Walmart Workers on Strike

[GiantMonkeyMan]

http://www.salon.com/2012/10/04/walmart_workers_on_strike/


Today, for the first time in Wal-Mart’s 50-year history, workers at multiplestores are out on strike. Minutes ago, dozens of workers at Southern California stores launched a one-day work stoppage in protest of alleged retaliation against their attempts to organize. In a few hours, they’ll join supporters for a mass rally outside a Pico Rivera, Calif., store. This is the latest – and most dramatic – of the recent escalations in the decades-long struggle between organized labor and the largest private employer in the world.

Good luck to them. Here's hoping they aren't just swept under the rug like Walmart usually does to those who try to organise. Anyone about in the area who knows more?

[pastradamus]

http://www.salon.com/2012/10/04/walmart_workers_on_strike/



Good luck to them. Here's hoping they aren't just swept under the rug like Walmart usually does to those who try to organise. Anyone about in the area who knows more?


Fucking yes! Its about time Walmart workers got moving. We were actually talking about this over in Practice and Propaganda but its nice to seem them actually do it! Good post and good news. Solidarity with the Walmart workers.

[KurtFF8]

Very interesting (and good) development, especially in the wake of the crackdown on the Wal-Mart warehouse strike this past week

[ВАЛТЕР]

They must've read the thread I posted. I take full credit for this. No need for applause. :D

I'm very glad that they organized, the way they are treated is disgusting and their pay is absolute shit. I hope they are willing to go all the way with this. Make big demands.

[x-punk]

Good to see this. Although its just a one day strike I hope enough of the staff walked out to really hit the companies profits. Hopefully other retail workers can follow this lead.

[l'Enfermé]

Just a one-day work stoppage in Southern California, comrades.

[KurtFF8]

Just a one-day work stoppage in Southern California, comrades.

But the first work stoppage at a Wal-Mart store, which is notorious for anti-union activity along with being the largest employer in the country.

[pastradamus]

They must've read the thread I posted. I take full credit for this. No need for applause. :D.

You ought to put your mind to thing like this more often if you can deliver a result that fast! :D

.....Now get us the fucking revolution! haha

[Fawkes]

Just a one-day work stoppage in Southern California, comrades.

Apparently you missed the part about workers at "the largest private employer in the world" being "out on strike" "for the first time in Wal-Mart’s 50-year history"

[Bardo]

But the first work stoppage at a Wal-Mart store, which is notorious for anti-union activity along with being the largest employer in the country.

The largest private employer in the world, for that matter.

[the Leftâ„¢]

fap fap fap


Do it comrades, fuck walmart

[Die Neue Zeit]

Just a one-day work stoppage in Southern California, comrades.

That is true, and it is in the realm of labour disputes, but I think we're all supportive of this non-political milestone nonetheless.

[Decommissioner]

Just a one-day work stoppage in Southern California, comrades.

Wal Mart is willing to shut down stores for mere rumors of unionization amongst their workers. The fact that workers at multiple stores were able to organize this is huge.

Union presence amongst wal mart, and retail stores in general, is completely non existent in america.

[l'Enfermé]

Apparently you missed the part about workers at "the largest private employer in the world" being "out on strike" "for the first time in Wal-Mart’s 50-year history"
10 million Frenchies on strike in 1968 didn't even have the power to bring down de Gaulle's government. Perhaps being so enthusiastic about this is not very prudent.

[blake 3:17]

Walmart strikes spread to more states
The first-ever walkouts by warehouse workers and store employees are a game-changer
BY JOSH EIDELSON
6K 691
more

TOPICS: LABOR, OUR WALMART, STRIKE, UNIONS, WALMART, WORKING CONDITIONS, POLITICS NEWS


A Walmart customer checks out at Walmart in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. (Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

For the second time in five days – and also the second time in Walmart’s five decades – workers at multiple U.S. Walmart stores are on strike. This morning, workers walked off the job at stores in Dallas, Texas; Miami, Florida; Seattle, Washington; Laurel, Maryland; and Northern, Central, and Southern California. No end date has been announced; some plan to remain on strike at least through tomorrow, when they’ll join other Walmart workers for a demonstration outside the company’s annual investor meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas. Today’s is the latest in a wave of Walmart supply chain strikes without precedent in the United States: From shrimp workers in Louisiana, to warehouse workers in California and Illinois, to Walmart store employees in five states.

“A lot of associates, we have to use somewhat of a buddy system,” Dallas worker Colby Harris said last night. “We loan each other money during non-paycheck weeks just to make it through to the next week when we get paid. Because we don’t have enough money after paying bills to even eat lunch.” Harris, who’s now on strike, said that after three years at Walmart, he makes $8.90 an hour in the produce department, and workers at his store have faced “constant retaliation” for speaking up.

On Thursday, as first reported at Salon, southern California Walmart store workers staged a day-long walkout of their own. Organizers say over sixty workers from nine stores signed in as on strike. About thirty of them were from the same store in Pico Rivera, where strikers and supporters rallied with labor leaders, clergy and politicians. “I’m still thrilled about what happened,” said Harris, who flew in for last week’s walkout. “And it’s given me a lot more energy and a lot more drive.” Other workers were visiting from further away than Texas: When the striking workers returned to work Friday morning, international Walmart workers marched into their nine stores with them, carrying their own countries’ flags.

Full article: http://www.salon.com/2012/10/09/walmart_strikes_spread_to_more_states/

[blake 3:17]

This is massive and a beginning of a new working class politics emerging from the belly of the beast.

The concluding paragraphs from the article above:


Last week’s strike also took place as representatives of the global union federation UNI were in town to launch a new Walmart Global Union Alliance. “In Argentina, we have a union, so we’re able to have that strength that doesn’t exist here,” Marta Miranda, a three-year Walmart greeter turned full-time union delegate, told Salon Friday in Spanish. Miranda, who was visiting as part of the UNI delegation, said that when she returns to Argentina, she’ll tell her co-workers that “the sleeping giant is waking up.”

Head of UNI Commerce Alke Boessiger said Friday to expect the new global alliance to coordinate “joint actions” in the coming months. Boessiger emphasized that while many countries have laws that are more pro-union than the U.S., “Walmart will do anything to avoid unions” anywhere. She added that Walmart workers abroad understand that supporting U.S. workers is necessary for the sake of “making sure that this model that the company has developed in the U.S. is not being exported.” Could those joint actions include multi-country strikes? “I wouldn’t exclude it,” she said.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes in order to get this change to happen,” Harris said hours before the start of today’s strike. “If it costs me my job, then I’m fine with that at this point. That’s how bad it is … it’s a small price to pay for global change.”

[blake 3:17]

From a few days ago in regards to last week`s action


Wal-Mart calls the riot police

Carlos Enriquez reports on an inspiring show of solidarity with striking Wal-Mart warehouse workers in Elwood, Ill.--and the heavy-handed police response.

October 4, 2012
SOME 600 people came out to an October 1 rally in a show of solidarity with 38 striking workers at a Wal-Mart warehouse in Elwood, Ill. Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ), a group supported by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), organized the action.

The workers walked out of the warehouse, which is part of the Wal-Mart supply chain, on September 15 to combat retaliation against workers who sued the company for its cruel working conditions and routine failure to pay workers for time they worked. One person described the unfair labor practice lawsuits filed against the company as a "bandage on a cancerous wound."

According to striking worker Bill Bailey, 30 of the workers--out of a workforce of about 100--originally walked out and were then joined by eight others. "Today will turn the tide," Bailey said of the rally. The Elwood workers themselves were inspired to walk out after a similar work stoppage [1] in southern California at a Wal-Mart warehouse operator.

Although the workers on strike are contracted by Schneider Logistics instead of direct employees of Wal-Mart, they believe that Wal-Mart is to blame for the poor working environment, and they feel that the company is creating a model that other retail giants' warehouses are compelled to follow. Wal-Mart has a long-established reputation for insisting on cost-cutting measures and rock-bottom prices from various suppliers, and its relationship to its warehouse operators is no exception.

