This Thursday, we will chow down on turkey and drink enough beer to ignore our problems. While we enjoy the riches of the holidays, many at Walmart won’t be having much to be thankful for.
Recently, there was a food drive at an Ohio Walmart for the store’s employees to enjoy Thanksgiving. Nothing says “not paid enough” like a food drive for employees at the workplace.
On top of that, this Black Friday we all will be further exploiting these workers by participating in one of the biggest shopping days of the year, and Walmart will be at the center of it.
Many students can’t wait to take advantage of the Black Friday sales for an Xbox One, PS4, computer, or video game. While we may want to go make our purchases, we all need to take a moment and think about the millions of people who work at Walmart and are not paid a livable wage.
Students should stand in solidarity for the workers of Walmart who need and deserve a livable wage by supporting minimum wage increasing efforts in the state.
Walmart is not only the largest retailer on earth, but the largest company in the world in terms of revenue and employment. Last year, Walmart’s revenue was $469 billion, while their labor force was around 2.2 million. With revenues that high, it is a wonder why they cannot raise the wages of their employees.
Today more than half the company is still owned by the six heirs of the Walton family, whose combined net worth is more than $150 billion. This means they have more wealth than the bottom 30 percent of Americans, yet they don’t want to pay their 2.2 million employees a livable wage.
Last year, hundreds of Walmart employees across many stores went on strike on Black Friday and received the support of unions and Occupy Wall Street. Although the strike itself didn’t amount to many nominal benefits, it sparked a movement across the nation for minimum wage increases.
A few months ago, the movement spilled over into fast food restaurants including McDonald’s, which faced walk-outs and strikes by employees seeking higher wage. Meanwhile several states raised minimum wages this year due to activism and ballot initiatives.
Earlier this month, voters in New Jersey voted to increase their minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 per hour. On the other side of the country, voters in Washington made their state the highest minimum wage state in the country at $9.32 per hour. On top of that, Seattle elected its first openly Marxist Socialist to the city council on a platform to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
The biggest sign of change came from the top office of the land. President Barack Obama mentioned in his State of the Union address that minimum wage should reach $9 per hour. This is an important step for the federal government to take.
Recently there was a press conference of Walmart workers, labor leaders, and community organizers who called for a large mobilization of workers to strike on Black Friday. The President of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka stated that Walmart employees can count on the support of millions of union workers.
Walmart’s wages and work conditions are so poor that 70 percent of its workers leave within their first year. This turnover rate protects Walmart from their workers unionizing.
Walmart is known for being anti-union for obvious reasons.
Since the manufacturing industry had been chopped up and sent overseas in 1980s, the unions of the country have lost a lot of their power and influence. The only major industry left that can’t be shipped overseas is the retail industry. If the workers of Walmart are able to unionize, it will be a game changer for not just the retail industry but for the service sector.
So for this break, students should start supporting the efforts of workers at Walmart in getting a living wage and unionizing. The standard of living for the working poor hasn’t risen in 30 years, and it’s time for a change.
Joshua Hajiakbarifini is a 24-year-old political science and economics senior from Baton Rouge.