Russell Brand uses The Trews to let you know why you may have rushed past bound and gagged people holding signs, as you battled your way in to Walmart, to grab some Black Friday bargains! You – didn’t notice? Shame on you…But there is still time to redeem yourself. Walmart, long a leader in Black Friday chaos, has decided that if one day of ill-will toward men and women is good, then a WEEK of dark hearted sales are even better! It’s Black Friday Week!
Walmart workers in six U.S. states began striking ahead of the Black Friday sales. Despite 23 arrests early in the movement, the actions of the protesting employees are having a positive effect! I almost wrote ‘the striking’ employees, but that would be very wrong…And it would imply that they have a union. Walmart does not allow their employees to unionize. This isn’t a unique attitude, union busting has become quite popular among America’s most wealthy, non tax-paying corporations.
I can already hear well fed conservatives advising Walmart employees to get another job and ‘work harder.’ Just tug on those bootstraps a bit harder, put your back into it! Extra jobs are options many have had to take. Seventy percent of Walmart employees make less than eleven thousand dollars per year. In other words, if you work at Walmart, your income is below the poverty line for one person. The line is much higher if you have a spouse and/or a family to support.
The Walton family is shockingly wealthy. The top ten wealthiest people in the world – includes five from the Waltons! Yet they cannot, will not treat their employees with dignity or pay them a living wage. Good old American Walmart. No one imports more Chinese goods. Those red hot bargains are straight from sweat shops, sold by people in poverty, in stores that run competitively priced local outlets out of business. How long has it been since you saw a “Made in the USA” tag in your clothes?
Who is going to force a big bully like Walmart to treat their employees right? Who can influence them to purchase American made goods? In the absence of unions, I’m afraid it comes down to us! As Russell Brand points out, we can giddily sleep in line waiting to further enrich the Waltons, or we can stand behind our friends, neighbors and relatives – the employees…After all, there are thousands of us, and only five Walmart fat cats.
Some Walmart regulars protest that on their budget, they just can’t make ends meet, when things are cheaper at Walmart. That is a heart wrenching excuse, and I’ll be giving up those “People of Walmart” videos I enjoy so much. We both know that you can shop wisely elsewhere, and I can certainly find better entertainment – although I’ll miss it.
If that doesn’t convince you, think of this. If the Walmart brand of retail marketing isn’t stopped, we may all have to worry about slave wages. Nothing succeeds like success – for those who are in charge.
The Walmart worker’s movement is called .ForRespect.org You can check in there or on their Twitter feed and see how many stores are joining in by the minute!