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In the last week, the blog Chicagoist has written what is one of the most in-depth looks at what it means for Americans to work at Walmart we’ve seen in the media this year.

In a three-part series, Chicagoist journalist Kevin Robinson, interviewed three current and former Walmart employees about what it is like for them to work for the world’s largest private employer and took a look at the labor practices that Walmart uses to create massive profits while at the same time depressing wages throughout entire industries.

That the Chicagoist is taking a look at Walmart is especially, well, appropriate. The Good Jobs Chicago coalition has been working for years make sure that if a Walmart is built in the South Side community of Englewood it will provide good jobs with living wages.

And we mean years.

If you live in Chicago (and I would imagine most regular Chicagoist readers do) you’ve been hearing about this proposed Walmart store for some time. A big-box wage ordinance that was aimed at the retailer was passed by the City Council and was then vetoed by Mayor Daley, his only veto to date (and he’s been in office for two decades). In 2007, a coalition of activists, unions, and community organizers pushed back against Daley, not supporting him for reelection, and helping to elect a number of pro-labor alderman. Now activists are looking to push a living wage ordinance that would require any company with 50 or more workers to pay the wage of at least $11.03 per hour if the company benefits from a city subsidy.

So Walmart might have been in the news a few times.

Part One of the Chicagoist series introduces the three associates, all working at Chicagoland area Walmart stores, how tough management can be as taskmasters, safety concerns (two of whom have suffered injuries on the job), and how Walmart’s push for low prices extends into how they pay their employees.

The second part addresses wage concerns and one of the scams that Walmart uses to increase profits. The scam? Pushing employee wages so low that many employees qualify for food stamps and public assistance. Specifically, the piece looks at how Walmart employees make such low wages that they are eligible for food stamps, which they then spend at Walmart to great advantage by the company.

Part Three examines Walmart’s labor practices, something near to our hearts here at Wake Up Walmart. That Walmart has one of the most aggressive anti-union practices in the world should come as no surprise, and Robinson includes some very interesting information about how those practices directly impact associates.

So if you have a few minutes, head over and read the articles. It is a very good introduction to how Walmart operates nationwide and provides good insight for anyone who might be hearing about a Walmart attempting to move into their town, or for Walmart associates to know that they are not alone when it comes to the kind of poor working conditions and employee treatment that occurs in Walmart stores everywhere.

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In the last week, the blog Chicagoist has written what is one of the most in-depth looks at what it means for Americans to work at Walmart we’ve seen in the media this year.

In a three-part series, Chicagoist journalist Kevin Robinson, interviewed three current and former Walmart employees about what it is like for them to work for the world’s largest private employer and took a look at the labor practices that Walmart uses to create massive profits while at the same time depressing wages throughout entire industries.

That the Chicagoist is taking a look at Walmart is especially, well, appropriate.  The Good Jobs Chicago coalition has been working for years make sure that if a Walmart is built in the South Side community of Englewood it will provide good jobs with living wages. 

And we mean years. 

If you live in Chicago (and I would imagine most regular Chicagoist readers do) you’ve been hearing about this proposed Walmart store for some time.  A big-box wage ordinance that was aimed at the retailer was passed by the City Council and was then vetoed by Mayor Daley, his only veto to date (and he’s been in office for two decades).  In 2007, a coalition of activists, unions, and community organizers pushed back against Daley, not supporting him for reelection, and helping to elect a number of pro-labor alderman.  Now activists are looking to push a living wage ordinance that would require any company with 50 or more workers to pay the wage of at least $11.03 per hour if the company benefits from a city subsidy. 

So Walmart might have been in the news a few times.

Part One of the Chicagoist series introduces the three associates, all working at Chicagoland area Walmart stores, how tough management can be as taskmasters, safety concerns (two of whom have suffered injuries on the job), and how Walmart’s push for low prices extends into how they pay their employees.

The second part addresses wage concerns and one of the scams that Walmart uses to increase profits.  The scam?  Pushing employee wages so low that many employees qualify for food stamps and public assistance.  Specifically, the piece looks at how Walmart employees make such low wages that they are eligible for food stamps, which they then spend at Walmart to great advantage by the company.

