Walmart rattled by growing unrest ahead of Black Friday's
Walmart rattled by growing unrest ahead of Black Friday's strike
Sarah Jaffe
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 November 2012 08.30 EST
On Friday, Americans by the millions will crowd into big-box retail shops to take advantage of bargains on wide-screen TVs and other electronics – necessities, as well as luxuries – all marked down in order to draw them in and have them line up outside in advance of the doors opening. And now, as we've learned, several chains plan to open at 8pm on Thanksgiving day itself.
The greatest irony of "Black Friday", as it's known, is that
it's seen as a celebration of consumerism, instead of a sign of desperation: when a Walmart worker was crushed to death by a Black Friday crowd in 2008, the news was accompanied with moralizing about American greed, rather than
any discussion about low wages in the US.
Would people be so desperate for bargain shopping at already dirt-cheap places like Walmart
if they themselves were making a decent living?
This year, Black Friday at Walmarts around the country will be marked by something other than just ultra-low prices.
Workers, members of a labor union-backed organization called Organization United for Respect at Walmart (Our Walmart) will be striking and, along with their allies, holding rallies and actions to support the effort. Walmart has managed to go 50 years without a strike; many unions have tried and failed to organize workers. But in just a month and a half, the strikes have spread to
stores across 12 cities, and Walmart is worried: the company has filed an unfair labor practices charge with the National Labor Relations Board.snip
Read more here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/20/walmart-unrest-black-friday-strikeGotta love the Brits - they tell it like it is.
Support your local Walmart employees - don't buy ANYTHING from them on Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday.