Walmart Strike Spreads To Nine States As Employees Encourage One Another To Unite
The Walmart strike carries on. For the second time in five days, Walmart employees at various US-based Walmart stores abandoned their posts alongside shrimp workers and warehouse fulfillment staff. The employees gathered together at their various locations to protest low wages, poor medical insurance, and a lack of other basic benefits.
Workers walked off the job in Dallas, Texas;Miami, Florida; Seattle, Washington; Laurel, Maryland; and Northern, Central, and Southern California.
According to Salon, workers plan to strike at least through Wednesday, at which time many will join together for a demonstration outside of the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas office where company officials will meet for their annual investor meeting.
Joining in the walkouts are various members of the Walmart supply chain including shrimp workers in Louisiana and warehouse workers in California and Illinois.
Speaking to Salon, Dallas employee Colby Harris said of the movement:
“A lot of associates, we have to use somewhat of a buddy system. We loan each other money during non-paycheck weeks just to make it through to the next week when we get paid. Because we don’t have enough money after paying bills to even eat lunch.”
Harris who makes less than $9 per hour says Walmart has retaliated against anyone who speaks up about horrid conditions at the company.
Because Walmart employees have failed to form a representative union for their efforts, they have largely relied on one another to convince fellow workers to join in on the strike. Those efforts witnessed sixty workers walking out of nine stores. While that number is only a fraction of the staff from those stores, it showcases the rising demand for better benefits being demanded by Walmart employees.
