Yesterday, thousands of Wal-mart employees and supporters protested over hours, pay, benefits and working conditions. Those demonstrators deserved our support. Sadly, Wal-fart still enjoyed record sales. The reason for that is even more sad.
Hundreds of people — including some employees — have taken part in Black Friday demonstrations at Wal-Mart stores nationwide, protesting what they say is the retailer’s retaliation against speaking out for better pay, fair schedules and affordable health care.
According to organizers from the union-backed group OUR Walmart, hundreds of workers and thousands of supporters rallied across 100 cities, including Landover Hills, Md., Miami, Oakland, Calif., Chicago, Danville, Ky., Dallas and Kenosha, Wis.
Wal-Mart pushed back, saying it knew of only a "few dozen" protests, and that most of the protesters were not its employees
In one of the biggest protests, nine people were arrested outside of a Paramount, Calif., Wal-Mart store for failing to disperse, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department statement. An OUR Walmart spokesman said three of those arrested were Wal-Mart workers. Those arrested were to be released without bail, unless they had previous arrest warrants.
The sheriff’s department said about 1,000 people arrived by bus and private vehicles to participate in the Paramount protest, which was characterized as peaceful… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <CNN>
Photo credit: Christian Science Monitor
Here’s video.
This protest should have been an overwhelming success, giving the Walton family a major pain in the wallet. It was not because every American who passed by demonstrators and shopped there anyway effectively took the side of the greedy corporation against people like them. Everyone who dis so should be thoroughly ashamed.
13 Responses to “Black Friday Protests at Wal-Fart”
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Few if any protest Walmart here…they provide more good pay & decent hours compared to ANY comparable shops/stores here. Target, Joann Fabrics, Home Depot, grocery stores & other retailers ALL USE PART-TIME employees to reduce the need for BENEFITS..Walmart does this the LEAST~We don't have a lot of stores out here in the boonies, but Walmart made the 'good ol' boy' network of family owned businesses quit bleeding us dry~it gave us competition, community involvement & job opportunity. Walmart HIRES single Moms, disabled & older workers where other businesses do NOT~YES, these folks get food stamps….they'll get food stamps no matter WHERE they work…many of these folks do NOT WANT to work full time and many cannot work full time BECAUSE they have a family with NO SUPPORT AT HOME. I am a bleeding heart liberal and chose to shop local so the MONEY stays local, but I have NEVER seen the reason to single WALMART out for what it does BETTER (Capitalism) than Kohl's, Target, K-Mart, Best Buy etc~THEY don't pay decent wages either. QUIT wasting time on WALMART when the REAL REASON for poor wages is the HOUSE & SENATE at YOUR State Capitol and Wash. DC…..Businesses NEED REGULATION or they will ALWAYS beat the employee~
Zada, Wal-mart has done more to cause outsourcing production than any other US company. Your community may be an exception, but in most places they have reaped havoc on local economies.
I try to convince people not to shop there to no avail.
The Waltons definitely have enough money. It's not The Waltons you watched on TV many years ago. So get that right out of your head.
Amen, Patty.
Sorry TC– in this I agree with Zada– Wal mart is not a social service agency– an\d they are a very long way to sainthood; I have relatives who work for Walmart—–They have jobs , here in this small town -They have insurance–not as good as it could be- but better than none- they are treated fairly- they have other benefits–Walmart hires a lot of people and gives them a chance to make it– The only business that went out when Walmart came in should have ,and had been slated for closing– The small businesses have increased- no empty store fronts in town—
Wal Mart contributes significant sums to local charities-and encourages involvement–They provide Competition for some business that needed competition – badly–
I know there are many valid complaints about their business practices—but they are not Evil incarnate–
Zada made some good points– –
See my reply to Zada, Phyllis. In addition consider that thed Walton family has more wealth than the bottom quintile of Americans combined.
After turkey dinner at my cousins house his wife was getting ready for work at Wal-fart, I commented it was time for me to protest.
Hope you did. 🙂
I haven't liked Wal-Fart for a long time. It started when they tried to prevent Canadian workers in Ontario and Québec from organising a union. In Canada, we have the constitutional right of freedom of association which is a fancy way of saying freedom to organise a union. US tactics don't work well in Canada for a lot of things.
Recently, I have found that I can get "pull ups" for my mother there in her size and at a decent price compared to other places — $16.50/14 versus $22 – 24 for 14 elsewhere. That is a big difference for a senior. But I really initially had to 'hold my nose' when I went in — it was a real quandary for me. I asked some of the clerks if they like working at Wal-Fart and nobody has said anything negative.
It seems there are some real disparities, certainly between countries which would not be unusual in my opinion; but also between states and stores or operations. I know I saw a video about Wal-Fart and the warehouse employees, and there certainly seemed to be grievances there. In this video, the woman comments on her $11.10 hourly wage. Given the state of healthcare premiums in the US (thank goodness for the ACA!), that wage won't go far, especially if this is the sole bread winner. But I also agree with Zada when she talks about Target, K Mart, and Kohl's — Wal-Mart isn't the only one deserving of scorn. What is needed in any workplace is respect for employees and a living wage — after all, employees are the face of the company to customers. Mess with employees and a business can really screw the business. But I am also not saying that employees should get everything their way. Somewhere in between is the answer.
Lynn., Canada they have to abide by your law.
I have signed plenty of petitions for people employed at WalMart who have been DENIED proper working conditions, denied proper safety procedures and denied proper wages – and been sacked when they asked for the most basic safety procedures. I too think it very probably varies from State to State in America – most of those whose rights had been trampled on that I saw seemed to be of Mexican ancestry – and certainly the WalMart Manager who had been so verbally abused that she was taking them to a tribunal was – her boss had sneered at her and called her a 'wetback' – amongst other things.
I am glad that in some places they seem to be doing good – perhaps the other states could measure up if not improve on such things!
Good point's Pat!
Everyone, a good solution is to force Wal-mart to allow their employees to unionize.