A record number of Walmart’s will have strikes and protests on Black Friday. And they’ve already started:
To find a protest near you visit: http://www.blackfridayprotests.org/
OurWalmart explains the reason for the strike: 
Income inequality is the highest it’s been since 1928. Corporate profits are at an all-time high. Meanwhile, wages are at the lowest point since 1948 – even as productivity increases.
No one family is driving this trend quite like Walmart’s owners, the Waltons. The Walton family is the richest family in America with nearly $150 billion in wealth and as much money as 43% of American families combined. And yet, most Walmart workers make less than just $25,000 a year. That’s why community members are joining their calls for increased wages and access to hours. Stand with us and join us on Black Friday if the Waltons fail to respond.
While Rob, Alice and the rest of the Waltons are by far the richest family in America, many of the Walmart workers who helped to build that fortune are struggling just to get by. Workers at Walmart are looking for fair shot, but the silver-spooned Walton family is robbing them of a decent living.
For the third Black Friday running, America’s largest retailer is expected to face labor protests at locations across the country. Workers and supporters affiliated with the union-backed labor campaign OUR Walmart say this Friday will be their biggest strike yet.
OUR Walmart first burst onto the scene two years ago, when it used Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, to launch an unprecedented, nationwide strike against Walmart. The group originally demanded that Walmart pay all employees a base salary of at least $25,000 per year, but has since joined with striking fast food workers in demanding at least $15 per hour.
Workers affiliated with OUR Walmart claim the retailer pays so little that some employees don’t even have the means to feed their families. The campaign has also filed legal complaints accusing Walmart of illegally retaliating against strikers, sometimes by firing them.
As with OUR Walmart’s first major action in 2012, this year’s Black Friday protests will not be a typical strike. Many of those picketing Walmart — perhaps even most — will be outside supporters of the OUR Walmart campaign, not store employees themselves. Those employees who do walk off the job will likely do so for just one day. Yet OUR Walmart has said that their prior work stoppages are legally protected strikes, and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed. Strikes over wages and working conditions, or over an alleged ULP (unfair labor practice), such as illegally retaliating against workers, are protected by federal law.
OUR Walmart, an employee labor group, announced earlier in November that workers across the country would walk out over “illegal silencing of workers who are standing up for better jobs.” The group has been hosting Black Friday strikes since 2012, but promises this year’s will be the largest yet.
The group has the support of some of the nation’s labor unions including UFCW, a grocery and retailers union, the American Federations of Teachers in New Mexico, and AFL-CIO. In a statement, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said, “the entire labor movement will proudly stand with the brave workers at Walmart as they lead the largest mobilization to date for better wages and schedules.”
Update: We received the update below from OurWalmart:
WORKERS STRIKE NATIONWIDE: Walmart workers are continuing to walk off the today, with workers from Missouri, Washington State, Arizona and Colorado joining workers from Virginia, Washington, DC, Maryland, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, Oregon, Minnesota, California, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The workers are on strike in protest of the company’s illegal treatment of workers.
In what will be the largest Black Friday mobilization ever, supporters are calling for an end to Walmart’s poverty wages and the abuse of power by Walmart and the Waltons that is holding America back.
On Tuesday night, Ferguson protesters marched through Washington, DC,including peacefully entering a Walmart store. Betsy Woodruff of Slate writes:After Eugene Puryear, an activist who ran for an at-large seat on the D.C. city council earlier this month and helped organize the evening’s march, said he wasn’t expecting protesters to enter the store. “The spirit kind of moved us,” he said.
He said that Walmart contributes to poverty by paying its employees low wages. “We believe the police and mass incarceration is a way of reinforcing social problems rather than solving them,” he continued. “So we wanted to point out that the low-wage workforce is a big piece of that. And we want to support our brothers and sisters who are working hard every day andjust want to make a living for their families.”
In cities and towns nationwide workers started walking off the job yesterdayin strikes that will continue through Friday:
- In Walmart’s new Washington, DC store, workers held a sit-down strike yesterday.
- In Los Angeles, Walmart workers and their supporters are starting a 24-hour fast today to protest illegal treatment of workers speaking out for low wages that leave many employees hungry and unable to buy groceries. Walmart worker Salomon Fuentes tells Think Progress:He would be happy to be home with his family and eating a big meal. But, he said, “it’s more important for me that my daughter and also my relatives, they see that in order to keep our values we have to fight for them.” He added, “The food with family is just part of culture, but what we’re doing here is something that is more important….I don’t like politics, but I also don’t like injustice,” he said.
- In Orlando, workers and supporters were greeted by the community in lights.
- Phoenix Walmart worker Sandra Sok explains why she chose to go on strike for the first time: “We want to stop all the bullying and retaliation from management. I’ve always been afraid for fear of retaliation, but it’s the right thing to do.”
The growing calls for the country’s largest employer and richest family to improve jobs for millions of Americans come as Walmart workers speak out about the severe hunger issues that too many of them are facing because they can’t afford groceries and must rely on food stamps and food drives.
LaShanda Myrick tells Denver Magazine:
“…I was promised the customer service manager position, and [my manager] went on to hire someone off the street. That put me in a bind. We’re already making pennies. On top of that I had a lot of bills to pay. I wanted to make more money. [Note: Myrick had been making about $8.50 per hour while working days, and now makes about $2.20 more per hour on the night shift].
“To tell you the truth, I overdraw my account. That happens every time I get paid. Most of my overdrafts these days probably total up to $150 every week when I’m buying food. I get food stamps, but because I’m working I don’t get as much as I used to. I break it down over the paycheck and it’s still not working.”
In an analysis of the conversation prompted by the food bins collection for Walmart workers, the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes:
Many believe the national debate the food bins sparked, helped the low-wage workers’ movement gain momentum. That movement has claimed victories during the last year, including minimum wage hikes. Though Congress has yet to vote on the minimum wage, many states and municipalities nationwide have. They include those in the Seattle area, where the hourly minimum is increasing to $15.
In the article Walmart worker Cynthia Murray tells the story of a co-worker’s struggle:
When a tearful co-worker told her she was afraid to go home to face her daughter, 10, because she couldn’t afford food for her after paying the rent, Murray sent the mom to management. She said store management referred the worker to three food banks, each of which was out of food. Thereport said Walmart workers rely on an estimated $6.2 billion annually in public assistance in addition to food banks and other programs.