Walmart won't pay its employees enough to afford Thanksgiving dinner, so they're holding food drives for their employees. Seriously. It's been reported that an Oklahoma City Walmart set up bins for underpaid associates to donate canned goods to other underpaid associates.
We have a better idea, Walmart: Pay your workers enough to put food on the table.
If you agree, please join Walmart workers in their fight for $15 and full-time work. Click here to find a Black Friday protest near you. There will be protests at over 1,600 Walmart stories. Just plug in your zip code and you'll find one or more protests in your area.
OUR Walmart, an organization of Walmart workers, has sponsored these protests for the past few years. Every year the number of protesters -- employees and their community allies -- gets bigger. In response, Walmart has made changes.
Just like fast food and home care workers who went on strike in September to demand $15 an hour, Walmart workers are courageously standing up to challenge a system that keeps millions in poverty so a few massive corporations can make huge profits.
Nobody who works for one of the richest companies in the world should have to worry about their family not having enough to eat.
That's why I'm standing with Walmart workers this Black Friday. I'll be at the Walmart in Pico Rivera, near Los Angeles.
Last year Walmart made $16 billion in profits. The Walton family is the richest family in America with nearly $150 billion in wealth and as much money as 43% of American families combined. And yet, most Walmart workers make less than just $25,000 a year.
Even Fortune magazine says that Walmart can afford to give its employees a 50% raise.
The Waltons can afford to pay all of their employees $15 an hour and provide full-time work -- enough to live with dignity and raise a family. But they won't — not unless we speak up.
From the police and prosecutors in Ferguson to Walmart and its owners, abuse of power by the few is keeping many Americans living in fear. Every day average Americans must worry about police violence, the possibility of being unjustly fired, and being unable to find the next meal for their children.
Our communities cannot thrive when they are held back from earning a decent living by the biggest corporation in our country.
Friday is biggest shopping day in America. It's also the biggest chance we have to make Walmart hear us.
Thanks. |
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