Striking Wal-Mart workers crash annual meeting

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Hundreds of Wal-Mart workers, some striking, converged today on the retailers' headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., as supporters picketed outside stores across the U.S.

The company is holding its annual investors meeting this week as labor unrest spreads throughout its supply chain.

The workers in Bentonville are delivering a message from their brothers and sisters who work at Wal-Mart stores and warehouses across the country. Strikes and their supporters are continuing to protest the poverty wages and unfair labor practices at the heart of Walmart's enterprise.

Democracy Now reported this morning:

Picketing today in Chicago

Wal-Mart workers have now launched historic labor protests and strikes across 28 stores in 12 states, the first retail worker strike in the company’s 50-year history. According to organizers, employees are protesting company attempts to "silence and retaliate against workers for speaking out for improvements on the job."

As we reported yesterday, the strike has spread this week to more states as store workers walked off the job in Dallas, Miami, Seattle, Maryland and throughout California.

The new worker offensive against Walmart has already scored some victories. Over the weekend, warehouse workers in Elwood, Ill., returned to work after 21 days on strike. According to the press release,

In an historic victory, striking warehouse workers at a Walmart facility in Elwood, Illinois won their principle demand for an end to illegal retaliation against workers protesting poor conditions. They will return to work Saturday with full pay for the time they were on strike. Once back at work, they continue the fight for safe working conditions, fair pay for all hours worked and an end to discrimination.

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Warehouse workers in Southern California also declared victory last month after forcing the company to make their workplace safer following a 15-day walkout.

Sometimes if you fight, you win.

This week, that message is spreading to other workers throughout Walmart's supply chain.

There have been similar efforts in the past to organize and pressure Walmart to change. What's different about this is the use of strikes. Josh Eidelson at Salon.com explains:

Both Thursday’s strike and today’s were spearheaded by OUR Walmart, a year-old organization of Walmart workers backed by UFCW. ... Though closely tied to the UFCW, OUR Walmart isn’t identifying itself as a union or calling for union recognition from the famously anti-labor company. UFCW, SEIU, the service employees union, and ACORN supported a different non-union Walmart workers association in 2005, so the concept isn’t new. But the strikes are.

And it ain't over yet. Store employees are getting ready to show what they're capable of when they take collective action on a day that is very special to retail profits: Black Friday. Eidelson reports,

One day after Walmart employees in twelve states launched a major strike, today workers issued an ultimatum to the retail giant: Stop retaliating against workers trying to organize, or the year’s most important shopping day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, will see the biggest disruptions yet. 

In the meantime, these brave workers have given us a new Walmart slogan: Fight back. Live better.

- Union Thug