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March 13, 2017

CT's Walmart workers get bonuses amid push for higher wages

PHOTO | Walmart

Amidst growing pressure to pay employees higher wages, retail giant Walmart on Monday announced that its Connecticut workers are sharing in more than $1 million in cash bonuses, like their colleagues across the country.

Walmart announced it has awarded employees nationwide a share of $157 million in cash bonuses based on fourth-quarter store performance.

A total of just over 5,800 employees in Connecticut -- and more than 850,000 across the U.S. -- received the bonus in their March 9 paychecks, along with an annual pay raise, the company said. The boost came on the heels of the company recording its strongest comp sales performance of the year.

For the full fiscal year, U.S. employees shared more than $700 million in bonuses, the company said.

The announcement comes as some Connecticut lawmakers push to increase the state’s current $10.10 hourly minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020.

Recently, Connecticut Working Families launched a petition asking Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to support a bill that would make large corporations -- including Walmart -- pay a fee for employing low-wage workers.

In September, Walmart reported that $1.3 million in second-quarter cash bonuses were awarded to 6,600 hourly employees in Connecticut. The Washington, D.C.-based UFCW union for Walmart workers, dubbed "Making Change at Walmart," said many company workers were excluded from the bonus program and make less than $10 an hour.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The number of affected Connecticut employees has been adjusted based on a correction by Walmart.

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