Activist Wednesday: How Black Will Wal-Mart’s Friday Be?
Posted on: November 21, 2012
Here at TW, we’ve done a few pieces on Wal-Mart. The company’s practices are the epitome of soulless corporate greed: they practice pay sexism, they don’t give their employees lunch breaks, they force them to work overtime, and they ensure that they manipulate the laws so that their employees don’t get health insurance or other important benefits.
Well, it looks like the last straw was trying to make them work on Thanksgiving, a time when they should be with their families instead of slaving away for The Man. The workers of Wal-Mart decided to strike. If you can’t form a union officially, then unite!
As Black Friday nears, Walmart workers and community supporters are beginning 1,000 nationwide non-violent protests leading up to and on Black Friday, including strikes, rallies, flash mobs, direct action and other efforts to inform customers about the illegal actions that Walmart has been taking against its workers. As part of the protests, Walmart workers walked off the job Tuesday morning in Pico Rivera, just outside Los Angeles, in protest against the company’s attempts to silence workers who speak out for better jobs. In October, the workers in Pico Rivera were the first group of Walmart associates to go on strike in the company’s history.
The actions are going on, rolling throughout the country, from California to DC. All the workers are asking for is a fair shake and a chance to support themselves by earning a living wage. Turns out, Wal-Mart could make small changes that would have a very big effect on both its employees, and the economy.
As workers and community supporters call for changes at Walmart, a new report from the national public policy center Demos, shows that better jobs at Walmart and other large retailers would have an impact on our economy. A wage floor equivalent of $25,000 per year for a full-time, year-round employee for retailers with more than 1000 employees would lift 1.5 million retail workers and their families out of poverty or near poverty, add to economic growth, increase retail sales and create over 100,000 new jobs. The findings in the study prove there is a flaw in the conventional thinking by companies like Walmart that profits, low prices and decent wages cannot co-exist.
It’s not as though the low wages are increasing company profits exponentially. In fact, it’s not keeping up with other retailers like Target, and it’s underperforming industry expectations. But that doesn’t keep the company’s owners, the Walton family, from raking in the big bucks. Christy Walton and her family are worth tens of billions of dollars. It’s truly disgusting, the way these shameless, worthless excuses for human beings keep their employees in poverty and misery, while they rake in more money than they could possibly spend. In fact, they’re so rich that their combined wealth is greater than the bottom 42% of Americans. This massive bounty is shared amongst only six people!
What’s going to happen on Black Friday if the workers don’t come in? I don’t know, but I am so proud of these brave people who are standing up for their rights, despite Wal-Mart’s attempts to silence them. And if you want to support them too, you can go here:
http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/
This is an open thread.
33 Responses to "Activist Wednesday: How Black Will Wal-Mart’s Friday Be?"
November 21, 2012 at 8:58 am
Agreed, Pat. Despite Romney’s assertions, the real takers are the 1% like the Waltons. They would lose so little, and gain so much, if they gave some of that profit back to the workers who created it for them, in the form of higher wages, affordable health care and more paid holidays. But their greed and lack of empathy won’t let them do it.
They remind me of the pigs in “Animal Farm. “
November 21, 2012 at 9:21 am
PBS featured a documentary on P.O.V. chronicled the owners of the most expensive piece of realty in the nation: 740 Park Avenue, NYC.
The idea was a contrast of those who inhabit that address with those who lived further up the avenue in slum conditions. The tenants of 740 Park Avenue are the hedge fund owners whose annual income is at least one billion dollars! Imagine that. One guy owns an apartment that contains 36 rooms! David Koch lives there as well as Steven Schwartzman.
These are the people who actually “suck up all the oxygen” of natural resources. What does it take to power all those rooms that I am sure few use outside of the ability to brag? Besides this valuable piece of real estate most own homes in the Hamptons, private jets, ski lodges, and cars driven by paid drivers.
A “peek” into these apartments showed rooms stuffed with antique furniture, expensive paintings, and wardrobe closets the size of a living room. Yet they are never satisfied.
A few miles up Park Ave the unemployment rate is a staggering 19%. The school budgets have been cut. The neighborhood clinics catering to the poor have been issued budget reductions. People line up weekly for free food that often runs out as they stand in line. Kids make their way to substandard buildings in crime filled areas just to get to school. Hunger is a way of life.
Some residents were interviewed who had to fall back on public services just to feed their families. Jobs were unavailable, lost to the current recession. All they ask is for the opportunity but even that request goes unheard.
These people are willing to work but those who do nothing but push paper and “make deals” in their favor never get their hands dirty. The contrast was stark.
