Walmart strike

Walmart Workers Threaten Black Friday Walkout

Walmart workers are threatening the company with Black Friday disruption should it refuse to give in to demands by labor aimed at organizing employees of the world’s largest retailer.

Forbes,

12 October, 2012

The first-ever strike by Walmart workers took place October 9, as workers in 12 cities walked off their jobs, calling for the retailer to address wages and cease retaliation against workers who seek to organize. The group, OUR Walmart, is a labor-backed organization that advocates on behalf of Walmart’s workers (OUR stands for Organization United for Respect).

Walmart workers walked off their jobs in Chicago, Dallas, the DC area, Miami, Orlando, Seattle, and across California and then descended on Walmart’s annual meeting with investment analysts to plead their case. And while that may sound impressive in scope, the entire strike included just 88 workers, reports Salon.com, and 100 arriving at Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

And now workers are threatening to disrupt the biggest shopping day of the year: Black Friday.

Striking workers and national leaders committed to engaging in a wide range of non-violent activities on Black Friday, including rallies, flash mobs, direct action and other efforts to inform customers about the illegal actions that Walmart has been taking against its workers.

Labor is certainly having a moment. Chicago Public School teachers won a plethora of concessions from the city after a more than week-long strike and other teacher’s unions have followed suit. Walmart’s positive financial results have recently spurred its stock to a 12-year high, the time may be ripe for labor to force some changes.

But could it hurt Black Friday? Not likely. Walmart is the largest private employer in the U.S. It employs approximately 1.4 million associates. Tuesday’s strike had less than 100. Compare that to the stadium of cheering Walmart employees present at its annual shareholder meeting by all accounts genuinely happy with their jobs.

The prospect of a Black Friday showdown makes for good press and may help advance OUR Walmart’s cause, but Black Friday will likely go on as scheduled — door busters, brawls and all.