by DONNIE VAPHIDES
Section Editor

Walmart employees are happy to hear the news that the store has decided to give their employees a raise from minimum wage. The increase in wage will be a total of nine dollars an hour when it does take effect in the month of April. The company says the wage could rise to 10 dollars by February 2016.

One reason for the wage raise is that Walmart is responding to recent and possible increases in state-level minimum wages. However, the minimum wage has a much smaller impact on Walmart than many probably imagine.

This rise in salary for nearly 40 percent of Walmart workers will benefit not only the people, but the economy. When you give a worker more money, they are going to spend it. This flow of earning and spending will make the spending rise, and not only will the economy will go up, stock for Walmart will rise as well. Workers will spend more money at Walmart before they leave to go home, making Walmart some of the money back they gave in increased salary.

“I think it is a good thing for Walmart to raise their minimum wage. This will give many people that need a raise or more money in their pocket a chance to live easier. It will give someone struggling to get by a boost and the help they need. The economy benefits from this as employees have more money to spend towards it,” said junior Paul Percshilli.

Although Walmart is often seen as one of the low-wage employer, it is not the only one. As a matter of fact, most retail jobs are low/minimum-wage. After seeing what Walmart just did, other places like TJ Maxx and Marshalls have said that they are going to follow suit in the near future with an increase in salary.

Walmart is starting to listen to complaints from its workers as they work on making scheduling and hours more efficient and easier. These steps are being taken after Walmart has been called a “bad place to work” due to hours and pay.

“It is nice to see that Walmart is taking steps for its employees to have a better work condition. The money increase will make the people happier and it may even make them work harder and gain a loyalty to the company,” said junior Mark Rodriguez

The movement to raise wages began with companies like Ikea and Gap, who took steps in raising minimum wage. With Walmart following the trend, companies are keeping a close eye on how this pans out as they might also make a move that raises wages.

Some predict Walmart’s move could spread to the floor and give a raise to the entire labor force because the company controls an enormous retail market share and helps set standards for pay scales across the supply chain. That would include workers from shelf stockers to truck drivers.

What do you think of the recent wage change?