Where once the salary of a CEO was a mere 20% more than the employee it has now risen to 240%. How is that fair?
What surprised me was to be told that one of Wall Street’s biggest boosters and major recipients of this largesse is none other than Chuck Schumer.
Apparently the “man of the people” is only interested in those people on Wall Street and the inhabitants of 740 Park Avenue when it comes to representation of his constituency that covers both ends.
November 21, 2012 at 9:45 am
@3 – Absolutely fascinating, Pat. No wonder the Republicans want to defund PBS. It’s one of the few places you can find the truth about the 1%.
Here in NY, we know all about Chuck. He’s definitely a staunch Democrat on social issues. I saw him speak at a Planned Parenthood rally last year, and he’ll vote in favor of food stamps and other social programs (like S-CHIP) every time. HOWEVER…he is very fond of his Senate seat, and has no qualms about sucking up to those elites who provide the funding for his pro forma elections every six years.
I wouldn’t mind him being deposed by someone more down-to-earth, but the man is an institution at this point.
November 21, 2012 at 9:57 am
Speaking of 1%-ers who lack empathy: The Onion on Romney hiring experts to find his soul. 
http://www.theonion.com/video/romney-spends-600-million-on-toptier-soul-searchin,30441/
November 21, 2012 at 10:04 am
What you describe about Schumer is exactly how we in MA described Ted Kennedy. Good on social issues.
The ironic part of this documentary was when the producers interviewed a former doorman at 740 Park. He would only agree if they would conceal his identity for fear of backlash.
According to his guy the staff at the building helps to load and unload the vehicles of these zillionaires every weekend as they head out to the Hamptons. They hope to receive some renumeration for their troubles as they heave the baggage to and from these trips.
David Koch, worth billions, gives them checks in the amount of $50.00 each Christmas. They can be fired on the spot for any “perceived” slight. Deference must be shown 24/7. The staff must be constantly aware of the likes and dislikes of the tenants. Like who prefers to have the car door opened or would rather do it for himself. Dismissal is right around the corner if these “rules” are not followed.
But I suppose if you are able to afford a 27 million dollar apartment consisting of more than 30 rooms you expect your ass to be kissed and your boots licked along with it.
One of the perks of “the ruling class”.
November 21, 2012 at 11:33 am
$50 for Christmas?! Lord. I give my supers a lot more than that. And let’s just say I don’t make QUITE as much as David Koch.
There is a tradition in NYC that you tip everyone who works in your building when the holidays come around. It’s disgraceful that Koch is such an ungenerous person, but given his anti-union activities and general hatred for the unwashed 99%, I’m not surprised.
I’ll bet Chuck Schumer is a good tipper.
November 21, 2012 at 11:36 am
Interesting link via Susie Madrak: Here’s one place where Thanksgiving isn’t about shopping.
November 21, 2012 at 12:31 pm
(1) Walmart;s working conditions are brutal.
(2) I’m having a hard time getting upset about them working on a holiday. Worked any number of them as regular workdays. You accommodate, and sometimes you celebrate on a different day,.
November 21, 2012 at 12:36 pm
This is a small thing — probably a speck in the greater cosmos, but when Wal-Mart comes into a small community, disembowels small local businesses, and then the eviscerated small business owners in order to have a job, have to go to work for the monolith that extinguished their dreams. Going to work at low wage, low or non-existent benefits, jobs at the Leviathan that killed their livelihood.
Esoteric as it is, my point is this: Wal-Mart does more than kill locally owned businesses, it kills dreams and hopes for one’s future — all under the ruse of being a “job creator.” At what cost? At what cost is it to a community’s collective zeitgeist to have a cheap 5-gallon jug of pickles?
Sociologically, hundreds of years from now when the remnants of these communities are unearthed, how will the question be answered: What was it that made these pickle lovers turn their backs on one another?
November 21, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Could not agree more with prolix’s assessment. They kill the soul of the ordinary guy for their own miserable greed.
Am off for the next week. Everybody enjoy their holiday!
November 21, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Well-said, Prolix.
Chatblu, to be fair, these are not nurses, and they are not paid like nurses, nor do they have the same work expectations. But I do see your point.
That is excellent news about the cease-fire. While Hillary risks her life in this dangerous region, Obama is at home planning to pardon a turkey. :-p It’s good to be the king, I guess.
Pat, have a wonderful holiday yourself!
