(Reuters) – Bank of America Corp said on Tuesday it plans to raise its minimum wage for U.S. workers to $25 an hour by 2025, the latest in a series of major employers promising more pay to workers after a year of pandemic risks.
The changes also come after government subsidies fueled a conversation about whether companies simply do not pay their workers enough.
Bank of America in March last year raised its minimum wage to $20 per hour and since 2010, its minimum hourly wage will have increased by more than 121%, it said.
JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest U.S. bank, had said three years ago that it would increase minimum pay by about 10% to between $15 and $18 per hour in more than 100 cities.
Last week, McDonald’s Corp also announced a 10% average hourly pay raise at the nearly 660 U.S. restaurants it operates, to lure workers back into kitchens and dining rooms as pandemic restrictions ease, but left out employees at over 90% of its store base. This has led some employees in 15 cities to plan a strike on May 19, a day before the company’s annual shareholder meeting, according to Vice.
Earlier this year, Walmart also increased pay for some of its U.S. workers to an average above $15 an hour, which came at a time when the pressure to increase the federal minimum wage has gathered fresh momentum.
President Joe Biden has made the issue a priority and reiterated his support for a base wage hike.
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)
