Walmart gives raises & OTB

says take the day off, we don't need the money and neither do you, go to church. Andrew Cuomo commands you to refrain from working, betting, and /or contributing to the revenue stream of the State of NY and its subdivisions.  NY Const Art. 1, Sec. 3 does not apply to infidels.



Business
Wal-Mart Raising Wages as Market Gets Tighter
Retailer to increase associates’ hourly pay to $9 in April, and $10 next year
Wal-Mart said it plans to boost the pay of its U.S. employees above the federal minimum wage in a push to help entry-level workers and amid a national debate about income inequality. Eric Morath joins MoneyBeat. Photo: AP
By
Paul Ziobro and
Eric Morath
Updated Feb. 19, 2015 7:56 p.m. ET
644 COMMENTS

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to boost pay for its U.S. employees to at least $10 an hour by next year, well above the minimum wage, signaling a tightening labor market and rising competition for lower-paid workers.

The action could signal a turning point for what have been stubbornly stagnant wages since the recession ended almost six years ago, and it would amplify gains for low-wage workers across the nation if other companies follow the nation’s largest private employer. The new rate is 38% higher than the current federal minimum hourly wage of $7.25.
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Related

    Tighter Jobs Market Prompts Wal-Mart’s Raises
    What Raise May Mean For Other Workers
    Chain’s Critics See Move as First Step
    One Reason Wal-Mart Is Raising Pay: Turnover
    Aetna Sets Wage Floor: $16 an Hour (Jan. 12)
    Low-Wage Workers Protest Over Pay (Dec. 4)
    Wal-Mart Looks to Bump Workers’ Pay (Oct. 16)
    Pay at Wal-Mart: Low at Checkout, High in Manager’s Office (July 23)

“Wal-Mart’s move to raise their employee pay base is a sign that the labor market has already tightened,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors. “Their action could create a floor under wages and others may need to follow in order to retain and attract workers.”

Employers are adding jobs at the best pace since the late 1990s. As result, the unemployment rate fell to 5.7% last month from 6.6% a year earlier, a sign of diminishing slack in the labor market.

Economists have been waiting for years for wage growth to kick in, and more signs of that are emerging. Companies say they are having to fight harder to attract and keep good employees. Starbucks Corp. raised its starting pay last month, and Aetna Inc. said it would begin paying its lowest-rung workers $16 an hour in April. Gap Inc. last year said it would raise starting pay to $10 an hour. Others such as Costco Wholesale, Hobby Lobby and IKEA Group tout that all their workers earn more than the minimum wage.
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Mike Bufano, senior vice president for planning at Panera Bread Co. , told investors this month that the bakery-cafe chain is paying higher wages across the board, citing a war for talent.

Wal-Mart’s plan affects about 500,000 employees at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores, or about a third of the company’s 1.4 million U.S. workers. Minimum pay will rise to $9 an hour in April, before climbing to $10 an hour by February 2016.
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The company’s national presence, especially in rural and suburban areas where the cost of living is lower than it is in large cities, will ratchet up competition for workers nationwide.

The wage increases and other programs will cost the retailer about $1 billion. But the company hopes the higher pay, more consistent schedules and other minor changes like eliminating a one-day waiting period for paid sick leave will make employees happier and more attuned to shoppers’ needs.

“We want associates that care about the company and are highly engaged about the business and leaning in,” Chief Executive Doug McMillon, who just completed his first year in the top job, said Thursday during the company’s earnings conference call. Other executives on the call acknowledged that this is one step of improving service at Wal-Mart’s stores, including cleaner stores, well-stocked shelves and better communication with customers.
Wal-Mart says its wage and training initiatives will cost more than $1 billion in the current fiscal year. ENLARGE
Wal-Mart says its wage and training initiatives will cost more than $1 billion in the current fiscal year. Photo: Bloomberg News

For its quarter ended Jan. 31, Wal-Mart reported earnings of $4.97 billion, up from $4.43 billion a year earlier. Revenue rose 1.4% to $131.6 billion as customer traffic grew for the first time in more than two years, helped by lower gasoline prices, Mr. McMillon said.

The world’s largest retailer has for years squeezed its employees as it sought to control costs and push down prices in its stores. Wal-Mart has rolled out sophisticated software to more precisely schedule the number of employees it needs in any given hour, and has cut back on benefits like health insurance, eliminating it in recent months for another 30,000 part-time workers and raising premiums for others, even as it has started covering domestic partners and added a vision plan.

Even after the raises, pay for the average full-time hourly Wal-Mart worker will be $13 an hour, below the retail industry average of $14.65 an hour, according to the Labor Department.

Because of that, some economists say the effect will be muted. The majority of retailers already pay more than Wal-Mart, “so this isn’t going to move the needle much,” said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank.

Wal-Mart currently starts some of its workers at the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, a rate that hasn’t changed since 2009.
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Many states have taken it upon themselves to boost wages. Seven—including California, Connecticut and Massachusetts—have pay floors at or above $9 an hour, after minimum-wage increases that took effect at the start of the year. Washington State has the highest minimum, at $9.47 an hour.

At least two more states—Minnesota and New York—plan to set $9 an hour minimum wages later this year. By 2018, at least six states will have rates of $10 or more.

Wal-Mart’s pay plan may not be enough to satisfy critics. A group including some Wal-Mart workers had been pushing the retailer to institute a $15 minimum wage.

A Wal-Mart spokesman said, “Our average full time hourly wage is $13 an hour and associates have clearer career paths to move from an entry level position and wage to jobs with more responsibility paying $15 an hour and more. The doors of opportunity are open to any associate who wants to walk through them.”

The economic gulf between the richest Americans and rank-and-file workers has grown into a central political issue for both parties as another presidential election cycle looms. Wal-Mart, with its low wages and stringent scheduling, has long been a flash point for that debate.

With Wal-Mart, it wasn’t immediately clear what would happen to the other key variable in the income equation—hours—though the retailer is giving employees more control over when they work.

OUR Walmart, an organization of Wal-Mart employees that has been pushing for higher wages, said that without a guarantee of more hours the new pay scale falls short.

Anthony Rodriguez earns $9.40 an hour in a Southern California Wal-Mart assembling bikes. A member of OUR Walmart, Mr. Rodriguez said he regularly worked more than 40 hours a week before Christmas, but found himself scheduled for just 18 hours some weeks after the holidays ended.

“I kept having to fight it, because I wouldn’t be able to afford my rent,” Mr. Rodriguez said.

Greg Foran, CEO of Wal-Mart’s U.S. business, said the company will be managing hours worked on a store-by-store basis. Most of the increase in hours will fall to department managers, who are getting raises and are being given more authority to oversee what happens in their sections.

The company warned that investment in higher wages and better training could push the company’s profit below last year’s result, particularly if the dollar remains as strong as it is.

Write to Paul Ziobro at Paul.Ziobro@wsj.com and Eric Morath at eric.morath@wsj.com


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Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012

Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.

New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.

“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”

Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.

“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”

OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.

One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.

Easy money.

  NASSAU OTB WORKERS THAT  WORK ON ANY SUNDAY ARE PAID TIME AND HALF.

NASSAU OTB WORKERS THAT TAKE VACATION ON ANY DAY ARE PAID STRAIGHT TIME.

NASSAU OTB WORKERS LAST RECEIVED A RAISE MANY YEARS AGO

IT IS VERY LITTLE TO ASK THAT NASSAU OTB, A PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION, BE OPEN EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR LIKE THE NY STATE LOTTERY AND THE SLOT MACHINES.

LUCK STRIKES LIKE LIGHTNING?