Recent wage hikes don't address 'involuntary part-time'

Walmart's recent wage hike announcement for its U.S. workers, only addresses one of the problems workers at the retail giant face, as there has not been announcements to improve schedules for workers.

For years, Walmart workers have been protesting about both wages and inadequate schedules, calling on the company to provide more full-time positions and to commit to making scheduling more predictable and dependable.

Corporations such as Walmart use sophisticated scheduling technology to manipulate workers' hours, which gives them outsized power to configure their labour flow to fit their hour-to-hour needs, workers' lives tend to grow more precarious as schedules become entangled with market fluctuations.

The scheduling issue leads to a segment of the labour force known as "involuntary part-time", those who are forced to work fewer than 35 hours a week and would otherwise work full-time, but can't due to lack of available jobs.

Walmart has not made any announcements to provide dependable schedules for its global workforce, meaning that even with wage increases, workers may see hours cut in order to compensate.

While a pay increase for Walmart workers helps, workers also want good jobs, adequate schedules and control over their labour. There are many workers who are still forced to take whatever they can get, which is simply whatever their boss is willing to give them.

Read more: 'Flexible' Scheduling is Stretching Retail Workers to the Breaking Point