Part Three examines Walmart’s labor practices, something near to our hearts here at Wake Up Walmart.  That Walmart has one of the most aggressive anti-union practices in the world should come as no surprise, and Robinson includes some very interesting information about how those practices directly impact associates.

So if you have a few minutes, head over and read the articles.  It is a very good introduction to how Walmart operates nationwide and provides good insight for anyone who might be hearing about a Walmart attempting to move into their town, or for Walmart associates to know that they are not alone when it comes to the kind of poor working conditions and employee treatment that occurs in Walmart stores everywhere.

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This piece originally appeared at The Huffington Post:

More bad headlines for Wal-Mart, the sexist employer. The company was nailed again by its own employees--this time in Kentucky.

In Wal-Mart’s Annual Report to shareholders there is a two page note simply called “Legal Proceedings.” In it, the company summarizes “a number of legal proceedings” which, “if adversely decided...may result in liability material to the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.” In addition to the well-known collection of wage and hour ‘off the clock’ class action lawsuits, are the gender discrimination lawsuits, including the massive Dukes v. Wal-Mart case which began 9 years ago. Damages sought by the women in the Dukes case could be so large that Wal-Mart admits, “the Company cannot reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss that may arise from the litigation.”

Less well known is another lawsuit that was originally filed in the summer of 2001, just two months after the Dukes case. This case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The lawsuit, EEOC (Janice Smith) v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. was brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Janice Smith and all other women who made application or transfer requests since 1995 at the Wal-Mart distribution center in London, Kentucky, and were not hired or transferred into the warehouse positions for which they applied.

The EEOC sought backpay for these women not selected for hire or transfer, and injunctive relief. According to Wal-Mart, the Kentucky complaint charges that the retailer based its hiring decisions on gender---which is a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights act. Wal-Mart told his investors that it could not “reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss that may arise from this litigation.”

But this week the EEOC helped quantify that loss. The federal agency announced that Wal-Mart had agreed to pay $11.7 million in back wages and compensatory damages, plus its share of employer taxes, and up as much as $250,000 in administration fees.

According to the EEOC, Walmart’s London Distribution Center denied jobs to female applicants from 1998 through February 2005. Wal-Mart hired male entry-level applicants for warehouse positions---but excluded female applicants who were equally or better qualified. Wal-Mart routinely would tell female applicants that order filling positions were not “suitable” for women, and that they hired mostly 18- to 25-year-old men for these positions.

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Check out this piece from the Oakland Tribune on our kickoff event for our week of action:

The sick-leave policy of the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is putting the public at risk because workers are not paid the first day they take off for an illness, even if it is a serious contagious disease, according to members of several unions and labor watchdog groups.

The policy of docking pay on the first day of an illness, they said, ignores government recommendations to let H1N1 victims stay home without being penalized.

“Wal-Mart workers are coming to work sick,” said Jenya Cassidy, of the Labor Project for Working Families, during a rally Wednesday organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 5, and Wake Up Wal-Mart.

“Everybody gets sick, but not everyone can afford to get well,” Cassidy said.

Wal-Mart, which has become the largest grocer in the United States, denies the claim. But the specter of workers potentially spreading the H1N1 virus because they cannot afford to take time off has public health officials worried — especially retail workers who have frequent direct contact with the public.

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Check out Wake Up Walmart’s latest piece over on Huffington Post. It highlights the story of Patricia from Ohio, a Walmart worker who was faced with the choice of going to work sick or losing her job because of Walmart’s irresponsible and harmful sick day policy. 

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From our allies over at Wake Up Walmart:

WakeUpWalmart.com and a coalition of supporters today launched a national week of action against Walmart’s irresponsible sick leave policy.  WakeUpWalmart.com will hold events at 50 Walmart stores across the country to deliver ‘demerits’ and a letter to local store managers calling on Walmart to change its unfair and harmful sick day policy.

Last fall the New York Times article Lack of Sick Days May Worsen Flu Pandemic, exposed Walmart’s track record of giving employees “demerits” that can lead to termination when they call in sick.  A number of workers across the country reported retaliation and termination from Walmart due to illness.

