Caledonia resident Randy Bryce and about 50 other people stood outside the Somers Walmart Thursday night to protest what they say are unfair wages and benefits for employees.
Pro-union groups - including people from Overpass Light Brigade and Our Walmart - held up signs that asked for Walmart workers to be respected, Bryce said.
“We wanted to show our support for the workers who are trying to unionize,” Bryce said. “We want Walmart to respect their workers. We were not trying to keep people out or have people not shop there. We were not there to shut down Walmart. It was to give them some more courage and reassure them that they won’t retaliate against you.”
Bryce said that a number of workers get their hours reduced to a point where they can’t qualify for Walmart’s health insurance, but Walmart officials say they disagree with that assessment. However, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, about 9,136 Walmart employees are eligible to qualify for Badgercare and of those employees that are eligible, 3,103 are on Badgercare – the highest number in the state. But they are also the largest employer in the state.
“A lot of them are on Badgercare and their workers are being attacked by the right,” Bryce said.
Kory Lundberg, spokesperson for Walmart, said they have data that tells a different story.
We have 250,000 associates that have worked for the company for more than 10 years, we promoted 165,000 hourly associates last year, our turnover rate (of 37 percent) is lower than the retail industry average of 44 percent, nearly 75 percent of our store management teams started out in hourly positions, and 20 percent of the people we hired last year were rehires--meaning they worked for Walmart, decided to leave and concluded they were getting a better deal at Walmart so they came back.
Last year alone, we received 5 million job applications, so it’s clear Walmart is someplace people want to work. We also survey our 1.3 million associates every year to gauge their job satisfaction and those numbers have been increasing over the past few years.
Black Friday protests
Bill Simon, CEO of Walmart U.S., also told Fox 6 news Thursday that there were 26 protests last night at Walmart stores, but “many of them did not include any Walmart associates.”
According to the story:
Wal-Mart said it did not experience “the walk-offs that were promised by the UFCW” and less than 50 of its associates participated in the protest nationwide.
Overall, roughly the same number of workers missed their scheduled shift as last year, Simon said.
However, Our Walmart is reporting that 100 stores have joined the strike and protests happening at 1,000 stores.
In Somers, the group had a projector streaming footage of Walmart workers talking about how they were afraid of being retaliated against, about not being able to get enough hours to get healthcare insurance, and the low pay they received. The video image was broadcast up against the side of the building.
The groups also held up light boards that spelled out the words “Respect the Workers,” and stood in front of the store.
They were in the parking lot in front of the building so when a security guard from Walmart told them they couldn’t be there, they moved out of the parking lot to a space between Walmart and Sam's Club.
“Initially they tried to tell us we were hazard, but I asked them, ‘What’s your capacity? Are you keeping track?’ I was told there’s a lot of people in the building,” Bryce said.
As Black Friday shopping commenced Friday, both groups went to the Walmart stores in Milwaukee, Franklin and Somers. This morning about 150 people traveled by bus to those sites, and about 20 were Walmart employees.
“Here’s a group that doesn’t have much and we want them to know the community does support them and it’s OK to stand up and ask for more,” Bryce said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxyrBwhTo48 I believe "Mark Dice" is from the Union Grove area. LOL. HAHAHAHHAH!
What amount of consumption and possessions do you consider the baseline? Cell phones, cable TV, Heated (and cooled) space - how many sq.ft/person and at what temperature differential? Modern plumbing - clean water at the tap - vehicle - MPG of said vehicle, gas price. Something tells me that you don't really know - because you have never really thought about it. You just know that IT IS NEVER ENOUGH! GIVE ME MORE! GIVE ME CRADLE TO GRAVE SECURITY! It's quite amazing - quite literally. People are going to have to learn to live simple, basic lifestyles - and be deprived of items they can't afford - it's happening now - and coming everyday to more and more people. It's the PEAK OIL. Shhhh..... The Planet might be a tad bit heavy on the carrying capacity side, but don't worry - the coming fuel shortages will take care of that human population problem.
• Most governments and societies – especially those that are developed and industrialized – will be unable to manage multiple simultaneous systemic crises. Consequently, systemic collapse will likely result in widespread confusion, fear, human security risks, and social break down. • Economies worldwide are already unraveling and becoming insolvent as the global economic system can no longer support itself without cheap and abundant energy resources. " “[Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy,] knows all about peak oil, but he can't talk about it. If the government announced that peak oil was threatening our economy, Wall Street would crash. He just can't say anything about it.” – David Fridley48, oil economist who worked under Steven Chu, 2009
non-linear. Really bad things. People don’t like to talk about bad things.” – Robert Hirsch42, director of fusion research at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 2010 http://content.csbs.utah.edu/~mli/Economics%207004/Morrigan_2010_Energy_CC4.pdf Would I lie to you?
According to the the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union: "As the company was preparing to file for bankruptcy earlier this year, the then CEO of Hostess was awarded a 300 percent raise (from approximately $750,000 to $2,550,000) and at least nine other top executives of the company received massive pay raises. One such executive received a pay increase from $500,000 to $900,000 and another received one taking his salary from $375,000 to $656,256." I know this 300% pay raise has been mentioned within other diaries (e.g. Mark E Anderson's), but I wanted to add a diary highlighting just this one data point, because it's such a striking piece of evidence undermining the myth that organized labor killed Hostess. .
The greedy owners were giving 25% of the company, to the unions, as part of the contract settlement.
You just said Walmart has the highest percentage of any retailer on state health care, then said she couldn't receive or afford health insurance. Then you strangely asked "why am I subsidizing a store I don't even shop at?" You're not. They are actually helping to bring revenues into the community. Btw, may I ask, if things were so bad for your aunt, why did she stay?? Either, it wasn't that bad, or it was the only place to get a job. So....... What's your point?
Secondly, Brian has never said he didn't have a problem with badger are or food stamps, so your question is weird and disingenuous. You acknowledge (albeit indirectly) that they get paid for much less skill, yet imply they should get paid enough to afford their own insurance or food. As though that's the standard for an employer. Says who? They pay what the employees are worth. No one here has disputed the facts given by the spokesman..... You've all conveniently ignored them. Walmart contributes billions against the real cost of inflation by drive prices lower on almost everything. Furthermore, they provide a place to work for nearly anyone. Liberals have to come to the human reality that a person is paid for what their skill is worth. And NO ONE has a right to force a business owner to pay more than the market dictates just so an iron worker can sleep better at night.
You believe the government should force every company that hires people to provide a living wage, whatever that might be. Even if it means raising prices.
A 10% raise across the board would wipe out all profit. So, in other words, you don't believe in profit. Thank you for being honest here.