December 2, 2013
By Stephanie West
Washington, DC – Walmart workers and their supporters increased the intensity of their calls for higher pay at the nation’s largest retailer. Protest took place at 1,500 stores on Friday November 29th and more than 110 were arrested in a historic Black Friday marked by peaceful civil disobedience.
Workers and their growing ranks of supporters nationwide, in cities including Chicago, St. Paul, Secaucus, Dallas, Washington, DC, Sacramento, Seattle and the Bay Area, demonstrated while calling for $25,000 a year, full time work and an end to retaliation. Reports show 1,500 protests nationwide – by tens of thousands of people in at least 46 states.
In Seacaucus, NJ, 13 protesters – including Walmart workers who have been illegally fired for speaking out for better jobs, were arrested after peaceful civil disobedience at Walmart’s store in the Harmon Meadow shopping center.
In Sacramento, CA, 15 protesters were arrested at the Roseville Walmart. OUR Walmart member Dorothy Halvorson in Placerville, California, who has worked at the store for 11 years, was part of the civil disobedience there.
The Sacramento Bee reports:
Walmart employee, Meiasha Bradley, who works at the store on Florin Road in Sacramento, told reporters she joined the largest protest because “I’m standing with associates all over the nation. We want to make $25,000.”
In the Seattle area, 15 protesters were arrested outside the Walmart at the Bellevue Factoria Mall.
In St. Paul, MN, 26 workers and allies were arrested practicing non-violent civil disobedience as nearly 1,000 marched, calling on Walmart, other corporations, and state legislators to end poverty wages in Minnesota. The march capped a Black Friday week of action in Minnesota that included a strike in Brooklyn Center by Walmart associates.
“We are fed up. We follow the rules and work hard, yet we are still paid low wages and have to consistently fight for respect at work. It is time for corporations and state legislators to end poverty wages and give Minnesota workers the raise that they deserve,” said Michael Ahles, an OurWalmart member who works at the Sauke Center Walmart.
