If Walmart Workers Strike on Black Friday this will Set a Precedent
As retailers move into the busy holiday season, reports are surfacing that Walmart employees are threatening to stage a walkout on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year.
Earlier this week, a small percentage of Walmart employees across the U.S. had begun to strike, a first ever type of situation for the company.
Those protesting cited unfair labor practices and had various other grievances. TheUprisingreported the employees are seeking better wages and working conditions; they also want "less retaliation from management" when employees speak up.
"People were really tired that any time they would speak out against the pay, hours, how much they would work, that management would cut their hours or not give them a schedule," said Evelin Cruz, a Wal-Mart department manager and one of thousands of members of Our Walmart, a labor organization backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers that defends Walmart workers' rights, reportedABC News.
Forbesreported the employees are stating they will strike on Black Friday if the retail giant does not give in to labor demands. Black Friday is considered to be an important shopping day for retailers, and each year many promotions by retailers are planned for the day in hopes of luring holiday shoppers into their stores. Walmart typically has a well-promoted Black Friday event each year, which also often makes the news for the various stampedes that have taken place.
However, would employees participate on this industry-deemed important shopping day?
Several media outlets have reported of the 1.4 million employees working for Walmart, only a number estimated to be in the hundreds was reported in last week's strike. This lack of participation leads to the question of whether a Black Friday walkout would gather much support from workers?
According toThe Root, members of the movement said they believe the idea of striking will gain momentum by the time Black Friday arrives. United Food and Commercial Workers' Making Change At Walmart, the group who put together the protests, say the campaign "will come to a head on Black Friday," reported theHuffington Post.
Walmart reportedly disagrees and called the recent protest at Walmart's headquarters in Arkansas, "a union-led, union-funded publicity stunt". Yet, reportedly the company didissue a memoabout the recent strikes to its salaried employees.
If this strike does occur, regardless of the level of participation by employees, the move would be a first-time event.
