Once again this year the employees of over 2,000 Walmart stores will hold a wage protest on Black Friday. The workers are calling for not only a boycott of Walmart stores on that day but also asking for $15 dollars an hour and access to a full-time work schedule.

I don’t believe the wage increase is too much to ask from a corporation that made $16 billion dollars in profits last year. But Walmart made its fortune by exploiting third world labor mostly from Asia where the workers are paid pennies a day and apparently the Walmart Corporation intends to treat its American workers in the same manner.

Walmart is the world’s largest private employer with 1.4 million employees. The Walton family who are the majority stockholders in the company have amassed a private fortune of $150 billion dollars which equals the wealth of 43 percent of American families combined. Meanwhile, the average Walmart employee makes less than $25,000 per year and many of them are receiving government aid to supplement their income in the form of food stamps and Medicaid.

According to the fiscal watchdog group Americans for Tax Fairness, by paying these low wages Walmart is placing an unnecessary tax burden upon the people of this nation.

It costs taxpayers approximately $6.2 billion dollars a year for these public assistance programs that aid these underpaid workers and here in Michigan it costs taxpayers about $137.2 million.

Meanwhile the Walton family and the Walmart corporation received tax breaks and tax payer subsidies totaling $7.8 billion dollars last year. They also receive $70 million in subsidies from state and local governments and that is money that could be spent on roads, police officers and teachers and the corporation continues to use these services without paying for them meanwhile keeping wages low and placing an unnecessary economic burden upon local communities and the American people.

Many of the Walmart employees who are willing to stand up for their right to a livable wage are reporting that they are illegally being intimidated and downright bullied by the management of Walmart. Some of these illegal tactics used by the multibillion-dollar corporation are false disciplinary write-ups, cutting off their work hours and isolating them so that they cannot communicate with their co-workers.

These are modern union busting tactics by a family-owned corporation that is willing to put its own greed above the best interests of their employees.

One question I would like to ask the Walton family is, when will they have enough money? They are one of the wealthiest families in American history and yet they still go out of their way to oppress the very employees who made them wealthy to begin with.

I think it is important that everyone understands that Walmart employees are not just greedy and are only asking to be able to feed their families and we all need to support them. Walmart is another stunning example of corporate greed and puts its constant hunger for profit over the best interests of its workers and the communities that it tends to dominate.

All American workers should stand by their Walmart brethren on Black Friday and boycott Walmart stores. Only by standing together will we all know prosperity.

 

William Crandell is a community activist and member of the Michigan Education Association and the Michigan Democratic Party. He is also a member of the South County Democratic Club where he has served as their communications director and as the chairperson of the SCDC Blue Tiger Community Action Committee.