Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org

For Black Friday, speak out for striking Walmart workers.Write a letter to the editor of your local paper now:

Every week, it’s more bad news for Walmart. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), charged with protecting workers’ rights to organize and demand better working conditions, just announced it will prosecute Walmart for illegal firings and threats to workers in 13 states.¹ News of Walmart’s canned food drive for its own employees — who aren’t paid enough to afford Thanksgiving dinner — has gone viral.²

Walmart workers are leading a movement to end the systemic labor exploitation Walmart has made the norm.³ They’re standing up and saying no to part-time, temporary, poorly paid work that keeps our families struggling to put food on the table and holds our economy back. This week, as they engage in historic, nationwide strikes for the second Black Friday in a row, Walmart associates are putting their lives and livelihoods on the line for all of us — and they need our support.

Not everyone knows the risks Walmart associates are taking for workers everywhere this Black Friday, but there’s an easy way to fix that: Please take a moment to send a short letter to the editor of your local newspaper today showing your support for striking workers.

Despite raking in record-breaking billions in annual profits, Walmart recently got caught admitting that most of its employees make under $25,000 a year.⁴ And the company knows that it can afford to give workers a full 50% raise without harming its profitability — bringing take-home earnings up to $33,000 for cash-strapped associates who are now forced to depend on government, food banks and even each other to make ends meet.⁵

All workers are harmed by Walmart’s artificially low pay, wage theft, and aggressive reliance on intimidation tactics — up to and including illegal firings — to keep employees from speaking up for their most basic rights on the job. But as the single largest employer of Black workers in the country,⁶ Walmart has become a critical battleground in the fight to reverse the devastating shrinking of Black economic opportunity we’ve seen over the past few decades.⁷

Walmart won’t suddenly do what’s right on its own — it’s up to us to make the company pay a fair wage for a day’s work and treat its employees with basic respect. By sending a letter to the editor of your local paper — especially in communities with a Walmart store — you are providing exactly the kind of support a worker needs when making the difficult choice to leave work and stand up for all of us. It’s easy with our simple tool: click below to get talking points and writing tips, then submit your letter directly to your local paper online.

Keep Walmart’s bad behavior in the news by writing a letter to the editor of your daily paper: let your community know why you’re supporting striking workers this Black Friday.

Thanks and Peace,

–Rashad, Matt, Arisha, Aimée, Johnny, Kim and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team    November 23rd, 2013

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References

1. “National Labor Relations Board to Prosecute Walmart For Violating Workers’ Rights,” ThinkProgress, 11-18-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3087?t=9&akid=3188.1174326.mtLIG3

2. “Walmart Store Holding Thanksgiving Food Drive For Its Own Workers,” Huffington Post, 11-18-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3091?t=11&akid=3188.1174326.mtLIG3

3. “Josh Eidelson: Walmart Is a Pioneer in Unionbusting,” The Nation, 11-21-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3095?t=13&akid=3188.1174326.mtLIG3

4. “Why Wal-Mart can afford to give its workers a 50% raise,” CNN Money, 11-12-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3089?t=15&akid=3188.1174326.mtLIG3

5. “A Higher Wage Is Possible,” Demos, 11-19-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3090?t=17&akid=3188.1174326.mtLIG3

6. “Will Black Friday Be Blue for Wal-Mart?” The Root, 10-13-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3094?t=19&akid=3188.1174326.mtLIG3

7. “Black workers embody the new low-wage economy,” Al Jazeera America, 09-12-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3096?t=21&akid=3188.1174326.mtLIG3