Beatrice Parker, a former greeter at Walmart # 3371 in Charlotte, N.C., felt forced to resign due to Walmart’s sick leave policy after suffering from a bladder infection caused by not being given bathroom breaks on the job.

In a new video released today, Parker describes abuse and age discrimination and asks Walmart CEO Mike Duke, “If you don’t have any or can’t have any concern for the way I was treated in this Walmart, please have some for the people who work there, especially the older people.” You can watch the video on the right of this post.

Walmart’s policies and actions create a working environment where employees feel they are faced with a choice between spreading the flu and keeping their job.  Walmart deserves public demerits for sick leave policies that put the public at risk and make its employees sicker.

The Demerit Walmart program is supported by leading advocacy groups such as the MomsRising.org and the Labor Partnership for Working Families.

“MomsRising is extremely concerned by news reports that Walmart associates risk receiving demerits (which can lead to termination) for taking earned paid sick days,” said MomsRising Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner.  “Such a practice is a public health hazard and a threat to the economic security of Walmart associates and their families. We call on Walmart to publicly respond to these charges and immediately end any ongoing practice of issuing demerits .”

Walmart is America’s largest private employer and sets the standard for workplaces in the retail industry.  Walmart associates should not be afraid of losing their jobs simply because they are too sick to help customers.  Walmart can and should live up to the highest possible workplace standards. 

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Walmart just announced, with much patting of their own back, that more of their employees are enrolled in their company health insurance this year. The total number of their own workers enrolled in their insurance? It is up to 54% from 52% last year. The industry standard, by the way, is 65% and many big retailers insure a much larger percentage of their workforce. Costco, for example insures 85% of its workers.

But the real news in Walmart’s announcement is that more employees are uninsured and more employees are relying on state aid. The AP reports:

The number of Wal-Mart employees with health coverage — provided by either Wal-Mart or another source — dropped from 94 percent last year to 87 percent.

Wal-Mart said 43,000 of its workers receive health coverage through a state assistance program, up from 36,000 last year.

So not only does Walmart fail to insure 644,000 of its workers, a whopping 182,000 are left completely uninsured while another 43,000 (that Walmart admits to) must rely on Medicaid and other state run programs.

David Tovar, Walmart’s spokesperson said, “We believe this is just one more indicator that our nation’s current health care system is not sustainable.” But the comment fails to understand that Walmart is a part of the problem with our nation’s current health care system. Employers have to take some of the responsibility for providing health insurance and they fail to take any.

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Last week we told you about Walmart firing 300 workers from its headquarters staff as the company goes through a major restructuring. The 300 jobs were just the tip of the iceberg, with 10 Sam’s Club stores closing, a major layoff of 11,000 workers at Sam’s Club stores, and a new decentralized set up for the company that will shift many jobs away from the main office in Bentonville to regional offices.

When we told you about those 300 layoffs, we wondered if there might by more job losses on the way. As it turns out, there may be. The Northwest Arkansas Times reports that as the company starts creating regional offices and moving positions there, jobs in Bentonville will be eliminated. According to the article,

“some headquarters staff members will face a choice of relocating, looking for other jobs or retirement, according to several people familiar with the situation.

Wal-Mart declined to put a number on positions that could be moved out of Bentonville. Those decisions will be made case by case and it will take time to figure out what works for each area”

We’ll certainly be keeping an eye on this transition to see how it affects the company. We can only hope that Walmart does all it can to ensure that jobs aren’t eliminated unnecessarily, or workers aren’t pushed out of their jobs. Walmart has a reputation, after all, for pushing workers with seniority out to reduce the cost of salary and benefits overall. It’s one of the reasons Walmart has such a high turnover rate. 

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Did you catch “Undercover Boss” after the Super Bowl? It’s a new reality show on CBS where executives go undercover at their own companies and work entry level jobs to see what it’s like. In the first episode, Waste Management’s President and Chief Operating Officer Larry O’Donnell works several different jobs over a week and discovers how tough life can be for his employees. He also discovers how his policies have affected workers.

It’s nice to see a show that uncovers these kinds of problems in the American workplace. Of course, most of us already know how tough work can be, but most of us don’t have a reality show. That’s why American Rights At Work started Fix Our Jobs which is pushing for real, systematic reform in our workplace, not just feel good TV moments. They’re asking folks to sign a petition to congress: “America’s workers need a voice on the job so they can fight for fair pay, real benefits, reasonable hours, and better working conditions. We need to fix our labor laws now!”

