When a corporation does the right thing, we should support them. Thank you, Target!

[scheming daemons]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-target-wages/target-raises-minimum-hourly-wage-to-11-pledges-15-by-end-of-2020-idUSKCN1C01JO

Target raises minimum hourly wage to $11, pledges $15 by end of 2020

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Target Corp (TGT.N) said on Monday it would increase its minimum hourly wage this year by a dollar to $11, vowing to raise this by the end of 2020 to $15 an hour -- the so-called “living wage” labor advocates across the United States are campaigning for.

The Minneapolis-based retailer, which plans to start hiking minimum pay across its stores to $11 an hour in October, provided assurances that the move would not hurt its previously announced full-year and quarterly earnings forecasts.

Amid increasing competition for workers in a strengthening labor market, the “Fight for Fifteen” movement -- a union-led push for a $15 minimum wage -- has been gaining traction in cities across the country.

Target’s decision comes less than three months after the Minneapolis City Council approved a measure requiring large companies to pay workers least at $15 an hour by 2022, following decisions by other liberal-leaning U.S. cities to raise the minimum wage.

[Hoyt]

1. That does deserve accolades. Heck, Sanders' Raise the Wage Act didn't reach $15 until 2024. eom

[Juliusseizure]

10. Pure business decision

They're forced to or workers will leave en masse or push for a union. The turnover is already crippling.

If you want to make a CEO keel over and vomit, just say "union".

Target hires professional anti-union marketers and busters to target unionization like every other corporation.

Here's one of many anti-union videos.

[Volaris]

12. I tend to agree. There was nothing altruistic about this, it was a BUSINESS decision.

It was a SMART Business decision, a forward-thinking decision for damn sure ( and in that respect, it does separate them from most of the Next-Quarter-Is-All-That-Matters crowd of idiots who populate corporate boardrooms anymore), but still a business decision, that I would bet their next Stock Split was reviewed and approved by their marketing department before anything else happened with it.

Henry Ford was smart this way a century ago, and he was still an asshole of a Human Being...

[Dustlawyer]

20. I still say boycott Walmart! I am tired of us taxpayers subsidizing their payroll.

If people work full time they should be paid a living wage with health insurance. Single payer could make this a reality.

[Ineeda]

24. At least a decade

That I've boycotting them. I've actually crossed their threshold only once during that time, when a neighbor "needed" something. I stood at the doors and just watched, disgusted at the propaganda-buying sheep -- um, I mean customers. There's a Target just across the street! Even if it's the only game in town -- shop out of town!

[Hoyt]

13. Well, still better than some of the proposals for increased minimum wage and they deserve credit.

Workers might get a union in some states, but not in others. If I were working at Target, I'd feel pretty good about this. I'm sure there are some things that aren't so good.

Good or bad, there are only about 14 Million workers in unions nowadays and almost half of those are government workers.

[Juliusseizure]

15. I'm not criticizing Target

I'm basically pointing out the law. Target has a duty to shareholders to act in their best interests to increase profit over time (they don't have to maximize profit).

Based on my 5 minutes of research, the CEO as of 2015 seems like a good guy. A registered democrat with a difficult childhood who generally looks out for employees.

I recognize that his duty to greedy shareholders, corporate charter and cut-throat competition from Amazon and other retailers would get him fired if went pro-union, and this may be the best he could do.

[Dustlawyer]

21. If corporations are people and have religions, I would think they need to have a conscience and

empathy too! Your point about not having to maximize profit is too true but rarely followed due to greedy officers and directors.

BP did a great job of dragging out the litigation and settlements to the victims of the Gulf oil spill, causing many more businesses to fail waiting for recompense. They did not want to lower their dividends which were the highest in the oil industry.

[Volaris]

23. Corporations aren't legally allowed to have those 2 things,

It's why corporate Personhood has been a bullshit argument since the 14th Amendment.

[LeftInTX]

2. Not to be snarky, but will Twittler (Dotard) also get involved with this

Will he call for Target boycotts...etc.?

It seems like every time a business does something good, he starts complaining.

