Walmart Strikers: "A tiny ripple of hope.."

Bravo to the striking workers of Walmart, who have never been allowed to unionize, a fact that has led to poor working conditions, inadequate pay, and retaliation from the employer if workers dare to speak out against conditions. Enough is enough, they've said - and not before time!
(Photo:Matt Hamilton)

Each time someone stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. 

~ Robert F. Kennedy

Trades unions have been de-fanged by conservative governments and weak-kneed liberal administrations have failed to bring back balance to the situation, leaving "The People" - ordinary people - without recourse to right any wrongs perpetrated upon them. What other avenue did, and do, we The People have? What power do ordinary people now hold? None. Our votes at election time can be easily manipulated by the power of money and bought media.

In the 1950s workers found their strength in the union movement. They took things a tad too too far though, and lessons must be learned from that. Downfall of the unions at the hands of the dreadful Margaret Thatcher in Britain, and conservative administrations in the USA followed. Trades unions: the only tool of The People are effectively supressed, but events such as these Walmart strikes, small as they may be, could light a spark which will could spread to a blaze in a fairly short span of time.

Piece by Adil Ahmed at Policymic.com

While presidential candidates are fighting over accurate jobs numbers, Wal-Mart's associates are striving to address income inequality and depraved working conditions.

The first retail worker strike against Wal-Mart has spread from Los Angeles, where it began last week, to stores in a dozen cities, a union official said Tuesday. According to the Huffington Post, Wal-Mart workers walked off the job in Dallas, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay area, Miami, the Washington, D.C., area, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Chicago and Orlando, said Dan Schlademan, director of the United Food and Commercial Workers' Making Change At Wal-Mart campaign. Workers also went on strike in parts of Kentucky, Missouri and Minnesota, he said.

Tuesday's walkouts included 88 workers from 28 stores ... a fraction of the 1.4 million who work at Wal-Mart, the world's largest private employer. Until Friday, when about 60 Wal-Mart employees walked off the job for a day in LA, no Wal-Mart retail workers had ever gone on strike, the union said.

The workers are protesting company attempts to "silence and retaliate against workers for speaking out for improvements on the job," according to a United Food and Commercial Workers news release. Walmart workers, who are not unionized, have long complained of low pay and a lack of benefits.

These workers must be heard. Here are 9 reasons why:

1) In under a week, a strike that started out of a Los Angeles warehouse has spread to over 12 cities across the country. Clearly, the workers’ issues of poverty-wages, horrendous working conditions, and unaffordable health care policies are widely and deeply felt. Moreover, they are specific and can be addressed directly with management.

2) 90% of Americans live within 15 minutes of a Wal-Mart. As the walk-outs persist, Wal-Mart associates will be able to educate more customers about their employer’s abusive working conditions. Flyering at a Wal-Mart can potentially have the reach of a major Super PAC ad buy.

3) As the general public engages the strikers, so will the media. As the press investigates, the truth will unfurl. The last time this happened, it was discovered that Wal-Mart de Mexico had allegedly been involved in a bribery campaign to open new stores. This seems like the tip of an iceberg. Who knows what will come out next?

4) As the workers’ issues gain more press, straddling politicians will get off the fence...............(See the rest at link above)