Walmart Workers Plan Black Friday Protests

At last year’s Black Friday protests, there were protest actions at about 1,200 stores involving approximately 30,000 people in 46 states.

According to OUR Walmart, the protesters and strikers are demanding an end to illegal retaliation and a commitment from Walmart to improving working standards, such as giving workers more full-time jobs paying at least $25,000 a year. That works out to about $12 an hour, still below the $15 an hour that workers at McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) sought earlier this year.

On Monday the National Labor Relations Board said the company illegally retaliated against employees over strikes and protests. The company denied the charges which were related to lat year’s Black Friday protests. OUR Walmart representatives said the company took the illegal actions against about 100 employees.

During a conference call on Thursday, organizers cited a comment by Walmart U.S. President Bill Simon that 425,000 Walmart non-management currently make more than $25,000 a year. OUR Walmart pointed out that leaves about 825,000 of the company’s 1.3 million U.S. workers earning less than that.

Last week 54 people, including some Walmart employees, were arrested outside the Chinatown Walmart in downtown Los Angeles after refusing to disband after their demonstration permit expired. The Los Angeles demonstration was the first in a series that organizers say will lead into this year’s holiday shopping season.