Tag Archives: WalMart

Be there! Protest to take place at Worcester Walmart on Black Friday!

Over 30 actions planned in solidarity with workers demanding higher wages, benefits

On Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, Walmart workers and their allies will take part in protests outside stores across the state as part of the 1,500 nationwide protests that are planned to take place. These actions follow a wave of strikes that swept across the country, as workers demanded an end to illegal retaliation at work. Three workers from Massachusetts took part in the strike, walking off the job on Sunday.

Over the past month, Walmart has faced a growing amount of negative publicity. The National Labor Relations Board announced that they will charge the company for its illegal retaliation against workers who took part in last year’s strike. Soon after the NLRB announcement, a story of Walmart holding a food drive for its own workers went viral and caused public outcry across the country.

In Massachusetts, the Black Friday actions are being coordinated by the Massachusetts Stands Up to Walmart campaign – a coalition of workers, community organizations, and faith and labor leaders that led the successful effort to stop Walmart’s planned expansion into the Greater Boston Area and organized dozens of solidarity actions on last year’s Black Friday. The group also supports the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart), the worker group that is leading the national fight to improve conditions at Walmart.

Walmart Quincy

Friday, November 29 @ 12:01am*, 10:00am

301 Falls Blvd, Quincy

*This event will include a light display at a nearby intersection

Walmart Chelmsford

Friday, November 29 @ 12:00pm

66 Parkhurst Rd. Chelmsford

Walmart Lynn

Friday, November 29 @ 10:00am

780 Lynnway Lynn

Walmart Raynham

Friday, November 29 @ 11:00am

36 Paramount Dr. Raynham

Walmart Worcester

Friday, November 29 @ 12:00pm

25 Tobias Boland Way, Worcester

 

Walmart Hadley

Friday, November 29 @ 3:00pm

337 Russell St, Hadley

 

Worcester group joins the fight to make the minimum wage a living wage!

Do we agree with all their talking points? Abso-fuckin’-lutely!!! – R. Tirella

Hearing & Rally to Raise the Minimum Wage

Tuesday, June 11, at 10 a.m. at the State House in Gardiner Auditorium

Free buses leave Worcester City Hall at 8:30 a.m.
We’ll get back to Worcester by 5 p.m. (or earlier).

Join EPOCA in a solidarity action with Massachusetts Communities Action Network (MCAN), Mass. AFL-CIO, SEIU State Council, Coalition for Social Justice/Coalition Against Poverty, Chelsea Collaborative, Brockton Interfaith Community, UIA of New Bedford and Fall River, Essex County Community Organization, MASSUniting, Jobs with Justice & NE United for Justice in demanding that the minimum wage be raised from $8 to $11 in our state.
Good Jobs that Pay a Living Wage: Raising Massachusetts

Legislation to raise the minimum wage: An Act to Promote the Commonwealth’s Economic Recovery with a Strong Minimum Wage

Our friends at MCAN are working on legislation, House 1701 and Senate 878 to:

1. Raise the minimum wage from $8 and hour to $11 an hour over 2+ years

2. Index it to inflation so it’s value is kept up

3. Raise the wages of tipped employees from 30% of the minimum wage up to 70%

580,000 low wage earners in Massachusetts will benefit [those earning $12 an hour or less now]. The minimum wage was last raised on January 1, 2008 and everyone knows just how much gas, oil, and food prices have increased since then. More than 2/3 of low wage earners are adults.

Most low wage earners work for large, profitable companies like Walmart, TJX/Marshalls/Home Goods, McDonalds, Burger King and supermarket chains. The CEO of TJX/Marshalls earned $21 million last year while three quarters of their workforce only had part time work and most earned at or near the minimum wage.

Economic Impact: The additional money that low wage earners will receive through minimum wage increases will be spent in the economy and therefore, boost it.

Black Friday protests come to Northboro and Worcester Walmarts

On Black Friday – the busiest shopping day of the year – labor and community allies will descend on the Walmart locations in Northborough and Worcester as part of a nationwide mobilization of community support for striking Walmart workers. The local actions, set to begin at 11:00am and 12:00pm, respectively, will educate customers about Walmart Associates’ fight for respect in the workplace.