The town of Elwood, located about an hour southwest of Chicago, is home to one of the busiest "import stops on the planet," in the words of one warehouse worker.

Service Employees International Union and Chicago Jobs With Justice coordinated buses to get supporters from Chicago to Elwood. Also present were members of Chicago Teachers Union, Workers United, United Food and Commercial Workers, Action Now, Stand Up Chicago, Arise, Occupy Chicago, and other coalitions and campaigns focused on opposing abuses by the mega-retailer.

The rally, which took place two weeks into the strike, had actually been planned long ago by WWJ in order to shine a spotlight on the miserable conditions facing workers in these warehouses.

Many speakers addressed the kinds of abuse workers are subjected to by Wal-Mart, including warehouse temperatures that range from more than 120 degrees during the summer to subzero during the winter, gender and racial discrimination, unpaid overtime and other wage theft that amounts to more than $1 million in lost pay, and shocks, electrocution and other incidents that have led to injury and even death.

One of the speakers described how the company compelled a worker who had suffered a life-threatening injury to submit to a company drug test before being allowed to go to the hospital for treatment.

Mike Compton, an employee at the warehouse for more than three months, described himself as a "veteran" because the turnover rate is so high. This is direct result of the sweatshop-like conditions and the company's retaliation against those who speak out against such treatment.

"We are only referred to as 'bodies,'" said Compton. "They have no regard for our wellbeing. We are constantly told to push harder. We are never done."

Bob Kingsley, UE's organizing director, spoke to the overall growth of corporate power and the struggles that all working people have to go through as a result of it. And he expressed UE's determination to support the Warehouse Workers for Justice campaign.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

AFTER THE rally concluded, demonstrators marched down the road to the Wal-Mart warehouse, chanting, "Hey, hey, ho ho, poverty wages have to go," "Wal-Mart is unfair, all we want is our fair share" and "What's Wal-Mart have to hide? Sweatshop products made inside."

Upon arriving at the gate, a group of 17 workers, clergy and community supporters sat down in the middle of the street to block the entrance and prevent shipments from getting into the distribution center. The 17 began to sing the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome," and the 600 people with them joined in.

It didn't take long for the Elwood police to deem the action "illegal." Officers decked out in riot gear arrived on the scene, accompanied by a black Hummer with a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) attached to it. LRADs are sound cannons used to disperse crowds by with painful and sometimes damaging blasts of noise. The police threatened demonstrators with tear gas and other "less-lethal" actions if they decided not to leave.

After a short standoff, the police arrested the 17 activists one by one--although the question lingers of why police should arrest peaceful protesters standing for the cause of justice instead of arresting the warehouse management that has imposed working conditions so harsh that employees regularly suffer injury, illness and even death.

The reason for Elwood's display of overwhelming force should be obvious enough: This facility isn't just any warehouse. It sits amid half a billion square feet of warehouse space--one of the largest concentrations on the planet--and 150,000 warehouse employees.

And intimidation has also been "Plan A" for Wal-Mart and other retail giants when confronted by an individual, a union or some other cause they feel represents a threat to their stream of profits.

The warehouse workers also understand what's at stake. "We would not be bringing out this many people to a parking lot in Elwood, Ill., if we weren't doing something special," said warehouse worker Curtis Tucker.

http://socialistworker.org/2012/10/04/wal-mart-calls-the-riot-police

[Let's Get Free]

Where would Walmart even be without Chinese slave labor?

[Comrades Unite!]

This is a good moment but one I imagine will not have an effect at first.

The best this will do is inspire other workers that work at Walmart to follow suit, as the article says this has not been done in 50 years which is quite an accomplishment, Too many workers in the US are under the impression that Walmart would crush them given the chance if they striked against them.


Where would Walmart even be without Chinese slave labor?

Where would any company be without labor? Regardless if it is waged labor or slave labor it is always labor in the abstract and that is why Walmart are heavily involved in the oppression of many many laborers.


fap fap fap


Do it comrades, fuck walmart


Why do annoying fuckers such as yourself always post shit like this?
Add to the discussion or piss off!

[blake 3:17]

Apparently strike, shut and slow down plans are being made for Black Friday. Brink the ruckus! The bosses ain't happy.

From the Huffington Post:


Walmart Strike Memo Reveals Confidential Management Plans
Posted: 10/13/2012 2:18 pm EDT Updated: 10/13/2012 2:49 pm EDT


Walmart launched a large-scale response this week to a series of unprecedented labor strikes, according to a confidential document obtained by The Huffington Post.

The seven-page internal memo, issued Oct. 8, is intended for salaried employees only, and contains instructions on how to respond to strikes by hourly workers that spread to 28 Walmart stores in 12 cities earlier this week. The strikes were the first by Walmart retail employees in the company’s 50-year history.

The memo makes clear that Walmart, the world's largest private employer, views the labor protests as a serious attack, a message that runs contrary to the company's public comments that the strikes are mere "publicity stunts," as Walmart's vice president of communications David Tovar told The Huffington Post Tuesday.

"As you know,” the memo opens, “activists or union organizers have been trying for years to stop our Company’s growth and to damage our relationship with our customers and members. One of the activists’ or union organizers’ tactics is to try to disrupt the business by urging our associates to participate in a walkout or other form of work stoppage.”

The majority of the memo is aimed at instructing managers not to violate workers' legal right to engage in concerted activity, or non-union labor organizing. Managers are directed not to “discipline” employees who engage in walkouts, sit-ins or sick-outs.

Legal experts said the confidential memo shows an unprecedented level of caution from a company that has taken harsh stances towards employee attempts to organize in the past.

“Walmart probably has in mind that the Obama NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] often sides with unions over management,” said Lance Compa, a labor law professor at Cornell University’s School of Industrial Relations in Ithaca, N.Y. “So they’re being extremely cautious.”


The memo is peppered with Walmart management jargon, offering a window into the secretive corporate culture built by founder Sam Walton. Managers are reminded over and over of the acronym TIPS (Threaten Intimidate Promise Spy) when dealing with potential labor organizing by hourly-wage "associates." The widely used human resources term serves to remind managers that they cannot, by law, threaten or intimidate workers who organize, promise them benefits if they stop organizing, or spy on their activities.

What managers can legally do, however, is what Walmart calls FOE -- offer workers Facts, Opinions, and Personal Experiences about labor organizing. Walmart offers a sample opinion that says, "I don't think a walkout is a good way to resolve problems or issues." According to Compa, this is a boilerplate tactic for companies looking to discourage unionizing without breaking the law.

The historic retail worker strikes began last Friday in Los Angeles, when 60-some people walked off work, and they quickly spread across the country. Earlier in September, workers at warehouses owned by Walmart in Illinois and California also went on strike.

Striking workers are demanding that Walmart end retaliatory practices against employees who attempt to organize by Nov. 23, Black Friday. If not, they will strike again on the biggest shopping day of the year, according to Colby Harris, a Walmart worker from Dallas, who participated in Tuesday’s strike.

Walmart spokesman Dan Fogleman said the strikes were largely publicity stunts. "We've seen the unions hold these made for TV events outside our stores for about ten years now," he told HuffPost, "and they want the publicity to help further their political and financial agendas. There is a very small number of associates raising these concerns, and they don't represent the views of the vast majority of our 1.3 million associates."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/13/walmart-strike-memo_n_1962039.html

[Questionable]

"I don't think a walkout is a good way to resolve problems or issues."

Shit guys, you heard the manager, guess we'd better just go back to work.

