Why Walmart Workers Are Striking

Walmart workers chose Black Friday to protest because of three demands:

Workers have three demands: A minimum $25,000 a year, more full-time positions, and an end to retaliation. More than 825,000 workers make less than $25,000 a year. Recognizing that workers struggle on an average $8.81, one Walmart even held a food drive for its employees. Walmart notoriously relies on part-time, erratic scheduling, denying full-time work to staff who request it — so much so, that Walmart recently announced it would add more full-time shifts to make up for severe staffing shortfalls. Low wages and scarce health care benefits at a single 300-person Superstore cost the economy up to $1.7 million in public assistance programs every year.

How Walmart is reacting:

To counter the protests, Walmart has pursued a positive PR campaign to showcase Black Friday sales success (despite reports of violence in stores). Behind the scenes, Walmart takes action against protesting workers. The National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that through media statements and other means, Walmart “unlawfully threatened” employees who walked out in protests last year in 14 states. Shortly before protests began Friday, the retailer distorted the NLRB decision to falsely claim unions paid Walmart protesters.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.