 Employees of the world’s largest retailer have taken action at warehouses and retail stores across the country in recent weeks, walking off the job to protest low wages, unsafe working conditions, and the company’s continued attempts to silence workers’ voices on the job. From hour reductions to outright termination, Walmart has retaliated against the workers, prompting a formal federal complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

The Black Friday protests come on the heels of statewide actions just a month ago, where delegations of concerned customers and community leaders fanned out to Massachusetts Walmart locations to demand an end to the retail giant’s retaliation against its employees. Walmart has yet to respond to the public outcry, inciting Black Friday protests nationwide.

Walmart workers from across the country have come together to form the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart). OUR Walmart members are demanding basic rights on the job – including fair wages and benefits, safe working conditions and the right to organize. In Massachusetts, support for this effort is being coordinated by the Massachusetts Stands Up to Walmart campaign – a coalition of workers, community organizations, and faith and labor leaders that led the successful effort to halt Walmart’s planned expansion into the Greater Boston Area.


WHAT: Nationwide Black Friday protests come to area Walmarts


WHO: Local Walmart customers, labor and community leaders


WHERE/WHEN:     

Walmart Northborough (200 Otis Street)

Friday, November 23 @ 11:00am

Walmart Worcester (25 Tobias Boland Way)

Friday, November 23 @ 12:00pm

More than 1,000 Black Friday protests are planned at Walmart retail locations across the country. A searchable list of actions can be found here. 

Black Friday protests (over low wages/unsafe working conditions) to descend on Massachusetts/Worcester County Walmarts

Standing in solidarity with striking Walmart workers, community allies poised to gather at all 48 retail stores across the state!

In a mass mobilization of community support for striking Walmart workers, hundreds of labor and community allies will descend on Massachusetts Walmart locations on Black Friday – the busiest shopping day of the year. Employees of the world’s largest retailer have walked off the job in a rolling series of workplace actions in recent weeks, protesting unfair labor practices that have included the firing of workers who have dared to speak out.

Since October, Walmart employees have taken action at warehouses and retail stores across the country, speaking out about low wages, unsafe working conditions, and the company’s continued attempts to silence workers’ voices on the job. Strikes have taken place in California, Washington and Texas, and continue to spread to new locations every day. From hour reductions to outright termination, Walmart has retaliated against the workers – even going so far as to file a frivolous complaint with the National Labor Relations Board regarding the legally protected actions of their employees.

The Black Friday actions come on the heels of statewide actions just a month ago, where delegations of concerned customers and community leaders fanned out to Massachusetts Walmart locations to demand an end to the retail giant’s retaliation against its employees. Walmart has yet to respond to the public outcry, prompting Black Friday protests nationwide.

Walmart workers from across the country have come together in recent months to form the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart). OUR Walmart members are demanding basic rights on the job – including fair wages and benefits, safe working conditions and the right to organize. In Massachusetts, support for this effort is being coordinated by the Massachusetts Stands Up to Walmart campaign – a coalition of workers, community organizations, and faith and labor leaders that led the successful effort to halt Walmart’s planned expansion into the Greater Boston Area.

Details on several local Black Friday protests follow. For additional information, please contact Russ Davis at Massachusetts Jobs with Justice: (617) 413-0713 or russdavis@comcast.net.

WALMART FALL RIVER

Friday, November 23 @ 11:00am

374 William S Canning Blvd, Fall River

WALMART FRAMINGHAM*

Friday, November 23 @ 12:01am

121 Worcester Road, Framingham

*This event will include a light display at a nearby overpass/intersection

WALMART LYNN

Friday, November 23 @ 10:00am

780 Lynnway, Lynn

 

WALMART METHUEN

Friday, November 23 @ 9:00am

70 Pleasant Valley Street, Methuen

WALMART NORTHAMPTON

Friday, November 23 @ 10:00am

180 North King Street, Northampton

WALMART NORTHBOROUGH

Friday, November 23 @ 11:00am

200 Otis Street, Northborough

WALMART ORANGE

Friday, November 23 @ 1:00pm

555 East Main Street, Orange

WALMART QUINCY*

Thursday, November 22 @ 11:45pm

301 Falls Blvd, Quincy

*This event will include a light display at the store

WALMART SALEM

Friday, November 23 @ 10:00am

450 Highland Avenue, Salem

WALMART SEEKONK

Friday, November 23 @ 1:00pm

1180 Fall River Avenue, Seekonk

WALMART SPRINGFIELD

Friday, November 23 @ 10:00am

1105 Boston Road, Springfield

WALMART WALPOLE

Friday, November 23 @ 10:00am

550 Providence Highway, Walpole

WALMART WORCESTER

Friday, November 23 @ 12:00pm

25 Tobias Boland Way, Worcester

Animal rights demonstration Tuesday! Be there!