[liberalnarb]

7. Boycott a store for treating its workers slightly decently?

If that isn't the best illustration of how ass-backwards the right is then I don't know what is.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. Will it stop its captive anti-union meetings, too?

[DK504]

4. Captive anti-union meetings are illegal.

If one of those toryute sessions is called someone (pro-union) needs to call the union to come in slap the company stupid.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Oh, Target's one of the absolute worst.

They've been slapped many, many times. Doesn't stop them from trying, through, and they've got the money and staying power to outlast any $11/hour employee.

[mountain grammy]

6. No..

because, as we all know, it's way more than just wages, silly. Capitalism demands the right to have complete control over the workforce, or, sons of bitches as the case may be.

[MontanaMama]

8. My spouse and I own a small business

in Montana - where wages are generally low. We employ 7 people, 3of them partime by their choice and the rest full time. We've never started anybody under $11 per hour. Most of our staff makes $16-$20. That little bump in wage buys a whole lot of loyalty and motivation from our crew. It is a no-brainer. All the scuttle about higher minimum wage hurting business is BS IMHO. I'm happy to hear this from Target - I'll let the manager know at my next weekly stop.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. And without knowing anything about your actual business,

it's nice you understand that paying employees well pays off to the employer.

I recall reading a couple of years ago that WalMart had a turnover of some huge amount. Some jobs up to 300% a year, and they just didn't care, and took the cost of recruiting, hiring, and training vast numbers of new employees to be a part of doing business.

[MontanaMama]

17. Our staff is like family.

I couldn't look at myself in the mirror if they were making poverty wages. That isn't right. I've had those jobs myself - when every day was full of stress or worry and my employer didn't care. I worked for a dentist for 21 years without insurance benefits! It was so hard. When I quit that job to join my husband at our business, we made a pact that we would pay everybody a living wage, pay their insurance premiums and provide a company matched 401K. It took a few years to get it done but we did it. When employees can make a living, plan for the future and not have to worry if they get sick it is amazing what they'll happily do for you at work. At least, this has been our experience.

[TheFrenchRazor]

16. precisely; i live in SD, where wages are also low, and it is so obvious to me that performance is

just as low as the wages; turnover is high, and nobody gives a darn because they are literally making poverty wages and can't afford to survive. if employers would reward the good employees and give them a reason to care and stay, the company would benefit far more than the dollar amount spent.

[Amimnoch]

11. Can't do much more for Target.

I've been a dedicated Target shopper for anything that I need that they sell ever since they took the human approach to the bathroom inclusive environment.

[MontanaMama]

18. The manager at the Target

store in my town will often walk around the store thanking customers for shopping with them.

[Scruffy1]

14. i'm not impressed by Target.

Truth is they can't get anybody to work there for the pittance they are paying. Like they said:It won't even affect their bottom line. So they are being generous in raising the floor a buck. It's still far from being a living wage. Their corporate headquarters is about 3 miles from me and they even managed to scam the city out of money to help build it. They constantly break labor laws and never have to answer for it because around these parts they are a sacred cow albeit a greedy and bloated one.

[Luz]

19. Yeah, and good luck getting 40 hours a week. I'm not impressed

either.

[Fla Dem]

26. Why focus on the negative. Yes corporations often do things that are in their beat interests.

But the fact they''re stepping up to the plate and starting the move to $15 is commendable. As far as getting 40 hrs per week, if the job applicants are getting fewer, not only will there be 40hr weeks, but OT. Then I suppose some people will complain the companies are working their ee's too hard.

[Hortensis]

22. A company realizing low wages are helping kill it is very good.

I'm not going to badmouth Target for coming out of this mean, laissez-faire era waking up to the consequences of not paying sustainable wages.

Like so many other large chains facing bankruptcy, Target's pools of prospective employees and customers are the same. At least Target is trying to move back toward the level of prosperity that built its success back in the 1960s-1980s.

[Fla Dem]

25. Good on Target! My favorite store.

Always clean, associates friendly and helpful, lots of products I buy at competitive prices. The few cents I may have to pay over Wal-Mart prices is worth the better experience.

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