at least $15 an hour, allow them to earn up to seven days paid sick leave and cap CEO pay at 150 times median worker compensation.
The largest private employer in America, Walmart has been targeted labor activists for years over its low wages, anti-union policies and history of alleged workplace discrimination. Excessive giveaways in the form of stock buybacks are a way for executives and wealthy shareholders to extract corporate profits for themselves rather than investing them in higher worker wages and benefits, according to progressive economists.
