Dive Brief:

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. won’t fight the minimum wage increase being touted by President Barack Obama and others, which would raise the national minimum from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. The retailer said it wasn’t, however, endorsing such a hike and wouldn’t support any legislation aimed specifically at it, as was true of a proposed Washington, D.C. law. 

• The company’s stance was announced as another round of union and worker protests were held worldwide last week. Such protests have sprouted at several Walmart stores many times over the past two years.

• Wal-Mart officials said that, although most of its workers make more than the current minimum, a hike would cost it, but that increasing wages could help boost sales.

Dive Insight:

Wal-Mart Stores has gained a reputation for underpaying workers, and this announcement that it won’t oppose a minimum wage hike could help mitigate that somewhat. Especially interesting is the retailer’s acknowledgement that increasing wages could help boost sales, a somewhat disruptive line of thinking backed by certain retail research experts.