Wal-Mart Threatened, Fired Workers Over Black Friday Protests: NLRB
The federal agency found the retail giant threatened, disciplined, and fired workers for legally protected strikes and protests in numerous states.
Protesters gather outside a Walmart Neighborhood Store for a demonstration Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013, in Chicago, Illinois. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
About a week before several thousand Wal-Mart employees plan to walk off the job to protest the retail giant’s poor working conditions and low wages, federal officials announced that Wal-Mart violated employees’ rights, specifically the rights of those employees who participated in Black Friday protests last year, by threatening to fire and retaliate against them.
On Monday the National Labor Relations Board released a statement saying Wal-Mart violated the rights of its employees in at least 14 different states, and said the agency was prepared to take legal action against the company if Wal-Mart and the involved parties could not reach a settlement.
The NLRB said there was merit to several of the employees claims against the company, specifically because Wal-Mart threatened employees with reprisals on two different national television broadcasts last year.
Of the charges filed against Wal-Mart, the NLRB found merit in allegations the retailer “unlawfully threatened, disciplined, and/or terminated employees for having engaged in legally protected strikes and protests” in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Washington state.
This victory for employees is arguably significant since it comes about a week before groups such as Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart (OUR Wal-Mart) plan to hold another Thanksgiving/Black Friday protest, and say they expect more than 30,000 Wal-Mart workers and supporters to turn out this year.
“The board’s decision confirms what Wal-Mart workers have long known — the company is illegally trying to silence employees who speak out for better jobs,” said Sarita Gupta, executive director of Jobs With Justice and American Rights at Work.
Although the NLRB mostly sided with Wal-Mart employees, the agency did find that a few accusations against the company did not have merit. Specifically the government agency said Wal-Mart did not retaliate against workers by changing work schedules, nor did the retailer tell non-employee protesters they could not protest on Wal-Mart-owned property.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said the company will pursue its “options to defend” itself, adding that the retailer takes labor laws very seriously. “We believe our actions were legal and justified,” Buchanan said.
Protesting for change
Historically, Wal-Mart workers have conducted several protests, not only on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but throughout the year to vocalize their discontent for low wages, inadequate health care coverage, and employees’ inability to form unions, among other issues.
Although Wal-Mart says it pays hourly employees an average of $12.83 per hour, independent advocacy groups, such as Making Change at Wal-Mart, claim the average wage is actually closer to $8.81 per hour.
Since wages are so low, a growing number of employees have begun to express their concern over their wages, saying that they are barely able to cover rent, gasoline, clothing and other essentials.
“Gas is so expensive. Sometimes I feel that I am only earning enough to pay for the gas that allows me to drive my car to my job,” Dulce Garcia, a Wal-Mart warehouse worker, told the Guardian. “I do not earn enough. I cannot survive like this.”
Many advocacy groups say the retailer has more than enough money to properly pay employees since the retailer has continued to profit, even in the down economy. In 2012, Wal-Mart’s net sales were about $444 billion, and profits in 2013 are up as well.
“The fight for better pay, full-time work and an end to illegal retaliation at Wal-Mart isn’t just a workers’ issue,” said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the country.
He went on to explain that employees fight against Wal-Mart is a family and women’s issue, an immigrant-rights issue, a student issue, an environmental issue, a consumer issue, and above all, “an issue of fairness.”
Trumka added that “Black Friday is just the next step in efforts to stand together and demand Wal-Mart makes the right choice. And until they do, the more than 12 million members of the AFL-CIO will stand in lockstep with the Wal-Mart workers along their path to justice.”
Tiffany Beroid, an OUR Wal-Mart member and Wal-Mart associate in Laurel, Md., agreed with Trumka and said that “As Wal-Mart workers, we do come together and support each other, but we shouldn’t have to collect food from or for each other when our employer is making $17 billion in profits.”
Beroid is referring to the revelation that Wal-Mart employees have for years held a food drive for its own employees. Last week, an employee tweeted a picture of a sign hanging above the donation bin that read, “Please donate food here so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner.”
“Wal-Mart should publicly commit to pay us $25,000 a year and end its illegal retaliation against those of us speaking out,” Beroid said. “Today’s revelation confirms what far too many Wal-Mart workers already know: wages are too low to support a family, and Wal-Mart will do anything to avoid addressing the real issues. We don’t want handouts; we want an employer that pays us enough to cover Thanksgiving dinner for our families.”
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