Wal-Mart has announced that it will raise its minimum wage to $9 an hour in April and $10 next year, in a move that will impact about half a million low-wage workers. The increase falls far short of the $15-an-hour living wage demanded by workers who have launched historic strikes against Wal-Mart and reported retaliation from the company for joining the protests. A 2012 analysis found the six heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune have as much wealth as the bottom 40 percent of the United States combined.

Wal-Mart is one of few major retailers that have refused to sign on to the new safety standards after the Dhaka tragedy. The Tazreen Fashion factory fire killed 112 workers and left hundreds injured. The Rana Plaza collapse killed 1,127 and left more than 600 injured for lifetime. And in that shareholder meeting, they haven't even expressed any condolence for those families.

Ted Rudow III
Palo Alto, CA, USA