Oct 05 2012
Walmart Workers Launch an Unprecedented One-Day Strike
Walmart workers from 9 different stores in Southern California went on a one day strike yesterday for the first time in the company’s 50 year history. The unprecedented strike was organized by the Organization United for Respect at Walmart or OUR Walmart, a group of Walmart workers or ‘Associates’ as the company likes to call them, who have been actively filing Unfair Labor Practice charges against Walmart with the National Labor Relations Board.
Protesters wanted to draw attention to the management’s dismissive attitude toward workers’ complaints. While workers at individual stores have staged walk outs in the past, this action was historic because it was the first effort orchestrated between a number of different Walmart stores.
The Walton Family, which runs Walmart, the third largest corporation in the world, possesses more wealth than the combined income of the bottom 42% of Americans. Despite their immense wealth, the company is notorious for paying low wages, denying health care benefits to its workers and having poor working conditions for its warehouse workers.
Although there are over 8,000 Walmart outlets in 15 countries around the world, only 9 of those countries have unionized workers. The 1.4 million Walmart workers in North America are not yet unionized. But meetings are now underway between the group OUR Walmart and Walmart workers in other countries to establish a union called UNI Walmart Global Union Alliance.
When asked about the strike, Walmart spokesperson, Dan Fogelman, called it a “publicity stunt”. Maria Elena Durazo, Secretary Treasurer of the LA County Federation of Labor said, “Nobody is going to stop us from speaking out. Walmart may sell jeans and video games and all that, but the biggest product they sell in this country and this world is poverty.”
As of this morning, the workers on strike yesterday have returned to their jobs.
GUESTS: Dawn Le, with United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and Dan Hindman, a Walmart Associate at the Paramount Walmart store.
Visit www.forrespect.org for more information.
One Response to “Walmart Workers Launch an Unprecedented One-Day Strike”
Was Walmart asked why they thought workers would place their jobs at jeopardy for a “publicity stunt”? Also, how does Walmart explain, by paying less than living wages & providing substandard employee benefits, offloading health & wellbeing costs to taxpayer funded support infrastructures? I look forward to hearing how this movement progresses & how support from the general community evolves.