Workers are striking to protest Walmart’s attempts to “silence and retaliate against workers for speaking out for improvements on the job,” according to a news statement cited in a recent Huffington Post story.
The strike was organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
The story traced the strike from 60 Walmart employees walking off the job in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 5, to Tuesday’s protest by employees in stores in cities including Washington, DC, Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco, Miami, Orlando, Chicago and Sacramento, as well as Walmart locations in Kentucky, Missouri and Minnesota.
Protests are planned at Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, AR, during today’s annual investor meeting.
Workers at the Laurel, MD, Walmart have already been on strike as well.
One Walmart employee told the Huffington Post that he has worked for the company for three years, and makes less than $9.00 per hour.
The worker went on to describe the situation at the Dallas Walmart where he works as one where employees borrow “money from each other just to make it through the week." The article compares the workers financial plight to the wealth of the six heirs of Walmart founder Sam Walton, who are worth an estimated $89.5 billion.
A spokesman from Walmart told the Huffington Post writer that the striking workers “aren’t representative of our entire associate base.” He also detailed some of Walmart’s policies for handling worker complaints.
In Maryland, you must work 3 full weeks to afford a two bedroom apartment http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/paying-rent-on-minimum-wage/ I'm sure the other weeks income will pay for utilities and food...and in your thought processes an education.
After 90 days, you work hard and do a great job-you are sure a raise is in your future....but when your 90 days is up and your review is good - even excellent - you get the bad news.....no raise....'we just don't have the budget right now' you hear. Though the company is 'declaring' record 'earnings'....but you are just a high school grad and you aren't sure whether this means someone else is 'taking' the budget that would give you a raise. You just know you aren't getting one....and then they have to 'cut' back on your hours....something about budget again. But they keep hiring more part timers, you don't get that either. After 2 years, you figure the important stuff out - regardless of your lack of higher education, you can figure THIS out.....There is no way YOU will EVER get ahead of 'the game' making just $9.00 an hour. And no money for tech school ever.
yo, basic survival requires it tho