Solidarity with Striking Walmart Workers

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Clicking here will automatically add your name to this petition to Walmart Chairman of the Board Rob Walton: "Stop exploiting your workers. Meet with Walmart workers about their demands for better pay and working conditions." Automatically add your name: Learn more about this campaign Show solidarity with striking Walmart workers before Black Friday. Dear Jim, Walmart Stores Inc. — notorious for years for trampling the basic rights of American workers1 — has become the focus of a historic strike by its store workers. In an unprecedented move, Walmart workers recently went on strike across the country,2 informing Walmart management that strikes will spread throughout November if Walmart doesn't listen to their demands.3 Those workers are now making good on that promise as they are heading back to the picket line this week.4 We need to show solidarity with the Walmart workers who are going on strike this week for a safe workplace and a decent standard of living. With Thanksgiving week approaching fast, taking action is especially crucial now as our allies are organizing Walmart workers to go on strike during Walmart's Black Friday sales. Please sign the petition today so that we can deliver your signatures by the end of this week Tell Walmart Chairman of the Board Rob Walton: Meet with Walmart workers about their demands for better pay and working conditions. Click here to automatically sign the petition. Walmart's 2.1 million employees make it the largest private employer in the world, trailing only the U.S. Department of Defense and the Chinese People's Liberation Army in overall employment.5 Fully 1.4 million of them work at Walmart stores in the United States.6 And while Rob Walton raked in at least $420 million in Walmart dividends alone last year, low pay and arbitrary scheduling force many of Walmart's workers to rely on public assistance to make ends meet. In nearly all of the 23 states which have disclosed the information, Walmart has the largest number of employees on the public rolls of any employer. As reported by Mother Jones: In 2004, a year in which Walmart reported $9.1 billion in profits, the retailer's California employees collected $86 million in public assistance, according to researchers at the University of California-Berkeley. Other studies have revealed widespread use of publicly funded health care by Walmart employees in numerous states. In 2004, Democratic staffers of the House education and workforce committee calculated that each 200-employee Wal-Mart store costs taxpayers an average of more than $400,000 a year, based on entitlements ranging from energy-assistance grants to Medicaid to food stamps to WIC-the federal program that provides food to low-income women with children.7 Walmart always counters these facts by talking about low prices. But the profits of Walmart are enormous. The Walton family, which owns nearly half of Walmart, is as wealthy as the bottom 42 percent of American families combined.8 An average Walmart worker, who earns about $8.81 an hour, would need to work one year to earn as much money as the Walton family earns in Walmart dividends every three minutes.9 Tell Walmart Chairman of the Board Rob Walton: Meet with Walmart workers about their demands for better pay and working conditions. Click here to automatically sign the petition. Too often, when the workers at Walmart stand up for their rights they are subjected to retaliation and intimidation.10 Walmart's appalling record of treating workers poorly also includes blatant disregard for their human rights, discrimination against women, and infliction of damage on small businesses and the environment.11 Walmart needs to know that we have those workers' backs on this. That is why we are joining Making Change at Walmart campaign to turn up the pressure on Walmart to end its exploitative employment practices. Let's show support for those workers who are going to stand up on Black Friday against Walmart about issues related to pay, worker intimidation and retaliation. Tell Walmart Chairman of the Board Rob Walton: Meet with Walmart workers about their demands for better pay and working conditions. Click here to automatically sign the petition. Walmart has set the standard for driving wages down and maximizing profits. Forcing its executive to meet the workers at the negotiating table would be a major milestone. It would have reverberations throughout the retail world and be a victory for those who are fighting for higher wages and better working conditions for American workers. Click below to automatically sign the petition: http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6986350&p=walmart_strike&id=50506-3441008-l95KIhx&t=11 Thank you for taking action. Murshed Zaheed, Deputy Political Director CREDO Action from Working Assets 1. Pallavi Gogoi, "Walmart's Record on Human Rights," Bloomberg Businessweek, May 1, 2007. 2. Dave Jamieson, "Walmart Strikes Mark New Chapter In Labor's Fight With Mega-Retailer," HuffingtonPost.com, October 15, 2012. 3. Harry Bradford, "Walmart Black Friday Strike: Workers Threaten To 'Take Action' On Retailer's Busiest Day [UPDATE]," HuffingtonPost.com, October 11, 2012. 4. Josh Eidelson, " Alleging a New Wave of Retaliation, Walmart Warehouse Workers Will Strike a Day Early ," The Nation, November 13, 2012. 5. Mike Ivey, "Biz Beat: Walmart's low-wage reach runs deep," The Capital Times, July 10, 2012. 6. Henry Blodget, "Walmart Employs 1% Of America. Should It Be Forced To Pay Its Employees More?," BusinessInsider.com, September 20, 2010. 7. Sasha Abramsky, "America on $195 a Week," MotherJones.com, January/February 2009. 8. Josh Harkinson, "To Match Walton Heirs' Fortune, You'd Need to Work at Walmart for 7 Million Years," MotherJones.com, September 20, 2012. 9. Ibid. 10. Josh Eidelson, "Wal-Mart punishes its workers," Salon.com, July26, 2012. 11. Walmartat50.com. Share on Facebook Post to your wall Tweet this Post to Twitter