Posted on 11/30/2014 12:31:05 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Organizers of a post-Thanksgiving protest on behalf of workers at a Walmart in downtown Washington, D.C. identified only one of the participants as actually working at that store.
The admission underscores the fact that few Walmart workers have been involved in the protests.
"Thirty striking workers from Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland took part in today’s protest, and Melinda Gaino, one of the striking workers, works at the H Street Store," said Julie Anderson, a spokeswoman for the 1.3 million member United Food and Commercial Workers union, which organized the event.
Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg claimed the number was far smaller. "We recognized about 5 to 10 who are current associates from around the metro area," he said.
UFCW had previously said that 50 Walmart employees from the D.C. metropolitan area, including Virginia and Maryland, would take part in Friday's event. There are 22 Walmarts in a 25-mile radius of the H Street store, meaning that the protest attracted at most about one and a half employees per store in the region. A majority of the protesters were community leaders and liberal activists not affiliated with Walmart.
Nonetheless, UFCW characterized the event in a press release as including "hundreds of Walmart workers and community allies" who "joined the biggest strikes in company history."
The D.C. protest was part of a national effort to disrupt the non-union retail giant on "Black Friday," one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The union has long sought to organize the retailer's estimated 1.3 million employees. Walmart has aggressively resisted all efforts.
The events were organized through OUR Walmart, a nonprofit organization backed by UFCW that claims to represent Walmart workers upset by the company's practices. The organization said there would be 160 events nationally, though it directed reporters only to the ten largest.
"I'm on strike today because I don't believe that anyone who speaks up for positive changes at Walmart should be punished," said Gaino in a statement. "I've worked at this store since it opened, and even though I'm considered full-time and work 40 hours a week, I still rely on government assistance to get by. Walmart needs to respect our right to speak out for a better life."
Walmart annual wages range between $16,000-$23,000 for cashiers, $16,000-27,000 for sales associates, $16,000-28,000 for shelf stockers and $18,000-$31,000 for pharmacists, according to payscale.com, making them comparable to other retailers like Target. By comparison, the annual salary for a 40 hour-week at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is $15,080. Anything below $11,670 is defined as poverty by the federal government, though that level rises with every dependent claimed by the worker.
Few other employees at the D.C. location appeared to share Gaino's opinion. "I haven't heard of anyone joining the protest," said one shelf-stocker.
Another worker, busy scrubbing anti-Walmart slogans scrawled in chalk on the sidewalk in front of the store by protesters, shook his head. "They say we are just getting $9.50 an hour (DC's current minimum wage), but that's not so," the employee said.
There did not seem to be much of a groundswell at other metro area stores either. A worker at a Lanham, Md., store that been the site of a 2012 OUR Walmart protest said, "I wouldn't do that. I love my job." She called the D.C. protest "a mess," adding that she wouldn't want to see the store shut down on Black Friday because so many of their local customers depend on it.
Other workers were simply weary. An Easton, Md., Walmart employee said she had headaches as a result of being at the store until closing at 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, then coming back in at 5 a.m. on Friday. She wasn't getting overtime either. But she wasn't about to join a protest.
"No, I want to keep my job," she said.
I am a retired engineer, I helped design some awesome weapons, I now work the night shift at WalMart, a great company to work for, the leftists can FO with their Union shit.
I am a retired engineer, I helped design some awesome weapons, I now work the night shift at WalMart, a great company to work for, the leftists can FO with their Union shit.
I am a retired engineer, I helped design some awesome weapons, I now work the night shift at WalMart, a great company to work for, the leftists can FO with their Union shit.
Bump!
hey Moderators delete this and all those repeats please :)
I didn’t see anything at the local WalMart here.
“Wal-Mart workers don’t get to live in subsidized housing on base.”
While that is a valid, and a good, point, WM workers can move up past that income, work overtime, work another job, and do other things to get financially ahead that most, not all, but most, service members cannot.
When I was in I had no ability for a second job. None. Not even allowed. I was stuck with my income. I had to wait for promotion cycles for any additional income; that and a benevolent Congress for pay raises.
In 1994, I worker for WalMart. After working for a now defunct department store in the northeast that was unionized, WalMart was a great company to work at.
The ‘moderators’ are not psychic. They aren’t following every ‘word’ of every post on every thread.
The quickest and easiest way to get action is to go to one of your posts and click on the ABUSE button.
Explain what you want done, and they will usually take action very quickly.
Organizers of a post-Thanksgiving protest on behalf of workers at a Walmart in downtown Washington, D.C. identified only one of the participants as actually working at that store. The admission underscores the fact that few Walmart workers have been involved in the protests.
Two years and still an E-1? That’s not soldier material, that’s not even Walmart material.
I recently had a conversation with the manager of one of my local Walmart stores.
We discussed the situation of Walmart employees, and he told me that the majority of them are not displeased. He said the salary and benefits package is actually quite competitive for retail, and that the media pushes a false narrative.
He glanced at me a bit apprehensively as he said that last, not knowing what side I fell on; when I told him I had no doubt of it, he seemed rather relieved.
I shop at Walmart quite a bit, and the longtime greeter at the door always grins when she sees me....she tells me to keep coming because I’m making her stock options go up. She seems pretty content.
Tucker hit the nail.
I’m not sure how much compensation has changed for the military over the years, but Army privates probably get a few more benefits though. Used to be they lived on base for free. Housing is a huge expense. Heavily discounted goods at the Exchange, free meals at the chow hall.
Oh, puleez. How much skill does it take to run the bar code across a scanner and put a Mr. Coffee maker into a plastic sack? If they don't like Walmart's pay, then don't apply. Learn some skills and get a better paying job. No one is forcing them to work there.
Just like 99.9% of the Ferguson protesters who don't have a dog in the fight. It's all being staged by Holder and the usurper. Stir the pot. Stir the pot.
"It is remarkable that Wal-Mart, a company that makes a modest profit margin (typically between 3 percent and 3.5 percent) selling ordinary people ordinary goods at low prices, is the great hate totem for the well-heeled Left,"
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/393648/who-boycotts-wal-mart-kevin-d-williamson
Well, Lefty MDLION, assuming you're still 'on shift' and haven't gone home for the day, what do you have to say for yourself?
You would have loved a union that threatens your livelihood by shutting down the revenue stream of your employer from time to time... right
Wal-Mart employees who do not like their jobs are free to leave and find employment elsewhere, they can even start their own business.
bump
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