They’re also asking for stories about your job, good or bad. We’re sure you all have some stories to share, so go check out the site. You can also watch a video they put together just to the right.

We also want to hear from Walmart workers. Tell us your stories from work. What would Mike Duke find if he came to work as a greeter at your store for a day or two? Would he make the cut as an overnight stocker?

Would Mike Duke ever take on this kind of undercover assignment? We don’t think so, but if he did, we’re sure he’d find some pretty disturbing stories, just like Larry O’Donnell did.

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Walmart is certainly shaking things up recently. A week ago, Walmart laid off more than 11,000 of its Sam’s Club workers. Two weeks before that, Walmart closed down 10 Sam’s Club stores putting 1,500 jobs at risk. Since the Sam’s Club layoffs, Walmart has announced other substantial institutional changes like splitting its US operations in to regions and establishing a global online organization.

Then today, Walmart announced it would laying off another 300 employees from its Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters. Just about a year ago, Walmart laid off between 700 and 800 workers from headquarters.

Between the two layoffs, Walmart has let go around 9% of the 12,000 headquarters staff.

The positions being eliminated this time around were in the corporate affairs, finance, human resources, information systems and legal departments.

We’re always concerned to hear about layoffs, especially from a company that is doing so well right now, racking up billions of dollars in sales.

With a 10% cut in Sam’s club staff, and a nearly 10% cut in headquarter staff, are there more layoffs on the way?

You can read more about the layoffs, and the memo from Mike Duke from the Associated Press here.

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It’s been a rough few weeks for Sam’s Club employees. First came the announcement that ten Sam’s Club stores would close and the 1,500 employees who worked there could lose their jobs. Then, yesterday, Walmart announced they would be laying off 11,200 workers. Most of those being laid off demonstrate products in the stores. Walmart’s spokesperson made it clear that this wasn’t about the economy, or the employees performance, rather, they were outsourcing the jobs to Shopper Events a company who’s only purpose is to demonstrate products in Walmart stores.

Walmart has suggested that the 10,000 employees they are firing can apply for a job with Shopper Events, who will be hiring roughly 10,000 employees to fill the gap left by the lay off. It sure sounds a lot like Walmart is asking 10,000 of their employees to reapply for their own jobs.

Here’s our official statement:

For Immediate Release: January 25, 2010

Walmart Sam’s Club Lowering Worker and Community Standards

Layoffs Raise Important Questions About Commitment to its Workforce

(Washington, DC) – The following is a statement from Wake Up Walmart: 

Walmart launched another assault on living and working standards in communities across the country yesterday, by laying off more than ten thousand Sam’s Club employees.  The company is outsourcing jobs, many of them part-time, to a company based in Arkansas.

Workers report that Walmart called them into mass meetings where they were offered boxes of tissues and told they were no longer needed by the nation’s largest private employer.

The mass layoffs raise serious questions such as whether or not older and more senior workers were targeted for lay off.  Why hasn’t Walmart made a clearer path to employment with Shopper Events for these 11,000 associates – which they clearly have the power to do?  And for workers hired by the outsourced company, what kind of jobs will Shoppers Events provide to the new applicants?  Why is Walmart telling workers they must agree not to pursue age discrimination claims in order to qualify for severance pay?

Walmart and Sams Club workers seeking additional assistance and answers are encouraged to contact Walmart Workers for Change at 866-587-2299 or log on to http://www.walmartworkersforchange.org/.

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How often have you thought, “hey, I’d really like to keep up with Walmart news, see what folks are doing to change Walmart, and help spread the word about Walmart’s negative impact on worker’s rights and communities”? Well you’re in luck because we’ve joined forces with Wake Up Walmart, and we’re on Facebook and Twitter, and we want to connect with you! So take a minute to click on these links and become a fan of WakeUpWalmart.com on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Once you’re connected with us, we’ll tell you all about what we’re doing, we’ll keep you up to date on the latest Walmart news, and, more importantly, you can let us know what you think!