[Klaatu]

All union brothers and sisters should stand in solidarity and boycott WalMart until it accepts unionization at that company. You would be surprised at how many union members actually shop at WalMart now, oblivious to the shameful and nefarious goings-on with the mistreatment of employees there. Same goes for some other big-box retailers, such as Home Depot. At least the big food supermarkets here in Detroit are unionized (for now)

[RedMaterialist]

There are wal-marts everywhere, one about a mile from where i live. i am seriously thinking about getting a sign and protesting. Maybe a few thousand other non-workers can picket.

[blake 3:17]

There are wal-marts everywhere, one about a mile from where i live. i am seriously thinking about getting a sign and protesting. Maybe a few thousand other non-workers can picket.
Yah!

[Lynx]

One will be opening nearby, where there once was a Zellers store.

[Pretty Flaco]

10 million Frenchies on strike in 1968 didn't even have the power to bring down de Gaulle's government. Perhaps being so enthusiastic about this is not very prudent.

every action is a stepping stone. and us americans are so starved and hungry for any type of labor action that we get excited at even the mention of a walkout...

[blake 3:17]

Why Wal-Mart May Respond to Black Friday Strike Threats, Adjust Wage Structure: Labor Economist
By LILA MACLELLAN OCT 19, 2012 1:00 PM
So far, the company has called the coordinated efforts of Wal-Mart employees nothing but a publicity stunt. Not so, say experts.


MINYANVILLE ORIGINAL When journalists visit the media relations page on Wal-Mart’s (NYSE:WMT) website, they're asked to select from a drop-down menu the category that best describes the nature of their questions. But there’s one option that’s not on the list: Labor relations. One can assume that’s going to change very soon.

Two weeks ago, on October 4, 88 Wal-Mart employees at various Wal-Mart stores staged the company’s first ever job walk-out in the firm’s history. Even though the workers didn’t have union protection, their concerted efforts were legal. (See Why Wal-Mart Won’t Fire Striking Workers -- and What That Means for You.) The employees who walked out were protesting the company's well-documented methods for discouraging unions and retaliating against hourly employees who push for change.

The day of the strike, we spoke by phone to a Wal-Mart employee at a Los Angeles-area store who had joined the walk-out. Manuela Rosales, 25, who has been working at Wal-Mart for two years, told us that her hourly wages were not enough to support her life with her two-year-old son. “Me personally, as a single mom, it’s very hard. I go day-by-day with my paycheck, and sometimes I have to take loans,” she said. “I don’t think I should have to do that. And I don’t want to go for welfare, either. Why would I go to welfare when I work for a company that could pay me more? A company that makes billions and billions of dollars?”

Since that day, the movement has grown considerably. According to organizers, strikes were carried out at 28 stores in 12 states last week. On Sunday, three workers at a store in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, left their shifts to protest outside with homemade placards. They were apparently encouraged by news coverage of the other strikes -- the difference being that the Sapulpa employees worked independently of the national group that’s been coordinating the actions, OUR Walmart, which stands for Organization United For Respect at Wal-Mart, who are in turn backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

"I saw what was happening at stores in Dallas and around the country, and I did my research," Jeffrey Landry, 34, told the press. He also said Wal-Mart cut his schedule earlier this fall after he went to HR to discuss issues with departments to which he was being assigned.

Employees say they’re often randomly moved between departments, which affects their pay and the quality of the customer service they can offer. Schedules can also vary widely, making it difficult for students or parents to attend school or make plans for child care. From the company’s perspective, that kind of staffing flexibility is part of what keeps costs down and ensures no section is ever overstaffed or understaffed.

Frustrated with Wal-Mart’s response to the strikes so far -- the company’s spokesman has appeared on national talk shows saying that only a small percentage of employees have supported the “publicity stunt” -- OUR Walmart employees have since promised to go big, scaling up their efforts and vowing to take action again...on Black Friday. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, can be the most lucrative day of the year for many retailers.

A worker in Dallas told Salon that if Wal-Mart didn't address OUR Walmart demands, many associates will "make sure that Black Friday is memorable for [the company].” The actions could include strikes, leafleting to customers, and flash mobs.

Needless to say, that threat brought instant headlines in the national media and speculation about how many employees would be willing to take such a stand on the highest holy day of the shopping season. OUR Walmart organizers are not yet offering details about the exact plans for Black Friday, but in a follow-up interview with Minyanville, Rosales told us that some hourly associates at her store are interested in striking, although they’re also hesitant and unsure how a Black Friday walk-out would affect holiday pay. “OUR Walmart is just giving us information about it and asking how we feel. A lot of people are willing to do it, but we're going to have one more meeting to try and get some details,” she said.

“We've seen a lot more associates get more interested,” Rosales added. “We've had a lot of positive and negative feedback in the store, but more positive than negative.”

So far, Wal-Mart is playing it cool in response to the Black Friday calls for action, outwardly anyway. A leaked memo has also shown that executives are training in-store management regarding everything they can and can't do to respond to employees who may be organizing.

To the rest of the world, Dan Fogleman, Wal-Mart’s spokesman, is claiming that the company is expecting business as usual come November 23. In an email to Minyanville, a boilerplate response letter, he opens on a chipper note, saying, "Black Friday is a favorite time of the year for our customers and associates. We’re excited about what’s in store for our customers with some great merchandise and our unbeatable prices and don’t expect any business disruptions.“
Full article:
http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/stocks/articles/Labor-Economist253A-Why-Wal-mart-May/10/19/2012/id/45167

[blake 3:17]

For more see: http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/

and http://walmartspeakout.com/

This is a very inspiring struggle and how the broader world -- and YES that does include the Left -- will determine its outcome.

Those of us opposed to exploitation, oppression and ecocide need to orient ourselves positively to these workers rebellion. I think our rather weakened Left can play a positive role in providing concrete forms of solidarity with these workers, especially on local and regional levels. Do this respectfully, but don`t be shy to show some audacity.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/walmart-strike/?sub=fb

Just a solidarity statement thingy if you guys want to sign. Cos everyone knows that internet petitions change the freaking world, man. (I mock but it might be great for the walmart workers themselves to read some encouraging solidarity statements).

[blake 3:17]

Thanks! Just signed it and passing it on!

[Questionable]

This is still going on, right? I haven't been keeping track with the news.

[blake 3:17]

This is still going on, right? I haven't been keeping track with the news.
Walmart workers (and the employer) are gearing up for American Black Friday.

This is going to be a long long struggle and one that socialists and anarchists can play a very positive role in.

This thread will keep going, but look at some of the resources posted above.

Stay informed, show solidarity, and fight the power!

[blake 3:17]

Richmond Walmart Workers Demonstrate Sit-In inside Store, Then Walk Off the Job
by repost
Friday Nov 2nd, 2012 5:31 PM
Richmond Walmart Workers Demonstrate Inside Store and Then Walk-Out
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, November 2, 2012
CONTACT: Jorge Amaro, 202-412 4998, jamaro(at)ufcw.org

Joining Nationwide Strikes at Nation’s Largest Retailer,

Richmond Walmart Workers Demonstrate Sit-In inside Store, Then Walk Off the Job



As Walmart Supercenter Holds Grand Re-Opening,

Workers and Community Protest Attempts to Silence and Retaliate against Workers



Richmond, California–On the heels of first-ever strikes by Walmart workers across the country, workers at the Walmart Supercenter in Richmond held a sit-in demonstration before walking off the job this morning during the store’s grand re-opening. Joined by community leaders who have been calling for changes at Walmart, workers are on strike in protest of the attempts to silence and retaliate against workers. At the Richmond store, Walmart workers have been working hard to help the store reach today’s grand re-opening date all while facing illegal intimidation from a store manager, including racist remarks and threats of physical violence.

“We will not be silenced by Walmart for standing up for respect and against harassment, intimidation and retaliation,” said Mario Hammod, a worker at the Richmond Walmart. Hammod is one of thousands of members of the national worker-led Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) that has been calling for changes at the company. “In the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez, I am taking a stand against Walmart’s illegal bullying tactics and practicing my right to peacefully hold a sit-in. We want to be able to celebrate the store’s re-opening, but we cannot continue to work under these conditions of retaliation.”

