RESOLVED: Shareholders of Walmart Stores, Inc. (“Walmart”) request that the Board of Directors oversee the preparation of a report to shareholders on whether and how Walmart’s racial justice goals and commitments align with the starting pay for all classifications of Walmart Associates.

Supporting Statement: The past year has seen radically increased focus on racial injustice, following protests over police killings of black people and the recognition that the COVID-19 pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on people of color. Racial justice in the workplace has received substantial attention: Workers of color make up a larger proportion of essential workers and they have been more likely to lose their jobs as a result of the pandemic.

CEO Douglas McMillon articulated a broad goal of “help[ing] replace the structures of systemic racism, and build[ing] in their place frameworks of equity and justice that solidify our commitment to the belief that, without question, Black Lives Matter.” He described Walmart’s commitments to “create a more diverse and inclusive team at Walmart at every level,” including retention and development and create the Center for Racial Equity, which will support initiatives addressing structural racism.[1]  As chair of the Business Roundtable, Mr. McMillon established a special committee of the board to advance racial equity and justice[2].

Walmart’s workforce, which has stayed on the job as essential workers during the pandemic, has enabled Walmart to post record financial results.[3] Same-store sales and earnings have beaten analyst expectations.[4] The share price is up 30% in the first 11 months of 2020.[5]

Walmart acknowledges the critical role played by its Associates--McMillon has stated, “We simply won’t be here if we don’t take care of the very things that allow us to exist: our associates, customers, suppliers and the planet.”[6] By December 24th, Walmart will have paid out four rounds of bonuses to Associates.[7] But Walmart has acknowledged that “the overwhelming majority [of Associates] say their hourly wages are the most important part of their pay, well ahead of quarterly bonuses,” and has raised wages for certain positions.[8] Walmart's starting wage, $11 an hour, is below many competitors' $15 minimum wage; the extra pandemic bonus pay is far less than the additional pay that frontline retail associates will have earned at many of Walmart's closest competitors.[9]

Ford Foundation President Darren Walker recently urged companies to pay a living wage in order to address racial inequality.  “Raising the pay of the workers at the bottom of your scale,” he argued, “would disproportionately help people of color.” [10] People of color make up a substantial proportion of Walmart’s workforce. According to Walmart’s mid-year FY21 Culture Diversity & Inclusion Report, 46.44% of hourly workers are people of color.[11]

Walker warned that the “usual corporate playbook” of statements and philanthropy is inadequate to meet the challenge of racial injustice. Accordingly, we encourage shareholders to vote for this proposal.

[1] https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2020/06/12/advancing-our-work-on-racial-equity

[2] https://www.businessroundtable.org/equity

[3] https://nrf.com/resources/top-retailers/top-100-retailers

[4] https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/17/walmart-wmt-q3-2021-earnings-.html

[5] https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/WMT?p=WMT&guccounter=1

[6]  https://time.com/collection/great-reset/5900765/walmart-ceo-reinventing-capitalism/

[7] https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/03/business/walmart-workers-bonus-retail/index.html

[8] https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2020/09/17/investing-in-our-associates-and-roles-of-the-future

[9] https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/03/business/walmart-workers-bonus-retail/index.html

[10] https://time.com/5875304/racial-inequality-corporations/

[11] https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2020/09/09/6-things-to-know-about-walmarts-fy21-mid-year-culture-diversity-inclusion-report

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