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So were back to this? And we thought worker intimidation was soooooooo last year.

In 2007, Human Rights Watch released a report detailing Wal-Mart’s unionbusting policies and practices in the United States. According to the report, “while many American companies use weak U.S. laws to stop workers from organizing, the retail giant stands out for the sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of its anti-union apparatus.”

That aggressiveness is back in the news, courtesy of a unionizing push in St. Paul, Minnesota:

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 789 filed unfair labor practices complaints this week with the National Labor Relations Board. The union contends that during meetings with employees at its Midway store in St. Paul, Wal-Mart managers said people who sign union authorization cards would be fired. The union also charges that store managers interrogated employees regarding their union support and whether they had signed cards in favor of the union.

Of course this shouldn’t be very surprising, though it does seem pretty interesting that management staff came right out and told people that they’d no longer be a Wal-Mart employee if they supported unionization. You’d think they would hew closer to the Godfather-esque, vague threat route - we can’t be held responsible if, say, a supporter “had an accident” type thing. They should know that threatening workers’ employment status is illegal, right? Or do they just not care? One thing we do know is that they’ve certainly had problems with labor issues in Minnesota before.

Anyway, we’re attempting to get a copy of the NLRB complaint. In the meantime, feel free to check out video of the Local 789 worker rally after the jump.

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In a unionizing effort that stretches back to 2004, it would appear that Wal-Mart has once again attained the upper hand.

After four years of legal wrangling, Wal-Mart workers in Weyburn, Saskatchewan were finally granted union status last December. It had been four years since the United Food and Commercial Workers union originally filed an application to represent the Weyburn Wal-Mart workers based on the fact that more than half the store’s workers had signed union cards, but victory seemed within grasp. And that victory seem even closer in April, when an application Wal-Mart filed for reconsideration of union certification was dismissed by the Labour Relations Board of Saskatchewan.

Wal-Mart appealed, however, and now a Saskatchewan judge has pulled a Lucy, yanking the football away from Weyburn’s band of Charlie Browns.

A Saskatchewan judge has overturned the union certification of a Weyburn Wal-Mart store, saying workers should be allowed to vote on the matter...The law in 2004 was that if more than 50 per cent of employees signed cards, a secret ballot vote wasn’t required. However, after the Saskatchewan Party won the 2007 provincial election, defeating the NDP, the law changed — an employee vote is now mandatory before certification can be considered.

Where the Labour Relations Board had held that the applicable law was that in place at the time union status was filed for, this judge took the opposite route. He ruled that the amended law should have been the basis of the Labour Board’s decision when it ruled last year.

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$7,000 dollars is the figure. That was the amount the Occupation Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) fined Wal-Mart for the death of Jdimytai Damour, after he was trampled to death in a Long Island Wal-Mart in the opening minutes of a Black Friday shopping blitz.

A story on this morning’s Village Voice blog got us thinking about the subject again, after it discussed how Damour’s death led the NY City Council to enact new legislation – a “doorbuster” bill – making it unlawful for any person or company to publish notice about or conduct a “doorbuster” sale without first obtaining a license issued by the city commissioner. The license application would require stores like Wal-Mart to detail its floorplan and provide a detailed plan for crowd control.

That’s great for New York, but in the larger scheme of things, are retailers that regularly hold such sales really being held responsible in any meaningful way when a tragedy like the Damour death occurs – especially one that could have easily been avoided?

In announcing that it had cited Wal-Mart, OSHA’s press release stated that the company had failed to implement reasonable and effective crowd management principles and would be fined as a result.

As a result, OSHA has issued Wal-Mart one serious citation under its general duty clause for exposing workers to the recognized hazard of being crushed by the crowd. The citation carries a proposed fine of $7,000, the maximum penalty amount for a serious violation allowed under the law.

The problem with this is that the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which governs OSHA, was enacted back in 1970, before Wal-Mart even existed. More to the point, it was really enacted prior to the whole chain-store phenomenon – the proliferation of the Wal-Marts, Targets and Home Depots of the world that we see as commonplace today had yet to happen. Today, the idea of imposing a small fine on one store owned by a parent company operating thousands across the country is laughable - $7,000 isn’t even a drop in the ocean for Wal-Mart…it’s a drop in the Universe.

