walmart

With the holidays approaching, we’re going to see a lot of food and toy drives held by companies and organizations to help to needy. But Wal-Mart is coming under fire for holding a food drive–for its own employees.

From NPR:

Wal-Mart officials said the store-level effort spoke to employees’ concern for each other, and that similar drives have been held in prior years. But activists lobbying Congress for the first increase since 2007 in America’s $7.25-per-hour minimum wage have seized on the food drive as fresh evidence for their cause.

“Wal-Mart is the largest employer of low-wage workers in the country, and they set the terms of this debate,” says Judy Conti of the National Employment Law Project. “Don’t add insult to injury and ask low-paid workers to help those even worse off.”

Read more at NPR

The Senate, along with President Obama’s support, is expected to consider a bill that would bump up the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour over a three-year period.

Low-wage worker advocates in at least nine states are campaigning for state-level increases in minimum wages.

Thoughts on the food drive held by Wal-Mart?

Should state officials and government legislators just raise the minimum wage already?

Sound off below!