Thousands of Walmart employees are striking Thursday in cities across the United States, demanding better pay and protesting the firing of those who previously demonstrated against the company, the largest private employer in the country, with 1.3 million workers.

The strike comes just one week after fast-food workers staged walk-outs at fast-food restaurants in 60 U.S. cities to call for hourly pay of $15 instead of minimum wage, signaling a trend of worker unrest at non-union companies. According to strike organizers, many Walmart workers earn the minimum wage, which varies from state to state but typically hovers near $7 to $8 per hour.

In New York City, where demonstrations kicked off at 10 a.m., current and former Walmart workers protested along with advocacy and union groups. They were flanked by a band featuring a trumpet, trombone and saxophone, outside the office of Walmart board member Christopher Williams, CEO of Williams Capital Management.

Three protesters were arrested by the New York Police Department after sitting on the ground and locking arms in front of the building where Williams' office is located. They had been protesting outside the building with the aim of handing Williams a petition that organizers said had 200,000 signatures of people demanding Walmart commit to providing full-time work with a minimum salary of $25,000 and reinstate workers who were fired for previously striking.

Among those arrested Thursday was Barbara Gertz, an overnight stocker at the Walmart store in Aurora, Colorado. She told Al Jazeera that many workers were illegally penalized for striking in June outside Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

"When we went to Bentonville on strike in June, we wanted Walmart to hear our voices and to hear our concerns and not only did they not hear our voices, but when got back to our stores, many of us were retaliated against, were fired or we were written up and were harassed by management," Gertz said.

She said she and others want to see Walmart change its ways.

"We want them to change. We want them to start treating their associates fairly and give them the ability to support their families. When you get a full-time job, you get that to be able to have a house or home and support your family," she said. "You can't do that at Walmart."

According to a news release from the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which back the strike, the workers are seeking a "wage floor" of $25,000 per year.

Strike organizers also charge that the company benefits from federal social-welfare programs by paying wages too low for workers to live on or by not providing health insurance, forcing employees to sign up for food stamps or Medicaid.

The organizations said the strikes follow Walmart's failure to meet a Sept. 1 deadline for reinstating employees fired for leading protests against the company. Strike organizers say that the firings violate U.S. labor law, which prevents reprisals from employers against workers who attempt to form a union.

"Rather than providing good jobs that American workers need and deserve, Walmart is trying to silence workers who are standing up with their co-workers to live better and spending its time and money trying to deny workers a decent day's pay," the press release said.

Walmart denies the labor organizers' charge that workers make minimum wage, saying that the average wage at the company is about $12 per hour, and that most employees work full-time and receive health insurance.

Kory Lundberg, a spokesperson for the company, said the workers allegedly fired for protesting the company were let go for attendance reasons.

"Many of these associates did not show up for work without any notice. It's pretty disrespectful to their co-workers, because it disrespects those who now have to pick up that extra work," Lundberg told Al Jazeera.

The release cites a congressional study finding that Walmart receives a government subsidy in the form of welfare for its workers, but Lundberg decried the report as "politically motivated" and subject to flawed methodology because it only examined one Walmart store in Wisconsin.

Other cities where Walmart employees are slated to strike on Thursday include Baton Rouge, La., Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Orlando, Fla., Sacramento, Calif., San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Thursday's action is expected to be the largest strike since Black Friday of 2012 which spanned at least nine cities, organizers said.

Among those arrested Thursday was Barbara Gertz, an overnight stocker at the Walmart store in Aurora, Colorado. She told Al Jazeera that many workers were illegally penalized for striking in June outside Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

"We want them to change. We want them to start treating their associates fairly and give them the ability to support their families. When you get a full-time job, you get that to be able to have a house or home and support your family," she said. "You can't do that at Walmart."

 NuggzTheNinja wrote:

"We want them to change. We want them to start treating their associates fairly and give them the ability to support their families. When you get a full-time job, you get that to be able to have a house or home and support your family," she said. "You can't do that at Walmart."

That's interesting...I had a full time job when I was 14. Guess that means the world owes me a house.


Pretty ridiculous...how about learning a more marketable skill? Oh no...too much work :(

 Alfndrate wrote:

Most labor laws prevent 14 year olds from having a full time job, where was it you worked and how many hours a week did you work? Note: Student doesn't count

 Alfndrate wrote:

 NuggzTheNinja wrote:

"We want them to change. We want them to start treating their associates fairly and give them the ability to support their families. When you get a full-time job, you get that to be able to have a house or home and support your family," she said. "You can't do that at Walmart."

That's interesting...I had a full time job when I was 14. Guess that means the world owes me a house.


Pretty ridiculous...how about learning a more marketable skill? Oh no...too much work :(

Most labor laws prevent 14 year olds from having a full time job, where was it you worked and how many hours a week did you work? Note: Student doesn't count

nkelsch wrote:
I worked full-time at 14. Where is my free house?

