Earlier today, more than 100 people gathered in front of D.C.’s Wal-Mart office in Chinatown to protest what they see as the mega-organization’s unfair treatment of its employees.
The group—mostly compromised of former and current Walmart store employees who came together in an organization called OUR Walmart (Organization United for Respect at Walmart)—rallied together, calling on Wal-Mart to reinstate illegally fired workers and end illegal retaliation against those who speak out for better work conditions and livable wages. Descending from the steps of the Portrait Gallery, more than one hundred protesters rallied around the entrance of the Chinatown office building where Wal-Mart’s D.C. office resides, screaming protest chants for all to hear.
“No justice! No peace!” “Stand up! Fight back!” and “I say roll back, you say fight back!” the dozens of passionate protesters chanted for hours on end. Soon after the protest began, about a dozen protesters linked arms and sat in front of the building’s entrance, making it difficult for anyone one coming in or out to ignore their message.
Eventually, ten protesters—all former Walmart store employees—were arrested for blocking the door in front of Wal-Mart’s offices.
Among those protesting today was Barbara Collins, a single mother from Placerville, Calif. who was recently fired after six years of working at Walmart, because she attended a protest earlier this summer in support of better living wages and conditions. Before the rally, Collins spoke to DCist about how the company treated her. “I made $12.50 an hour and I was supposed to be working full-time,” Collins says. “But there were times when I’d be scheduled for only 8 hours a week, and then, suddenly, 40 hours a week. There was never any consistency and my hours were always changing. As a single mother of two children, it’s very hard to live like that.”
Brandon Garrett from Anchor, La., another ex-Walmart employee, also spoke with DCist before the rally and said that he’s tired of Wal-Mart’s unfair regulations and low wages. “We want to be treated like human beings,” Garrett said. “That’s the whole point of our war.”
Of course, this all falls at an interesting time as Mayor Vincent Gray is currently awaiting the controversial Large Retailers Association Act—the bill that “requires retailers that gross at least $1 billion in revenue to pay at least $12.50 per hour to employees at stores that are larger than 75,000 square feet”—from Council Chairman Phil Mendelson.
But while people like Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) aren’t fans of the LRAA (he’s proposed an alternate plan), the protestors out in front of Wal-Mart’s D.C. offices today certainly are. Mike Wilson, an organizer with RespectDC, told DCist, “It’s good to have these folks who can say what it’s really like to work at these stores—the lack of hours, the lack of pay—and really show why D.C. needs to pass this bill.” And while Wal-Mart is trying to make the Large Retailer Association Act about them, Wilson says it’s important to remember that it also “affects numerous other retailers that aren’t in the city that are planning to come into the city.”
With today’s protest, the workers announced that they’ll be giving the company a hard Labor Day deadline to “publicly commit to reinstating illegally fired workers, end illegal retaliation against those who speak out for better jobs, and provide full-time work at minimum of $25,000 a year,” according to a press release. “Enough is enough,” Collins said. “We cannot wait any longer for Wal-Mart to do what’s right for its workers and our families and all of our communities.”