Lynn – Local animal rights activists, along with national nonprofit Mercy For Animals, will hold a demonstration outside Walmart on Lynnway with a giant inflatable pig to call attention to Walmart’s pork suppliers practice of confining pregnant sows to small gestation crates for most of their lives.

In July, an undercover investigation by Mercy For Animals exposed shocking animal abuse at a major Walmart pork supplier, however, Walmart has refused to follow the lead of retailers like Costco, Kroger, and Safeway, all of whom have agreed that gestation crates are inherently cruel.

MFA’s national campaign coordinator Phil Letten will be in town to organize this event. You are welcome to contact him directly at 810-599-1278.

For more about this investigation, and the ongoing campaign against Walmart, please see www.WalmartCruelty.com.  

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10-FT-TALL BLOODY, CAGED “PIG” JOINS ANIMAL RIGHTS PROTEST OUTSIDE BOSTON WALMART

Mercy For Animals Says Walmart Pork Suppliers Abuse Animals; Calls on Retail Giant to Phase Out Cruel Crates for Pigs

BOSTON – Members of the national animal rights organization Mercy For Animals, joined by a 10-foot tall inflatable pig, bloody with sores and locked in a narrow crate, will greet shoppers outside Walmart with a demonstration against the cruel practice of confining pregnant pigs in tiny crates on factory farms where they are unable to even lie down comfortably, turn around, or engage in basic natural behaviors.

Date: Tuesday, September 25

Time: 11 a.m. – 12 noon

Location: Outside Walmart at 780 Lynnway, Lynn, MA

Local activists wielding signs with images of abused pigs, reading: “Walmart Tortures Pigs” and “Walmart Pork = Animal Abuse” will join the protest. Walmart is under fire for cruelty to animals following an undercover investigation exposing shocking abuse to pigs at one of the retailer’s main pork suppliers.

Mercy For Animals is calling on Walmart to require its pork suppliers to phase out the practice of confining pigs in narrow crates—something Kroger, Safeway, Costco, and McDonald’s have recently done. The practice of confining sensitive, intelligent, and social pigs into tiny gestation crates has been widely condemned by veterinarians and leading farmed animal welfare experts. Confining a pregnant pig inside a narrow gestation crate, where she is virtually immobilized, has been banned in nine U.S. states and the entire European Union.

Newly released hidden-camera footage secretly recorded at Christensen Farms, a Walmart pork supplier, reveals pregnant pigs confined for nearly their entire lives in fly-infested crates barely larger than their own bodies, pigs suffering from bloody open wounds and infections, and piglets being slammed headfirst into the ground and having their testicles ripped out and tails cut off without painkillers.

“Walmart pork suppliers are guilty of horrific cruelty to animals,” says Mercy For Animals’ national campaign coordinator Phil Letten. “Pork sold in Walmart stores comes from pigs who are abused, neglected, and sentenced to lives of extreme confinement and deprivation in crates. This is blatant animal abuse that no socially responsible corporation should be supporting. If Walmart pork producers subjected dogs and cats to the array of standard abuses they inflict on pigs, they would be arrested and jailed on grounds of animal cruelty.”

To learn more visit WalmartCruelty.com

Big businesses – they ain’t so great

By Richard Schmitt

Is government the enemy? Many Americans think that. On April 15, tax day, a national organization held a series of “tea parties” all over the country to commemorate the colonists’ resistance to government and specifically to taxation. They are planning more events. At present, the Republicans in Congress are resisting the proposal to have government provide health insurance for some Americans. Anything done by the government, they believe, is worse than anything done by private business.

This is an old belief among Americans. The authors of the Constitution wrote that document after having successfully freed themselves from the British government and established their own. The political system they created is very concerned about preserving individual liberties against government attempts to limit freedom. It is, we think, a good system. Citizens have elaborate rights to protest, to tell the government what they think. The leaders of the government are elected; they hold their jobs by the will of the citizens and can be removed from office if they ignore the citizens’ wishes. Continue reading Big businesses – they ain’t so great