November 21, 2012 at 2:00 pm
My daughter worked for Walmart part time when she was in high school. She didn’t last long. She injured her hand while hauling loads that exceeded 80 pounds – she should never have been put in that position especially as they didn’t train their employees on safe practices. My neighbour went to work for them as a Safety Coordinator after they had been cited for multiple safety violations (one chap actually had his throat cut be a demented customer). Anyway, she drew up a complete safety plan and wanted to train every employee. They put up so many barriers that she finally quit – after 4 months, and filed another complaint with the government. The Waltons and their hand picked stooges who masquerade as management just do not give a patootie about laws that protect workers or their employees. They are scum, pure scum and honestly, the world would be a better place without scum like that.
Pat, have a terrific time.
November 21, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Prolix, There were two hardware stores in my town when Home Depot came to town. One went out of business and the other found the niche Home Depot wasn’t serving: The folks who owned the older homes (in a village that was 95% older homes). They had hardware (the nuts and bolts of every single size in those drawers) and replacement parts for 1930 stoves, plumbing, and so on. They sold Benjamin Moore paint (HD sells Behr, inferior). They could make some mark-up on the items that HD carried that folks bought because they were there. Anyway, the trick is to adapt or die.
I’m not saying Walmart doesn’t devastate local businesses wherever it goes, but small businesses need to fight back. They need to give their customers what Walmart can’t and they need to advertise: We have this/can do this, the big guy doesn’t/can’t. I know some do, but it seems so many just roll over rather than exercise some of that Yankee Ingenuity that made them open businesses to begin with.
November 21, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Well I have to admit that I *do* shop at Walmart but only because it’s: (1) the only place open at say, midnight or so when I prefer to go and (2) is the only place here that carries some of the products I use.
That beins said, I don’t go anywhere on these Black Friday, pink Thurs. or whatever, around the holidays but that’s because i can’t take those crowds of people jammed into those places. 
I remember some years ago i was going to the nearest mall in nola to get a pair of Daniel Green slippers for the Momster, she simply loved those shoes. I got to the intersection right by the mall, saw how jammed the parking lot was and just thought “ohhhhh noooo way”. I got the momster a box of chocolate-covered cherries and put a note on there that said “I will get you the D.G. slippers *after* the Christmas rush. She understood.
And, like chat, I have worked my share of holiday-days too. I have no idea why mgmt wanted the Ops. Control Ctr open on a holiday as we servced other Federal agencies, who werre closed for the day, but there we sat, doing almost nothing for 8 hrs. I always took comp. tiime for working it and I considered those throw-away hours, good for using on a day that, say, I wanted to take off early for a couple of hours on an afternoon when I wanted to leave early. Also, there was a difference in what I got paid compared to the avg. Wal-mart store employee.
November 21, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Gotta get ready for a doc’s appt. this afternoon. Everyone have a good but safe Thanksgiving weekend.
November 21, 2012 at 2:24 pm
#13: No, they are not paid like nurses. They are likely paid on a par with nursing assistants, housekeeping, and dietary employees. I dunno, back in the seventies, nurses were paid less than grocery clerks and still had crappy schedules.
Maybe I’m just whiney today..
November 21, 2012 at 2:36 pm
Chat – you are not whiny! Sheesh. I do understand your point.
Here’s some more information about Wal-Mart and its staggeringly poor treatment of its employees. It’s excerpting an interview done by a CNN correspondent named Costello. The interviewee was Wal-Mart’s VP of communications, a man named David Tovar.
…The average yearly salary for Walmart employees, $15,500, is just $370 above the U.S. government’s definition of the poverty line.
[snip]
“Walmart made a whole lot of money last year — billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars.” Costello said. “Why not at least negotiate with [employees] so that they can live a better middle-class lifestyle?”
Tovar responded by saying the company can’t negotiate with unions because its employees are not unionized; he did not mention that Wal-Mart asked the National Labor Relations Board to stop employees from organizing and striking…
November 21, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Chat, no one here is whiney. We all have legitimate complaints that are expressed. Nothing more, nothing less. As a matter of fact, after my previous comments, I should be considered the whiney one. But check the gravatar – I’m so cute.
November 21, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Hahahaha HT! Absolutely. If you were whiny, we’d forgive you as soon as we looked at your adorable puppy ears.
Speaking of cute, did you see Uppity’s place today? Oh my gosh. Baby pandas are just insanely, ridiculously, amazingly squeeeee!
November 21, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Madamab, yes, I am cute – funny last time I went to a rescue operation I was looking for a twin. I got Milly the Wonderdog – who knew, but those eyes, they are a killer in dogs.
WRT Upps, I’d love to go back, however we have had our differences and I finally severed all ties. She does have a wonderful knack of finding wonderful pet videos and her Needlenose and cats are amazing, however I don’t feel welcome there. Nuff said.
