Walmart Black Friday Protests Planned At 1,500 Stores, Says Employee Association

As department stores appear to be following Wal-Mart's lead in remaining open on Thanksgiving, one employee organization says it'll be striking back at the retail behemoth by staging protests on Black Friday. OUR (Organization United for Respect) Wal-Mart, an association of Wal-Mart workers, say they have planned acts of civil disobedience at 1,500 stores on Friday to protest for better working conditions and higher pay. Bloomberg.com writes that several community organizations such as MoveOn.org and Color of Change, which represents African-Americans' economic interests, will be joining in. If all happens as planned, it'll mark the second consecutive year OUR Wal-Mart has held Black Friday protests. Last year saw demonstrations at some 1,200 stores nationwide.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's biggest employer, has remained open on Thanksgiving for more than 25 years. But the practice has come under renewed scrutiny after Macy's announced that it would open on Thanksgiving evening for the first time, and two other department stores, J.C. Penney and Kohl's Corp., said they would follow suit. Macy's and Wal-Mart representatives say that the workers can choose to stay home on Thanksgiving if they like. Macy's will be staffed by people who volunteer to work and some temporary workers, who will earn overtime and be given free meals, according to Bloomberg.com. Wal-Mart employees are given much of the same, including store discounts. But Martha Sellers, a Wal-Mart cashier in Paramount, California, told Bloomberg that it wasn't quite so rosy. "When you're scheduled, you work or it's a missed day," Sellers said. "So many missed days and you're fired."

Organizers say their base of support is growing. Making Change at Wal-Mart campaign director Daniel Schlademan told reporters during a conference call that "the energy in support of Walmart workers is growing [and] the protests are growing." Schlademan's campaign is funded by the labor union United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), and works in collaboration with OUR Wal-Mart, which in the past year has led strikes in Southern California, Chicago, Dallas, Ohio and Seattle, according to MSNBC. Other labor organizations have expressed support with the campaign.

"It plays into the larger themes that we've been pushing around low-wage workers who don't have a lot of job security," Amaya Smith, a spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO, told MSNBC. "Thanksgiving, Black Friday is one example of one holiday but throughout the year this is an ongoing issue. These workers need to have a voice on the job."

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