Ralph Nader: Why Wal-Mart's Wage Increase Is 'Not Much Of A Big Step'

Several people have called Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'s (NYSE: WMT) decision to increase wages of its part-time and full-time employees to $9 per hour beginning this April and to $10 per hour by February 2016 as too little too late. Among them is Ralph Nader, Center for Study of Responsive Law founder and author of The Seventeen Solutions.

Nader was on CNBC Friday to discuss why even though the wage hike by Wal-Mart is a step in right direction, it's not enough.

Wage Hike Not Sufficient

When asked if he thought Wal-Mart has increased the minimum wage sufficiently, Nader replied, “No, it's not enough.”

He continued, “By comparison, Wal-Mart workers in 1968 were making more in inflation-adjusted buying power than they are making today. If the inflation adjustment was made starting with 1968, the Wal-Mart minimum wage by law would be $11 an hour.

“So, going to $9 next month and then $10 next year still doesn't equate to what Wal-Mart workers made back in 1968, even though worker productivity in Wal-Mart has almost doubled because of automation and other streamlining.”

Related Link: What The Street Is Saying About Wal-Mart's Pay Boost

Not Much Of A Big Step

When asked if this was a step in the right direction by Wal-Mart, Nader replied, “Obviously it's a start in the right direction, but you see, Wal-Mart was racing – trying to race – ahead of city and state minimum wage increases. People back home not waiting for Washington, which has been stuck with $7.25 per hour minimum wage for years.

“And so what Wal-Mart really said to itself is, ‘You know, we got cities like San Francisco and Seattle and states going up to $9, $9.50, $11 an hour. We better get a little bit ahead of the curve, even though we have not urged congress to raise it for all 30 million Americans.’

“Thirty million American workers making less today than 1968 in purchasing power. So, I don't think it was much of a big step, but it shows that Wal-Mart is feeling the heat,” Nader concluded.