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MORE RELIGIOUS LEADERS CALL FOR EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE

• Sam Stein: Rabbis Lobby Specter On Employee Free Choice Act [Huffington Post]
  Adding a religious element to the day's biggest labor-policy debate, a group of 30 rabbis penned a letter in Philadelphia's largest Jewish newspaper on Thursday, urging Sen. Arlen Specter to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
  

DICK CHENEY BATTLES CLERGY OVER EFCA

• Art Levine: The Dark Lord -- Dick Cheney -- Battles Clergy Over Employee Free Choice Act [Huffington Post]
  While most recent media attention about Dick Cheney has focused on his pro-torture comments, it's worth noting that his remarks Tuesday attacking the Employee Free Choice Act also aired on the same day as a new coalition of religious leaders, Faith Leaders for Workplace Fairness, pressed the case for the pro-worker legislation.
  

• Sam Stein: Cheney Whacks EFCA, Labor Welcomes Him As Spokesman [Huffington Post]
  Former vice president Dick Cheney keeps elevating himself to the role of Republican Party spokesman on key political issues. Usually the topic has to do with foreign policy. But in his interview on Tuesday afternoon on Fox News, he grasped hold of one of the GOP's biggest rallying cries -- the Employee Free Choice Act.
  

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Nine months ago, on a warm afternoon in mid-August, the following words were written by a very conscientious and wise organization...namely, us:

Today, several labor groups asked the FEC to investigate Wal-Mart. Last week, Wal-Mart Watch submitted a formal complaint to the Federal Election Committee last week, requesting an investigation of Wal-Mart’s political intimidation.

What followed included a copy of a Wall Street Journal article detailing efforts by the company to intimidate workers and discourage support of a labor-friendly administration, and text of the complaint we sent off to the FEC letting them know what we thought of Wal-Mart’s actions. And then we waited, nervously checking our mailbox for the FEC’s response...would they investigate? Would Wal-Mart be brought to task for their actions?

Well, needless to say enough time passed to make us only vaguely remember that the FEC even exists, which made it all the more surprising when 9 months after our initial inquiry, an answer was given to us. And the answer was not what we hoped. The good news is that the case warranted enough merit to be assigned to an attorney in the enforcement division. The bad news is that after taking his/her case back to the commission, the commission was divided on whether there was enough merit to proceed. The commissioners make the final decision by voting for or against a “reason to believe” recommendation (four affirmative votes are required to go forward with any enforcement action)...we obviously did not get the four votes. IF we decide to appeal, we do have the option to file a petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

You can read the entire letter here, while we decide what to do next.

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Here's a slideshow of Wal-Mart workers' day on Capitol Hill last week, where they lobbied their Senators to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, allow workers to form a union and give them the wages, benefits and respect they deserve. 41 comments

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Here are more pictures of the 75 Wal-Mart workers who went to Capitol Hill yesterday. Showing his support, staunch worker and Employee Free Choice proponent Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) gave a rousing lunchtime speech and we’ve got lots of good pics of that, too. Enjoy!

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Wal-Mart workers from across the nation are converging today on Capitol Hill for a National Organizing Meeting to brief Senators about wages, benefits and the Employee Free Choice Act. We have Wal-Mart Watch peeps down on the Hill, and will have more updates as the day goes on.

Wal-Mart Workers Holding Historic National Organizing Meeting [UFCW Release via EarthTimes]

WASHINGTON - (Business Wire) Walmart workers from across the nation are converging today on Capitol Hill for a National Organizing Meeting to brief Senators about wages, benefits and the Employee Free Choice Act. Nearly 100 Walmart workers from 17 states are participating in the event. As part of their campaign for a union voice on the job, they will urge lawmakers to level the playing field for working people by supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.

“I made the trip into Washington DC to stand with my fellow Walmart workers and to urge my Senators to pass the Employee Free Choice Act,” said Dominique Sloan a Dallas, Texas, Walmart worker. “We need change in this country. All you have to do is look at how all the money goes to CEOs. But when it comes to workers, it’s always the same, no health care or health care that’s too expensive and low wages. We need to change that.”

The National Organizing Committee is made up of Walmart workers from Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

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