In an expression of the building frustration that Walmart has not only ignored workers calls for change in Richmond and across the country, but actually retaliated against workers who do speak out, national leaders from civil rights, immigrant rights and women’s rights communities, religious institutions, unions and community leaders have committed to join striking workers in a wide range of non-violent activities on and leading up to Black Friday, including rallies, flash mobs, direct action and other efforts to inform customers about the illegal actions that Walmart has been taking against its workers.

“We cannot stand by while Walmart retaliates against workers who are standing up for a better future for their families,” said Rev. Phillip Lawson, Co-Founder of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration.

Rev. Lawson, along with other supporters and community groups across the country, has been calling for change through the Unified Call to Change Walmart. “Racist and threatening comments from Walmart will not be tolerated here in Richmond or anywhere. Walmart should be creating good jobs, not threatening workers and turning its backs on the hard-working people that made this ribbon-cutting possible.”

The group protested outside the Supercenter with signs reading, “Stand Up, Live Better, Stop Retaliation” and “Stop Trying to Silence Us.” This comes just weeks after Walmart workers walked off the job in more than a dozen states, including stores in the East and South Bay. At the same time, workers went on strike at Walmart’s largest distribution center outside of Chicago, IL and were joined by hundreds of clergy and community supporters, some of who were arrested by riot police during the peaceful protest. And earlier this fall, workers in Walmart-controlled warehouses in Southern California went on a 15-day strike that included a six-day, 50-mile pilgrimage for safe jobs.

Walmart Associates at Richmond have been calling on management to end the retaliations against workers who speak out against harassment and poor working conditions, as well take home pay so low that many Associates are forced to rely on public programs to support their families and understaffing that is keeping workers from receiving sufficient hours and is also hurting customer service. As frontline Walmart workers face such hardships, the company is raking in almost $16 billion a year in profits, executives made more than $10 million each in compensation last year. Meanwhile, the Walton Family – heirs to the Walmart fortune – is the richest family in the country with more wealth than the bottom 42% of American families combined.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/11/02/18725001.php

[blake 3:17]

oops

[blake 3:17]

Can't remember out how to do the YouTube thing right... Uggh

Good new video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caV-m1wq6Vc&list=UUTlbskr8TIHHwGnjYWLnXNw

[blake 3:17]

The For Respect campaign has resource materials for Walmart workers here: http://forrespect.org/stand-for-change/strike-tool-kit/

There's a good community flyer here: http://forrespect.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/12/files/2012/11/BFCommunityAsks.pdf

If you have a spare $5 or more please contribute to sponsoring a striker on Black Friday: https://www.wepay.com/donations/dont-let-walmart-silence-workers-support-worker-leaders-who-are-calling-for-change

I am donating two hours wages to the fund. Let's make sure that those willing to defy the biggest bullying employer in the world are given the support and solidarity they deserve.

BTW to be clear, I have no particular connection to any of the organizations or unions involved other than being a sympathizer. I`m a socialist in Canada working in front line community services in a unionized workplace but hired as a casual with no security, no benefits, a low wage, and no membership in the union. The struggle at Walmart IS my struggle. This is a chance to fight back effectively and redefine class relations and politics in the US, which has implications for the rest of the world.

[Robespierres Neck]

This is great news, although I wish it didn't limit itself to one day or state. Maybe this will inspire Wal-Mart workers worldwide to rise up against one of the most oppressive American companies today. I'm actually going to a protest here locally at Wal-Mart next Friday morning (on Black Friday). I'm interested in seeing the turn-out.

[blake 3:17]

This is great news, although I wish it didn't limit itself to one day or state. Maybe this will inspire Wal-Mart workers worldwide to rise up against one of the most oppressive American companies today. I'm actually going to a protest here locally at Wal-Mart next Friday morning (on Black Friday). I'm interested in seeing the turn-out.

You have to start somewhere! I expect strikers will be pretty excited and will be very happy to have your support. Picket lines and rallies will vary a lot, but introduce yourself and let strikers know you're supporting them.

In conflicts with employers, strikers' spirits are really boosted by outside support!

[GoddessCleoLover]

Kudos to Blake 3:17 for keeping this thread alive. We ought to do our utmost to demonstrate solidarity with Walmart workers and support their just struggle for union representation. I intend to look into getting personally involved and if every other Revleft poster gets involved we could hopefully make a positive impact in this struggle for workers' rights.

[enlightened_ape2112]

I wish the strike had been last year. I got hired at walmart in october of 2011 and black friday was fucking insanity. They should walk out on black friday not just to protest general working conditions but also to protest that such a day even exists. It is exhausting. Not to mention that its the most pro capitalist holiday of the year.

[Winkers Fons]

Is this Black Friday strike actually going to happen? If so, how widespread is it going to be?

[ckaihatsu]

[petition] Will you support Walmart workers this Thanksgiving?

ColorOfChange.org


Chris --
Since last Thursday, more than 33,000 ColorOfChange members have demanded that Walmart's Board meet with workers and improve working conditions. Can you help us get to 50,000 by signing the petition now?


Courageous Walmart workers are planning to strike on Black Friday to protest Walmart's abusive working conditions. Many live below the poverty line, and will be risking a lot to take a stand against Walmart's deep-seated culture of wage and hour discrimination, retaliatory firings, and attacks on basic dignity in the workplace.

You can read the email below for more information and demand that Walmart meet with workers and improve working conditions immediately. Please take a moment to add your voice and ask your friends and family to do the same. Thanks!

- Rashad


Walmart has responded to workers voicing legitimate concerns with harsh retaliation.



Demand that Walmart's Board meet with workers and improve working conditions:





Dear Chris,

Retail workers at Walmart stores nationwide recently went on strike — for the first time in the megastore’s 50-year history.1

Unless Walmart takes immediate steps to improve basic working conditions, workers throughout the company's vast operations — from factories and warehouses to retail stores — will participate in a massive walkout on Friday, November 23. "Black Friday" is traditionally the most important shopping day of the year for retailers, comprising upwards of 20-40% of their annual sales.2

Black workers comprise nearly 20% of Walmart's workforce. By supporting Walmart workers in the fight for good jobs and a decent working environment, we can help raise the standard for the entire retail industry and show Walmart executives that there's a price to pay for exploiting its workforce.

Please stand with Walmart workers fighting for humane working conditions: tell Walmart's Board of Directors to put an end to endemic retaliation, wage discrimination and worker abuse. (http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1933?t=3&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase)

Walmart is the largest retailer in the world and claims to be the largest employer of Black workers in the United States.3 With Black unemployment at 14.3%,4 many in our communities are increasingly reliant upon Walmart for employment — particularly where the retail giant has actively worked to price out smaller competitors.

Yet landing a job at Walmart is hardly a guarantee of a steady paycheck. More often, Walmart jobs serve to keep members of our community in poverty. Wages averaging $8.81/hour add up to just $15,576/year for a full-time employee.5 And even this level of remuneration is out of reach for many — Walmart routinely keeps workers from getting enough hours during the week, and arbitrarily switches up available hours to prevent workers from seeking supplemental employment elsewhere.6 It's no accident that Walmart consistently has the largest number of employees who rely on public assistance.7

For over a year now, workers have been calling on Walmart to reform the company's notoriously exploitative practices with regard to wages, scheduling, benefits and workplace safety. Walmart's response has been ruthless. Workers brave enough to speak up have been slapped with retaliatory disciplinary actions including cutbacks on hours and even firings, while the company and Walton family continue rake in massive profits off the backs millions of low-wage workers.8

Walmart has made the Waltons extraordinarily wealthy — this one family controls a fortune equal to the wealth of the bottom 42% of Americans combined.9 Yet the Waltons have refused to take even the most modest steps to address the yawning inequality driven by Walmart's labor practices. Walmart could take action today to raise wages to at least meet the federal poverty threshold for a family of four10,11 — substantially improving the lives of its lowest-paid hourly workers, 72% of whom are women11 — if there were political will to end the company's culture of worker abuse.