 NuggzTheNinja wrote:

Sort of underhanded to assume that I'm lying. I worked at Baskin Robbins 5 days a week for money as a kid, and minimum wage back then wasn't nearly as good as it is now.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Striking also has been a successful tactic to achieve pay rises and better working conditions.

 gossipmeng wrote:
I don't like walmart - I had to get a prescription from them (out of convenience) and it was a painful 20 minute wait. I ate some Mcdonalds and then wandered around for the remaining 10 mins.

I'm torn as to whether the wages should be increased. There are many out there who deserve the wage increase, but just as many useless employees (like in any company) who contribute nothing.

There is no easy fix...

feeder wrote:
Can't wait for all the "retail isn't a career!' posts.

 cincydooley wrote:
You know what really undermines the article? The photo of the girl on the smartphone standing in the strike line.

 pretre wrote:

 cincydooley wrote:
You know what really undermines the article? The photo of the girl on the smartphone standing in the strike line.

Because you can't own a smartphone and work at walmart? Because owning a smartphone undermines your right to equal pay? Not sure what you're getting at here...

 Jihadin wrote:

Among those arrested Thursday was Barbara Gertz, an overnight stocker at the Walmart store in Aurora, Colorado. She told Al Jazeera that many workers were illegally penalized for striking in June outside Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

Say again?

 Easy E wrote:
Yeah, they are a US network now. They bought Current TV from Al Gore.


Also:

Strikes, strikes everywhere! Panic! It's almost like we still need Unions to balance out corporate power! Call in the Freikorps! Call in the Pinkertons!

 cincydooley wrote:
Because owning a smart phone has nothing to do with a living wage. In fact, I'd argue that if you're demanding a "living wage" a smart phone SHOULD NOT be included.

 gossipmeng wrote:
I don't like walmart - I had to get a prescription from them (out of convenience) and it was a painful 20 minute wait. I ate some Mcdonalds and then wandered around for the remaining 10 mins.

I'm torn as to whether the wages should be increased. There are many out there who deserve the wage increase, but just as many useless employees (like in any company) who contribute nothing.

There is no easy fix...

 NuggzTheNinja wrote:

 gossipmeng wrote:
I don't like walmart - I had to get a prescription from them (out of convenience) and it was a painful 20 minute wait. I ate some Mcdonalds and then wandered around for the remaining 10 mins.

I'm torn as to whether the wages should be increased. There are many out there who deserve the wage increase, but just as many useless employees (like in any company) who contribute nothing.

There is no easy fix...

No offense, but the word "deserve" has no place in this discussion. People make what people are worth. If an employee doesn't have a unique and competitive skill then he is not worth paying a unique and competitive salary.

 NuggzTheNinja wrote:
People make what people are worth.

 Howard A Treesong wrote:

feeder wrote:
Can't wait for all the "retail isn't a career!' posts.

I imagine there will be some. It's all very well for people who do a job like this when they're young or going to college, before they go into something much better. They can sneer that it's 'not a career' so you shouldn't expect a fair wage. But for a lot of people, they won't get better than retail, they're just not able. This is what they can do, it's what they need to live on for life. That's why it should be a living wage instead of an exploitative one.

In the UK there's demand for a living wage, especially in London. But the real issue, the thing that puts the squeeze on everyone, is that housing is too expensive. House prices are just out of reach of normal people and rentals are too high, often because of people who have bought expensive properties to let. The solution is to radically tackle the housing market in a way that controls prices and prevents profiteering by a minority, and to bring in rent controls. I don't care if people squeal about capitalism and their need to make money, I think that people being able to afford a roof over their head is more important as a society than protecting an artificially inflated housing market. When you sort out housing, people's wages will be more liveable.

 NuggzTheNinja wrote:

 Howard A Treesong wrote:

feeder wrote:
Can't wait for all the "retail isn't a career!' posts.

I imagine there will be some. It's all very well for people who do a job like this when they're young or going to college, before they go into something much better. They can sneer that it's 'not a career' so you shouldn't expect a fair wage. But for a lot of people, they won't get better than retail, they're just not able. This is what they can do, it's what they need to live on for life. That's why it should be a living wage instead of an exploitative one.

In the UK there's demand for a living wage, especially in London. But the real issue, the thing that puts the squeeze on everyone, is that housing is too expensive. House prices are just out of reach of normal people and rentals are too high, often because of people who have bought expensive properties to let. The solution is to radically tackle the housing market in a way that controls prices and prevents profiteering by a minority, and to bring in rent controls. I don't care if people squeal about capitalism and their need to make money, I think that people being able to afford a roof over their head is more important as a society than protecting an artificially inflated housing market. When you sort out housing, people's wages will be more liveable.

Heaven forbid anybody buys land and rents it at a profit.

Salaried employees often work more than 40 hours per week. Perhaps employees in retail stores ought to consider doing the same if they cannot live on their pay working 40 hours per week? It's hard to sympathize with these people when I work a full time job, a part time job, and do consulting work on the side, then Uncle Sam dips into MY fething pockets to pay for other peoples' laziness.