Worker group urges Black Friday Walmart boycott
Heral-News
Cindy Wojdyla Cain
JOLIET — A local workers’ rights group wants shoppers to boycott Walmart on Black Friday to send a message to the company about how it treats its employees.
Joliet-based Warehouse Workers for Justice’s “Black Friday Action” includes a rally in front of the Walmart at 2424 W. Jefferson St. The group will gather first at 8 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church, 329 S. Ottawa St., and then head to the Walmart.
Walmart’s retail workers are having problems with “wages, hours, no promotions and no respect,” said WWJ community organizer Cindy Marble. The complaints are similar to ones that afflict warehouse workers, especially workers at warehouses that handle Walmart goods, Marble said.
Friday’s event also is designed to show support for Walmart employees who have been staging strikes around the country, she added.
The group said a high percentage of Walmart employees are on food stamps and government aid.
“So who’s really saving more and living better,” a WWJ flier asks.
Walmart spokesperson Kory Lundberg said “only a handful of associates, at a handful of stores scattered across the country” are participating in strikes.
Lundberg said in an email that Walmart has a low turnover rate, 250,000 employees have been working for the company for more than 10 years and 75 percent of the company’s managers started as hourly employees.
“The fact is, our pay and benefits plans are as good or better than our retail competitors, including those that are unionized,” Lundberg said. “If they weren’t, we wouldn’t be able to hire people and staff our stores. Last year alone, we received 5 million job applications.”
Lundberg also said the company expected only a tiny percentage of Walmart employees to take part in any Black Friday strikes.
“Of course we respect the rights of our associates to express their views but if they are scheduled to work, we expect them to show up and do their job. If they don’t, depending on the circumstances, there could be consequences.”
Marble said she understands some consumers think they need to shop at Walmart because of low prices, but those low prices come at the expense of warehouse and retail workers, she explained.