What happens at Walmart has ramifications far beyond the walls of any of its stores. To date, Walmart has set the standard for driving down wages and maximizing profits. Instituting positive change at Walmart could effectively transform the retail industry and improve working conditions for millions of Americans.

Please join us to demand that Walmart's Board meet with workers, and take immediate steps to implement fair pay and working conditions. (http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1933?t=4&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase) And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thanks and peace,

-- Rashad, Matt, Arisha, Aimée, Kim, Johnny and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
November 20th, 2012

References

1. "Walmart Strikes Mark New Chapter In Labor's Fight With Mega-Retailer," Huffington Post, 10-15-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1906?t=6&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

2. "Holiday FAQ," National Retail Federation, accessed on 11-13-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1922?t=8&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

3. "Will Black Friday Be Blue for Wal-Mart?," The Root, 10-13-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1911?t=10&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

4. "Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age," Bureau of Labor Statistics, 11-02-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1927?t=12&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

5. "Fact Sheet: Wages," Making Change at Walmart, accessed on 11-14-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1931?t=14&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

6. "Some Walmart workers want better wages, affordable benefits," USA Today, 06-08-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1928?t=16&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

7. “Hidden Taxpayer Costs: Disclosures of Employers Whose Workers and Their Dependents are Using State Health Insurance Programs,” Good Jobs First, 01-18-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1926?t=18&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

8. "Wal-Mart punishes its workers," Salon, 07-26-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1907?t=20&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

9. "Walmart Worker Speaks Out: Raise the Minimum Wage to Get My Vote," Huffington Post, 08-03-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1929?t=22&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

10. "Living Wage Policies and Big-Box Retail," UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, 04-01-12 (.pdf)
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1930?t=24&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

11. "Median income falls, but so does poverty," CNN Money, 09-11-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1934?t=26&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

12. "Everyday Discrimination: Why the Wal-Mart sex-bias lawsuit is the most important case the Supreme Court will hear this year," Slate, 03-28-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1932?t=28&akid=2719.872082.Jl4ase

[blake 3:17]

Is this Black Friday strike actually going to happen? If so, how widespread is it going to be?


I'm hoping it's gonna be big. However it goes, it's a beginning. There are some really interesting possibilities because Walmart isn't unionized and sympathy actions won't fall under Taft-Hartley or other reactionary labor laws.


Worker Group Alleges Walmart 'Told Store-Level Management to Threaten Workers' About Strikes
Josh Eidelson on November 20, 2012 - 4:05 PM ET

As planned Black Friday strikes draw increasing media attention, Walmart continues to publicly dismiss the actions as stunts and the workers involved as an unrepresentative fringe. But workers charge that behind closed doors, the company is waging a stepped-up campaign to to intimidate them out of striking. That includes both alleged illegal threats and punishments, and likely legal mandatory meetings designed to discourage workers from joining the Black Friday rebellion.

Today, OUR Walmart filed the latest of dozens of National Labor Relations Board charges against Walmart. The charge, announced this evening, alleges that Walmart's national headquarters has "told store-level management to threaten workers with termination, discipline, and/or a lawsuit if they strike or engage in other concerted job actions on Black Friday" and that managers in cities including San Leandro, California, Fairfield, Connecticut, and Dallas have done exactly that. It also alleges that Walmart Vice President of Communications David Tovar "threatened employees" with his statements. OUR Walmart says it is seeking "immediate intervention" to remedy the alleged crimes. In an e-mailed statement, American Rights at Work Research Director Erin Johansson said, "Walmart appears to be issuing serious threats to employees to stop them from exercising their rights under law."

In past interviews, Walmart has denied that it illegally retaliates against workers for activism, and Tovar denied the latest allegations in an interview with The New York Times. But the company has not denied that it holds mandatory meetings to discourage it. (As in a union campaign, such “captive audience” meetings are legal, though some “threats” are not.) OUR Walmart confirmed that workers have reported being required to attend such meetings in the lead-up to Black Friday.

Christopher Bentley Owen, an overnight stocker at a Tulsa Walmart supercenter, told The Nation he and his co-workers were lectured about the strike at a mandatory 10 pm meeting last night. According to Owen, the highest-ranking manager on the graveyard shift read, “word for word,” what appeared to be a prepared script from corporate headquarters slamming the Black Friday actions planned by the labor group OUR Walmart. The statement called OUR Walmart a “wholly owned subsidiary” of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, called its actions a “stunt,” and warned that by discouraging customers, the Black Friday actions would hurt employees’ end-of-quarter bonuses. Rather than downplaying it, said Owen, “It seemed like they were treating it like the notion of people picketing outside of stores could be a big deal.”

Owen said that his manager read, verbatim, a list of questions and answers that appeared to have been designed to instruct managers how to respond to workers’ questions, rather than to be read word for word. According to Owen, the manager read a hypothetical question from a worker who had heard that the strikes were legally protected, followed by an answer that, “It seems to us that this action is not protected by the law.” He read a hypothetical question from a worker about whether striking on Friday could lead to punishment, and then, “Answer: No comment.” After reading that, said Owen, “He kind of chuckled.”

[blake 3:17]

Walmart Black Friday 2012: Why workers are striking on Black Friday

Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/walmart-black-friday-2012-why-workers-are-striking-on-black-friday#ixzz2CpcgClzu

The stage has been set for a battle between a group of Walmart workers and the retailer on Black Friday.
The union-backed group OUR Walmart expects thousands of workers to participate in the protest planned this week. The employees will ask the country's largest employer to end what they call retaliation against speaking out for better pay, fair schedules and affordable health care.
Such retaliation can include shuffling around their shifts, cutting hours and moving them around departments.
Walmart says that the protestors make up just a handful of its 1.3 million workforce.
In an effort to stop them, Walmart filed a complaint last week with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and its subsidiary known as OURWalmart unlawfully organized picket lines and other demonstrations in the past six months. The retailer said the actions have disrupted business, and that workers' ongoing actions violate the National Labor Relations Act, which prohibits picketing for any period over 30 days without filing a petition to form a union.
Representatives of the federal agency are currently holding talks at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, about the complaint. Nancy Cleeland, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the board tries to process claims within 72 hours.
But since the case is complex, she said the agency might not make that goal.
Cleeland said that there are currently about 20 charges filed against Walmart stores by individual employees and OUR Walmart alleging a number of illegal acts. She wouldn't say what the specific charges are.
OUR Walmart, which gets financial backing and other support from the UFCW, says that it is specifically protesting against the company's retaliation against its employees and doesn't have specific demands tied to the Black Friday walkout.
However, in 2011, the group asked the retailer to pay workers a minimum wage of $13 per hour and to make more full-time jobs available for its part-time employees who want them. It also asked the retailer to provide affordable health care, predictable hours and to recognize freedom of speech and association.
Walmart would not say what percentage of its workers are part-time, or how much they are paid on average. Tovar said that a majority of its employees are full-time workers, who get an average hourly wage of $12.40, about $5 above the federal minimum wage.
Jeff Landry, an employee in Sapulpa, Okla., plans to join the protest. He works from 4 to 9 p.m. after attending school all day. When he was scheduled for a shift during class, Landry complained. He says his managers responded by cutting his hours from 40 to below 30 a week.
This meant that Landry was no longer eligible for health care, since Walmart requires workers to work an average of 30 hours per week to get benefits.
"They tried all these tactics to get rid of me," he said.
Landry has his job despite walking off work last month, when a protest that started at a Wal-Mart in Los Angeles spread to stores in 12 other cities.
Walmart spokesman David Tovar said Walmart has a policy that prohibits retaliation of any kind, and investigates every allegation.
Labor law experts say that if true, the employees' claims would violate terms of the National Labor Rights Act, which protects workers against that kind of retaliation.
Angela Cornell, director of the labor law clinic at Cornell Law School, said that Walmart's complaint might not work because labor laws that prohibit picketing over 30 days applies only to protestors trying to form a union or gain collective bargaining rights, not employees who are protesting against retaliation.
According to William Gould IV, who was chairman of the NLRB under President Clinton and is now a law professor at Stanford University, the law protects employees protesting employment conditions. He also said that it would be unusual for the federal agency to conclude an investigation of this size within a matter of days, or in time for Black Friday.
Both Gould and Cornell agree it is likely that the retailer is using the complaint as a way to deter workers from taking part in the walk offs.
"It appears to me that the main motivation is...to make some employees decide not to participate, even though their activities are protected," Cornell said.


Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/walmart-black-friday-2012-why-workers-are-striking-on-black-friday#ixzz2CpcY1dLh

[blake 3:17]

Apologies for all the posts. This is such a big issue and I hope others will benefit from the coverage being shared


Walmart Asks a Judge to Block Historic Strikes
Josh Eidelson on November 19, 2012 - 2:29 PM ET
Weeks into a wave of historic strikes, and days before a planned Black Friday showdown, Walmart has filed a National Labor Relations Board charge alleging that the pickets are illegal and asking for a judge to shut them down. Walmart is no stranger to the NLRB: labor groups have filed numerous charges there accusing the retail giant of punishing or threatening activist workers, including dozens over the past few months. But this charge is the first one filed by the company in a decade. It will pose a decision for a judge and, even sooner, for the Labor Board’s Obama-appointed acting general counsel, who’s been a lightning rod for past Republican attacks.

The National Labor Relations Board, created by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, is tasked with enforcing and interpreting private sector labor law. Walmart’s charge, filed Thursday night and reported by Reuters Friday evening, sets two processes in motion. The first, which could take months, is the full investigation and resolution of the allegation, beginning with fact-finding by board agents based in Walmart’s backyard (NLRB Region 26, which covers Arkansas and three other states). The second, which could advance as soon as this week, is the decision whether to grant an injunction restricting strikes against Walmart while the investigation proceeds. Experts say NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon would have final say over whether the board seeks the injunction; if it does, a district court judge will decide whether to grant it.

Reached over e-mail, Walmart Director of National Media Relations Kory Lundberg said that the company filed the charge in part because “many of our associates have urged us to do something about the UFCW’s latest round of publicity stunts…” In an e-mailed statement, Dallas OUR Walmart member Colby Harris called Walmart’s charge “baseless,” and said, “Walmart is doing everything in its power to attempt to silence our voice.”

While the NLRB is most often criticized by conservatives, its swiftest and strongest remedies are devoted to restricting unions. Federal law requires the NLRB to prioritize employers’ allegations of illegal picketing over other charges, and to request an injunction to stop the picketing if it finds “reasonable cause” to believe such allegations are correct, and expects to issue a complaint (the equivalent of an indictment). So injunctions restricting picketing are often granted within a few days of workers’ going on strike (in contrast, workers who allege they were fired for their union activism often wait for months, injunction-less, to find out whether they’ll get their jobs back). Experts say that, if Walmart has strong enough evidence, an injunction could potentially be issued in time to block Black Friday pickets. But that’s a very big “if.”

Walmart’s charge alleges that the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union is responsible for illegal “representational” picketing – that is, strikes designed to win union recognition from Walmart. Labor law generally forbids unions from engaging in representational pickets for more than thirty days (the US Supreme Court does not apply the same First Amendment protections to labor picketing as it does to “God Hates Fags” pickets at funerals).

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171348/walmart-asks-judge-block-historic-strikes

[thriller]

Link to conservative Milwaukee editorial: http://www.jsonline.com/business/walmart-workers-plan-thanksgiving-walkout-tu7npfu-180261931.html

They believe many workers plan to walk-out at 8pm on Thursday across the country. But they also state "Its Bentonville, Ark.-based parent company, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has accused workers at some stores of engaging in unfair labor practices, and last Friday asked the National Labor Relations Board for an immediate injunction and an investigation."
And link from abc: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/national-labor-relations-board-ready-issue-injunction-walmart/story?id=17771947#.UK0uMoaDmSp

States the NLRB hasn't ruled on a decision.

These fucking labor laws forcing wage-slaves to work on national holidays are so crazy it astonishes me this is not waking more people up. Hopefully a walk-out does happen and people can see the power of collective workers. A successful result could do wonders for my current paper I'm working on. It'd be a win-win :D

Solidarity with Wal-Mart workers.

[The Jay]

I'm going to a local action and am bringing a box of joe and a bunch of cups.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

I'm going to a local action and am bringing a box of joe and a bunch of cups.
Every comrade near a picket line should be doing the same. Go out, show your support, help raise their spirits.

[KurtFF8]

Link to conservative Milwaukee editorial: http://www.jsonline.com/business/walmart-workers-plan-thanksgiving-walkout-tu7npfu-180261931.html

They believe many workers plan to walk-out at 8pm on Thursday across the country. But they also state "Its Bentonville, Ark.-based parent company, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has accused workers at some stores of engaging in unfair labor practices, and last Friday asked the National Labor Relations Board for an immediate injunction and an investigation."
And link from abc: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/national-labor-relations-board-ready-issue-injunction-walmart/story?id=17771947#.UK0uMoaDmSp

States the NLRB hasn't ruled on a decision.

These fucking labor laws forcing wage-slaves to work on national holidays are so crazy it astonishes me this is not waking more people up. Hopefully a walk-out does happen and people can see the power of collective workers. A successful result could do wonders for my current paper I'm working on. It'd be a win-win :D

Solidarity with Wal-Mart workers.

Well the UFCW backed OUR Walmart filed a few complaints themselves based on the threats that Walmart has given in the lead up to this.

One article I read had a statement from the NLRB saying it likely wouldn't reach a decision by Friday. So in terms of stopping the action, it seems WalMart has already failed (although if they win at the NLRB they could fine the UFCW/OUR WalMart)

Also the ITF has issued an interesting statement that's worth watching developments for http://www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/8172

[Fruit of Ulysses]

Plenty of Black Friday demonstrations are being organized by the IWW! and hopefully il see my PSL brothers at the demo in LBC tomorow! can i get a holla?

[The Jay]

Every comrade near a picket line should be doing the same. Go out, show your support, help raise their spirits.

Exactly! Tonight I will bring coffee and tomorrow I will bring pizza.

[Yuppie Grinder]

This strike isn't just in Southern California like the proletocrats are saying. It's nation wide.

[sixdollarchampagne]

I remember, some years ago, a union actually won an election at a Wal Mart store in Canada, and Wal Mart shut the store down. Anti-unionism is obviously the first commandment for Wal Mart managers, which is another reason that a one-day strike at any Wal Mart store is an event!

As it happens, just this morning I found out that my old IWW branch is organizing support rallies at three Wal Mart stores. Roll the union on!


Wal Mart is willing to shut down stores for mere rumors of unionization amongst their workers. The fact that workers at multiple stores were able to organize this is huge.

Union presence amongst wal mart, and retail stores in general, is completely non existent in america.

[blake 3:17]

It looks like at least a thousand actions will be taking place. Bring the ruckus!

[The Jay]

It looks like at least a thousand actions will be taking place. Bring the ruckus!

I'm getting changed for it now! Dress warm everyone!

[thriller]

Nothing in my neck of the woods yet, just Black Friday fundies.

[The Jay]

I went and there was no picket. There wasn't even a huddled group. I guess that they had their reasons for not walking out.

[blake 3:17]

I went and there was no picket. There wasn't even a huddled group. I guess that they had their reasons for not walking out.

