(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) President Joe Hansen is Applauding the Decision Made by the Retailer – The Gap - This Week, Which Announced it Will Raise its Employees Hourly Wages, and Used the Opportunity to Challenge Big Box Retailer Walmart to Do the Same.

In A Statement Released by the UFCW, Hansen Said: Today’s Announcement by The Gap that the Retail Chain is Raising Hourly Wages for its 65,000 Hourly Retail Workers Serves as a Challenge to Walmart.  The Gap Realizes Paying its Hourly Workers Enough to Support Themselves is an Investment in Their Business and in Our Economy.  It’s Time for Walmart to Stand Up and Lead by Investing Back Into its 1.4 Million U.S. Workers with Hourly Pay Increases.  Academics at the University of California-Berkeley Estimated Walmart Could Well-Afford a Wage Increase to At Least $12 an Hour for Workers with Minimal Impact on Consumer Prices.  DEMOS Researchers Outlined a Clear Plan for Walmart to Cut Back on its Stock Buy Back Program and Raise Wages in a Way that Benefits Workers and Shareholders Alike.  The Time is Now for Walmart to Show Leadership and Responsibility to its Workers and Our Communities - Follow The Gap’s Example and Raise Wages for Every Hourly Walmart Worker.

The Gap said it Would Raise the Hourly Pay for its U.S. Employees to $9 in June 2014 and $10 in June 2015, after the White House said the Minimum Wage for Federal Contract Workers Would be Raised to $10.10-an-Hour in 2015.  Gap, Owner of Old Navy, Banana Republic and Gap Apparel Chains, said the Increased Pay Will Benefit About 65,000 Store Employees.

"I Applaud Gap for Announcing They Intend to Raise Wages for Their Employees Beginning this Year," President Barack Obama said.  Obama’s Executive Order to Raise the Minimum Wage for Federal Contract Workers Applies to New Contracts And Replacements for Expiring Contracts.

Walmart Stores Incorporated, the Largest Private Employer in the United States, said it Remains Neutral on the Issue of the Federal Minimum Wage Order of at Least $10.10 Per Hour as it Already Pays Most Full-Time Employees Above that Level.  "We’re Looking Into the Impact this Proposal Will Be on Our Business," a Walmart Spokeswoman said. "We Remain Neutral.  Our Position Has Not Changed."