As the world debates defunding the police and discusses systematic racism, Target is jumping the gun and tackling minimum wage before that issue takes center stage once again. The popular chain found a few of its stores looted during recent protests, and now they've come forward with news that they were planning on increasing their minimum wage. It was announced on Wednesday (June 17) that starting in July, Target will now offer $15 per hour for approximately 275,000 of its part-time and full-time employees.
This move doesn't come as much of a surprise because way back in 2017, Target stated that by December 2020 they would be making the change. Target now joins Amazon who changed their minimum wage to $15 in 2018, and according to CNN, it places them ahead of Walmart who has a minimum wage of $11. Walmart employs around 1.5 million people.
"Target (TGT)also said it would give a $200 onetime bonus to all workers who provided essential services to customers during the pandemic," CNN reported. "The bonus is on top of separate bonuses of $250 to $1,500 the company gave to 20,000 hourly employees in April." The minimum wage debate continues to be a controversial conversation. Do you think Target employees should receive $15 an hour?
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