I'm not sure that any have started yet. You can search by zipcode here : http://corporateactionnetwork.org/campaigns/black-friday

Management has been putting strong pressure on employees and seeking injunctions from the state in order to prevent action from happening.

[blake 3:17]

Nope some shit is going down: https://twitter.com/ForRespect

and https://twitter.com/ChangeWalmart

[thriller]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ChangeWalmart/status/271835966510071808

Kenosha, WI customers kicked out.

[Hermes]

This is probably a really stupid question (apologies), but what would be good to bring with us if we're able to get to one? As in, what will they most need/want?

[thriller]

This is probably a really stupid question (apologies), but what would be good to bring with us if we're able to get to one? As in, what will they most need/want?

Coffee, food, maybe blankets or extra gloves/hats if it's cold, purell?

[blake 3:17]

This is probably a really stupid question (apologies), but what would be good to bring with us if we're able to get to one? As in, what will they most need/want?

Not stupid at all.

The most important thing is to turn out and introduce yourself and tell strikers that you support them. After that, hang out and chat. If people do need things, you could help with what folks need, to make a coffee/food run or whatever else.

I have been teased many times for carrying around pencils, notepads, masking tape, plastic bags, paper towels, and elastic bands (not usually all at once...) but they come in handy in a squeeze.

[Fruit of Ulysses]

dude thats actually a very good list of stuff to bring! il keep that in mind

[Questionable]

How's the strike going? How many Wal-marts and workers are actually a part of it?

[GiantMonkeyMan]

It sounds like a lot of the more vulnerable workers have been scared by Walmart into not striking but still it's a historic day for organised labour.

http://www.salon.com/2012/11/23/1000_walmart_protests_across_the_us/
'1,000s Walmart protests across the US'

Walmart stores rang up almost 10 million transactions from the time doors opened for Black Friday shoppers at 8 p.m. Thursday until midnight. Meanwhile the following strikes and protest actions have been reported:

Dozens of protesters supported strikers in Miami when they walked off the job last night. (http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/11/23/walmart-employees-protest-in-front-of-miami-store/)
500 workers and supporters marched on a Walmart in Landover, MD.
Striking Chicago workers and their supporters marched on several Walmart stores in Illinois beginning at 5:30 a.m. Friday morning.
Striking workers in Duarte, Calif. (https://twitter.com/ForRespect/status/271998859297837056/photo/1) formed a picket lined up in front of their store.
In Florida, U.S. Rep.-elect Alan Grayson walked a worker off her job (http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Alan-Grayson-helps-Walmart-worker-walk-off-job/-/1637132/17528464/-/1318ugkz/-/index.html) Thursday night and then joined workers on the picket line Friday morning.
Dozens protested with striking workers in San Leandro, Calif. (http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2012/1122/Black-Friday-liveblog-Is-not-shopping-unpatriotic)
Workers in Clovis and Albuquerque in New Mexico, walked off the job. (http://kunm.org/post/new-mexico-walmart-workers-activists-plan-joint-protests-black-friday)
In Lancaster, Texas, Dallas police ushered strikers (http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/Union-helps-Texas-Walmart-workers-stage-protest--180586401.html) off of Walmart property, but they continued their protest nearby.
The walkout in Kenosha, Wisc. was amplified by a light show last night. (https://twitter.com/RickSmithShow/status/271813076192481281/photo/1) And workers are now on strike (http://vimeo.com/54147131) in Milwaukee, Wisc.
In Quincy, Mass. supporters projected a 30-foot “Stand Up, Live Better” (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.380832045337788.94383.100176396736689&type=1) message on facade of a Walmart supercenter. They distributed 650 flyers, 500 sets of handwarmers, and 300 “I support Walmart workers’ rights!” stickers to customers waiting in line, along with thank you cards for Associates

[GoddessCleoLover]

Wish that I had been able to attend the Landover demo, but Landover is about a two-hour round trip and I didn't realize it would be the location of a major demo. Good to see that things are happening. Proves that trade unions have a positive role to play, since one of the main forces involved is my old union, the UFCW.

[Robespierres Neck]

I was at a protest at Wal-Mart earlier today. There's a lot of workers striking in FL, unfortunately not (yet) in my town. We were there to spread the word and get the message across. The managers and police watched us like hawks.

[GoddessCleoLover]

GiantMonkeyMan's link indicated a fairly large number of demonstrators in Miami. Were you there?

[blake 3:17]

Many thanks to Josh Eidelson of The Nation for following this struggle. There's another overview at http://www.salon.com/2012/11/23/1000_walmart_protests_across_the_us/

With Biggest Strike Against Biggest Employer, Walmart Workers Make History Again
Josh Eidelson on November 23, 2012 - 11:46 PM ET


For about 24 hours, Walmart workers, union members, and a slew of other activists pulled off the largest-ever US strike against the largest employer in the world. According to organizers, strikes hit a hundred US cities, with hundreds of retail workers walking off the job (last month's strikes drew 160). Organizers say they also hit their goal of a thousand total protests, with all but four states holding at least one. In the process, they notched a further escalation against the corporation that’s done more than any other to frustrate the ambitions and undermine the achievements of organized labor in the United States.

"I’m so happy that this is history, that my grandkids can learn from this to stand up for themselves,” Miami striker Elaine Rozier told The Nation Thursday night. Before, “I always used to sit back and not say anything…. I’m proud of myself tonight.”

Rozier and her co-workers kicked off the Black Friday strike around 7:30 EST Thursday night; it rolled from Miami through big cities like Chicago and smaller ones like Tulsa, where overnight stocker Christopher Bentley Owen, agitated by an intimidating “captive audience” meeting, decided at the last minute to join the organization and became his store’s sole striker. After holding back because he didn’t plan to stay in his job for long, said Owen, he recognized that millions of other low-wage workers offer the same reason not to get involved. “Meanwhile,” he said, “there are millions of people in those jobs…at some point, people have to get together.”

By 9 AM Friday, Walmart had already sent out a statement announcing its “best ever Black Friday events,” claiming that only 50 workers were on strike, and dismissing the action as a failure. Organizers accused Walmart of making up numbers, and noted that the company’s aggressive efforts to discourage participation undermined its supposed indifference.

The Black Friday strike came a year and a half after retail workers announced the founding of the new employee group OUR Walmart, five months after guest workers struck a Walmart seafood supplier, and seven weeks after the country’s first-ever coordinated Walmart store strikes. Walmart striker Cindy Murray, a veteran of the last decade’s unsuccessful union-backed campaign against Walmart, said that after the 2008 election, “I was like, we have to do something different.” (Strikes at Walmart certainly qualify.) Murray said OUR Walmart has had greater success because workers saw it “as our organization,” as so they “finally said, maybe we can be saved. Maybe we can speak out.”

Murray helped lead a Friday morning march of four-hundred some workers and activists to Hanover, Maryland's Capital Plaza Walmart. Chants included “Whose Walmart? Our Walmart!,” and “Stand up! Live better!” At the edge of the Walmart-controlled portion of the shopping center’s parking lot, leaders from Jobs with Justice asked a manager to commit not to punish the workers striking today; they say he replied that Walmart won’t retaliate, said it never does, and denied that a corporate vice president’s warning of potential “consequences” constituted a threat.

Asked whether the retaliation would get worse before it gets better, United Food & Commercial Workers union Organizing Director Pat O’Neill called it “a real possibility” and said it “would be a mistake.” “I think the workers are showing,” added O’Neill, “that they’re not going to be silenced.”

Retaliation was an ever-present theme of the day: an outrage that drove some workers to strike, a threat that led many more to stay at work, a focus of workers’ demands, and a question hanging over next week. Allegations of illegal retaliation provided workers greater potential legal protection to strike; puncturing any sense of safety about striking may have been the motivation for Walmart’s Labor Board charge alleging that the strikes were themselves illegal. And Walmart’s tactics over the past week may have taken a toll: organizers said that 100 DC-area Walmart store workers struck this week, but maybe no more than a dozen on Black Friday itself (they chalked this up to workers’ desire to cause more disruption earlier in the week while products were still being unloaded). Paramount, CA, striker Maria Elena Jefferson said that some of her co-workers wouldn’t strike because “they think we’ll never win” and “they didn’t want to lose their jobs.” She said she hoped today’s actions–including a rally of well over 1,000 supporters in Paramount–would change their minds.

