Wal-Mart Employees Seek Respect, Better Pay & Working Conditions

We all know that workers are Wal-Mart are ill-treated. Low pay, part-time hours, and few benefits are just some of the hardships they endure. But Wal-Mart workers are fighting back and they need our support! Plans are underway to hold actions at Wal-Mart stores across the country on Black Friday, the huge shopping day on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Support Wal-Mart workers.

• More information, suggestions for ways to get involved, and a list of planned actions are available from JWM's partner Interfaith Worker Justice. Find out if an action is already being planned near you.

• Learn why people of faith are calling for Jubilee at Wal-Mart.

Recent developments: During the week of October 7, Wal-Mart workers made history with actions that many people thought would be impossible. Just below is an update on all that happened. Track events as they unfold at Making Change at Wal-Mart.

• On Oct. 9th and 10th, 88 Wal-Mart associates (as the employees are called) from 12 different cities walked out on strike protesting unfair labor practices. This followed closely the walk-out by more than 60 associates in Southern California. New York Times coverage.

• Over 200 workers gathered in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Wal-Mart was having its annual briefing for Wall Street analysts. Workers rallied (see Youtube) outside Wal-Mart's home office and delivered a letter to Rob Walton, Chairman of the Board, signed by many national community and faith leaders, and hundreds of other people.

• On Weds, Oct. 10th, striking workers and community allies, including Terry O’Neill, President of the National Organization for Women, announced plans to engage in a wide range of non-violent activities on Black Friday, including rallies, flash mobs, direct action and other efforts to inform customers about the illegal actions that Wal-Mart has been taking against its workers.

See the Good Morning America segment.
Salon.com articles here and here.

• Jobs with Justice chapters, students, labor unions and other community allies held smaller actions at over 250 Wal-Mart stores across the country where they also delivered a copy of a letter to management. Many local activists have pledged support for Black Friday actions in their local communities. Wal-Mart responded with their own internal memo instructing store managers on how to deal with continued worker and community action.

Walmart’s everyday low wages by Christine Owens, Cleveland Plain Dealer (a McClatchy Newspaper), October 21, 2012.   Wal-Mart workers who are protesting their low pay, poor working conditions, and retaliation by managers are “some of the brightest hope for challenging the downward tide in job quality we’ve witnessed over the past decades.” 

Wal-Mart labor protests grow, organziers say by Steven Greenhouse, New York Times October 5, 2012.

Wal-Mart workers stage a walkout in California by Steven Greenhouse,  New York Times October 5, 2012.

Weighing the Legal Ramifications of the Wal-Mart Bribery Case by Peter J. Henning, New York Times, April 23, 2012.

Wal-Mart Vows to Fix Its Controls by Andrew Martin, New York Times, April 24, 2012.  

Vast Mexico Bribery Case Hushed Up by Wal-Mart After Top-Level Struggle by David Barstow, New York Times, April 21, 2012. "Confronted with evidence of widespread corruption in Mexico, top Wal-Mart executives focused more on damage control than on rooting out wrongdoing."