November 21, 2012 at 4:52 pm
@15, Sophie, I agree wholeheartedly with the idea of fighting back, but in many small communities in Appalachia there just isn’t the economic “bandwidth” for alternative ingenuity to take root. I agree with the premise, but in practice, unless there is sufficient “play” in the local economies, it doesn’t work.
November 21, 2012 at 5:12 pm
@24 Prolix, Understood. I know it wouldn’t work everywhere, but it sure does seem like no one is fighting for hearts and minds.
November 21, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Chat, my mom was a nurse who also had to do the alternate holiday thing. I was older but my younger brother and sister were all about, “Why does Mommy have to work on Christmas?”
It’s no consolation if you’re the worker to have to work on a holiday, but at least health care professionals have human beings in their care who really do need them to be there. The folks who work at Walmart know damn well no one needs to be shopping at Walmart on Thanksgiving.
November 21, 2012 at 5:34 pm
I’m more surprised that Koch tips at all, if he’s that cheap. Sheesh. Sometimes I think the 1%ers must have some sort of pathology that makes them measure themselves in terms of what they don’t have — as in, they don’t have ALL the money, so there is something wrong in their universe.
I don’t shop on Black Friday, or Thanksgiving, and I certainly don’t do the middle of the night thing. So I can happily boycott Walmart, although I’m afraid it won’t have much impact. I do think people should be allowed a few days a year when they can be at home with their families, and have no problem with state governments as in MA and RI telling retailers, no, they cannot be open for 1 or 2 24-hour stretches a year. It’s a devil of a choice, though, for Walmart and other big box store workers, though, because for most if they don’t work they don’t get paid. And in MA, if you work on a holiday, you get time and a half. What I think should happen is Walmart et al should pay time and half for employees who work on Black Friday. They should get hazard pay for pity’s sake. I’m like Fredster, where I can’t deal with the crowds. I can’t imagine having to work in the midst of all that.
I was just thinking the other day that years ago, it was the workers of retailers who started calling the day after Thanksgiving “Black Friday” because it was the most horrid day of the year to have to work, after the Black Friday of the 1929 crash. Then everyone started calling it that, like it’s a big celebration day. There’s no negative connotation anymore. How ironic is that?
November 21, 2012 at 6:59 pm
Apologies, HT. I didn’t know that. I respect your differences.
@27 – I have never shopped on those days either. I’m like Fredster – I can’t stand the crowds! And, the manufactured hysteria gives me the creeps. The Target commercials, for example, seem to be trying to hypnotize people into some kind of manic state. It’s really gross.
November 21, 2012 at 7:56 pm
Madamab, you have nothing to apologize for so don’t apologize. It’s in the past, I’ve found a new home here and I see that Uppity visits which is good. She really is a wonderful person. We all have our own little foibles. I love it here, so I keep coming back and from a lurker I’lve become a regular and I hope that is good. Uppity visiting is icing on the cake, as I practically lived there for a few years – old Friends if you will. This is my virtual home now and I’m comfortable with that proven by the fact that I don’t usually comment at any site. You and Skydancers are the only place that I come out of lurkerdom, and for the feeling of safety I thank you.
November 21, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Of course, HT. We all have our foibles and sometimes we just feel more at home in some places than others. You are most welcome here, but I think you know that.
I just want to share something with whomever is around…I’ve FINALLY gotten off the project I was supposed to leave in June! Hip, hip, hooray! I’ve had a beer to celebrate. (hic)
November 21, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Beer! Cmon, you need champagne! get that hubby off his butt to get you some real celebrtory stuff! Hooray for you, and of course Hubby. And of course there is the obligatory song
November 21, 2012 at 8:36 pm
Heh, HT. Hubby is at work. We’ll celebrate when he comes home! Thanks for the song. 
November 22, 2012 at 1:07 am
Happy Thanksgiving to all here!
The LATimes tells me our Police Dept. is sending emissaries to speak to store managers about “the psychology of the frantic shopper.” For some reason that has me grinning out loud.
Comments are closed.
November 21, 2012 at 8:15 am
Apparently you failed to get the memo, madamab: these are the “job creators” they were talking about.
You know, the ones who offer low wages, no benefits, and detest any idea of collective bargaining and unionization. The same ones who consider anyone toiling in that class as “moochers” and “takers” when they have to turn to food stamps and Medicaid to survive.
This family alone is illustrative of the monied class: sweep into town, destroy the competition, make yourself the “only game in town”, and you have established a workforce that has little choice but to bend to your will if they want a roof over their heads.
Capitalism at its best as this family rakes in billions to support a lifestyle unheard of beyond Saudi Arabia.
“Job creators” my foot. Human leeches is more accurate.