Black Friday demonstrations hit Walmart

[Omaha Steve]

Source: aljazeera.com

US workers seeking higher pay have staged demonstrations across the country targeting the global retail giant Walmart, on the same day Americans traditionally start their holiday shopping.

For the third straight year, hundreds of workers demonstrated on Friday outside thousands of locations of Walmart, accusing the US largest private employer of paying wages below living standards.

Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman, reporting from Washington DC, said demonstrators were demanding a $15 an hour wage.

The US federal government requires a baseline of $7.25 hourly wage, although the actual wage depends on each state.

FULL story at link.



Sales during Black Friday, the traditional start of US holiday shopping, is estimated at $9-bn in 2014 [Reuters]

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/11/black-friday-demonstrations-hit-walmart-2014112816411156652.html

[Ash_F]

1. I just came back from one of these

Who's Walmart?

OUR Walmart!

[Omaha Steve]

2. What city?

Were there many besides you there?

[Ash_F]

3. Oh yes. People from many organizations too

Lots of passers by honking. Lots of friendly press. Even the local Fox station.

Of course the police were called, and they would not let Walmart workers inside the store to flyer customers, which is a breach of NLRB. I hope and encourage them to challenge this behavior in the courts.

Solidarity forever!

ps - Fort Worth

[yeoman6987]

8. Why is Walmart the only store picked on constantly

Many store are horrible but they get a pass. Seems unfair.

[madmom]

9. Good luck getting an answer here. I've asked this many times in the

past and never received an answer. I even gave examples, but nada!

[Ash_F]

14. Check out post #13 and have a nice day.

[madmom]

16. No actually I think you are the

ignorant one here." many organizations were present" could mean organizations protesting. How are we to take your "hint"?


Besides I was referring to my asking the question several years ago, when all the walmart bashing started.I still have not received an answer!

[Ash_F]

17. So when you hit 10k posts, are you going to go outside and do something productive

Or are you going to continue posting talking points spoon-fed to you through the TV?

[madmom]

20. Excuse the fuck out of you, but you don't even know me! For

one I don't watch tv and 2 your reply makes no fucking sense! So screw you!

[Ash_F]

22. Pfffft. Your posts say who you are.

[madmom]

25. So, who am I since you're so

perceptively trollish enough to think you know. Are you sure you are on the right site, this is not a teabagger site, FYI.

[Ash_F]

27. You came into this thread pooping on workers who are organizing for fair wages

You received the response that you deserved.

Who are you calling a teabagger?

[madmom]

29. I came on this thread replying to another poster, you jumped

in. I wanted an answer to a simple question, only in teabagger world is that not allowed, if the shoe fits.

Nowhere did I "poop" on workers trying to organize, another teabagger trait is putting words into someone's mouth to make their point.As I said if the shoe fits....

You really need some reading comprehension.

[Ash_F]

30. I am sorry you feel Walmart is being picked on.

My reading comprehension is just fine. Work back from when you entered this thread.

[Ash_F]

32. You echoed the premise that Walmart is being "picked on"

Who is picking on Walmart?

That is absurd. Trust me, the Waltons will be fine without your internet championing.

ps - Supporting Walmart workers makes me a teabagger?

[Kingofalldems]

10. Transparent.

The poor poor Walton family. Should we take up a collection?

[Stargleamer]

11. It has to do with the extent of Wal-Mart's exploitation

which far exceeds its competition, and is exported abroad:

"Scenes filmed abroad document factory workers in Bangladesh and China creating Wal-Mart goods for as little as 18 cents an hour"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wal-Mart:_The_High_Cost_of_Low_Price ]
while the Wal-Mart heirs are multi-billionaires.

[Ash_F]

13. It is not. You are just ignorant

Did you miss the part where I said many organizations were present? Did you not take that as a hint? I actually heard about the action through a couple of other local organizations I have volunteered with, not Our Walmart itself.

There are a lot of people doing a lot of important work across the country. Try getting out from behind your keyboard.

[progressoid]

18. Here:

[Doc Holliday]

19. They get "picked on" so much

because they're the biggest....that's why. They contribute in a huge way to setting the tone of what is considered acceptable behavior by Big Corporations.

This is so obvious...I'm amazed this question even gets asked.

[yeoman6987]

21. I guess I should say they shouldn't get picked on

We need equality in all matters and picking on Walmart does not do that. Kmart is pretty big. So is Sears. What about Dollar Stores? They are becoming the weeds of neighborhoods. Now those i'd like to see disappear. Kholes is destroying other stores.

[madokie]

24. Almost all the workers on the floor at walmarts stores

do not get paid enough to make a living. Anyone working should be paid a livable wage especially walmart employees. After all Sam Walton's heirs are worth billions of dollars. Its not like they can't pay a livable wage its that they don't want too. do a little googling and find out for yourself why people are on walmarts ass all the time before you start questioning what people here and elsewhere have to say about walmart. We tax payers pick up the tab on the difference in the wages walmart pays and the cost of living for their employees. No stores are as bad a walmart, none, zip, zilch, nada

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

26. If you phrase it like this, I will agree:

"Granted, Walmart is practically a terrorist organization, destroying communities and families and stealing from our government and causing irreparable harm left and right and the owners are the greediest and worst human beings alive"

but

"they arent the only corporations who are destroying our soceity, our country, our world...there are others"

then list the others...

[Ash_F]

28. Now that's a post.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

34. Can you point us to the other stores you have in mind?

Surely you have OPs you can post links to.

[daleanime]

4. Heading out in just a bit.....

and the only reason I'm stopping at Walmart is to see if any one is there protesting! If there is, of course I'll join in for a while.

[Ash_F]

5. I think they are consolidating one Walmart in every major city.

So you might want to look it up through their site or something if you want to catch one.

[daleanime]

6. Well, I know there's one up in Ithaca.....

but I'm only hitting Corning and Elmira today.

[rhett o rick]

7. Now we are talking. Get off the freeways and protest at Walmart or Bank America. nm

[Stryst]

12. Panama City, Florida

No protesters, no Black Friday crowds, but there were four police and two sheriff's vehicles lined up out front.

[Snow Leopard]

15. Will not..

Ever shop at Mao mart. Don't care if I have to pay double. Love to see these protests.

[ellenrr]

23. the one I was at in NJ, surprising cooperation from the store cops

When we congregated in front of Walmart's the store dicks came out first, with some suit that I think was a PR guy, and told us we had to be 100 yards from the entrance, and off of Walmart property.

We decided to stay where we were until a real cop told us to move.
Personally I thot we should stay unmoved until the cops threatened us with arrest. But I was in a minority.

So when the city cops told us to move, we headed toward the 100 yard mark, but we stopped halfway there.
And the store cop explained to us that he was "with us" as he was also union.
- don't know if he meant it, or maybe he just didn't want any trouble from us.
So we were allowed to stay 50 yards in stead of 100 yards.

It is my observation that 99% of the people driving in were so glazed by the thot of that bargain big flat-screen that they didn't see us.
altho we had a good conversation with a couple of people.
One person actually turned around and did not go in to Walmart's.

[Ash_F]

33. We got a lot of friendly honks and waves.

It is true that supporters can not be on the property, but strikers employed by Walmart may, under NRLB law.