The Paramount rally included the day’s only planned civil disobedience, with three Walmart retail workers and six other supporters taking arrest for blocking Lakewood Boulevard. Other tactics were more common across the country, including subversive light shows and mic-checking flash mobs.

The Maryland protesters split up after their rally into two groups: a larger one which leafleted and caroled at a store in Laurel (“I saw Walmart fire Santa Claus”; “Deck the aisles with living wages”) and a smaller group of community activists that headed to nearby Severn. There, about fifty people walked quickly through the garden section, to the front of the store, and launched a mic check, the crowd echoing an organizer from Jobs with Justice as she read from a prepared script: “We call on Walmart to change. We call on Walmart to stop bullying.” After being warned by police, the group turned and left, chanting “We’ll be back.”

The Maryland rally, like the overall campaign, had close ties to the UFCW; most of the Hanover marchers arrived on a half dozen buses that departed from UFCW Local 400’s nearby union hall. Felicia Miller, a UFCW member working at Safeway as a deli clerk, told The Nation that Walmart is driving down standards for new workers at her unionized store. “The young people coming in, pay stinks now because of Walmart…” said Miller. “Because our companies are saying, if Walmart can get away with it, why can’t we?” She said the sight of Walmart workers on strike was “awesome. I’m here to support them all the way.”

While some observers are already deriding the strike for failing to bring Walmart to its knees, worker activists and staff organizers have long been talking about it as an escalation, not a climax. While on the picket line Thursday and Friday, workers were already talking about striking again, and hoping that their courage this time would embolden more workers to join in the next. “There’s going to be more days that we’re going to strike,” Rozier said last night, “and it’s not going to stop. I’m not going to stop until they respect us and give us what we want.” That’s in line with what the UFCW’s Dan Schlademan promised earlier this month: “This is a new permanent reality for Walmart…. Two thousand and twelve is the beginning of the season where retail workers are going to start to stand up.”

As he marched towards the Hanover Walmart this morning, former SEIU organizer Stephen Lerner credited the campaign with showing that workers, through strategic use of strikes, “can engage in actions that both make them feel powerful and that impact the company, and they don’t need to just spend their life waiting for some [National Labor Relations Board] process to demonstrate they want a union.” Lerner, the architect of the Justice for Janitors campaign, added, “What they’re really showing is, they’re acting like a union.”

By 9 PM EST Friday, the day’s last major action, a picket in San Leandro, CA with a dragon puppet and a “brass liberation band,” had come to a close. The three workers who’d been arrested in the afternoon had made it safely home. Tomorrow, the Walmart strikers are headed back to work, with at least one exception: a San Leandro worker who wanted to strike but was scheduled for days off on Thursday and Friday. She'll be striking tomorrow.

Much of this reporting originally appeared in my Black Friday live blog for The Nation.

[Fruit of Ulysses]

People from Occupy Orange County and embryonic members of the new IWW branch in Orange County (first branch meeting Dec. 1st!) convened at the Wall Mart in the city of Orange today for an all day solidarity strike lasting from 9am-8pm, which organized rallying at 9 and 4 respectively. I wasnt there the whole time, but had signs and flyers and a medic and it was filmed. Around 5:30ish the managers came out and hassled us, they said we couldnt solicit and that we needed official paperwork or theyd call the cops. they kinda yanked our chains around and while the police rolled by a few times they didnt do anything. We repeatedly had to ask the manager for him to get the paperwork so that we could be legit, and when we asked him specific questions he didnt (couldnt?) give us straight answers. At one point we thought his talk of getting us the official paperwork was a ruse to get us to wait around for the cops to get us, but in retrospect it seems as if he secretly sympathized with us and felt like his hands were tied behind his back. Finally. we got hold of it and screened it to a lawyer. He gave us the go ahead to keep on protesting so long as we werent caught passing out flyers/pamphlets. We have another event planned for saturday night and christmas day forsure cuz were expecting it to be a long term thing and orange county desperately needs agitation and organization. Everyone there was kindhearted and really cool. Babysteps, but its getting there.

[the last donut of the night]

"I’m so happy that this is history, that my grandkids can learn from this to stand up for themselves,” Miami striker Elaine Rozier told The Nation Thursday night. Before, “I always used to sit back and not say anything…. I’m proud of myself tonight.”

beautiful.

[PhillyGuy]

There was a story -- I believe on Huffington Post -- about a single Walmart worker who walked out. The reaction from her fellow workers was disgusting.

I'll try to find a link. Mostly, they weren't supportive in the least.

[blake 3:17]

There was a story -- I believe on Huffington Post -- about a single Walmart worker who walked out. The reaction from her fellow workers was disgusting.

I'll try to find a link. Mostly, they weren't supportive in the least.

It happens. Most workers are scared and have good reason to be. There's also tremendous anti-union sentiment, some of which is BS and some based on negative experiences.

I saw a couple of stories about this, but it seemed like mostly propaganda against the strike action.

[GoddessCleoLover]

The anti-Walmart actions were significant enough that the bourgeois news media felt compelled to attempt to discredit them.

[KurtFF8]

For Walmart Workers, The Possibilities Are Endless (http://laborstrat.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/for-walmart-workers-the-possibilities-are-endless/)



A lot of the discussion following the Walmart strikes has centered on the reception of the strikes by the general public. Questions of efficacy and impact, it seems, have mostly surrounded how Walmart responded, how much media attention there was, and even how the strikes impacted sales.
This type of analysis incorrectly assumes that the role of striking is to gain public support and in general to win favor. Instead, what are important are not these sorts of ‘intangibles’ which can never be fully controlled by the workers or organizers, but instead the objective parameters for the organizing.
http://laborstrat.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/secondpostpic1.jpg?w=373 (http://laborstrat.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/secondpostpic1.jpg)
The relevant parameters, objective and quantifiable in this case, are the legal framework and the leverage of the workers. In the case of the Walmart strikes, the workers are within their total legal right in organizing. This point will undoubtedly be evidenced by the breaking down of Walmart’s Unfair Labor Practice filing before the National Labor Relations Board.
Leverage, however, the power of the workforce, is something that doesn’t remain constant. The workers begin with no leverage and then build that leverage out of strong organizational infrastructure. In this case, that infrastructure looks like workers being emboldened, talking to each other, and labor issues becoming a common topic of discussion for the typical Walmart worker.
The Walmart workers and organizers of the strikes have done everything right in this case. They have built a groundswell of organizing activity among the workforce; from here, it is easy to see where the strongest leverage points are located. Some Walmarts may have had lower turnout, whereas others may have had immense turn out (reports say up to 600 demonstrators at certain locations). This has tremendous benefits for organizing because now energy can be directed away from an exhaustive national organizing campaign to individual locations where there is great potential for strong employee-based leverage to be built. While this means that the front lines will become smaller, organizing resources will become increasingly concentrated, and more intense conflicts with Walmart management will take place, it also means that certain units of employees will become strong resource and organizing centers for not only other employees spread out throughout Walmart, but the entire industry.
In this way, the possibilities are endless. How and where the workers decide to consolidate power from certain groups, like whether organizing becomes more community based or strictly workplace based, will be determined. But it’s clear, and surely the organizers recognize this, that the organizing for Walmart workers is just starting. In this age of total information saturation, it’s easy to place too much importance on the media and visibility. There’s no doubt, however, that yesterday’s actions inaugurated a new era, as far as labor issues are concerned, in which there is something very new and very real happening, and just beginning.