Wal-Mart’s labor practices have been controversial for years, and on Black Friday many workers protested their low wages, lack of health insurance and long hours. While their protests made noise in the media and caused some shoppers to redirect their holiday dollars elsewhere, the store’s bottom line remained robust this weekend. Still, Politics365 reports that the superstore is taking the protests seriously enough to hold employee seminars on the benefits of not striking.
Josh Eidelson, a contributing writer for The Nation told HuffPost Live “they’re paying workers to sit in and be lectured to why they shouldn’t participate,” he said. “(Employees) were told by a manager reading from a script, if they participate on Black Friday it’s going to hurt their bonuses because it’s going to turn away business.”
Workers’ threats received a lot of media attention, but Walmart’s Ashley Hardie, Manager of Media Relations said Walmart wasn’t worried. “These so called protests involve a handful of associates at a handful of stores. In fact most of the protesters don’t even work for Walmart,” she said. “They are union organizers and union members. We are laser focused on serving customers on Black Friday and we are preparing to have our best Black Friday ever.”
Organizers say the Walmart strike hit 100 cities on the eve and day of Black Friday. At Paramount, CA. about 1,500 people participated in the protest …
In a press release sent out Friday morning, Walmart reported that, “the retailer saw larger crowds than last year,” and had already sold 1.3 million televisions, 1.3 million dolls, 1.8 million towels and 250,000 bicycles.
Read more at Politics365.
https://www.theroot.com/buzz/wal-mart-sales-remain-strong-despite-strike?wpisrc=root_more_news
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